Fun with Fitness: Kauai 2012 Day 3

Since we were still waking up at O'dark thirty with the time difference, I got my stuff together and headed out for a swim at sunrise. Directly adjacent to our hotel was the Lydgate State Park and sheltered beach area. The sheltered beach area was built in 1964 and has two sections - a shallow inner pool ideal for kids, and a deeper section good for snorkeling and swimming. Although there weren't a lot I was surprised to see a few fish around 6-8" long swimming along side me. This definitely made for the best "hotel pool" I've ever visited.

North of the pools are several religious and historical sites including the remains of a Hawaiian temple named the Hikina Akala Heiau which dates as far back as 800 a.d. South of the pools is a 16,000 sq ft area known as the Kamalani Playground. It was built by 7,000 volunteers in 1994 and is maintained by the community. This will definitely have to serve as a site for workouts and play on future trips to Hawaii. As it was, this morning after my swim I trained right there on the beach for upcoming the Naked Warrior Certification.

Afterwards we headed to the south side of the island. We stopped at a fruit stand along the way for some incredibly delicious mango and papaya, and then continued to the Waimeia Canyon Lookout at around 3,400' elevation. For such a small place, Kauai is an island of extremes. While the north side is a lush and dense jungle, the south side has dry desert like conditions.

Waimeia is known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". Looking at the pics you can see how it got this nickname. It provided another great opportunity to continue my GTG training for the day.

We then continued up the mountain to the Koke'e State Park and Museum. This area was quite a bit cooler than the costal regions, with average temperatures in the 40-70 degree range depending on the time of year. The woman at the museum counter told us that her favorite hiking trail on the island was the Pihea Trail. We drove a little ways further to its traillhead at the Kalalau Lookout. This was the first of four ways this trip in which we experienced the rugged Napali Coast.

With its vivid orange soil and lush deep green vegetation on jagged cliffs rising sharply out of the ocean, the trail looked like it was directly from the pages of a Dr. Seuss story book.

We hiked until the trail met up with the Alakai Crossing a few miles in before turning around.

We headed back down the mountain just in time to catch the sunset at Spouting Horn in Poipu. During large swells, the surf channels into a natural lava tube and erupts into a huge spout of water.

According to gohawaii.com

Ancient Hawaiians believed this coastline was once guarded by a giant moo (lizard) named Kaikapu. Everyone was afraid of the moo because it would eat anyone who tried to fish or swim in the area. One day, a young boy named Liko entered the ocean to outwit the lizard. Kaikapu attacked him, but Liko thrust a sharp stick into her mouth, swam under the lava shelf, and escaped through a small hole to the surface. The moo followed Liko and got stuck in the lava tube. To this day, you can hear the lizard’s roar and see her breath spraying from the blowhole.

Visiting this island makes it very easy to see how so many legends were spawned here.

Fun with Fitness: Kauai Day 2

One great thing about going from California to Hawaii is that they are 3 time zones behind us. The wild roosters on the island would start crowing around 0500-0600, but since we were waking up around 0400 local time this didn't bother us at all.

We woke up to the sound of the ocean and watched an amazing sunrise before heading out to Wailua Falls.

This waterfall was made famous when it was featured in the opening scene of the TV show Fantasy Island. The Falls are 80' high and flat on top with channels carved into the rock from centuries of water flow. Ancient warriors used to prove their bravery by jumping from the top. This is as well as even climbing to the top is highly discouraged these days as a slip and fall could easily be fatal. We didn't realize it at the time, but visitors can take a slippery trail to the bottom and take a dip in the cool mountain water.

Afterwards we headed out to hike the Powerline trail. We had heard that this trail has spectacular views of the interior of the island as well sweeping ocean views. The trail is for dry weather only and is unmaintained. I've spent many miles off trail in my Forest Service days. An unmaintained trail with incredible views sounded like fun.

The sign reads "Powerline Trail. Unmaintained Trail Proceed at Your own Risk"

The trail started out steep and muddy in spots.

After about a mile and a half in, it soon became so much muddier and the vegetation denser, that if we wanted to proceed we would've needed a machete and snow shoes.

We headed back down to come up with plan B. We spent some time walking by the river, looking at the amazing local vegetation before consulting the trail maps.

We settled on the Kuilua Ridge Trail. We heard that it was paved and a super easy trail, but we were bound and determined to hike something this day before it got too late. Turns out when the locals told us it was paved, they really meant that it was maintained and the first part graded. It soon turned into a single track trail with some decent grades both up and down.

We made a new friend along the way.

And then were treated to some pretty amazing views of the valley.

At 1 1/2 miles in the trail leveled off into a grassy picnic area. Overlooking the valley, we could easily imagine a few Na'vi from Avatar running through the country side. The vegetation was some of the densest and the leaves some of the largest I have ever seen.

We hiked on another mile or so further, but as it got later in the day, we realized how much more difficult the trail would be hiking back if it began to rain. We turned around and enjoyed the spectacular views on the hike back.

Check out Fun with Fitness: Kauai Day 1 Arriving on the Island here

nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2012/10/fun-with-fitness-kauai-day-1.html

Fun With Fitness Kauai: Day 1

It's been quite a while since my last blog post. I've been so busy, working, playing and having fun that I'm quite a few posts behind. This post however, I wanted to write up right away while it was still fresh in my mind.

Last year for my big trip I went to New Jersey in the middle of December to repeatedly dunk myself into muddy water pits in sub freezing temperatures.

World's Toughest Mudder WTM-WTF

This year I went to Kauai.

A few weeks ago at work my captain was talking about the amazing deals he was finding on Alaskan Airlines to Hawaii. I looked it up and sure enough, there were round trip deals non-stop out of Oakland for $315. Looking on PleasantHawaiianHolidays.com we found a trip for $749/person for non-stop airfare, 6 nights/7 days at the Aston Aloha Hotel in Kapa'a and a rental car with a second driver. We booked it the next day and in a week found ourselves on our way to Kauai.

I've been to Oahu twice, Maui once and Kauai one time before. Kauai is by far my favorite. The island is pretty small, only about 50 miles around, and less than 20% of it is accessible by car. Still though, because of its incredible beauty and lushness, it has served as the set for such movies and TV shows such as Fantasy Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar, Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Our flight left at 0700 and we arrived in Lihue around 0900 so we had a few hours to explore and run around before we could check into hour hotel. I like staying in Kapa'a because it gives equal access to both the north and south sides of the island. We decided to head north the first day to get the lay of the land.

One thing about Kauai is between the two lane roads, the one lane bridges and the road construction, you're not going to get anywhere in a hurry, but why would you want to here? Anywhere you drive on this island has breathtaking views.

The first place we stopped was the Kilauea light house and wildlife refuge. The lighthouse that was originally built in 1913. It served to help ships safely navigate the rugged north shore for 62 years before being deactivated and replaced with an automatic beacon in 1976.

In 1979 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recently it received a grant to be restored, which is why it's wearing the giant shower curtain in this pic.

We continued up the coast stopping in local shops until we suddenly noticed we were very, very hungry. Between traveling and the days events so far we had worked up quite an appetite. We stopped at a restaurant called the Garden Cafe at Common Grounds that was a little ways off the main road (it seems like most things in Kauai are a little ways off the main road). For anyone looking for good healthy place to eat on the island, this is definitely a great place to go. Their cafe has a seasonal fresh organic menu utilizing produce that they grow on site.


Our last stop before heading back down to the hotel was Makua Beach also known as Tunnels. When conditions are calm this beach is a great place to snorkel and dive. There are tons of fish, sometimes dolphins, and it's a turtle cleaning station. There is a 40' drop off after the reef, and like pretty much all beaches in Kauai currents can be very strong and surgy, so be informed on conditions before entering the water.

We watched the sun set here before heading back to the hotel, making for a very full first day.

How to Study Like an Athlete

One of the things I love about kettlebells is their versatility. It turns out that the philosophies behind kettle bell training are just as versatile. Recently, while studying for the promotional process to Captain, I incorporated many of the training methods that I have learned over the years through athletics, firefighting and the RKC. My Athletic Academic Strategy consisted of 10 parts

1. Devise a plan of attack

2. Easy Strength Consistency - Focus on quality over quantity

3. Naked Warrior GTG (Grease the Groove) - High frequency, low reps

4. Interval training for the brain

5. A happy body helps to make for a happy brain - Exercise, nutrition and rest

6. Get a scouting report

7. Visualize

8. Game day nutritional strategies

9. How to handle pre-game jitters - rituals and attention to detail

10. Game on - Let's Go Play



Step 1 - Devise a Plan

Any good training program starts with a good plan. In order to develop a good plan I figure out where I want to go, where I'm at, and then the best way to get from point A to point B. The Captain's test consisted of two parts, a multiple choice written exam and an Assessment Center. The reading list of study material for the test was bigger than I had time to cover and internalize before the exam, so I triaged and prioritized which resources I wanted to cover. I focused first on the materials which I thought would deliver the greatest benefit for both the testing and then afterward in the field. The other material I would get to if time permitted.


Step 2 - Consistency

While reading Dan John and Pavel's book Easy Strength I realized you can have the best program in the world, but it won't be an effective program if you don't actually do it and stick with it. Therefore I prioritized consistency with my studying. With two teachers as parents, I've been studying for as long as I can remember. Since joining the fire department, I've studied harder than I ever did during my five years of college. After the first few years on the department, my studying became more self-directed. So, of course I tended naturally to focus on studying the fun stuff with the cool fire pictures. Coming into the Captain's test, I was grossly out of practice studying the mundane and routine policies and procedures. When I'd sit down to study this stuff, I'd get as fidgety as a five year old in the bank. I knew I could sit down in the beginning and study hard for 3 or 4 hours, but I also knew that I would burn out pretty quickly and would have a much harder time getting up the motivation to study in the future. Therefore, for the first week I started out studying 15 minutes a day. I focused on making the most out of this time.


Step 3 - Grease the Groove

I've made huge strength gains using the GTG program from Pavel's Naked Warrior, including being the second woman to accomplish the Iron Maiden. GTG is a program based on high frequency and low reps. This program involves doing multiple sets of an exercise throughout the day. The reps are kept to half of the max reps. I first started to use this program with pull-ups. My starting max with pull-ups was 10 reps with bodyweight. Traditional programs would call for 3 sets of 10. Usually while following this set rep scheme I would get 30 reps in with the last reps of each set being pretty shaky. With GTG I would do 5 reps every hour on the hour from 8 in the morning until 8 at night. This way I would get in 60 reps throughout the day. By doing only half of my max with plenty of rest in between, I conditioned my body to feel that the exercise was easy. Before I knew it I was doing GTG sets of 5 with a 60 lb. hose pack on my back. In order to apply this same idea to studying, I continued to study for 15 minutes at a time, but increased the number of times throughout the day that I would study. This helped to keep my brain fresh and engaged.


Step 4 - Interval Training

Expanding upon the GTG idea, I then decreased the rest periods in between study sessions to turn my studying into interval training. Every 15 minutes or so I'd get up and move around, do a few pushups, a few kettle bell swings, something to get the body moving and the blood flowing. Years ago my parents taught me that the brain remembers information best at the beginning and the end of a session. By getting up and moving around often, I was increasing the number of stops and starts, and thereby increasing my potential for retention.


Step 5 - Happy Body, Happy Brain

When the brain feels threatened, it goes into what is known as the fight or flight mode. When this happens, the brain tends not to take in new information, but instead rely on its previous knowledge base or training. Funny thing about the brain though is it will release the same chemicals to stimulate this fight or flight response whether we're getting chased by a bear, stressed out about something at work, or nervous about giving a speech. In order to absorb and learn new information, I needed my body relaxed and primed to let my brain feel that it didn't have to go into survival mode. First thing I did was to always make time to get in a good workout. I was using Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Muscle program which worked out great. Because some of the workouts were as short as 9 minutes, I could easily find time to do them. I took a few other cues from the book as well. In it Geoff emphasizes the need for proper nutrition and rest. Interestingly enough, the body won't build muscle efficiently either if it feels it's in survival mode. I used the Warrior Diet which I've found aids my digestion, balances my blood sugar levels, and gives me a great night's sleep.


Step 6 - Get a Scouting Report

In college I noticed that learning the teacher's style and what they were looking for was just as important as learning the material. I talked to other people in my department who have been through this process before, in particular newly promoted Captains and Chiefs who had recently been through the process. I compiled a list of possible test questions and scenarios as well as talking points that the test assessors had been looking for in the past.


Step 7 - Visualize

Visualization was a very powerful skill that I used while playing volleyball. I would make my visualizations as realistic as possible imagining everything from the sounds in the gym, to performing individual skills, to the smell of the volleyball. Here, for the Assessment Center, they were expecting us to walk in and conduct ourselves as if we were already Captains. I visualized how I would look, carry myself, address the Assessment Board, how my heart rate would rise as they threw some curve ball my way, and how I would regain my composure and calm, and quickly develop a contingency plan to handle it.


Step 8 - Game Day Nutritional Strategies.

When the letter arrived saying that I had passed the written test, it gave a date and time for the Assessment Center and said that I should allow a minimum of 7 hours to complete it. This was a four part test comprised of three verbal sections - a structured oral interview, an emergency simulation, and a role play scenario, and then also a written exercise. Looking at this screamed endurance event to me. Knowing that I get a little loopy and/or cranky when I don't eat, I packed plenty of snacks and made sure to get small bites throughout the day when we would get breaks. The day before, I treated it like any other event and ate massive amounts of food to ensure that I would have the needed reserves for test day. I also supplemented with amino acids and hydrated the day before and the day of to help with mental endurance and stamina.


Step 9 - Pre-game Jitters

Naturally, I started to get butterflies before the test. A big part of the nervousness stemmed from not knowing what they were going to throw at us. To handle this, I first focused on making sure that I took care of the controllable details. I made sure that my dress uniform was well pressed and ready to go. I created a check off list of everything that I wanted to bring with me and packed my truck in advance. Second, I incorporated an old pre-game ritual. Before games I would make sure that my shoes were tied snugly and double knotted. Doing this every time helped to get me in the right mindset. I did the same thing before the test - dress shoes double knotted and snug.


Step 10 - Game On

Game face on. Ready to go. Let's Go Play.

Tactical Cap Review

Ever since I was little, I've loved a good hat. Because of this I've collected quite a few hats over the years, which started to take up more and more space. Around 5 or 6 years ago I came across my first tactical cap at an Airsoft Extreme store. This was a Condor Multicam cap with Velcro sewn onto it to attach and easily swap out patches. I instantly loved the idea of having a few caps and simply changing out the patches. Now after purchasing my fourth tac hat, this seemed like a great time to compare them and see how they all stacked up against each other.

All of the hats have some sort of Velcro for attaching patches and are low profile with the top button removed so that they can be easily worn under helmets or heating protection. The Mil-Spec Monkey Cap has the most amount of velcro with attachments in the front, top and back, and the most ventilation with 4 mesh panels in the back. The Goruck has the heaviest weight fabric, is second for ventilation with two mesh panels on the sides, and has velcro attachments on the front and underside of the brim. This hat is also the only one in this review that is US made. The Condor has the lightest weight material and velcro attachments on the front, top and back. Both the Condor and Goruck hats are velcro adjustable which also works out great for those of us that like to wear ponytails. The newer Gorucks are larger with longer Velcro straps as seen in the pic below. The MSM hat is a Flexfit which has a snug comfy fit.

The Condor cap is the cap that I'm the most likely to forget that I'm wearing it, because it is so light. It's completely unstructured with six panel construction. This model has a Velcro closure with a metal loop. There's other models out there including a buckle closure, which people with short hair have reported that it digs into their head. The metal loop is low profile and so far has been comfy even while wearing the cap backwards. The velcro strap is short, which is fine for me, but might be a bit small for those with larger heads.

A few years back I wore it for a four hour adventure race - in a kayak, under a bike helmet while mountain biking, and while trail running. I was impressed at how light and comfortable it felt and how quickly it dried. it held up looking and feeling like new by the end of it.

Other reviews of this hat seem mostly favorable, but it is produced over seas and there does seem to be some inconsistency with quality control. Best bet here might be to buy it in person. Then again, for as little as $6-$7 for the hat (a few more dollars for the Multicam) it could be worth the risk.

In September 2010 while getting ready for the Tough Mudder, I came across this post on the side of there page for this thing called the Goruck Challenge. Clicking on the link led me to a bag manufacturer with one of the coolest hats I had ever seen. This sucker looked like it could survive Armageddon and come up smiling. Here it is pictured on a climbing trip in Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas.

I paused slightly a the $35 price tag, but then ordered one up right away. When it arrived it looked to be just as tough and well made as it did in the pictures. This hat is definitely the sleekest looking of the hats. It's made out of 1000D cordura, same as the Goruck bags, but without the water repellency treatment in order to allow for more breathability. To further allow for breathability it has military grade mesh panel inserts on the side. It only has the two Velcro attachment points with them being on the front of the hat and the underside of the brim. It has a Velcro strap closure in the back. The strap, especially on the newer caps is a bit long for me and I would like some way to tuck the excess back into hat to keep it looking sleek. The hook side of the velcro strap is closest to the head causing it to sometimes fold underneath and catch on my hair. This is pretty minor given the rest of the hats features.

The hat easily made it through that Tough Mudder, two more mudders, including World's, three Gorucks, and a whole bunch more events and abuse. Overall, the hat has stood up great and feels better broken in. the only signs of wear are some occasional fraying along the seams. Since the hat is cordura, I snip down the frayed part add close as I can to the hat and then lightly apply a lighter (standard disclaimer, if you choose to do this, you do so at your own risk). This seems to do the trick. Hand washing instead of machine washing like I did the first time should also keep the fraying to a minimum.

This hat is my standard go to hat. The best example of how much I like this hat happened a few months ago. As I was walking down Las Vegas Boulevard a 70mph gust of wind came along and blew my hat off my head and into traffic before I could even try to grab it. I chased at down the street as it wove it's way through four lanes of traffic and came to rest next to the center divide. As I was trying to figure out how I could get it back another gust of wind came along and blew it back across the four lanes of traffic and against the retaining wall on the busy corner next to New York New York. I anxiously waited for a slight break in the traffic flow. After at least a good five minutes or so one finally came. I jumped over the 4' retaining wall, claimed my cap, and jumped back over in the five seconds I had before becoming road kill on the Las Vegas strip. I wouldn't have done that for just any cap.

I also have the Goruck Green Beret Fund donation cap. This cap has the GBF patch sewn on the front and Velcro compatible material on the underside of the brim.

What's of note is that while this hat is less than a year newer than my first GR TAC hat, there are a few design changes. The hat is bigger with longer Velcro straps in the back to offer more adjustability. The hat has a lower profile though, so even while being bigger, it felt better right out of the box on my tiny little 6 3/4 head. For more info on the GR Tac hat check out the link below.

www.goruck.com/news/gr-tac-explained

The Mil-Spec Monkey CG Raw mesh cap in Loden green is my latest addition, having had it about a week. It's pictured here with the MSM Pirate Skull Die Cut patch. I was pleasantly surprised to see that MSM is based locally right here in San Jose. The cap is a standard Flexfit cap available in S/M and L/XL, and fit as such. I've found the low profile Flexfits to be very comfortable and this is no exception. The MSM cap has the biggest patches of velcro. It is the only cap that has enough room on the back to attach both a name tape and a patch. The IR patch on the top is big enough to diagonally fit the 2" skully patch. What's great about the velcro on this hat is that even though there's more, this is the only hat where the sides of the velcro are stitched down keeping it from peeling up or snagging on things. The larger size in the front gives more attachment options than the standard 2x3" velcro patch. I absolutely love the color of this hat. It looks very much like the green Nomex I wore during my Forest Service wildland firefighting days. Another cool feature of this hat is the lanyard attachment in the back. This could've saved me from having to play in rush hour traffic during that 70 mph windstorm. The only difference between the Raw and the DLUX version is that the DLUX version has integrated retractable ear protection. This video does a great job of explaining the design of the hat.



At $24 for the RAW version and $28 for the DLUX version this cap is a great buy.

For anyone that's found the info on this site useful, and/or believes in doing positive things for yourself and your community, the NS6 skully patch is available for $3 with $2 flat rate for shipping on patches. Send an email to NS6Athletic@gmail.com and I'll send out a paypal invoice and then I'll ship it out to you. It makes a great under brim patch.

40 Day After Action Review

This past week I completed the 40 day program from Pavel and Dan John's Book Easy Strength. On first glance, my results from this program don't look as impressive as gains that others have reported. This doesn't tell the whole story, though. What I am most excited about is that this program yielded relatively huge benefits in areas that have been traditionally hard for me to improve. Here's the program I used and the reps/ sets for the last week.


Warm Up

Joint Mobility

Convict Conditioning 2 Active Stretches

Back Bridge x 1 min

N-Sit x 15 sec

Lateral Twists x 30 sec ea side

Goblet Squats x10 w/ double 16kg kettlebells in the rack position

1/4 mile double self limiting jog at 8 min mile pace (nose breathing only and wearing vibram five fingers shoes) alternated with a weighted 1/4 hike at max incline


Training Session

One leg squats 2x5 ea leg to 12" step

Pull ups 3x3 (explosive from dead hang, clavicles above the bar)

Double 16kg Kettlebell Bottoms Up Military Press 2x5

Double 16kg Kettlebell Swings 2x25

Ab Wheel Rollouts 1x5 (from knees to forehead touching floor)


Cool Down

Plank w/ Feet against wall x 15 sec

Wall Sit x 2 min

Being a firefighter, I simply took my rest days when I needed them, instead of having set days per week. The nights when we'd have 5 or more calls after midnight were usually followed by a much needed rest day. Other than that I did the program 5-6 days a week on average.

The areas where I made the most significant gains were in gaining symmetry and balance and in stamina. A few years ago at work I sprained my left ankle and then a year later at a fire I had a partial achilles tear. As a result I've been working on mobilizing a stuck Talus bone ever since. Even though I've pistoled a 36 kg bell with my right leg, I chose to go with body weight pistols (one leg squats)to ensure that I truly was working my full range of motion. When holding a light kettlebell out in front, it acts as a counterweight and thus allowing me to "cheat" around my lack of ankle mobility. I haven't found a way to cheat through a bodyweight pistol yet, so this made it a great diagnostic for me. During the course of the program I progressed from shaky reps on my left leg down to about 3' all the way to solid stable reps throughout the full range of motion down to a 12" step. In a matter of months this was a 2' gain in range in motion in this exercise 5 years after the initial injury.

I also gained quite a bit of stability and strength in my left shoulder. I strained my rotator cuff over a year ago playing rugby and have been slowly rehabbing it since then. It was around 85% healed when I started this program, but still a little shaky. I spent a good portion of the program focusing on the stability, range of motion drills and strength exercises such as bottoms up pressing with light weights and planks with feet against the wall from Perfecting the Press, Ab wheel rollouts and back bridges, never working into pain. I did what I could, when I could and progressed naturally as it felt easy. Now my shoulder feels as strong as my right, without a hint of pain

Another area that I have long struggled to make gains in is endurance. I have always been highly anaerobic. Especially when I was playing volleyball in college, I could go hard, recover, and repeat all day long. On the other hand during the summers wildland firefighting, I was one of the slower runners and hikers on the crew. Give me a short distance, 100 yds or less, I'd get there pretty quick. For anything longer, it seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I was stuck in that 10 min/mile pace. I wasn't the first to the top of the hill, but I was always the first one recovered and ready to work. For many years this was good enough for me.

Now, after the past year of Rugby, Gorucks, Tough Mudders and other crazy endurance events, I've been looking for ways to increase my endurance. Traditionally I've tried to increase my endurance by increasing my maximal threshold, run harder at varying distances. This program increased my endurance by increasing my comfortable threshold. The book mentioned a program from a special forces operator where he practiced self limiting runs, breathing through his nose only. I started out at a comfortable 12 min/mile pace. This allowed me to relax into the run and focus on making my stride as smooth as i could. Before long, I'd gradually increase the speed as the runs were feeling easier and easier. By the end of the program I had increased my comfortable running speed for 1/4 mile by 150% from a 12 min/mile to an 8 min/mile.

Overall I absolutely loved this program and highly recommend the book. Normally I plateau after 3 weeks of most programs, but by the end of it I was still making steady gains. Another added benefit to this training was when I did it at work, I still felt fresh and ready to go for the rest of the shift. I was tempted to keep going with this program, but will cycle off of it for a few months and then gladly return to it. I'm only about 2/3 through this book, but it has already given me a wealth of information and changed my approach to training.

40 Days

This past weekend i had the privilege of being an assistant instructor at the San Jose Russian Kettlebell Certification (RKC). Leading up to this weekend I knew that I was going to be assisting legendary strength coach and Master RKC Dan John. This seemed like a great time to read his and Pavel's book Easy Strength and take advantage of the opportunity to pick his brain on the the concepts contained within the book.

First off, I highly recommend this book.

http://www.dragondoor.com/b57/

The principles are simple to the point of enlightening, and are clearly and logically explained. Attending the RKC really drove home the point that it's time for me to put more of an emphasis on my strength training. One of the training routines in the book is the 40 day program. I instantly liked this routine because it was in the same vein as the Grease the Groove (GTG) style training that I've had a decent amount of success with. This involves picking 5 exercises - a posterior chain movement, an upper body push, an upper body pull, a full body explosive move, and an anterior chain movement. These movements are performed 5 days a week for 40 days. The reps are kept low and the load manageably heavy.

I started this program yesterday without even realizing today is Mardi Gras. My exercises and reps are as follows

Warm-up
Joint Mobility
Bridge 30 seconds
L-sit on bench 15 seconds
Twists 15 seconds each side
1x10 goblet squats 16kg KB
1/4 mile jog 6.0 pace (10 min/mile)

Program
Pistols bodyweight to 18" bench 2x5 each leg
Double Military Press 16 kg 2x5
Pull-ups 5x2
Two hand kettlebell swings 24 kg 2x25
Ab wheel rollout from knees 2x5 (after re-reading this section in the book, this will be amended to 1x5)

I haven't max tested in a while due to slowly rebuilding strength after a few aches and pains, but a rough estimate of my current maxes in these lifts are as follows

Pistols 1 rep w/ 32 kg (all time PR 36 kg)
Military Press 1-2 reps 24 kg (all time PR 4 reps)
Pull-ups 1 rep with 12 kg over each foot (all time 10 reps with 60 lbs)

Taking cues from the book and talking with RKC II KC Reiter this weekend I'm focusing on slow lowering movements and explosive reps. KC mentioned that he was able to increase his pull-up max from hanging a 24 over each foot to a 28, just by doing body weight chest to bar pull ups. In 2010 at the San Jose RKC I pistoled a 36 kg bell after only training GTG with a 12 kg bell, focusing on technique. I'm starting off with bodyweight pistols to ensure that both my legs are are equally strong throughout the full range of motion. Additionally, bodyweight pistols can sometimes be more challenging than weighted pistols because the bell cannot be used as a counterweight.

So far my body is pleasantly sore and feeling quite good at the outset of this program. Two days in and I feel as though I'm getting stronger while remaining fresh for firefighting or off duty play activities.