It's Time!

Alright peoples, the sun is shining, and the pavement is heating up. It's finally ideal weather in Maine for getting outside and using the jungle of nature to better our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. I don't think i stand alone in saying that spring brings a certain pattern of personal growth to our lives, as it does for the trees, the fields, and the beasts. Regardless of where you live, whatever you consider to be "good weather" can make you...no...PULL you outdoors and under the sun. It's time!
Jason and I had a crazy trip down to Zach Even-esh's Underground Strength Gym in Edison, New Jersey (a.k.a. "The Dirty Jerzee"), and found out first hand what the hype was all about. Like Zach often says, he's "killin' it" down in Jersey, and it's obvious to see by just watching his videos and connecting with the underground community, as it was by attending the certification weekend. Both of us are truly inspired by what we experienced at his gym, and recommend it to anyone willing to give their all, for their all.

Now, back to my point...GET OUT THERE!!

I think we underestimate how much we can benefit from being out in the open air with nothing but the will to sow the seed of perseverance and the patience to reap the strength, and maybe a pair of shorts ;-)

I took advantage of yesterday's sunny inspiration and took the kbells for a spin. Here's what i did...

1. 5 reps push-press, left (non-dominant) then right.
2. 7 reps swing-to-clean, left then right.
3. 10 reps kbell push-ups, not too fast, full body tension, parallel grip and close to body.
4. 5 reps, double rack squats, not too fast, smooth full body tension.
5. 2 reps, snatch (1-4) top-down TGU (turkish get-up), left then right, with one press at the bottom.
REPEAT (if you can)
End with farmer walks or rack walks with both bells, then get your protein shake and TAKE A SHOWER you filthy comrade!

Take this workout into consideration as a max-out session. Mix up numbers and/or drop an exercise to better suit your energy needs, but push yourself a little more each workout. As your body advances, so should your discipline.

What are you waiting for? Hop outside and get to work!

Stay strong,
Coach C

How to stop whining...

I'm tellin' ya...Maine has got to be the fricken coldest state in the US, besides maybe Alaska. It's JUST NOW getting in the mid-40s!! Even though the weather isn't quite what i prefer yet for enjoyable workout conditions, i made it happen. It may have been around 40 degrees at my house, and i KILLED IT (sorry Zach, but it's true). I had the 300+lb tire, 50&30lb kbells, and 5 stones (all different weights and sizes), all for me to play with however i seemed fit. If i can give you any advice on what to do when you're outside with this kind of equipment, i'd say "GO CRAZY!!!" I was moving from flippin' the tire to crushing, pressing, and jerking the rocks, to snatching the kbells to jumping the tire, to doing elevated push-ups on the tire (it's a great functional tool, by the way) to doing rows on the tire with the kbells to doing one-handed presses with one of the lighter stones (45lb) to flipping the 50lb kbell, to a few other things i can't remember. It was structured enough to be equally comprehensive, but random enough to trick my body.
Now that it's warming up a little outside, get the frick out there and go nuts!!
Yea, we whine a lot and give ourselves little excuses to skip a workout or two, but when it gets down to what we MUST DO, we MUST stop the whining and train. No excuses, no questions asked.
The warrior instinct in us wasn't meant to be tied down to anything that inhibits it from allowing the self to achieve what it really wants and needs. Be controlled so that you don't hurt yourself and others, but don't hold yourself back from anything that may improve your strength and wellbeing.

Keep it real!
Coach C

Being poor, and training hard....

I know....We are all poor. The economy is just in the can, and there is little we can do about it.
I trained last night with Coach C, and our basement gym was flooded with water. We said F-it and trained anyway.
That is the way it has to be. Period.
Do we currently have people busting down the door to train in our wet basement gym....Nope. Do we think a nice fancy gym would get us more clients...Yup. Do we give up because of people's misguided understanding of what a gym should be....HELL NO!
We train. We promote. We hustle our asses off....Bottom line.
Trust me...I would love to have a nicer place, with high ceilings, and a ton of clients, somewhere in town where people could actually SEE us. But can I have it now....Not without getting a loan, or an investor who would most likely make the decisions for our business rather than let us run things the way we want. Frankly, I don't need another boss....I've got one already, and I hate it.
The thing is....Even though we are poor, and have a basement to train people out of, does not mean that we let ourselves die...That we let ourselves give in to the depressing mood of today's economy. You have got to stand up, and keep moving forward, no matter how tough it gets, no matter how poor you are, failure is something that happens to everyone. It's what you do after you fail that matters.

I think this quote from the movie "Rocky Balboa" says it all....

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!
Rocky Balboa

Do I get discouraged by not having what I want...Right now....Your damn right I do...Some days you just want to pack it in. You think that trying to start up a fitness facility is just a dream that will never happen, that it is taking too long, that you don't have the money....Well, I can cry over it, or I can suck it up and keep moving forward, just like Rocky said. I can't go any lower in the fitness biz, so what do I have to worry about? Nothing..... All I need to do, is just train hard, work hard at getting the word out, and eventually, something will happen, and if it doesn't, I just have to keep working until it does, no matter how long it takes.

The bottom line is this....
It is easy to give up, to quite.

It is damned hard to keep fighting.

But it is your life that you are fighting for....

So you better damn well give it all you've got, `cause it isn't going to get any better if you just lay down and die, its just gonna end.

Here is what I want to say to all of you out there that are struggling to keep it together. That are living paycheck to paycheck. That want something more from this life than you already have...

Keep the dream alive! Keep fighting no matter what. And if you fall, get back up and go back at it harder than before.

Never back down and never give in.

If you want to get in shape, but can't do it by going to a gym....Give us a call, we can come to you. We can be your support, and you can be ours. We are the Wicked Iron Underground.

Take care all!

Coach B
WIU

Sick

So......I'm sick as a dog. Sicker, actually, cuz my dog is just fine. I caught the flu a few days ago, and it's not fun. I'm a student of a local university, and school just got back in session, so getting the flu now is BAD TIMING! But I know you're not interested in my academic life, so here's why I'm writing to you...cough, cough!!
In my experience, when I get sick, workouts go down the drain...FAST! So, what to do when you're sick?
I don't suggest cardio. BAD IDEA! You want to get better, not worse. For those of you that get sick and think "I'll just flush everything out of my system by working out really hard." No, just no. I tried that once, and I ended up in bed for two weeks because of the pain of straining my already weak muscles. Be smart with your body.
ANYWAY...!!
I don't know about you, but I still want to stay active even when I'm sick, so here's what I do.
Body weight exercises and stretching, that's it. Think of your sickness - Whether it's a cold, flu, or whatever - As an opportunity to work on the things that you ignore when you're too busy being "hard-style." *Guilty as charged*
And by "body weight" I don't mean do a thousand push-ups and even more crunches.
If you do any push-ups, crunches, squats, or anything that you would normally do with a weight in your hand, do them slowly. Be patient when you're sick.
Why do I say slow? Because if you want to maintain muscle density, slow, tight movements are the only way to do so without a weight. WOW!

Here's a quick workout for you sickly folks out there...
Push ups: 2-3 sets of 5 reps, full body tension. 3sec down, 1 sec pause, 3 sec up. Get rid of the part of your ego that thinks that more reps equal "bad-ass!"
Crunches: Untraditional; when performing the crunch, press your lower back into the ground. This will promote more muscle work for less reps. 3-5 sets of 5 reps, same timing as push-ups.
Squats: Hands straight out, full body tension, down 3sec pause 2sec up 3sec.
Tactical lunges: start feet together, then lunge backward. No solid timing, just slower than usual and be careful. Full body tension!

There's just a few exercises for ya! Add or remove any to your own taste, but keep the timing theories and full body tension technique.

Over and out,
Coach C

Use What You Have

I'm always looking for more ways to challenge myself. Always looking for the next step. Always making sure I don't stagnate, thus changing up the routine as much as I can. Sure, for you to get better at something, you need to focus on that thing until efficiency is achieved. But you also need to focus on SHIFTING the focus of your muscles so that you will adapt to the new movement. The only reason you improve in something is probably because it's new to you. That said, for your muscles to improve as a whole, they need to experience something new pretty frequently. This isn't to say that once you're done with a technique that you should never go back to it. But there needs to be, lets say, constant "shifting" of technique.

For example, in the spirit of this subject, I tried to make that challenge for my body to better it's adapting capabilities. What was a normal kettlebell workout (which in itself isn't normal at all) turned into an excruciating challenge for my body to take hold of. I was using my 50lb kettlebell, and was going through some long-cycle cleans, overhead presses, overhead lunges, windmills, bent-presses, and squats. Then came the real workout...
I had some rubber bands hanging up in the corner that I usually use for punching and kicking drills. I quickly hooked the strap to my ankle, wrapped the other end of the band around the handle of the bell, and then went to town! I wanted heavier weight, and BOY did I get it! There's no way of knowing for certain, but it felt like it added another twenty pounds with certain movements. It added a lot more weight, and also was a good stability movement, as the rubber band wanted to fly right back to the floor. I did some overhead presses with the band and some windmills as well, until I couldn't take it anymore,
I HIGHLY recommend you use some durable rubber bands and take your workouts to a whole new level! And for me, being poor and all, it sure beat buying another kettlebell when I could just use a rubber band instead. In other words, its a great thing to temporarily put on some more weight to that bell. I would always recommend a heavier bell over this, of course. But for those of you who only have one bell and want to quickly add some weight to it, this is the way to go!

That's all folks!!

Coach C
Wicked Iron Underground

Misconceptions, Dedication, and Follow Through.

Nothing is worse for an up and coming business person like misconceptions about his or her field of business...Of course I am talking about the fitness industry. Every time I try to sell our concept to a person who is "interested" in fitness, I have to deal with their misconceptions about what "Fitness Training" is and should be.
I understand that there are a lot of ways to become fit. I understand that there are a lot of ways to train. I also understand that different people like different things. However, I do NOT understand peoples beliefs surrounding what fitness training and fitness facilities SHOULD be.
For instance, I was trying to convince some relatives of mine about the benefit of kettlebell training. These two were complaining about their lack of fitness, and body compositions, so I asked them what they did when they went to a local gym. They responded with the norm...Get on the eliptical machine, walk on the treadmill and listen to music while doing it. Not bad but....Not good either! I began to explain that, kettlebell training is a great way to increase strength, and cardiovascular fitness due to it's whole body applications. What did I hear??? "I don't want to bulk up..." And "When I lift weight, I don't slim down, I just get bigger..." The usual. I tried to convince them that the research of late shows that it is nearly impossible for women to "Bulk up" like men do, simply because they do not have enough testosterone in their bodies to build that much muscle. I also explained that muscle growth destroys fat in the body, allowing a change in body composition. To this I got only sarcasm and disbelief. That is fine.
The problem is, America has lost it's understanding of fitness and training facilities. The current standard of fitness involves going to a large gym, with expensive equipment, that produce little or no results. Most people dedicate a half an hour to an hour of training a couple times a week. Still, they see no results. They use hydraulic machines, eliptical machines, walk on the treadmill, stair climber, you name it, they even may lift some weights. Yet they are almost never happy with the results, and they almost always quit the gym and therefore stop their training all together. This causes an expansion effect on the body, which generally leads to health and emotional issues. Later on, they try another gym. Each time paying a lot of money for the memberships. When trying to sway such people with alternate forms of fitness, like the kettlebell, or different types of facilities, ones without mirrors or walking machines and the like, one often faces enormous obstacles with peoples misconceptions around the fitness industry. I use the term industry on purpose, because it is indeed an industry. All the big name gyms count on the scenario written above. They WANT you to spend a lot of money on your fitness, fitness that shows little or no results, how do you think they pay for that treadmill you are walking on? How about the nice shiny new mirrors and hydraulic "strength training" equipment? Prices....Well, they may be cheap...at first, however, the big gyms know you won't stick around too long, and you will most likely use it less an less as the weeks and months go by. Essentially, they provide no stimulating exercises, no effective results are seen, so they EXPECT that you will only go once and a while, that you will find other things to do OTHER than go to the gym, that you will make excuses for not training or getting the results you want, the whole time paying your membership.
About the problem with facilities. As a new business man, I am having to train people out of a basement. I cannot afford a huge rent. I do not want or need mirrors. I do not want people walking in my fitness system. I want them to train hard, and see results. I want them to succeed, and I want them to pay me to help them. However, the issue is my place just as much as it is my training. I am not offering what people expect in a facility. I am not offering what Americans think of as REAL fitness training. I train people old school, kettlebells, heavy iron, tires, you name it. This is not what people think of when they want training. So what happens to my business? It suffers. Of course, I only want people who want to train hard, without complaint, and people who don't care what their surroundings look like, only that their training is good and challenging. My biggest complaint is, when people act "interested" and I tell them what we do....They stop listening, simply because of their misconceptions.

Dedication.....That is a word that most people understand, but a rare few actually have. As I stated above, Americans in the fitness world have little or no dedication to their own training. Millions of people go to gyms trying to better themselves, to be healthier. What they lack, is dedication. America is of the mindset that if you want something to happen, it must happen now...When you want it too. I call this a culture of instant gratification. Our lives, our food, our technology, our jobs run on instant gratification. Who has time....Right? Who has the time to cook? To clean? To write a letter to a friend? Who has time to call someone, when you can text message them? Why have personal interactions? It is ALL about getting what you want, without working for it. Why? Because hard work is well.....HARD! People who enter into fitness, are looking for the same thing. They want results now, without the hassle of having to work for it. If they have to work for it, they want to do something that is easy. Why else would they make stationary bikes that recline? Or even ab machines that come equipped with a built in chair? Why should I lay on the floor and do sit ups or crunches, when I could sit in a padded chair and do the same thing? Don't get me started on the AB-Lounger!!!!!!!!!!
My point is, there is no dedication to hard work in fitness training anymore. People look at the barbell and heavy weights as a hassle, it's too hard to do. Unfortunately that is the point. People enter into fitness facilities and step on to the stair stepper, or their favorite stationary bike, they plug in their headphones, turn the volume up, and watch the t.v. hanging on the wall. If that is supposed to be a workout....Then I am truly confused. Once these stair stepping, music listening, t.v. watching fitness buffs find out they are NOT getting any better, then they quit. It's not working so why do it. "I tried it twice and so far, I still haven't lost any weight" Ever hear that? I do all the time. No dedication...No results.

Follow Through. This ties in with dedication. I had a bunch of high school athletes interested in joining my gym. I told them that they needed to fill out a release, have the money ready up front, and send me an email back by the end of the week to let me know they were coming. I got two emails out of four. The two I DID get were of the "I'm still interested but....", variety. Essentially this breaks down to the problem being a lack of follow through. If you cannot do a few simple things to get yourself set up in a gym, so that you can train hard, then how hare are you REALLY going to train? If you cannot tell someone you are or aren't going to show up, how are you supposed to do any kind of workout. You may start your workout, then say "well, I showed up, that ought to be enough." That is a lack of follow through. Say your personal trainer tells you to do 2 sets of 10 reps and then walks away. As he or she walks away, you make a great show of the first 10 reps, but then decide that maybe, you don't want to do another set of 10, no one is around to make you, so why not go get a protein shake and chat with the people at the juice bar? Sounds like a lack of follow through to me!

The bottom line is that, for a lot of fitness professionals, the ones who are really trying to give people the best fitness programs out there, their clientele is not as dedicated to their own fitness as the fitness professionals are. People want deals, don't show up to their scheduled workouts, neglect to pay, and whine that things are too hard. People want their fitness ready made, in attractive packaging, and without having to work for it. Essentially, they want to pay money for a new, fit, person, without having to lift a finger. They think that the new ideas of using OLD fitness and strength training methods, are wrong, that it couldn't possibly work, and that it looks too hard or hurts too much to bother with. They want to use the kettlebell for swings but not for presses because it hurts their wrists. Really...Ok...

If you are a person who thinks all of the modern day fitness beliefs are nothing but a load of bull-shit....Then you need to get in touch with us. If you are tired of being warned that you are grunting too loud during your workout, then check us out.
Who are we....We are the Wicked Iron Underground.

Of course, you probably already knew that!

What Happened to Ropes in Gym Class?

Hey all you Wicked Iron Underground Cronies, I have a question for ya.......What the hell happened to climbing ropes in Physical Education???? Being an 8th grade teacher, I get a chance to see what my students get for a phys-ed program, and I am not impressed. Maybe it is just my school, or my state (Maine, which happens to have a HUGE obesity problem), but all I see is the phys-ed teacher teaching the kids whatever that season's sport is! Right now Basket ball is in full swing, so what are our students practicing???? Basket Ball. What happened to training our students to be strong, agile, and confident??? The only time I see our kids doing body weight exercise is when the teacher has to do the yearly physical health check. Only then are they doing sit-ups or pull ups. The rope has gone the way of the dodo. Do you remember when you were just a young'un and you were playing on the monkey bars at the playground? Did you ever have a climbing rope out there too? Wasn't it the most fun you ever had, climbing stuff, testing yourself?
The rope climb has been made to look like the most vile of gym class physical feats. What movie that is about high school, does NOT have the rope climb in it? All the popular kids who CAN climb, standing around watching all the kids who CAN'T climb, try to get up that rope. In terms of fitness, our kids need to do that stuff, without the harsh environment of the Hollywood gym class scenario. We here at the Wicked Iron Underground look at fitness as functional....That means we try to do things that have every day application. What happens if you are out and about hiking one day and you fall off the edge of a cliff? On your way down you grab on to a large root and stop yourself from plummeting to your death. Now what do you do? CAN you climb up and save yourself? Or do you hang on until your grip gives out and you die anyway, only delaying the inevitable? I know what you are thinking, that is a pretty extreme case sir, that wouldn't happen on a daily basis....Well, being prepared never hurt anyone. Besides, climbing rope builds grip strength, it helps build up your lats, your back, and your core. Try climbing rope without tightening your stomach....You can't.
All these muscles help you in your every day life, whether it be a construction worker, or a busy mom lifting groceries out of the back of an SUV.
I say, bring back strength and conditioning. Make our kids healthy and strong, just like we want for them. Take away the video games and the cell phones and the computers for a while, and make them do SOMETHING active. Something that will challenge them physically and mentally. Work out with your kids! That way you both benefit, and you get some parent-child bonding done as well. Our biggest problem is taking responsibility for our selves and our kids. If we don't do it ourselves, our kids won't do it for THEMSELVES, and then you can't help them.
BRING BACK THE OLD DAYS! STRENGTH AND FITNESS FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN!
Want your child to be better, feel better, look healthier????
E-mail us!
wickedironkb@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/wickedironkb
http://wickedironunderground.blogspot.com/

Act now, space in our gym is limited, and it WILL fill up fast.
You never know, their may be an early bird special in it for ya!
Happy Holidays!
W.I.U.