P.S. Here are 4 more ways you can become happier and healthier:
1. Podcasts
Some of the greatest insights and healing for me, have come from listening to podcasts in the last few years. This long-form type of communication, I’ve found, has been extremely important for understanding context, while learning how to make sustainable change.
That’s why I have started to find ways to get our story on some podcasts, and give you an opportunity to really go deep with us, and see what we’re all about. That way, you can decide if this tribe fits your personality. Click the link below to go to our podcast page, where you can find all our episodes!
Rise is the story of ‘never feeling powerful … to … never feeling powerless’. It’s about John Bair’s life, why he does what he does and how his suffering created happiness.
This handwritten book takes you through an intimate, yet, self-revealing journey, which allows you to implant yourself into the story, as it relates to your own, and reveal the steps you’ll need to take, in order to make change a successful reality.
Is getting lean, having 6 pack abs and a tight butt, really worth the trade off or is being healthy, enough? You see, as your coach it is my mission to get you to the goals you want, so long as they enhance your health. I am not here to sell you on the idea of ‘Magazine Fitness’, I deal in truth.
Most want to sell you products and stuff, because they know customers will leave when they find out they’ve been duping them for money with inferior service, unrealistic programs or unnecessary products. I vehemently detest that sort of thinking. Looking like a fitness model or close to that good requires lots of hard work. There are trade-offs between training time, meal prep, life and having fun with friends, nights out etc. It just comes down to what you want most and how to balance it.
With the help of the folks at www.precisionnutrition.com, here are 6 steps to choose the body you want most. 2 are unhealthy and 4 are healthy. First, Figure out your Priorities. Next decide what you are willing to do and what will serve your priorities best. Next decide frequency and how often, how consistently and how precisely you are willing to do those things. Next decide what you are not willing to do, tradeoff or give up. Now you can make better decisions, leading to the body you really want, while living the life you really enjoy.
Do you want to be Unhealthy and Overweight?
• Body Fat for Men to maintain: Greater than 20%
• Body Fat for Women to maintain: Greater than 30%
• Do More: Eating of processed foods, Eat bigger portions, Eat quickly
• Do Less: Exercise of any kind, Eat fewer whole foods, Sleep less
• Athletes at this Body Fat %: None
• Benefits: Easy fallback for some folks, Does not require much thought or work
• Tradeoffs: Poor health, Low energy levels, Poorer life expectancy, Risk of metabolic syndrome, May need medications to manage various conditions
Do you want to be Healthy?
• Body Fat for Men to maintain: 15 – 20%
• Body Fat for Women to maintain: 25 – 30%
• Do More: Eat slowly until satisfied at 60% of your meals, Include 1 – 2 palms of protein dense foods in 1-2 meals a day, Include 1 – 2 fists of veggies in 1 -2 meals per day, Exercise 3 – 5x per week, any activity, any intensity
• Do Less: Eat fewer desserts and processed foods, Drink fewer caloric beverages
• Athletes at this Body Fat %: College aged athletes, Off-season bodybuilders, Olympic shot putters
• Benefits: Improved health and energy, Improved sleep, Exercise is easier and enjoyable
• Tradeoffs: Requires some thought and planning, You’ll look good but not super lean
Do you want to be Healthy and Lean?
• Body Fat for Men to maintain: 13 – 15%
• Body Fat for Women to maintain: 23 – 25%
• Do More: Eat slowly until satisfied at 75% of your meals, Include 1 – 2 palms of protein dense foods in 2 – 3 meals a day, Include 1 – 2 fists of veggies in 2 – 3 meals per day, Exercise 30 – 45 minutes daily – with 1 – 2 sessions breaking a sweat, Sleep at least 7 hours a night
• Do Less: Eat desserts/processed foods 3-5x per week – within reason, Drink up to 3-5 caloric beverages per week – but no more
• Athletes at this Body Fat %: Olympic canoe and kayak athletes, Pro Baseball players, Pro Softball players
• Benefits: Fairly easy to maintain, Energy will continue to improve, Improved sleep, Exercise is easier and enjoyable, May be able to reduce and or eliminate many medications
• Tradeoffs: Requires some thought, planning and may require minor social sacrifices (e.g. exercising instead of hanging out at the bar with friends), May require more effort and attention maintain this much sleep, May require increased food prep skills and effort
Do you want to be Healthy and Athletically Lean?
• Body Fat for Men to maintain: 10 – 12%
• Body Fat for Women to maintain: 20 – 22%
• Do More: Eat slowly until satisfied at 90% of your meals, Include 1 – 2 palms of protein dense foods in each meal, Include 1 – 2 fists of veggies in each meal, Include 1 – 2 thumbs of healthy fats at most meals and 1 – 2 cupped handfuls of quality carbs at meals surrounding exercise, Exercise 45 – 60 minutes daily – with 2-3 sessions breaking a sweat, Sleep at least 7 – 8 hours a night
• Do Less: Eat desserts/processed foods 1-2x per week – within reason, Drink up to 1-2 caloric beverages per week – but no more
• Athletes at this Body Fat %: Olympic swimmers, Pro hockey players, Olympic volleyball players
• Benefits: Fit appearance and good overall health, Fewer food cravings due to balanced diet and exercise regime, Relatively easy to maintain once practices become habitual Improved sleep, Exercise is easier and enjoyable, May be able to reduce and or eliminate many medications
• Tradeoffs: Requires more planning and attention to diet, Requires a greater time commitment for the more consistent exercise regime, May need assistance or coaching to achieve this level of consistency, will require minor social sacrifices (e.g. exercising instead of hanging out at the bar with friends), May require more effort and attention maintain this much sleep, Will require increased food prep skills and effort
Do you want to be Healthy and Super Lean?
• Body Fat for Men to maintain: 6 – 9%
• Body Fat for Women to maintain: 16 – 19%
• Do More: Eat slowly until satisfied at 95% of your meals, Include 1 – 2 palms of protein dense foods in each meal, Include 1 – 2 fists of fibrous veggies in each meal, Include 1 – 2 thumbs of healthy fats at each meal, Eat 1 – 2 cupped handfuls of quality carbs at meals surrounding exercise, Exercise 60 – 75 minutes daily – with 3-4 sessions breaking a sweat, Sleep at least 8 hours a night
• Do Less: Limit carbs to post workout, Eat desserts/processed foods once every 1-2 weeks – within reason, Drink a caloric beverage once every 1-2 weeks
• Athletes at this Body Fat %: Olympic boxers & wrestlers, Olympic Sprinters, Olympic Gymnasts
• Benefits: Will probably look extremely lean and possibly defined abs, Overall health will be good due to carefully balanced diet and exercise regime, Will likely have high work capacity and good stamina
• Tradeoffs: May struggle in social situations especially those involving food, May not have time for social opportunities outside of exercise, May have to give up other hobbies and interests outside of fitness, Will need assistance or coaching to achieve this level of consistency, Will require more effort and attention maintain this much sleep, Will require increased food prep skills and effort
Do you want to be Unhealthy and Extremely Lean?
• Body Fat for Men to maintain: Less than 6%
• Body Fat for Women to maintain: Less than 16%
• Do More: Eat slowly until satisfied at 99.9% of meals, Incorporate calorie/carb cycling, Follow meal plan with predetermined foods and amounts and measure foods specifically, Include exact amounts of lean proteins, fibrous veggies and healthy fats in each meal, Exercise 45-75 minutes twice daily and with 6-7 sessions breaking a sweat, Sleep at least 9 hours per night
• Do Less: Limit carbs to post workout or designated higher carb days, Eat desserts/processed foods once every 10-12 weeks, Avoid caloric beverages
• Athletes at this Body Fat %: Elite bodybuilders on contest day, Fitness models the day of a photo shoot
• Benefits: May feel pride at achieving an athletic goal
• Tradeoffs: Will have difficulty socializing in most typical situations where food is involved, May miss out on fun events with family and friends, Big time commitment to measure weigh and track all foods, Hyper focus on diet and exercise may contribute to disordered eating, Time required for exercise may crowd out all other pursuits or interests
So there you have it friends, a solid blueprint to get the body you’ve always wanted!
Please comment below and let us know what your ideal body is and the plan you are choosing to use!
The Snatch is the Tsar of Kettlebell lifts as Pavel has said, because it demands qualities above the standard kettlebell training and Does Not accept excuses. It is not to be played with, as some amateurish attempt to show off how experienced you aren’t. You will lose.
The Snatch requires proper breathing, rooting into the ground, shoulder girdle mobility and stability, grip endurance, proper hinging mechanics, rotary stability through the spine and core plus a reason to do it! If you are Snatching just because your friend said it’s good, you will end up eating it. It will not feel anything like you expected – you will be rendered useless and the Snatch, left a mess in the corner.
To make it feel good, a foundation has to be built to even attempt the Snatch. A heavy dose of Swings, Turkish Getups, Cleans, Squats and Presses are necessary. It doesn’t take kindly to rookies acting like they know what buttons to push and you may not get another chance to crack the Snatch with any tool, Kettlebell or otherwise.
I’m not in the habit of chasing less than quality Snatch. It must be smooth from the bottom up and tasteful from the top down . A bad Snatch is forever putrid, while a good Snatch is always preferable for safety reasons.
I have yet to find a Perfect Snatch, but that doesn’t stop me from looking. If I never find one, I know I will always have practiced with a safe Snatch. I wish you the same, Enjoy!
The Snatch can leave you breathless and quivering in minutes. The Foundation for capturing the most intense, jaw dropping and satisfying Snatch, can be Read Here,Here, Here, Here andHerefirst! Be ready for your first experience.
My good friend Pat Flynn just released an Article about: How to Freshen up Your Snatch. Pat is an exceptional writer who likes the Snatch too. The main point is, you must use your equipment wisely if you want a Fresh Snatch –Check it out Here
Standard Form
All of the points that apply to the swing, minus the requirement to keep a straight arm and the kettlebell float
Swing the KB off the ground between your legs and snatch it overhead in one uninterrupted motion to a straight-arm lockout
Catch the KB ‘quietly’ without banging forearm or jarring your elbow and shoulder
At the lockout, the arm must be level with the head or behind the head, the neck neutral and the lower back not hyper extended
Maintain the fixation for a second with the arm and legs straight and the feet and body stationary
Actively lower the KB between your legs in one loose uninterrupted motion close to the body without touching the chest or the shoulder and re-snatch
Be explosive and practice the biomechanical breathing match
Progressions
All Points Apply from the Swing, First.
Lockout
Snatch
Drop
Switching Hands
Sparing the Calluses
A few notes:
Do Not Over grip the kettlebell. Instead think of your fingers as hooking onto the kettlebell, keeping your wrist straight.
You do not raise the kettlebell with your arms, you use the hips to power it up. The arms just pass the forces generated from the hips, think punch at the top.
Keep a Big Chest – I should be able to read your shirt throughout the movement, even at the bottom.
Push your Hips back as if closing the car door with your butt
Fast & Loose Relaxation Drills – Shake your arms and legs vigorously, as if trying to shake off water and belly breathe in between sets, to bring Heart Rate down
There are more: Check Back Later, Again be smart and send me a question if you’re not sure: John@BairKnuckleStrength.com
Beginner’s Programming:
Do 1 Repetition well, and then the next, etc.
Practice a little at a time and do more when it feels appropriate, you will know.
Do Not Rush, Do Not get ‘Tired or Fatigued’ – Just get Better at the movement.
A few reps here and there or for a 10-15 minute session, with rest in between, sets of no more than 10 at a time to keep power output good. That’s what burns the calories.
A good goal is to work a bell that’s appropriate for you, get to 100 snatches in 5 min or so and then if it feels good, go heavier and back to 40 reps. Work back to 100 etc…
Focus on generating the most power per snatch, not the most snatches with the least power.
Use an appropriate weight.
And eat clean, like meat, veggies and fruits….and tell me how you feel below in the comments section 🙂
Happy New Year folks! It is my sincerest hope that you find your way toward maintaining your Independence until the day you die. I believe that to be the sincerest form of Freedom we have left. With New Year’s resolutions staring back at you as we speak, there can be a lot of anxiety and pressure to regain your health, especially if you haven’t been active for a while. Maybe you are a former athlete coming back from a long hiatus or someone who spent years building a business and family, but neglecting strength and wellness. Perhaps you were ‘lucky’ and never really had to do anything because your job kept you in shape, but now you’re retired and starting to feel the aches and pains? Where do you start?
Well, the athlete, being true to their competitive nature will most likely rustle up the last program they were following and ‘get to work.’ The working crowds, well-meaning in every way, will Google the closest gym, buy a membership, ride the treadmill with the other hamsters and maybe even following a program clipped from the newest ‘Pump” or ‘Shapely’ magazine. Our retiree, possibly weary from years of work, will pick up an old hobby, golf let’s say and play, until some soreness crops up. Or worse, they have some injuries and are afraid to get hurt, so they do a whole lot of nothing. Now, before your curse me and say I’m generalizing or lumping together, I’m merely providing an abstract of a large population, bear with me.
None of these people are doing anything wrong! In fact, I sincerely applaud any effort above none. If you love riding the treadmill, I support you. If you are trying to relive some glory years and want to train like your athletic former self, Bravo my Friend. And if you just want to play a little golf and live out the good ole years, who the hell am I to even suggest that’s not correct? The goal of coaching is coaching the goal, Your Goal! Not Mine.
That’s where the picture can get a little clear. My concern, for those, coming off the Bench, if you will, is not truly appreciating Point A, as Dan John would say, or where you are right now, in regards to your Health and Fitness. Old Injuries cause muscle imbalances or joint problems, Skills diminish, Posture changes, Ability is restricted. If you cannot be brutally honest and assess your baseline, how can you ever know if you’re improving toward your goal, or Point B? Even more horrific, is possibly shortening your life with choices that break your body down, not build it up.
Now, in all fairness, the ‘regular ’ person will know more about Point A, because they have no idea about Point B, or even how to get there. Average John knows he’s busted up, carrying some extra cheese love handles and can’t touch his toes. Average Jody has the ‘thunder thighs’ or ‘jiggly arm thing’ and it’s embarrassing, frustrating and extremely hard to want to change, Especially reaching out and admitting it to a complete stranger like me. Athletes, on the other hand, know exactly where they want to go, higher vertical, faster 40, lift more or Bigger, Faster, Stronger, right? However, athletes can deceive even themselves about their own abilities, possibly leading to injury and lost training due to that.
So, before we get to training, know where you are, your Point A and where you want to go, Point B. We can use SMART goals, as the acronym goes: Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Repeatable and Timely, because ‘I just want to tone up’, ‘I just want to drop a few pounds’ or ‘I just want to feel better’, while noble, have no direction. As the saying goes, ‘if you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there.’ A SMART goal is: Lose 10lbs in 3 months, I’m 190lbs now, That’s 3.3lbs per month, or less than a pound a week, use proper training and dial in nutrition. You can do that in a safe, effective, repeatable and timely fashion, with the parameters you just created.
You can you find that information, with an Assessment of Course. Find someone, who can assess your fitness capabilities, limitations, muscle imbalance, asymmetries, postural deviances etc. with something like the Functional Movement Screen, but also a Nutritional Assessment and Mental Assessment about your level of commitment and ability to stay true to the task, and give an honest evaluation of Point A. (I do Online Coaching with Virtual assessment, wink wink)
From there, Point B is fairly simple, as we reverse engineer the goal. I can now build a map to from A to B in the safest, most efficient manner. This is where the Kettlebells and Proper Movement come into play as we all have primary movement patterns. The Push (Horizontal/Vertical) Pull, (Horizontal/Vertical), Hinge or Bend, Squat, Rotation, Single leg and Locomotion (a few others but these are the most important, especially at the start again.)
The assessment will find out the weakest pattern and that is where you should start. Some of you may need to just Breathe and Walk, that’s it. If we find out you can’t breathe well, do you really think I’d be in business long if I told you to run a mile as a warm-up? If your nutrition is out of whack, intense training is hellacious and borderline criminal. If you can’t touch your toes, should I ask you to squat with a lot of weight, or any? What if your shoulders are dinged up and I told you press a heavy kettlebell? See my point? Good.
Now, the exercises we do before the Kettlebell and Lifting stuff can be called corrective exercise, but a better term is to call them assistance exercise, as Marc Andresen has said. They assist in the long term picture of your goal. At first, learning to breathe, re-educating your hips and moving your shoulders can be very taxing and tiring. Guess what, if you’re muscles are fatiguing, you’re breathing hard and maybe even sweating when you learn the movement properly then that’s the workout!
Before lifting stuff and doing all the fun things, we have to make sure your body is capable of handling it. The hierarchy is:
Breathing well, mobility and patterning natural movement
Stability and Cementing those patterns with strength like Goblet Squats, Turkish Getups, military presses
And then we can do the fun dynamic stuff like Kettlebells Swings, Cleans and Snatches which just incinerate fat but also strengthen muscles in the most important places
Followed closely by Recovery including Sleep, Massage or Foam Rolling, Yoga and Brisk Walking (as Pat Flynn has reminded me is so effective!)
You don’t need all kinds of crazy intense stuff, especially if I lay you on your back, have you stick your legs straight up in the air and you can’t even hold them there because you’re legs cramp and abs shut down. Proper exercise should mimic you’re goal and keep you healthy in the process, so you can go do the thing that you’re training for!
If it’s to run a 5k, you’ve got to move well, transfer the force of pounding the pavement and have the strength to do it. If it’s to lose 10lbs, your muscles have fire properly in a sequence, producing enough stress to force the system to burn the fat. Want to have joints that don’t ache and play with your grand kids? Maybe even Dancing with the Love your life in the pale moon light? Then breathing and moving well, with the strength to enjoy those experiences, may be all you need. Take the time to find out Point A and every decision you’ll make just became exponentially easier because every choice will either move you closer, or further from your Point B.
If you’re ready to put it all together, but don’t know where to go, you’re in Luck. Wherever you are in the World, I can help: with my Online coaching program
If you’re local to me, Montgomery County PA and would like to work closer with me, please contact John@BairKnuckleStrength.com with the Subject line ‘Kettlebell Training’ and I will get back to you ASAP.
If you’ve been assessed and have been given the green light and you’re aching to try something like Kettlebells, then this video, the first in a series of 6, is for you, Start Here!
Again, I truly want you have the Best year of your Life and If none of those options work for you, then grab my free report, The Top 5 Red Flags to Fix: Before Training, do the exercises and Follow my videos. This is as close to an Assessment as you can get from me without having to pay for it!
Besides the year between October 2007 and October 2008, 2013 was the most challenging for me and my family, on so many levels. My mom was sick for most of the year, having had 2 major surgeries. Many hospital visits and stays, visiting the hospital every day for a total of 6 weeks this year, though not all at once, over 9 months. It was scary and difficult, emotions ran high and it took a toll. I just wanted my Mom to feel better.
My Grandfather lost his wife and me, my grandmother in October. It’s now Black October. I made many trips to his home in New Jersey over the last 2 months, to help in any way I could.
I also had a major Life Change, in that I was thrust into the process of Officially Starting my Business, Bair Knuckle Strength. For the last 3 months, I’ve been working to lay the foundation for Bair Knuckle Strength. Learning on the Fly how to manage the day to day tasks, deliver the Best service and Keep my clients goals my goals.
My Training this year was tough. There were many days getting hit in the face with a Bat would have been preferable. I adopted much more of a Minimalist approach to Life and Training, thanks in Part to Pat Flynn and Som Sikdar, by being forced to find what was most important and discard what was not. A typical day earlier this year was, up at 5, Giving my All to my clients for 4-6hrs , train myself, Visit my Mom a few hours or tend to her after her surgeries, Any reading or business development I could muster, Take care of our cat and keep things in order, Rinse and Repeat.
Looking back, I am amazed at what I was able to accomplish with all this turmoil surrounding me.
I assisted at Killing it with Kettlebells Certifications in January, May, August and November, 3 days a piece.
Assisted at the RKC in September, 3 days.
Attended a juggling workshop in New York back in May with Gus Petersen.
2 day Strength Fest with Dan John, Pat Flynn, Jim Ferris, Som Sikdar, Coach Stevo.
2 day workshop with Steve Maxwell in October.
I met so many new wonderful people from all over the world and forged many great relationships and networks. My Facebook Friends Grew. My reach is expanding and soon I’ll be able to help others across the world from right here.
I accomplished these things that I had put on my personal list of goals in 2013:
I did Turkish Getups with the 36k (79lb) Kettlebell on each side, Later the 40k (88lb) on both sides and finally managed to do a Get Up with 97lb in each hand (44k).
I worked to a 1 arm pushup on my Left and Right Arm.
Regained Mobility in my busted up lower legs and can do something resembling a goblet squat, soon I will have the Pistol.
I learned to do Hanging Leg Raises, the King of Ab exercises and not just 1, but many.
I learned many new Kettlebell Juggling techniques, learning how to do an over the shoulder toss, landing multiple Double Helicopters and even sharing my juggling knowledge with others.Here is a video of some juggling
I got my first Muscle Up
I trained for and recertified my RKC, earning the right to assist, which required me to be able to snatch a 53lb KB, 100x in 5 minutes, along with demonstrating proper technique.
There were more, but I’m not into Bragging. I am content with the results of how far my goals took me.
I did all without overloading myself, by never getting too tired. By breaking everything down to the Bare Necessities and doing all that needed to be done and not a smidge more. I didn’t get sick and I was able to be there for my Mom, My Sister (she was there for me too) My Clients, My Business Mentors and Friends and Myself, That’s it.
Goals I will accomplish in 2014:
Personal:
I will allow myself to truly experience Life. For years I have been building this thing, to support my future and I’ve lost friendships and relationships, but I’ve found that those who can’t take you at your worst or can’t see the future, don’t deserve your Best and aren’t worth it.
I will have my own place in this world.
She and I will connect.
Training Goals:
I will do a Full Pistol Squat, weighted and Un-Weighted
I will Press the 40k (88lb) Kettlebell, which is closest to half my Bodyweight
I will do a Full Split
Family Goals:
I will continue to Protect my Mom and my Sister.
I will continue rebuilding after the Dark Years that have passed.
I will Be the Change I wish to see.
Business Goals:
I will get my Business to the point where I work on it, not in it and it will Serve me and my Lifestyle.
I will have Stress Free Abundance!
I will write my first Book, Most likely an E-Book on gaining Bair Knuckle Strength.
I am not messing around anymore. I will spread the Knowledge I’ve gained, regardless of opinion, because I have something nobody else can offer, my unique gift and a desire to help strengthen the world. Just like you have a Gift that is Unique unto yourself and Nobody can do what you do and nobody does it better. Make this your best year, take one step at a time; make small wins snowball into huge success habits and remember that Consistency is the Key.
I’ve envisioned being on the cusp of doing something great. It was about 5 years ago, among the fire. It’s here now and I know I will, because you will be right there with me. I can feel it in my Bones. Look out 2014, because the Standards are rising, the Bullshit is stopping and the Wisdom to truly live and be independent until the day you die is here!
Bair Knuckle Strength
I help ordinary people, lead extraordinary lives, by restoring faith, in their strength.
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