This is one of the over-arching principles of strength and endurance which I call the Conditioning Continuum.
It’s one of the 7 principles found in Explosive Bodyweight Conditioning that I want to discuss today.
And although the course is about explosive bodyweight exercises for endurance this principle applies to your training no matter how you do it.
People like to separate things. It’s a useful ability but it can also close you off to even more useful ideas.
One of these is the concepts of strength and endurance.
When you think of strength what do you imagine? Lifting a heavy weight? A one repetition maximum?
That would be what most people think of. And its right although there are many other definitions that work equally as well.
When it comes to the Conditioning Continuum that sort of strength is on the far left. Its maximum strength with no real endurance needed.
On the other side we have endurance. The common even stereotypical example is a marathon runner. No real strength needed here, but a whole bunch of endurance.
Here’s where the problem is. If you only think in these terms of limit strength and close to it, and extreme endurance examples you’re missing out on everything in the middle.
The middle is where everything lays that could be called strength-endurance. Of course things don’t just neatly fit into this category either.
Think about a 10 minute kettlebell snatch test.
Or pushing a van for 100 yards.
What about a mile run?
In these examples your strength could be what is holding you back from doing more or going faster. But it could also be your endurance.
When you look at what you’re doing and what you want to accomplish you need to see where your time is best spent.
Tons more information is available in Explosive Bodyweight Conditioning, a 2 DVD set that gives you tons of exercises, variations, workouts and how to put this Conditioning Continnum to work for you.
Grab it today as a bonus with the Advanced Bodyweight Training Course
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Kettlebells, Running, Strength Training Concepts by on Nov 3rd, 2011. 1 Comment. 
I have to share this with you. This is Matti Marzel doing 304 snatches with the 24kg kettlebell in 10 minutes and multiple hand switches.
Yes, these are not completely locked out snatches as I believe is necessary to maintain this pace. That doesn’t make it any less of an amazing test of endurance, speed and mental toughness. Anyone that gets in the ‘300′ club has some phenomenal wind power.
Earlier this year Matti contacted me and said he had a goal to beat 300 snatches. He worked on it, got help from someone who had done it before, worked on it more and accomplished his goal.
Amazing!
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. If snatching kettlebells is your goal then I recommend you pick up Kettlebell Snatch Domination. The name says it all.
Filed under Conditioning, Kettlebells, Videos by on Sep 2nd, 2011. 25 Comments.
The Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) is a strength competition consisting of three events:
- A three-attempt powerlifting deadlift
- Pullups for max reps
- Kettlebell snatches for max reps in a 5:00 time period
You can find out more at tacticalstrengthchallenge.com
I had the opportunity to participate in my first TSC last weekend. I had meant to do it the previous year but it always fell on days where I had prior commitments.
This time I was definitely going to do it. I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to the nearest place it was held, in Sacramento, CA at Midtown Strength and Conditioning.
And I’m glad I did. This video shows me in all the events. (Thanks to Nick for filming for me.)
Deadlift
First was the deadlift. This was my first time competing on a lift like this. I’m use to the ‘do it however you want’ in the gym approach to training. Being limited to three attempts is quite a different beast.
I opened up with an easy 425. Then I moved up to 455, which felt solid. But then I got a little greedy. I thought the competition would help me so I set my sights on 505. In hindsight I can of course say it was too much as I didn’t budge it much. With my personal record currently at 475 I should have been more modest and gone for that or 485.
Pullups
Oh well, next event. Bodyweight pullups for reps. Here I hit my expectations. My goal was to break 20 reps, which would be a first. I think my previous best ever was 16-18. I cranked out 21 and was pleased. It looks like my recent one arm chinnup work has some good carryover.
Snatches
The last event was my best. The kettlebell snatch. To be honest since hitting 301 I had fallen out of practice on this a bit. (That’s something I do pretty often. Hit a big goal and then don’t want to do it again at least for a while.)
My grip was tiring out at the end. It could have been from the previous lifts. It could have been the slicker then normal kettlebell. Still I managed 146 reps. A little slow for my but I was also striving for a harder lockout then before.
Overall it was a great time and I got to meet some great new people. Competition is fun and something I plan on doing more of. There is a big difference in what you can do on the gym and having to perform on demand back to back events.
I’m still awaiting the final results as this is an international competition. Judging by last years results my deadlift was average, pullups above average and snatch right near the top.
Did any of you compete? What were your results?
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. I’m thinking of redoing the video and making it a standalone product but right now as a special bonus you can get How to Kick Ass at the TSC for free along with Kettlebell Snatch Domination.
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Kettlebells by on Apr 14th, 2011. 35 Comments.
Back when I started to get serious about training (after moving out the commercial gyms) I got into bodyweight training and kettlebells.
A short time later I stumbled on Twisted Conditioning by Bud Jeffries.
Here was a man that claim you could build insane strength and conditioning at the same time. And it wasn’t just empty claims he was doing it. A 1000 lb. squat in one workout and 1000 bodyweight squats in another. More often then not it was mixed workouts that would involve lifting some heavy weights between long sets of endurance exercises.
Wow! I want that ability…
I bought the book (and more) and started training that way. I haven’t looked back since.
Yes you can have super strength and super endurance at the same time. In fact, by doing it right they actually aid in building each other.
It’s a far cry from the “I can’t run on the treadmill as I will lose my hard-earned muscle” idea common to bodybuilders and others.
It’s actually quite simple to do once you understand that basics of it.
Since then I’ve had the pleasure to start working with Bud. And he’s still a big influence on my training. If I have a question or problem in my workout, he is one of the first people I talk to for ideas on what to do.
His ideas are continually innovative. I tried one of his dumbbells conditioning workouts. Just two 25 lb. dumbbells and in less that 10 minutes I got my butt kicked.
Much has changed since Bud wrote Twisted Conditioning 1 and 2. It’s time for an update of the material.
That’s what he’ll be showing at the Super Human Training Workshop in the Monster Strength and Conditioning segment.
It’s his latest ideas and training on how to put it all together. All the ideas on why you should do what Bud does, of course tailored to the results you want to get.
You can bet I’ll be taking plenty of notes during this presentation right along with all the attendees.
And it won’t just be talk. You’ll get to watch and participate in workouts in action there.
Its going to be a blast.
To get more details and sign up go here.
It’s a really cheap price with a bunch of extra goodies thrown on top to sweeten the pot. Be sure to sign up before March 31st for the early registration price.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Conditioning, Strength Training Concepts, workshops by on Mar 23rd, 2011. Comment.
I have to laugh. This form stuff is so funny.
I understand the snatch better than most people out there. I understand that form must be compromised to go this fast. Others do not understand this.
Useless!
If you haven’t seen the 301 video yet click here.
I also have great form when working with a heavier bell. Why? Because I can’t go as fast (except about 1-2 minute sprints – after that I have to slow down). Opps, I just gave you a hint about part of my training method. 
The vast majority of comments are overwhelmingly positive. Thank you everyone who sent those in. I even had people calling me up to say they were amazed and to talk in disbelief about the haters.
Perfect!
“i want to opt out of the videos.
while i think that your 300 snatches was a feat of strength and endurance, i do not think your form was acceptable, so i am opting out.
but great job on finishing them!”
So you acknowledge that I can do something almost no one else can do but it doesn’t meet your high standards.
You should opt out because there is absolutely nothing you can learn from me…
…if you close your mind off to anything outside your vaulted paradigm.
In fact, I had two people, who I like and admire, retract their endorsements of me for this very reason. Its an amazing feat but we can’t support your form.
“you need to do full reps for any of us to count it–this video is pointless”
Would you have been happy if I slowed myself down to 270 and had complete lockout? Even then you probably would complain.
I guess the truth is I’ve outgrown the 24kg kettlebell at least when it comes to a 10 minute snatch test. I have to go heavier because those stupid laws of physics are what’s holding me back.
Alright I can do heavier. Can you come close to this though?
“Go and learn the proper snatch. This isn’t snatch without the lockout on the top. You have no benefits from this kind of… What is this?”
This guy was so perplexed he couldn’t finish his sentence.
I am perplexed on how someone can see this and think there is zero redeeming qualities about doing it. No benefit? Really?
As if I don’t know how to properly snatch. I can snatch hardstyle. I can snatch GS. I can snatch in my style and I can effortlessly switch between the ’styles’ of snatching.
In fact I teach each as there is usefulness in each system or method of snatching. I’m sure I can out snatch the guy who said that in any form (at least with a kettlebell, the barbell snatch is not my thing).
Now some of the funnier and positive comments.
“I don’t think too many people out there in ‘HaterSnatchVille’ can even come close to do what you did.”
“don’t worry about these assholes who think they have a patent on the snatch. That was one hell of a feat.”
“Clearly you know how to snatch and you knew what shortcuts you had to make in order to crack the magic 300.”
“Pay no attention to the internet warriors.”
“It’s way to easy to say “well, yeah, of course he got 301. Look at his form! I could totally do that too if I used form like that.” That’s a bunch of crap.”
“Here’s a quote by Dave Tate. ” If they could, they would; since they can’t, they rant.” What you accomplished was incredible.”
I’m having fun with this and you should be too. Its too bad people infuse exercise with close minded politics and religion and then argue as heatedly about it.
Such is human nature. Such is internet behavior.
If you haven’t seen the 301 video yet click here.
Anyway, I’ll have a new video for you on Monday which gives you much more detail.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Conditioning, Kettlebells, Lifting Technique by on Feb 26th, 2011. 11 Comments.
I figured I’d start a series that goes into more depth about some of the topics both Bud and myself will be covering at our upcoming Super Human Training Workshop.
Far from being just promotional, I aim to teach you some useable information here.
The workshop is set up to cover quite a wide variety of topics. The truth is a certain area may not be the thing you want to learn most about, but another aspect is.
The fact is I’ve gone to events before not real excited about certain topics but then blown away by them when I actually saw the material. Just keep that in mind.
Let’s start with the Kettlebells.
As you likely know I just hit my goal getting 301 snatches with the 24kg kettlebell in 10 minutes and multiple hand switches. (And I plan on beating my own record soon.)
I’m going to be releasing a DVD set that covers everything, and I do mean everything, about technique and training leading up to it. And that will be available soon. Stay tuned for a notice about it later this week.
But of course I’ll also be teaching this material at the workshop. While video is great it is no replacement for hands on work one on one and we promise to deliver tons of that.
Bud has done several workouts involving one, two or three thousand plus kettlebell swings, dependent on the weight he was using. Marathon swing workouts!
He also has a book coming out on the topic. But once again the workshop is the place to learn hands-on.
Here are those informative teaching points I promised.
Both of us chose a goal, focusing on a single exercise, and went forward with it, seeing just how far we could take it. And it wasn’t an overnight thing. But years of training went into becoming the very best at it.
That single goal focus is HUGE. When you have it you will obtain your goal, assuming the required knowledge and effort is supplied. When you don’t have it you will flounder around (trust me I speak from too much experience).
Another aspect relating specifically to the kettlebell training is how it was structured. Bud and I did quite different things in these regards but there was at least one big commonality. And that was…
Cycling the weights up and down.
You should not only stick to a single weight with any exercise. But by working heavier and lighter you make faster progress.
And I don’t believe this only applies to swings and snatches. In fact, I incorporate it into everything I do these days.
What I just gave you is GOLD. Go re-read it and apply it to your training if you’re not currently doing so.
Swings are Bud’s specialty. Snatches are mine. We’re both fairly decent with push presses and jerks. Actually Bud has done some crazy numbers with those too.
So we will be teaching all of the above.
For some reason, people get messed up on the difference between presses, push presses and jerks. But really its quite simple.
- Presses – No leg dip
- Push Presses – One leg dip
- Jerks – Two leg dips
Understanding them is simple. Doing them is another. I’ve seen far too many people becoming uncoordinated just trying to do a jerk. At the workshop we promise to fix that.
Plus give you the proper way to rack a kettlebell, that will make all the above exercises become easier.
Then there is also the Natural Press which is sort of like an upper body push press. Still no leg drive but using your upper body to explode the weight up.
So that’s what we’re covering in the kettlebells portion of the workshop.
To get more details and sign up go here.
It’s a really cheap price with a bunch of extra goodies thrown on top to sweeten the pot. Be sure to sign up before February 28th for the early bird half off price.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Conditioning, Kettlebells, workshops by on Feb 21st, 2011. 2 Comments.
My friend, Mike Fitch from Global Bodyweight Training, is holding a contest for the best bodyweight only workout that covers a dynamic warmup, strength, endurance, trunk and explosive power. You can find the full details, including the prize you can win, at that link.
I threw this video together quickly as I thought it would be fun to do.
Why don’t you join the fun and enter too?
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Flexibility/Mobility, Videos, Workouts by on Jan 21st, 2011. 4 Comments.
I got back from my trip last to the Longevity Now Conference last night. And what a trip it was.
I’m afraid I can only scratch the surface of everything I learned here. But I did want to give you a few things to take away from it.
With David 'Avocado' Wolfe
So if you are training hard, especially in conditioning, by being grounded while you do it you’ll perform better. All the more reason to train outside and barefoot.
2. We are energetic beings before chemical. This has wide ranging implications. I’ll leave you to take away what you can from that statement.
3. The key to losing weight that no one talks about. You can make high nutrition very low calorie foods (and I talking about ridiculously high nutrition, the likes of which your average person never gets). Make them taste unbelievable (literally like ice cream, vegan or not, with nothing bad in them), and use those to satisfy your body and energy needs.
With that you’ll be able to eat a lot less food and you won’t even have cravings. I dropped about 8 lbs this weekend without trying.
4. Did you know that the fluorine found in most water supplies virtually destroys the pineal gland by age 18? If you know the functions of the pineal gland then you know how bad this is.
5. If you want to be truly healthy it comes down to the intestinal bacteria in your gut. For instance, 70% of your immunity comes down to your healthy gut flora. This is not as easy as swallowing a single pill of probiotics or eating a small thing of yogurt each day. It takes much more work.
That’s why the very day when I got home I prepared my own sauerkraut and raw milk kefir.
6. I got so much information on hormone optimization I don’t even know where to start. To get your hormones better you need to kick out the bad ones (such as xenoestrogens caused by environmental and nutritional toxins) before you try to increase your testosterone. The indole-3-carbinol found in cruciferous vegetables will help deal with those xenoestrogens.
7. When it comes to anti-aging the length of your telomeres found in your DNA is the undisputed way to measure your biological clock. These naturally get shorter as time goes on through reproduction but it can be accelerated by all the things generally contributed to aging. Right now they’re seeking to find out how to switch on the enzyme telomerase which stops this process in the cells.
And so much more its crazy.
You may have missed the event but there are a few options open. They are selling the online videos in which you can watch the recordings of everything.
Even better they have a two for one deal on the next conference coming up in April. But this special is only open until October 1st. I’m already signed up and I suggest you do the same.
I’ll have more to share later on.
In health,
Logan Christopher
P.S. The only thing unfortunate about this weekend is I had little time to train. But now that I’m back I’ll be hitting a hard one in an hour or so. With the break and how great I’m feeling right now it’s sure to be a great one.
Filed under Conditioning, Health, Nutrition by on Sep 29th, 2010. 5 Comments.
My friend Doug Fioranelli invited me once again to his gym, Rise Above Strength, for their anniversary party. To support my fellow trainers and have some fun I drove out to Belmont and I’m glad I did.
To start with there was a competition. This was different from last years in that it was team completion instead of individual. This was simply because so many people wanted to join in the fun.
The first event was a double kettlebell deadlift with two 40kg kettlebells. These were to be lifted as many reps as possible with no time limit. The reps among the team members where totaled for the team score.
I’m hit 64 reps before the grip on my left hand when out. While I’ve been training the deadlift steadily, its never with kettlebells and never this high reps! I’m happy to report I hit the highest total among all the guys (some of the ladies, who were lifting 20kg kettlebells, were hitting 70 and 80 reps).
The second event was a team race with the prowler. In the video you can see one of three legs I had to do.
The third and final event was a medley with each team member having to complete one section. It involved 5 exercises.
1. 20 Pullups/Chinnups
2. Tire flips for a set distance
3. 70lb. Keg Press for 20 reps (30lb. Sandbag for women)
4. Walking lunges – 40 lbs. each hand for men and 20 for women.
5. Sled Drag forwards and backwards for a set distance.
As you can see in the video I did the tire flip which I was quite good at in last year’s competition.
The best part was Dan John, showed up and joined our team for this last event (manhandling the keg press with ease) as we were short a member. This was the first time we had met so it was one more pleasant surprise for the day.
After the competition I did a little oldtime strongman show bending nails, horseshoes, shredding a phonebook followed by a little kettlebell juggling.
Finally it was time to eat and what a BBQ it was.
A little later on I was showing some of the guys some of my techniques on kettlebell snatching. Its amazing how a few small things can make a big difference. (On that note, I should be hitting one of my main snatch goals very shortly.)
My main point in sharing all this is two fold. The first is to let you share in the fun. I like to keep this site personal and show you what I’m up to.
The second point is to encourage you to do the same. I’ve said this many times before and I plan to continue saying it. You need to get out there and compete. For those of us who have the luxury of a well equipped home gym we may not always get out and mix it up. For those without training partners its even more necessary.
An event like this gives the opportunity. It is a way to test how your training is going. It’s funny to note that everyone of the exercises in this competition was not something I regularly did. The deadlifts were close but I use a barbell or trapbar and 20 reps is a high rep set for me let alone 64.
(And in case you’re wondering, yes I am sore.)
The prowler and tire flip I haven’t done since the same party the prior year!
So when you go out and compete, in one form or another, you get to really put the pedal to the metal and see what you’re made of. Doing so is a lot of fun. I highly recommend doing it when you can.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Be sure to sign up for our 10th and final call on Super Human Training. This week features Peter Ragnar and you won’t want to miss it.
P.S.S. Also I’m going to be hitting the road soon for the Longevity Conference. I’ll try to get you an update on a few things I learn while I’m at the event, but no promises. It’ll be a crazy busy and fun time.
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Conditioning, Feats of Strength, Hand Strength, Kettlebells, Mental Training, Oldtime Strongmen, Videos, Workouts by on Sep 20th, 2010. 33 Comments.
Last night’s Super Human Training call was a surprise to me. Bud brought on Stephen Santangelo and I didn’t know what to expect. What ended up happening was a lot of ground breaking info was shared. This included:
Balancing the blood’s pH for optimal health and training- A Common eating mistake that makes you body need insulin to function and stops it from burning fat.
- 3 chemicals you MUST avoid for good health (and the many tricky ways they are snuck into your food)
- Flipping the way people eat!
- The 6 Energy Pathways in the body and how to train each one in a special combination for maximal conditioning.
- A workout that optimizes Testosterone production
- And much more
Be sure to check out the replay while its still up.
This interview is well worth listening to several times.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Next week we have another special mystery guest. I’m really looking forward to this one. Make sure you’re signed up here for more details.
Filed under Conditioning, Health by on Sep 16th, 2010. Comment.
