I wanted to let you know about a workshop I’ll be attending in just a couple weeks. Its put on by some of the top trainers in the RKC and is well worth the cheap price of admission.
There’s Mark Reifkind presenting on the lat muscles and all the goes into building a powerful back.
The Iron Tamer, Dave Whitley will be teaching the lessons of the old-time strongman and how to apply these to your training whether you do feats of strength or not.
He’ll also be drilling deep into pressing movements with many variations and how to balance out your left and right sides.
And lastly, the Queen of Kettlebell Swings, Tracy Reifkind will show all she knows on the kettlebell swing. And if you haven’t seen the numbers she’s done you’d be impressed.
I won’t be presenting, but I’ll be there taking notes. Plus I’ll be an open book to any questions you have for me, whether its kettlebell juggling, my latest techniques on the kettlebell snatch or anything else.
Plus I’d like to meet you. 
Its on Sunday, May 2nd in Sunnyvale, California
For those who are around the area, or if you want to make the trip, I’d highly recommend you check this out.
Full details can be found here.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. I am not compensated if you sign up. There’s just so much value here I had to tell you about it. So if you can make it you need to be there. They’re even giving you DVD’s of the event to review afterwards.
P.S.S And if you do sign up, or if you already have, let me know and I’ll see you there.
Filed under Kettlebells by on Apr 15th, 2010. Comment. 
The kettlebell snatch is one of my favorite exercises. And the kettlebell snatch test is one of my favorite tests of endurance and mental toughness.
Several minutes into a kettlebell snatch test
I didn’t stop there.
My next goal was 250. I hit that a couple months back (actually got 251).
Now my goal is 200 with the 32 kg. Its tough work. My best so far is 160 and I’m making my way up step by smooth step.
Of course, I’m not trying to brag. If I was I wouldn’t tell you just how hard snatching was for me in the first place. But I’ve come a long way. I no longer tear my hands up doing this and I make progress each and every time I set out to do it.
I know there are many others out there who want to add numbers to their snatches. And believe me there is a lot that goes into that, from techniques to pacing, programming and more.
I’m thinking about putting a DVD together that shows you everything I know about the kettlebell snatch test in its many forms. And I mean everything.
So here’s what I want you to do. I have a two question survey.
Kettlebell Snatch Test Survey (survey is closed).
Even though its tiny I still want to give you something for completing it. I shot a video showing you two tips that you can start using right away to increase your snatch numbers.
If you want it all you have to do is answer my easy questions and you‘ll get access to it.
Sound fair?
Kettlebell Snatch Test Survey (survey is closed).
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Conditioning, Kettlebells, Mental Training by on Apr 12th, 2010. 2 Comments.
This weekend they held an RKC in nearby San Jose. While I was not an assistant this time, my friend and I decided to stop by just to say hello. Great to get to see and chat with guys like Pavel Tsatsouline, Dave Whitley and many others.
While I was there I decided to see how my training was going. As you may know one of my goals is to do the Beast Challenge which is to lift a 106 lb. kettlebell in a one arm press, pullup, and pistol. I hit the pistol for the first time the other week and I’m working towards the other two.
After focusing on the one arm press for a significant amount of time I decided to switch it up and focus on double presses. As this move is harder I had to drop down in weight regularly working with the 70 lbs bells. As I’ve only done two arm presses for a few weeks now I was curious if it was making my one arm press stronger.
Now I found out it was. I had access to a 44kg bell which I don’t have at home so I decided to attempt a press.
This video shows the second rep. After pressing it once each side I decided I should have got it on film. The second rep was not as nice as the first. While both had side action going on this one was a bit more.
Just one step closer on my path. Are you moving forward?
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Kettlebells, Videos by on Feb 25th, 2010. 2 Comments.
100 lb. Keg Press
I may not have been writing recently but I sure have been training.
And about a month ago I went to my friend Doug’s gym Rise Above Performance Training.
I was a trainer for Doug when he went through the RKC and we stayed in touch after that. He was holding an anniversary party and strongman competition and asked me to come down.
By the way, if you live near Belmont, California you should go check it out. More info can be found at www.RiseAboveStrength.com.
Right when I arrived, the strongman competition was just getting started. I jumped in no hesitation. Here’s a summary with some lessons learned at the end. Also I hope you enjoy the pictures and videos.
The first event was a keg press. Even with all my training this was actually the first time I ever pressed a keg. At 100 lbs. this one proved difficult. I managed 3 reps, knowing with a little practice I could at least double that number.
The second event was the tire flip. It was a light tire so it was done for max reps in 2 minutes. This one I excelled and taking first place by a single rep.
Rolling Thunder
The third event was weighted pushups. Throwing chains over the body then doing reps between two concrete blocks. This was my worst event of the bunch.
The fourth event was the Rolling Thunder. If you are unfamiliar with this one it’s a grip tool put out by Iron Mind. The thick bar and rotating handle makes it difficult to grip. We kept adding weight to see who could lift the most.
The last event was a medley. Pushing a sled, carrying a 70 lb. keg overhead, doing a farmer’s walk with 120 lb. dumbbells and pulling a rope with a weighted sled on it. All this was done for time.
Overall I placed third or forth out of out of the seven. Not bad when you consider most of the competitors where bigger and more muscular then me. And the fact that they trained there and most of these events were familiar to them.
Would have loved to go there and dominate but the primary concern was just to have some fun. Its great to get to use your training that you work so hard to build every once in a while. And competition is always fun.
And afterwords I did a few of the things I’m known for. Kettlebell juggling, tearing phonebooks, cards, bending nails and even a horseshoe.
Speaking of kettlebell juggling tonight Scott Bird from Straight to the Bar is holding a twitter chat on the subject. To come join the conversation go here for details.
This video will show a couple clips from everything that went on there.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts-PYN3diTQ]
Phonebook Tear
Another good reason to compete or do something like this is it shows you how you’re doing. Even though I had never pressed a keg before I got to see how my training has prepared me to do that. I got to see how my conditioning would hold up in unfamiliar exercises like the tire flip and medley.
And it would point out weaknesses, like my horizontal pushing strength, which I am now adding back into my training. Everything for some time has all been overhead pressing. Not anymore.
So go and compete. Take a different training class once in awhile. Try using a new training implement. This is your call to action. Get out and do it!
And if you enjoyed this post please comment below.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. There’s a big announcement coming tomorrow so watch your email inbox for that.
Filed under Conditioning, Feats of Strength, Hand Strength, Kettlebells, Lifting Technique, Odd Objects, Strength Training Concepts, Videos by on Oct 28th, 2009. 3 Comments.
Tomorrow I will be attending the American Kettlebell Club Certification under World-Champion Girevik Valery Federenko. For those of you who do not know, Girevik is Russian for kettlebell lifter. If you don’t know much about kettlebells read my article What is a Kettlebell and Why Use One? I am not sure exactly what to expect. Previously I had been schooled in the Hard-Style of kettlebell training as popularized by Pavel and Dragondoor. In fact, when I first attended the RKC there was a guest teacher there and that was Valery. What he displayed was impressive.
For the first time I saw the differences between Hard-Style and Girevoy Sport lifting techniques. A talk by Brett Jones on that day about the two styles still stands out in my mind.
Not too long ago a rift occurred in the organization and part of it had to do with the supposed ‘real’ style of kettlebell lifting.
My goal with this is not to enliven the flames and hatred of some people who are so set in one style that they can’t see the benefits of another method. My philosophy is to learn from (and get good at) everything.
Personally I am not going to knock any style of training that works and makes you stronger and more fit. The way I see it now, is that both have there uses.
Will I be singing a different tune after these two days? I doubt it, but time will tell.
The big picture that this brings up is why do you train the way you do and what are you shooting for as your end result?
I will keep you updated on the happenings and see if I can get some video up of the event (at least some of us playing around with the bells).
My goal at this event is to increase my kettlebell lifting technique, broaden my horizons, become a better coach, and of course, have some fun.
I’d be writing more but the drive down to LA was long and now I’m tired. Stay tuned tomorrow for an update.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Kettlebells, Strength Training Concepts by on Sep 28th, 2007. Comment.
A little while ago I bent my first ever legitimate 60-penny nail. I did this in the reverse grip meaning my hands were facing opposite directions. Since then I have bent one in the double overhand position which I am working more on.
Bending steel has been something that has interested me for a while. What originally got me into it was reading Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein: The Mighty Atom
Once you get into bending you will probably be visiting your local hardware store to buy different lengths and qualities of steel to prepare your own. The Bag of Nails also comes with a hand pad (necessary so that you don’t damage your hands) but I prefer strips of leather instead.
Just saw a red nail get bent for the first time ever. While assisting at the RKC in Minnesota a couple weeks ago, one night we had some fun up in the hospitality suite. We bent steel, tore cards and phonebooks in half. Brett Jones took care of the red nail. It was very impressive. He also gave us some tips on bending and other feats. Very helpful and a great guy.
Why should you consider bending nails? Bending steel requires whole body tension. It will teach you how to use your entire body in one concentrated effort. People may think that it as a grip feat but that is only a piece of the puzzle.
It will also build your mind powers. This feat is really all about mind over matter. You will never bend a piece of steel you don’t believe you can. Wrapping your mind around the feat is as important as building the strength to be able to do it.
For example, the first time I ever bent a yellow nail (which is a hefty step up from the green) is right after my friend told me he had bent one. Now that it was ‘possible’ I finished off my first one. It took me about 15 minutes with a long break in the middle but I did it. This kind of thing happens very often which is a good reason to train with other people at least some of the time.
Another reason bending steel is great is because it is satisfying and fun. Perhaps I am weird like that, but knowing that you can demolish a piece of iron is very gratifying. Besides it is quite amazing to your average person and thus a great party trick.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength by on Sep 20th, 2007. Comment.
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