Understanding the breathing principle of anatomic (or natural) vs. paradox is very important when breathing is combined with any sort of movement. This is as opposed to just sitting there doing breathing exercises. This video breaks this down in simple to understand terms using squats as an example of how …
To Press a Lot You Must Press a Lot
“To press a lot you must press a lot.” This saying comes from Russian weightlifting circles. Kinda like a Zen koan, there is some enfolded meaning within it. One of the simple ways of looking at it is like this: “To press a lot of weight, you must press frequently …
Flow in Workouts
I’ve been reading through Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi’s Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. This book has been gracing my bookshelf for years now, yet I hadn’t read it. I was dissuaded as I heard it is a tough read, something like a textbook. Well, some textbooks are worth reading… The flow …
Yardstick Conditioning
This is a concept I first learned from Bud Jeffries. I believe he outlined it inside of Twisted Conditioning 2, though I could have that mixed up. Bud was the first guy I saw that was really doing it all. While many people were bodyweight only guys, or kettlebell guys, …
Why You Should Avoid Buying Kettlebells in Stores
Kettlebells are fun to use, so it’s no wonder the kettlebells found in stores are often taken for a test swing by curious shoppers. Unfortunately, most of these shoppers don’t know the difference in quality between what they’re swinging and what a high-quality kettlebell retailer can provide. A high-quality kettlebell …
Progression Keys – Intensity, Volume, Density, Quality, RPE
I’m going to be doing a series on progression in training. Why? Because this is the most important aspect, the principle, that you must understand in order to get results. And, sadly, most people do NOT really understand progression. I haven’t talked about progression all that much since writing The …
Afternoon vs. Morning Workouts
“Hey Logan, I notice you mentioned that best strength tends to occur in the afternoon. Is that just something you’ve noticed for yourself anecdotally or is that something you’re saying is true for generally everybody based on some research you’ve come across?” Vince I casually mentioned this benefit of afternoon …
What are Assistance Exercises for?
Yesterday, I talked about how many people do assistance exercises wrong. And that was to do them without rhyme or reason, simply because you think or heard they were a good idea. Because this idea of assistance exercises often gets attached to the idea of isolation exercises (like those hamstring …
Weighted Pistol Tips and Tricks
This weighted pistol tip can make a big difference in your ability to pull off the move, especially when going for a heavy weight. For those not familiar with it, the pistol is a one leg squat where the extra leg is held in front of you. It all depends …
Quitting the Beast Snatch
Well, I don’t quite look at it that way. Instead, I am switching gears. For years, I’ve pursued the Beast Snatch Test, where I aimed to do 100 snatches in 10 minutes with a 48kg or 106 lb. kettlebell. I’m setting aside this goal…for now. I don’t see this as …
How to Snatch Heavy Kettlebells
Are you trying to find out how to snatch heavy kettlebells? This video gives you several tips on how to do it. In this video, I snatch a 60kg, or 132lb, kettlebell, so I know what I’m talking about. Several of the points found here are: It is always good …
How to Plan for a Big Training Goal
I’m settled into my new house, and things are mostly back to normal. However, much that I want to go off in a new training direction, I still have a big goal I need to hit before I can do that. The Beast Snatch Test. I was closing in on …
Diversity of Fitness
Jim sent this in (along with a question for another day): “BTW, a really impressive thing about you and your web site. It is amazing how many different things you have studied. Handstands, heavy partials, old time stuff, bending steel, etc. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else with such …
Strict vs. Explosive One Arm Rows
In a recent post I talked about using strict form or not and the differences in each. One of the exercises that is a good description of this is the one arm row. And so, in the following video you’ll see a demonstration of a strict row as compared to …
Strict Form vs. Not
A couple weeks ago I put up this popular article all about form, and how it’s really different than most think. And on that note, I wanted to address a similar area. Should you be super strict with your form? Or should you “cheat,” use a bit of “body English,” or, …