Session 11 

Deadlift was 2 sets of 5 at 205

6 pullups and 4 chinups at bodyweight

Military press was 2 sets of 5 reps at 95

30 snatches with 40 lb kettlebell

5 ab rolls

Session 12

Deadlift was 2 sets of 5 reps at 225

Military press at 115 sets of 5 reps 2 times

Pullups 3, 3 and 4

20 snatches at 40 lbs

5 ab rolls

Session 13

Deadlift 185 with 5 reps two times

Military press was 65 with 5 reps twice

Chin ups for 2 sets of 5 reps

Snatches 35 lbs kb for 30 reps

5 ab roll outs

Session 14

Deadlift singles 135, 185, 225, 245, 275 and 295

Military press single 45,65,85,115, 125 and 135

Kettlebell snatches with 60 lbs for 20 reps

Weighted Pullup singles 35,30,25,20, 15 and 10

5 reps with ab roller

Session 15

Deadlift 135 x 10

Military Press 65 x 10

BW Pull ups for 5 reps

30 snatches with 35 lb kb

5 reps on ab roller

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

The program is designed to go for 40 workout sessions using 5 exercises with very little if any variation. I am doing deadlifts, military press, Pullups/chinups , kettlebell snatches and the ab roller.  Since the volume and intensity are limited, you could do this workout every day if logistically possible.

I did 6 sessions this past week so I have 10 total under my belt now.

Session 5

Dead lift 195 x 5, 195x 5

Military press 115 x 5 x 2

Pullups 10 reps bodyweight

24 kg KB snatches 20 reps

Ab roller for 5

Session 6

Dead lift 135 x5 , 185 x 3, 225 x 1, 245 x 1

Military press 95 x 5 x 2

Pull ups 35 x 1 x 4, Bw x 6

Ab roller 5

Session 7

Dead lift 135 x5 x 2

Military press 65 x 5 x 2

Pull ups 10

Ab roller 5

Unfortunately I lost my sheets for the last workouts but since the whole idea is to work based on ‘feel’ I’m not too concerned about. In fact, on Facebook, Dan John was quoted as saying ” Forget about % of 1 rep max. I beg you.”

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

Just like you, I have a fair amount going on in my life. I don’t ever have any issue getting my workout in since it remains a priority but I wanted to give Dan John’s Easy Strength plan a shot for a number of  reasons.  The main one being that I have a lot going on right now and I wanted to save time and get the best results possible.

Mr. John is a very well regarded strength and conditioning expert and I don’t think I’ve ever read or seen anything that we writes about that isn’t incredibly simple and elegant.  Remember simple is always better than complicated. Never ever forget Occam’s Razor.

What I’m going to be doing for my next 40 sessions is based off Easy Strength and is really worth checking out.

I will chronicle each week as I finish. Everyone I’ve talked to that has done this has gotten almost astounding results. I will be maintaining great eating of real food. I figure I will easily be compliant 80%.

I warm up each session with overhead squats, Turkish Get ups and foam roller work and some Kelly Sterrett drills.

Week 1

Session 1

Dead lift 185 x 5, 225 x 5

Military press 65 x 5, 85 x 5

Pullups 10 reps

KB snatches 20 reps

Ab roller for 5

Session 2

Dead lift 135 x5 x 2

Military press 65 x 5 x 2

Pull ups 10

Ab roller 5

Session 3

Dead lift 135 x5 x 2

Military press 65 x 5 x 2

Pull ups 10

Ab roller 5

Session 4

Dead lift 145 x 5 x 2

Military press 70 x 5 x 2

Chin ups 10

Ab roller 5

Dial in your eating habits, keep your training simple and I can guarantee results!

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

You may realize by now that I really enjoy food. The eating of it as well as the making. Particularly I like fire and meat so grilling and smoking and barbecue are things I’m passionate about.

Each year my buddy Bill Case has a big summer bash.  The Tom Larson Blues Band is always ripping it and we have a great time. My annual contribution is some brisket Texas style.  Now this take a long time but if you’ve ever had beef brisket cooked long and slow with some hardwood,  the right rub and some tender loving care then you know what I mean.

So today is the party. I started the beef yesterday at  around 730 PM and just pulled it off my PK grill. I slow cooked it for close to 13 hours and it’s in the final crutch stage, wrapped in foil then again in some old towels and in a cooler to further tenderize it and keep it at temp until this afternoon. Now when I slice it up today I promise that I will get the first taste.

So other than making you jealous, why am I telling you this?

Because like life and like strength, getting this bad boy from refrigerator to barbecue to table is a process. And it can’t be hurried. The foundation is the first thing. I find a decent brisket flat with some nice fat cap on it.  I rub it with my secret rub and let it dry marinade for at least 6 hours.   The fire is the next thing. Got to have the right temperature. Too hot and you end up with dried out meat that is way too tough. It’s got to be just right and that means less than 250 degrees. If you hurry it then it will be unpalatable. It’s got to be just right. And there aren’t any shortcuts.

Now if you try to hurry your strength program you will end up going nowhere and the same thing with life. There are natural rhythms and tides that need to be honored. You just can’t go too fast.  You need to be patient and you need to be consistent. I think Mark Reifkind said that consistency trumps intensity. What he meant is that you have to honor life. You can’t compress getting strong into a few sessions. It is a process and it requires effort and desire but it can’t be done all at once.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

But seriously. I get this question on a regular basis and while I believe that there is no such thing as a stupid question this is close.

First let me say that belief in what you are doing will certainly have an impact. If you think you are doing something of benefit, then you will get more than if you aren’t happy with your program.

Find something that you enjoy and will stick with for more than a few sessions. Jumping all over the place will get you nowhere. Strength is a skill and it needs to be practiced. A good place to start with kettlebells is Enter The Kettlebell and an RKC instructor.

If you are more geared towards absolute strength than you may either want to consult with Marty Gallagher or at least read the Purposeful Primitive. My own training is a combination of sprints, rugby, weightlifting httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiftFmN8eC4, powerlifting and kettlebells.

In many ways the best thing to do is what you are doing now. That doesn’t mean that your workout can’t, or shouldn’t be, tweaked from time to time but chasing results by switching up programming all the time is a losing proposition.  Just as investors chase returns by buying and selling the latest and greatest stock, many trainees jump from program to program because they aren’t getting as strong as they’d like. Getting strong isn’t an overnight occurrence.  Stick with it and you will get results.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

First, let me say that consistency trumps intensity almost always.  How so? Well, just like building wealth, getting in shape is a process and it can’t be done quickly. It’s best done by an unfailing devotion to your plan.

So what should that plan be? Well it depends on your goals. I find that 99.9% of the population want to look better and be healthier.  So for the time being let’s go for that.

My first question for you would be “what are you eating and putting in your body?” Ditch the processed carbs. Ditch the caffeine. Ditch the nicotine. Sugar? Fugetaboutit! Eat real food and don’t eat anything that is enriched with crap.

Get plenty of sleep. If your health is important to you then what you eat and how you recover is huge. Two reasons you don’t lose weight is you eat “Low fat” shit and sleep 6 hours a day. I can almost guarantee you are carrying extra weight if these two hold true.

But I digress.

Here’s a 4 week program for beginners. First off, be sure  to learn how to do a kettlebell swing properly. Properly means that you learn from a certified RKC. Sorry all you crossfitters out there but the american swing ain’t for beginners and isn’t much better for advanced users.  Don’t try to learn it from YouTube or even Tracy Reikind’s excellent swing video. Hands on instruction is the only way I’ve found that it is learned safely. I’ve only had one person come to me for training who was self taught and swinging well.

Learn the swing, the Get up and the goblet squat. Once these are being done well then you are ready to proceed.

Train 3 says a week. Start with 5 minutes of TGU. In almost all cases this should be a bodyweight exercise at first. Next alternate swings and squats. Add training volume each session. Quality beats quantity. Still, try to do more work each session. You should shoot for sets of 5-10 swings and 5-10 squats. Work for 30 minutes and track your improvement.

What should you expect? Well you will start to notice a markedly better body. You will feel better. You will certainly have more energy.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

I was watching a Kelly Starrett video the other day and he mentioned something about releasing the sacrum. I ended up doing a Google search and found something called the Sacro Wedgy.

Of course I bought the “male” version but they make one especially for women too.

I ordered it Sunday and got it today.

I did my first 20 minute session with it and felt like a new person with new found hip mobility and a body that felt 50 lbs lighter. I am using it right now as I type this. I just got up to check out how I feel and I can’t even describe how great I feel. This is the best I’ve felt in eons.

The company that makes them offers this:

The Sacro Wedgy Male System helps to stabilize the sacrum, allowing the pelvic girdle to relax and return to its normal position of balance. This in turn helps to eliminate symptoms such as pain or numbness radiating down the legs and tightness and pain in the hip area. This version is specially shaped to fit a man’s body. The sacrum is the keystone of your anatomy – the part upon which the spine and most of your weight rests – our center of gravity. When an arch is built, as in construction, the last stone in the arch to go in place is the keystone or wedge-shaped stone. If this wedge is for some reason pulled out of place, the arch will collapse. The sciatic nerve and other nerves extend from the sacrum to all parts of the lower extremities.

For all intents and purposes, this tool acts like mini traction. I can’t wait to see what sort of impact this will have on my training but I can only imagine.

I will report on that in my next blog post but in the meantime I had to share it with you.

Buy this today!

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

If you want to perform your best, then his website should be bookmarked in your browser. What does perform your best mean? Well to me what it means is that you get optimal performance from your mind and body….pain free.

Pain is not the same thing is discomfort associated with effort. If you can’t tell the difference that would be the first thing you need to discover for yourself before going on further.

I’ve titled this post “10 Minute Squat Test” since that is one of the baselines KStar uses to check out our mobility. When I discovered  MobilityWod I was able to do 3:50 in the test. Not awful but not great. In less than 90 days, I can easily do the full 10 minutes.  Please click the link above to find out how to safely do this test.

One thing that Starrett mentions in the episode is that there is very little back or hip disease in countries in the Third World. Moving there won’t ensure that your cranky hip problem will go away but I really can’t urge  you strongly enough to get to MobilityWOD and find out how the information available on the site will help you in the sport of life.

To get the most out of the material shared you will need some tools. 3 lacrosse balls, a Rumble roller, a Grid and some bands.

Please take the squat test. Report your results in the comments. Retest every month or so.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

PS use the search function on KStar’s site to find info on your balky bits.

Forget anything very specific here. I’m not talking about your deadlift numbers or your RKC snatch test. Simply, I want all of us to be able to lift pain free, move pain free and have excellent cardiovascular health.

I’m going to give you some very valuable and free tools here to be able to enjoy intense training and still be relatively pain free. You’ll end up needing a few lacrosse balls, a Rumble roller, a Grid, some bands and around 15 minutes a day. Dr. Mark Cheng recommended the Rumble Roller a few blog post ago and I bought it straight away. I use it now as much as my Grid.  I have a big Rumble and a short Grid. Grid doesn’t sell one all that wide. You will get so much from investing in the above I can’t even tell you. Do it now. It’s not worth waiting. I move better now at 50 then I could at 25.

Kelly Starrett DPT and the owner of Crossfit San Francisco has perhaps the best website out there to help you   self maintain your body structure while training as hard as possible. A lot of what I’ve learned from his website, Mobility WOD, is painful for sure but it is ALL highly recommended.

First let me give you my opinion on the best way to utilize his site. You are going to want to subscribe to the RSS feed so that you always up to date on what he is sharing.

Next thing you will want to do is use his “Search” future and use an appropriate word for your own challenges. So if you have jacked up shoulders use “shoulders.” If your squat sucks then type in “Hips” or “squat.”

So how has Starrett’s site helped me? Well I do sprints whenever I want to. I combine kettlebells, Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting into a crazy hybrid that leaves me feeling young. I never have pain and I also played a round of golf today with no lower back or hip pain.

Let me give you full disclosure.  I thought my squat was solid until I found MobilityWOD. I thought my hips were hippy and that my base, see feet , was solid. Shoulders seemed  healthy and good to go….Not so much though.  I really was pretty much incorrect. And this site has helped me to no end.  Even better, a few of my clients have raved about how much better they are feeling and moving and that is truly what it’s all about.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

First of all, I ended up competing at 198 instead of the planned 181. I was in “no man’s land,” stuck between the two weight classes and went into hyper eating mode once I realized that getting down to 181 wasn’t going to happen. The power lifting training really packed on quite a lot of muscle and I ate as much as I could to get to 195 at weigh in.

There were only two competitors older than myself and they were both lighter lifters.  One competed at 132 and the other at 148.

The guy who won the 198 was seriously about 5’7” and I am about 6’3”. I’m not built optimally for power lifting but I must say that competing is fun!

I was able to hit 6 out of nine attempts. I got 260, 275 on the squat and missed 300. Barely. I bench pressed 205, 215 and missed 230. Finally, I deadlifted 355, 370 and missed 385. I loved competing and I really enjoyed myself.

So I’m doing another meet on October 22^nd, 2011. I will train the Olympic lifts, do front squats and kettlebell work for the next 8 weeks or so.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC