May19

Becoming A Supple Leopard : Part 1: Review of Book

by joe daniels on May 19, 2013 at 6:45 PM
Posted In: Books, mobilitywod, Swing This Book Review, Uncategorized

 

How I am becoming a supple leopard is partly by chance…..

Last thursday evening:

” Joe I just wanted to let you know that there is a space open in the Kelly Starrett mobility course on saturday. A lady who registered cant make it and would like to sell her ticket.  I was just letting you know to see if you would still be interested in purchasing it from her. Let me know, Laura”

That short message from Laura Phelps Sweatt (one of the strongest women EVER! and co owner of the  Sweatt Shop ) seriously made my night. Perhaps month as well. Facebook can actually have some good news on it occasionally.  Actually I was so happy, I almost felt bad for the lady who was selling her ticket to me because I was pretty sure it was going to be a great learning experience.

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MobilityWHAT?

For those who dont know who Dr. Kelly Starrett is, I’ll fill you in.  He is one of the leaders in movement therapy and  overall human performance  in the country, if not the world. Oh,  and he also created MobilityWOD.com   If you have any  musculoskeletal issues at all I highly suggest you research his site.

Cant lift your left arm as high as you can your right??? Use the search bar on MobilityWOD.

Knees hurt when you squat?  CHECK MOBILITYWOD.

Back pain?  You get it …..Become a supple leopard.

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Recently Starretts’ book Becoming A Supple Leopard : The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance  was released after a much anticipated wait. Packed with near 400 pages of injury prevention, pain relief, and increasing performance, this should be one of your go to books when dealing with your training and helping your clients. The man really should be called the “Fixer” in my mind.

Best Part of Crossfit?? 

Why am I all about this guys work??   Well I have been into mobility and musculoskeletal relief since  2007 when I hurt my back and shoulder training for a bodybuilding show.  With the help of several massage therapists and books such as the Frozen Shoulder Handbook, I became addicted to such awkward acts of rolling on racquetballs, lacrosse balls and foam rollers. If you’ve know me for a while you know this to be true.  I’ve always had a ball or some type of massage tool with me while working with clients.  Heck I even keep them in every car and bag that  I own just in case I have to drive for an hour I can loosen up my hamstrings.  You have to be proactive if you want to change your tissues. Static stretching just  isn’t the ticket, this is the new age !!!!

When MobilityWOD  exploded from Crossfitters views , I thought “Oh great I’m sure this is just another   “elite” something or other”.  Some of you may know I have been rubbed wrong by a lot of closed minded Crossfitters attitudes in the recent years with my Competition Kettlebell Gym Swing This Kettlebell and Strength.   Definitely not all but a lot. So it really surprised me when I looked into his work that it was exactly what I have been fooling around with and more of the stuff that I  was really looking for !!!   Dont get me wrong Crossfit is a great thing but I think that the best part of  it is now the work  and additional thought brought out  on human movement  by Kelly Starrett. I know that statement sounds bold. I feel it to be strong and true. It doesn’t matter what type of training you do, his way of fixing NORMAL, NATURAL human movement is incredible and can go a long way to fixing the injury cycle we as a civilization are stuck in.

The book Joe, the book!!

Ok , I get it. You want to see whats in it.  Well for quickness sake, heres a bulleted list.

  •  How to stabilize and protect your spine , torso,and back  …..what I like to refer as being  STRONGCORE!!!
  • How to create torque to be super strong and super safe when you train
  • How to  CORRECTLY perform basic human movements that we do a variation of every day.  From highly stable exercises to exercises that challenge the strength, speed and  change of  position during the executed exercise. example  olympic lifts
  • How to identify problems in those movements.
  • How to fix the problems yourself ,or with a SUPERFRIEND
  • How to become Leopard like
  • Mobility systems such as Joint Mechanics, Sliding Surfaces and Muscle Dynamics
  • Mobilization methods  using such fun as BANDED DISTRACTION, VOODOO FLOSS COMPRESSION, and the lovely lacrosse ball of pain.  you may also want to check out Kelly’s new invention the GEmini and Supernova.  You can get all this goodness at Rogue Fitness under the MOBILITY CATEGORY.
  • All of the restoration techniques are organized neatly into  area of the body in the back of the book with targeted mobility areas, commonly used tools and test and retest examples. Thoracic spine a little tight?  Look at Area 1.  Clunky knee? Area 10.

This book is seriously what you’ve been looking for since you tweaked your elbow on your bench press PR last month.  Perhaps its also a laymans term guide to helping find what you may wish you ask your doctor pre or post surgery.

Whats the philosophy behind the leopard??

A leopard is always ready to do its job, pounce, attack, defend, etc without pulling a hammie.   Can you say that about yourself??  When you start your spring cleaning and climb the ladder to your gutters 40 times,  do your connective tissues and muscles have what it takes to not  destroy your ACL??   Can you load that new  60 inch flatscreen television  into your truck and take it up the stairs without turning your spine into a dust pile??  Watch  how often your animals stretch.  It could be a hundred times a day!! Im going to guess that they are definitely more supple than you, Mr “Sit down all day  but workout religiously” CEO.

 

CAUTION!!!!!!YOU WILL GAIN EMPOWERING INFORMATION   

WIth this book being SO EASY to understand you may just become addicted to fixing your issues like I did years ago.  You  may not be able to stop thinking of it all day.  There’s no reason being 33 years old that you should feel like an ex NFL lineman (without playing football of course).

FIX YOURSELF!

FEEL BETTER !

 

My Final Thoughts on the book….

Get into the jungle with the other leopards if you want to continue training hard like you do.

Because if you don’t….  you will get easily passed up with a bum leg.

 

Grab it on AMAZON Good price and QUICK!!

Stay tuned in for the next couple days for part 2, when I review the first mobility course Starrett put on after the book was released. It was pretty damn good….

 

 

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Apr23

SwingThis Community INsider April 2103

by joe daniels on April 23, 2013 at 9:30 AM
Posted In: community, Uncategorized

Swing This Kettlebell and Strength Community has ended its first quarter of the new facility.

What a ride it has been so far here are a few things that we have been up to.

SPONSORING    Helping certain groups become better in their goals and increase outreach  in the athletic community.

  • Sponsored the Black and Bluegrass Roller Girls    The Roller Derby team has had weekly practices with Joe Daniels and Michelle Forlenza to keep them mobile fit and strong!
  • Sponsored the Reser Bicyle team.  Looking forward to seeing great performance from the athletes this racing season in road, cyclocross and mountain biking. We’ve been working with Jason Reser for the past few seasons to keep him healthy and faster with more balance and coordination to survive races and crashes!
SWING THIS!!!!!!

SWING THIS!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRO SHOP    We  have a full line of mobility tools and supplements to mend a mangled body or plug holes in your nutrition!

  •  Partnership with Trigger Point Therapy for mobility tools
  • Partnership with the BodyBack Company for trigger point and massage tools( I suggest picking up a BUDDY tool from us.)
  • Partnership with Rituals By Nature with an exclusive line of  roughened hand care for hard training kettlebell and other fitness enthusiasts.  Bar of Steel is a natural pumice type soap to smooth rough skin and Beast Wax to help repair cracks and dry hands.
  • Partnership with Beverly Nutrition for some of the best supplements money can buy.
  • Working on carrying a vegan and vegetarian line of protein supplements
  • hip_lower_back_kit_1

 

 

 

 

NUTRITION

I am currently working on the Precision Nutrition Certification from Dr Jon Berardi where we will be soon able to give exercise nutritional coaching to help you reach your physique and performance goals even faster!   Joe

 

COMMUNITY

  •  Helping with the Licking River Greenway Trails and Devou park Backcountry bike and hike trails whether its raising money or helping with the trails
  • Helping with the West Latonia Learning Community Garden teaching others how to grow and enjoy their own foods without being reliant on huge food producers
  • Finding sources of local natural foods.
  • Getting with Covington and the surrounding areas to help consult with exercise programs for the community

NEW Trainers

  • Ryan Smith
  • Mike Brooks
  • Michelle Forlenza
  • and soon to be Craig “valentine” Lipscomb   if he doesn’t punch me.

Also we will be working on all sorts of training and nutrition seminars this year !!  we really appreciate your business and support. If there is anything we can help you with please email me at   danielsfitnesstraining@gmail.com    and for more info go to www.facebook.com/swingthiskettlebells

Thank you JOE DANIELS

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Apr01

Injuries Suck and Play With Your Head By Michelle Forlenza IKFF CKT

by joe daniels on April 1, 2013 at 12:59 PM
Posted In: Female Competitors, injury, michelle forlenza, motivation, therapy, Uncategorized

Injuries? We at Swing This pride ourselves on trying to become as injury proof as possible.  This means training with proper form and focus.  But sometimes injuries can occur to the strongest people. Why does it happen? Can you predict or prevent injuries?? How will you deal with it? These are all point brought up by  our own Michelle Forlenza IKFF CKT and Trainer at Swing This Kettlebell and Strength.   Many of you know michelle is a very strong and competitive person….  Here is a little insight on her recent few weeks. injuries can be helped by strongcore    

 

 

 

 

Written by Michelle Forlenza.

“Injuries suck, plain and simple. — They are painful. They cost a lot of money. They prevent you from doing a lot of things. They play with your head. So, here I am, just about three weeks out from my shoulder injury and as I’ve spent time healing, I have learned that although injuries are a burden, they also are an opportunity to learn. Moments after I dislocated my shoulder, I should have been focusing on the pain I was feeling, but my pain was overshadowed by a bigger concern; when would I be able to train again.

As an athlete, getting injured is your worst nightmare. Injuries mean time away from doing what you love and injuries change everything. For me, working out has always been a big part of who I am, and suddenly, I would not be able to do what I loved to do the same way. After spending a few hours in the ER, my physical pain went down, but then the pity party started and I realized that this was serious and I would not be able to workout. I have always sort of defined myself as “the strong girl” and at first; this injury took more away from me then just my shoulder. Suddenly, I went from clean and jerking 135 pounds, to struggling to brush my hair. Quickly, I let my new “weakness” get to my head.

Not only was I injured physically, I felt as though I had lost who I was. Melodramatic, perhaps, but if you know me, you’d understand. So moving on from a rough two days, I finally got to visit the doctor who informed me that I had severely dislocated and fractured my shoulder and that I was officially, not allowed to train. After receiving this news, my competitive nature kicked in and I knew that I had to stop my bitching and start trying to recover, quickly and effectively. Shortly after this appointment, I made the decision that it was time that I change my perspective. Instead of focusing on all the things I couldn’t do, I began to think of all of the things that I could. Then, things began to change.

I decided to take this as an opportunity to learn. Immediately, I began to realize that it is important to listen to your body, and that there is a big difference between working/training hard and just plain overtraining. I should have been listening to my body, and everyone around me, all along. As I came to terms with this, I decided that I could take this as an opportunity to work on cleaning up my diet, gaining strength the right way, focusing on (much needed) cardio improvements as well as flexibility and mobility.

When I started to focus on healing instead of “progress,” I started to feel better, both physically and mentally. I am no where near out of the woods yet, but my positivity has certainly helped me heal. Currently, I’m on week three of physical therapy and I am already seeing great improvements. Although sometimes it is difficult for me not to jump right back into things, I am finally listening and being careful as I rehab and train. Instead of ignoring pain I’m feeling, I work to figure out why I am hurting and correct it.

Overall, I feel like I am rehabbing my whole body and my mind, not just my silly shoulder. I am finding new ways to train and seeing great results. Sure, I really miss weight training and practicing kettlebell sport, but overall I feel much better. Slowly but surely, I’m getting better and soon I’m sure I will be a much stronger girl than ever before.”                

Michelle Forlenza     IKFF CKT

 

Ladies and beginners for more information on training with Michelle, please contact her HERE or email to danielsfitnesstraining@gmail.com   No need to be intimidated she started where you are only a few years ago!   575129_10150838799432408_1254866343_n 554233_615065238520209_571897833_n

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michelle is available for training at Swing This and will be soon an expert in training around shoulder injuries……..  JOE

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Mar21

3 Reasons to Use Video. Kettlebell Trainers Are You Missing This Powerful Tool?

by joe daniels on March 21, 2013 at 8:01 PM
Posted In: sport training, trainer tips, Uncategorized

In this world of technology driven tools, there is one that is incredibly powerful for coaching kettlebell and functional  training .

The Video.

Sounds old school right?  With Iphones, Droids  and Ipads I’m sure you’ve put your camera to use. But while  capturing a still picture  may look super cool on a filtered instagram post….  How can you use that to actually teach and correct you clients? Lets look a little closer into this.

There are many different ways to learn a new skill.  Some people need hands on and others need to watch themselves in a mirror.  Some can pick it up just by watching you do one demonstration of the exercise.   But now that training is moving away from the Globo gyms filled with  colored pictures of activated  muscles  posted on the machine , there is a need for more complex external feedback.  With more dynamic movement such as kettlebell training  and  olympic lifting in Crossfit gyms, most people aren’t going to nail the snatch on day one.  So try as you might to have everyone have incredible internal feedback on understanding movements , you might as well try to  win the lottery first.

First off, make sure the client or group is ok with you videoing them. Once this is fine then you can proceed with taping them.

Here are a few ways video can help your clients and your business.

  •  FORM CORRECTION     Since kettlebell and functional training requires  dynamic multi-planar movements, showing  clients video from MULTIPLE angles can help them understand better what they may not see in the mirror.  Most power exercises such as kettlebell  or  olympic snatches and jerks are executed so fast its hard to see when an experienced coach demonstrates.  With technology such as Coach’s Eye App ( available on the Itunes App Store)  the video can be  played back in a very slow time frame to  give BETTER EXTERNAL FEEDBACK.     For example yesterday we had a second basemen in high school  tell us his elbow was bothering when he threw the ball. We filmed and slowed down his very fast throw so he could see that he was releasing the ball in an entirely different position than he thought.  This can help you coach them as you play it back and provide verbal cues. Sometimes it is hard for people to listen as they are trying to learn a new functional skill. This allows their CNS to take a break as they try to correct form.    This can also be used to keep track of progress as well.
  • ARCHIVAL  PURPOSES       Keep low resolution video to show clients progress in form and testing protocols such as FMS screenings.   If a picture is worth a thousand words what is a video worth?  Pamela and Tommy Lee could have afforded to buy a picture back……
  • INCREASED SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE AND THE CHANCE TO GO VIRAL     Now this may be a bit selfish,  but if you have a community based gym focused on helping everyone succeed, this is KEY. First off you are showcasing the talents of your clients  and or  your problem solving ability to help reach a clients goals   Not just a Meathead picture of yourself flexing away.  Well unless you run a bodybuilding competition prep website…   When you showcase  a member or client,  and they like it chances are they will share the heck out of it with their family and friends.  Some people just dont care about photos. For all thy know their friend staged that 106 lb  once arm Kettlebell snatch.  A short video tells shows them what they refuse to believe. What if you find an incredible new way to activate the glute medius for stabilization of the hip?  (chances are Bret Contreras beat you to it….) Well it just may go viral in the training community.

Hd cams are on every smart phone and near every tablet you come across.

You dont have to spend a fortune on a studio quality camera. Chances are you already have one, and  there are many sites to host your videos such as Youtube and Vimeo so you dont have to use up too much of your hard drive.

So, use these three tips, grab your camera, and make your next hit video.

( Example: This was filmed with Coach’s Eye and and placed on youtube for critique)

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Mar16

Home Gym How To: The Hundred Dollar Home Gym $100 Option 1

by joe daniels on March 16, 2013 at 8:35 PM
Posted In: home gym, Hundred Dollar Home Gym, Uncategorized

Hello everyone and welcome to what I call the Hundred Dollar Home Gym Series.  This will be an ongoing topic for this website . It will delve into discussing options for different price points  to create a  functional home gym.  We  will range from $100 into the thousands.   I will, in my opinion give ideas and recommendations of the most  ”bang for your buck” training tools and  mobility fixes out there.

I like to keep this simple so here it goes.

$100 Home Gym  option 1

Foam Roller    Usually around $20   hands down the first first piece of exercise equipment you need yet may have never heard of.   I have yet met anyone (unless  contraindicated by a doctor) who cannot benefit from using myofascial release.  You will be sore from training and you will  need to address certain tight muscles here and there. The Roller will be your friend for life. While there are many types out there lets start with the 3 foot version from Perform Better.  There are many places to find how to use them  such as………… youtube etc…

 

 

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8-16 kg Competition Style Kettlebell   around $60 for 8kg and $80 for 16kg (there may be shipping charges  depending on your order ) 

I feel kettlebell training should be at the heart of EVERY training program for the majority of home gym  exercisers.  Combining safety and intensity, the kettlebell is a great tool for strength endurance and mobility.   Ladies start light with 6-8kg  and men 16kg can always be used  for the rest of your life. Once you get accustomed to it, these weight will be more based on longer length cardio and muscular endurance along with flexibility exercises.  Why Competition style??   Yes they are more expensive than the regular Kettlebell but, once you learn the form with one weight there is no change in form as you increase weight.  If you start with regular kettlebells they will feel different and rest in your rack position and forearms in a different spot each weight.   While you will outgrow this weight in a few weeks or months for your Kettlebell swings and  other lower body power movements,  it will be an investment for the rest of your life once you get hooked and can loan it to, or teach your friends and family how to use it!

Now ladies since you have an extra $20  in your pocket and im sure you wish to spend it go ahead and grab some  KettleGuard wrist bands from  Valery Fedorenko so it doesnt look like your wrists were ran over by a car when you go back to work….  Then again with great form you wont have to use them anymore. Until then a pretty good investment.  if you have wrists of Steel, check out Jeff Martones great Kettlebell book, KETTLEBELL Rx  on amazon.com    trust me, it’s a very good informative start to kettlebell training.

 

There you have it.   Rehab , Prehab, mobility and tissue health from the foam roller coupled with endless combinations of strength, endurance, balance and stabilization training from the kettlebell.      A Home gym with an incredible start for  around $100.

 

And you thought I was going make you buy a treadmill……

 

Stayed tuned for more $100 options   for your home gym before we  get to the next level.  $250!!   Until next time,   send me any questions you may have to  the Swing This Kettlebell and Functional Strength Facebook page.  Im happy to help you create better training environments in your home that dont cost an arm and a leg like you have been led to believe before    JOE

 

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