An Excerpt from Iron Cardio By Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education “It’s a trap.” —Admiral Ackbar Intuitive programs can fall into a few traps: Always intense Always increasing Increasing reps per set Not doing the math Chasing the clock Always Intense The “always intense” trap is the sneakier of the five. You think you …
“All failure is failure to adapt, all success is successful adaptation.”—Max McKeown We all know, hopefully, that learning is an ongoing process that is never complete. After 20 years of kettlebell training, we continue to learn, and our most recent lesson might just help a lot of you with your military press goals. What led …
Optimizing the Kettlebell Military Press Grip—For You Read More »
In February of 2002 a group of 22 students assembled for the second ever kettlebell certification with Pavel. From water balloons, mattresses, and a very different teaching progression, it was life-changing to say the least. Out of the first group came many of the original senior instructors and the organic development of the School of …
“Clarity affords focus.”—Thomas Leonard The Debate I received a response on one of my Instagram posts showing some 40kg one-arm swings that first made me chuckle and then made me think. “Squat more than a hinge…The kettlebell is too heavy for you…Build up to it, you’ll get there.” The swing is what I define as …
“Understanding variation is the key to success in quality and business.”—W. Edwards Deming I would add to the quote above that variation can be a key to success in quality teaching and learning not just business. A subtle shift in language or a specialized variety drill can lead to overcoming obstacles to progression. For example, …
I recently had my eighth surgery and I am neither proud nor am I ashamed of this. In fact, while nobody would consider such a thing to be “good” at first, I’ve actually learned a lot about myself, holes in my training game, and new ways to run diagnostics on my kettlebell practice during the …
“Music is the silence between the notes.” Claude Debussy Like a bar of music, a kettlebell swing has points we aim to hit on different beats. The difference between a messy, choppy swing and one that is powerful and graceful, lies in its rhythm. When looking at a swing or other ballistic drills, it can …
“Hindsight is 20/20” Typically reserved for situations where we look back with greater clarity than we had at the time, this oft-used saying might have special meaning in the year 2020. Yes, the year of ‘perfect vision’ is upon us. So, let us see if we can use our hindsight on 2019 and look forward …
“Time is the school in which we learn, time is the fire in which we all burn.”—Delmore Schwartz Density Training Eighteen years ago, when I began my kettlebell journey, I also started relying on the clock to manage my training. Specific work-to-rest ratios were my foundation. When renowned wrestling and strength coach Ethan Reeve posted …
The Timeless Solution for Swings, Snatches, and More Read More »
If training consistently is the foundation of results, does that mean doing the same thing over and over? If you want to keep making progress, at some point you’ll need to make changes to your program, but what, when, and how much? Brett Jones takes the mystery out of adding variety to your training. If …