Old Forum Something S&S as well as life experience has taught me.

[kbkris]

Well, I planned on taking today off because I was "tired."  I mean it.  I'm beat.  It took everything I had today to keep my eyes open at work.  Where I work, falling asleep would do more than get my boss mad at me.  It could be dangerous.

Plus, I'm a little depressed that my favorite local radio station is changing formats in January.  Trust me, Cleveland morning radio sucks and this was the one station worth listening to while driving to the "Mistake on the Lake," every morning.

So when I got home, I really had no intention of exercising.

This isn't another "glad I sucked it up," post.

I was reading S&S and read that fatigue is no excuse to not get in a training day.  Dammit!

So I did what a good little comrade is supposed to do.  I played with my iron balls.

Now, when I first got involved with using KBs as a training tool, I did all the stuff you can do for variety's sake.  I would still like to do some two-handed windmills (my favorite exercise EVER) and some tactical lunges, but I know that doing a PULL and a PRESS is what is necessary for super strength.

I'm not old and even if I am, I refuse to admit it.  I'm not ready to start acting my age and dammit, I'm not going to say that 39 now means I can't exercise and improve myself.  I also refuse to let 39 be the middle or further than middle part of my life.  I know it's up to God when I go home (and I hope I got to His home instead of the alternative) but if I have anything to say about it, I hope I still have more days ahead of me instead of behind me.

So even though I may not be "old," I'm certainly a slow learner.  It has taken about ten years of KB training for the light bulb to go off.  Swings and TGUs work!   Okay, they're not as fun as some other exercises, but am I doing this to have fun, or am I trying to make myself a better person today than I was yesterday?

I think it might be something with age, but I have learned that practicing one thing well will bring better results than picking something up, getting bored and moving to something else, then coming back to what you left in the first place and having to start all over again.

 

[McLaren]

Just as there is such a thing as too much information, there can be too many distractions from the goals of our training.

I was in a similar rut for a while due to some long-term injuries and just being beat-tired when I got home at night. I had been training at night for nearly 25 years because, well, that’s when the martial arts classes were.

By luck, my 8-year old competitive swimmer came to my rescue by being promoted to the advanced swim team. They practice at 5:00 in the morning and while my wife takes her, I help get her up and moving. Since I’m up, I get my training done in the mornings now and love it. It completely sets up my day and I have much more energy. Granted, I have less time in the morning than at night, but that has helped me focus on more critical methods, and S & S fits the bill!

 

[Jeff]

Kris,

I really appreciate your post.  When I first got into kettlebells, I went with one of the RKC spin-offs that had lots of DVD's with all kinds of variety.  When I read about ETK, it seemed way too simple for me.   I finally became an RKC convert.  I bought ETK, as well as several other RKC publications.  Problem was, I was under the mistaken impression that the PM was just a beginner's program.  I felt the need to move on to something more advanced.  I got a DVD from The Tamer and Rif from a seminar they did together.  Tamer quipped about how beginners did swings and getups, and then the more advanced guys did swings and getups.  It has taken me a while longer to grasp, but swings and getups are great.  As good as ETK, and the PM was, Pavel has learned more since he wrote it.  All these years later, swings and getups are still great.  Pavel has refined the programming a bit with S&S, but it is still swings and getups.  From someone who grew up during Pumping Iron and Arthur Jones, it took me a while to get it.  Finally, at the age of 51, I really believe that if all I did was swings and getups, I would be prepared to do anything that comes my way.

I try try to tell my friends about kettlebells, and now S&S.  But, the problem is, most of them don't get it.  I understand, because it didn't make sense to me at first either.  Pavel could probably be a lot more popular if he became a trainer to the Hollywood stars, and he could most definitely do it.  But, instead, he remains true to his convictions and offers simple programs that work for the military elite.  How cool is it to have access to the same programs that Pavel prepares for those guys?

Another thing that is cool about it is the fact that it is scalable.  Just use the right size kettlebells for where you are at.  I am far from the Simple standard, but I believe I can make it.  At this stage of the game, I don't anticipate meeting the Sinister standard.  But, I will be a contractor whose job it is to do 100 swings in sets of 10, followed by 5 getups on each side.  I will see where it takes me.  If old age causes me to eventually use a lighter kettlebell, I will still be leading a more active life than the guys sitting on their asses watching television.

And another thing.  If you are only 39, damn straight you can still improve yourself.