Code Name Indestructible

CODE NAME: INDESTRUCTIBLE


How to Train For Anything A Super- Villain (or Life) Can

Throw At You!

Michael A. Krivka, Sr. RKC Team Leader and

CrossFit Trainer

Preface by Dan John


Disclaimer

The exercises and advice contained within this manual may be too difficult or inappropriate for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging or prescribing them. This information is intended for participant reference only, not as a complete guide to strength, flexibility and kettlebell training.

The author and publisher of this manual are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury which may occur through following the instructions herein.


Page 1 of 91 © Michael A. Krivka, Sr. - 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS Thanks ......................................................................................................................................3

The Adventure Begins... ............................................................................................................5

Preface – By Dan John .............................................................................................................7

Introduction ...............................................................................................................................9

How to Program These Workouts for Maximum Benefit ......................................................... 13

What is Intensity? .................................................................................................................... 15

Waving the Workouts .............................................................................................................. 17

Practice versus Working Out ................................................................................................... 19

Planning and Tracking Your Workouts .................................................................................... 21

Before and After the Workout or Practice Session .................................................................. 23

A Word or Two About the Workout Format ............................................................................. 25

Twenty Four Missions to Bring Out the Secret Agent in You! .......................................... 27

Mission 01: Blood in the Sand ................................................................................................. 29

Mission 02: Trains, Dames, and Bullets .................................................................................. 31

Mission 03: All that Glitters is not Gold .................................................................................... 33

Mission 04: Sharks But No Lasers .......................................................................................... 35

Mission 05: Ninja Assassins .................................................................................................... 37

Mission 06: Lead Poisoning .................................................................................................... 39

Mission 07: Taking Out Bambi and Thumper .......................................................................... 41

Mission 08: It’s All in the Cards ............................................................................................... 43

Mission 09: Killer Gold ............................................................................................................ 45

Mission 10: Agent XXX ........................................................................................................... 47

Mission 11: Gravity Sucks ....................................................................................................... 49

Mission 12: An Eye for an Eye ................................................................................................ 51

Mission 13: Trouble Times Eight ............................................................................................. 53

Mission 14: Welcome Back Mr. Bond ...................................................................................... 55

Mission 15: 20-20 Vision ......................................................................................................... 57

Mission 16: Hard to Kill ........................................................................................................... 59

Mission 17: License Revoked.................................................................................................. 61

Mission 18: Marked for Death ................................................................................................. 63

Mission 19: A Night in Paris .................................................................................................... 65



Mission 20: Christmas in July .................................................................................................. 67

Mission 21: Jinxed ................................................................................................................... 69

Mission 22: Dead Man’s Hand ................................................................................................ 71

Mission 23: Better Red than Dead .......................................................................................... 73

Mission 24: Resurrection ......................................................................................................... 75

Skyfall Movie Trivia ................................................................................................................. 75

Bonus Material ...................................................................................................................... 77

Understanding Ballistics and Grinds ....................................................................................... 79

Kettlebells to the Rescue! ....................................................................................................... 81

“Fast Hips – Slow Hands” ....................................................................................................... 83

Mirror Muscles or Martial Muscles? ......................................................................................... 85

Ten Reasons Why I Train with Russian Kettlebells ................................................................. 87

Random Thoughts on Russian Kettlebells .............................................................................. 89

About the Author ................................................................................................................... 91



THANKS

Many individuals directly and indirectly influenced the creation and execution of this project. No project of this scope is done in a vacuum. I have had the help and support of family, friends, and clients. I would like to extend my sincere and humble thanks to: My Father, Herbert A. Krivka, for giving me the love and inspiration to do what I wanted to do, with the admonition to always do my best regardless of the task. I love you and miss you Dad. My amazing family consisting of my lovely wife Francine and my three “sons” (Mak, Jr., Jak, and Freckles the Wonder Dog). Thank you for giving me the love and support that I needed on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis. Thanks for making me a good husband, father, and friend. My friends and clients at CrossFit Koncepts and Martial Arts Koncepts. You are the reason why I put in the hours devising new ways to challenge and inspire you. Each and every one of you has amazed me with your spirit and strength. I am humbled to guide you. I especially want to thank John Kalil for being there when I needed someone to teach a class or proofread the workouts. His help was immeasurable and my thanks to him are eternal. My RKC family—past, present and future. While we may have gone in different directions we are still on the same path. Be strong, brothers and sisters, I wish you all good health, happiness, and everlasting strength. I want to thank Pavel Tsatsouline for his work to bring the Russian Kettlebell to the forefront of the strength and conditioning community. I also want to thank John Du Cane for being the driving force behind the RKC and for giving me the opportunity to become a more integral part of the community that I love to serve. The one and only Dan John. I’ve had the great privilege to spend some time with Dan and I will always remember the conversations and stories that he shared. Dan is the consummate professional and while he is at heart a storyteller, he is also a scholar and a warrior. I not only appreciate your friendship and guidance, but all of the great information that you have shared throughout the years to anyone who was smart enough to listen to you. To my friend Adrienne Harvey for believing in me and helping turn this disjointed content into a living and breathing thing. I value your insight and friendship more than you know and I look forward to working with you on your own book someday soon. It will be my distinct pleasure and honor to be a coauthor with you. I would also like to thank the select group of friends that I sent a draft of this eBook to who graciously took the time to review it and make suggestions. Your comments and thoughts were amazing and made this eBook that much better. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Finally, I would like to thank the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces who make sacrifices each and every day so that we can sleep safely in our beds at night. May God Bless you and bring you home safe and whole in body, mind and spirit.



THE ADVENTURE BEGINS...

Like any great adventure this one started with a conversation. I was talking to a fellow trainer about programming workouts for my gym, CrossFit Koncepts. We were comparing notes on what we looked for in workouts and how we set up training cycles. Pretty standard stuff for “gym geeks”—at least the ones I hang out with. He asked me how I come up with workouts, and I told him that I usually start out with a theme or list, pick a tool or movement that I want to emphasize, then it all starts coming together. He asked for an example and I immediately thought of the workouts I created to honor our Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. I mentioned that I was putting together a series of workouts to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the James Bond franchise and the release of Skyfall in November of 2012. “Wow” he said, “That’s a great idea! You should put them together and sell them!” From that point forward the conversation went haywire as we started doing "stupid human tricks" in the bar. Did I mention this conversation happened in a hotel bar? The next conversation was with Dan John. If you don’t know who Dan John is then you should. (It’s called the “inter-web” and Al Gore invented it to make your life easier. Google “Dan John” and you will be enlightened.) Anyway, we were sitting around talking about training (and beer) and I asked Dan how he gets inspired to write. His reply was that most times “people ask me to write about something so it makes my job easier”. I sat back on my stool, not too far back mind you, and connected the dots with the previous conversation. A little light bulb started glowing in the dark recesses of my mind. The next day found me in a hotel conference room (bet you thought I was going to say bar) listening to a string of presenters talking about their success stories and how they made money in their sleep—primarily through creating content (i.e., eBooks and DVD’s) that generate income without you having to be there. Hmmm, that light bulb is got brighter all of a sudden. Well, the final conversation flipped the switch while I was hanging out with the folks from Dragon Door at an event in Florida. Adrienne Harvey (remember the “inter-web”? Check her out!) and I started talking about our experiences that weekend. She mentioned her internet and eBook publishing experiences. Then and there I knew that I found someone who could help me make my idea into a reality. We started talking about how this could work and the fact that James Bond is such a popular icon—workouts laced with James Bond trivia would not only be fun, but interesting to read. You're looking at the rest of the story. I returned from the trip with a new inspiration and a desire to transform what started as a series of disjointed conversations from the weekend into this eBook. The workouts are of my own design but they are in homage to the legacy of Ian Fleming who brought us a twentieth century icon - James Bond, 007 - and fifty years of great movies. By the way, if James Bond needed to get in shape for his next mission he could use the following workouts to get in fighting shape. If they could work for him, just imagine what they could do for you!.

http://www.crossfitkoncepts.com/

http://www.skyfall-movie.com/site/

http://www.DanJohn.net/

http://www.GiryaGirl.com/

http://www.007.com/



PREFACE – BY DAN JOHN

Michael Krivka is one of those guys you swear you knew before you first met him. When you first meet Mike, there is this odd déjà vu sense about things that perhaps he was the guy at the event that you went to that one time. It’s because Mike is “that guy.” Mike’s been around the block a few times. Well, let’s just say enough times that the neighbors’ wave and the storekeepers welcome him in. In the fitness industry, especially in the area of kettlebell training and instruction, Michael is one of the originals. He was one of the first to go “all in” with kettlebells way back when few people outside the MILO subscription list had heard of them. His skill as a trainer, leader and visionary in the industry is well known and well respected. He also has a great sense of humor. In your hands here, you have certainly the most unique approach to programming since the advent of split training. Seriously, workouts based upon the James Bond Movie Canon? Yep. Seriously. Don’t skip the first part of the book. Your questions will be answered before you get too far into the deep end. Mike isn’t going to let you sink, so be sure to look over his recommendations on planning and programming. I think most of us will follow my lead however and leap right into the meat of the book: the Bond related workouts. I warned you not to, but remember to circle back and reread and rethink the intelligent approach Mike outlines. This is a fun book. For trivia purposes, the little points after each workout made me smile and the connection between JFK and Elvis was actually amazing (look for it!). As you grab your breath between kettlebell moves, you can put to memory the Bond girls from France, if you like. On a serious note, Mike’s explanations of grinds and ballistics, as well as his simple introduction into the world of kettlebells allows the reader unfamiliar with these “cannonballs with handles” an opportunity to learn at the knee of one the best. Enjoy. Learn. Digest. Then grab your tuxedo and dive into these workouts. Dan John Burlingame, California November 2012 DanJohn.net

http://www.danjohn.net/



INTRODUCTION The workouts in this eBook were inspired by the twenty four James Bond 007 movies that have become a part of our entertainment legacy as well as the fantasies of both men and women over the last fifty years. If you've watched any of the Bond movies, you'll notice one undeniable fact: James Bond is one tough and resilient mother! Okay, there was a while when one-liners were more important than the ability to shoot or throw a decent punch, but those days are behind us now that Daniel Craig is portraying 007. Bond is back and he’s as tough as ever—which is just the way I like him! So, what does this have to do with you? Well, quite a bit actually. I contend that the training necessary for a top-tier secret agent is the same for a Super Mom or Dad, or even a semi-decent athlete. Let me explain—and this is important so PAY ATTENTION! You need the same physical abilities and attributes as a secret agent but you won’t need them to the extreme degree—but you never know! You need the ability to pick up heavy things; push, pull, and squat with a load; and move fast and hard when necessary. What’s not super about that? A secret agent needs to be:

Strong

Resilient

Tenacious

Flexible

Mobile

Agile

Athletic These are all physical attributes that you can develop through a well-rounded functional training program. You need to have a balance of strength, speed, power and endurance—just like you'd need to chase down a couple kids all day, or to keep yourself motivated while you’re huddled over a computer. Let’s see how that stacks up against the CrossFit Ten Attributes of Fitness:

Strength

Agility

Flexibility

Power

Speed

Stamina

Accuracy

Balance

Endurance

Coordination



Not bad. Actually darn close. Both lists have similar physical and mental aspects. So, how many of these attributes do you need? I would say you need all of them. You might need more of some and less of others, but you will still need all of them. You will also need to spend extra time on the attributes where you're deficient. Now would be a good time for me to define each one of the Secret Agent Attributes mean to me and how I think you’ll need to develop them. Let’s start with Strong. If you could only improve one attribute—and this applies to most everyone—it would be strength. I’m not talking about increasing your bench press or biceps curl, I’m talking about adding pounds to your deadlift, clean or military press. Increasing your ability to move heavy weights is going to put some meat in the right spots and make you harder to kill! I think Mark Rippetoe was quoted as saying, “Strong people are harder to kill.” I couldn’t agree more. I don’t mean that in a literal sense—unless you really are a secret agent! What I’m referring to is real muscle (not the puffy muscles from bodybuilding) which allows you to perform difficult tasks with ease and survive situations that would injure or kill others. I really like the CrossFit dictum of “training for the known and unknown”. I think this is an important mindset to keep in mind when conceptualizing your training program and components. In short, get strong to be strong. Resilient - To me, being resilient means that you can do what needs to be done, without getting destroyed in the process. Resilience is different at different ages. As a secret agent in your prime (30’s), resilience means escaping the villain's underground lair while being shot at, chased by henchmen, while still having a little left in the tank to show the cute redheaded damsel you saved a good time… if you know what I mean. As you get older, resilience means bouncing back from a tough workout quickly, taking an unexpected fall without injury, or even changing a tire on the side of the road. Once again, it’s only a matter of degree not function. By the way, as far as I’m concerned, resilience is also a mental attribute—meaning you can face adversity, persevere, and accomplish your goals. Tenacious - I love that word! When I think of tenacity I think of my old dog Katana Loki (yeah, I know, cool name). She was a Staffordshire Terrier and I used to play tug of war with her and she would NEVER let me win - EVER. She only weighed about forty-five pounds but she would give everything she had when it came down to it. As a physical attribute, tenacity is the ability to find the way to accomplish your goals, even if the path is difficult or painful. Being a secret agent, or even a Jane or Joe Bland, is sometimes a tough path and you'll need to have the physical and mental ability to keep going even when you want to quit. How do you develop tenacity? The only way is to train outside your comfort zone and do the workouts that others won’t. You’ll become physically stronger, and you’ll also have the mental muscle to match. Bruce Lee made an interesting observation about fighting many years ago. He said, "If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you." “Flexible as silk and as strong as steel,” one of my Gung Fu instructors admonished us to become in every aspect of our lives. Looking at some people, you might think flexibility is the antithesis of strength, but I think it is part of the same package. To me, flexibility means you've developed your physical attributes to accommodate movement within your sport or activity,

http://startingstrength.com/



within and sometimes exceeding normal range of motion. I’m not saying that you have to do full splits, but you should have enough command of your muscles that you can move and perform without running into roadblocks of inflexibility. I’m fortunate that I've always been relatively flexible, but I still have to work to maintaining it. I’ve worked with a lot of athletes who were extremely strong but couldn’t even touch their own toes. Think about this— being strong makes you harder to kill, but flexibility makes you even harder to injure. Is there a mental aspect to flexibility? Hell yeah! If you can’t take the obstacles thrown in front of you and turn them into hurdles, then you need to get a grip and focus on the goal. You might ask, "Isn’t being 'Mobile' the same thing as being flexible?” Hardly! To me, being mobile means that you have that ability to move and function at the full capacity of your body. After many years of taking hard falls in wrestling and judo you’d think my back, neck, and shoulders would be toast, but that's not the case. I’ve spent a lot of time keeping all of my joints and connective tissue mobilized through various means like foam rollers and yoga. As a secret agent, you never know when you'll have to climb to the top of a tower to disarm a nuclear weapon. Or, as a parent you never know when you may have to chase down one of your kids from the top of the play set at McDonald’s. Being mobile makes you more resilient and will also give you more confident in your ability to get the work done without injury. Explore the information on the MobilityWOD website or attend a Primal Move workshop and you will understand what you need to work on. Being “Agile” doesn’t necessarily mean jumping and leaping like a ballerina in the Bolshoi. To me it means the ability to quickly and seamlessly transition from skill to skill. I am reminded of an experience I had while working with some tactical officers from a large metropolitan police department. The officers prided themselves on their shooting skills, and I was impressed with their ability to “kill” paper targets. When they asked for my assessment I gave them a quick skill test to show them the real life level of their pistol work. I made them do 5 kicks to the heavy bag with each leg, and 4 lengths of hand over hand on the monkey bars, 5 burpees, and 4 bodyweight deadlifts. Then they had 30 seconds to put 5 rounds in the “X”, change magazines and then put 5 more rounds in the “X”. (Note: everyone had a chance to shoot their 5+5 first, in order to establish a baseline of accuracy and time.) How did they do? Well, no one had an accidental discharge in the process, but no one came anywhere near their previous score. So is agility a physical or mental skill? The answer is yes… Everyone is “Athletic” to one degree or another. If someone says that they’re a “runner” then they are considered an athlete. If someone else says they're a “tennis player,” then they are considered an athlete as well. Some people are more athletic than others in my eyes. If someone is a NCAA wrestler, a high level MMA competitor, or an Olympic caliber gymnast, then they are going to get kudos from me. If you are trying to find your “inner athlete” then you are on the right path and I commend you. To me being athletic means that you have developed the basic skills of your sport to a relatively high degree, and are able to apply them under dynamic circumstances. What are the skills that you will need as a secret agent? It's a long list but it would definitely include running, climbing, combatives, etc. All of those skills take the preceding attributes (strength, resilience, tenacity, etc.) and put them into a dynamic, competitive environment where your skills are tested to see if they “hold up under fire”. In other words, an athlete puts himself into a competitive environment to see if his training and skills hold up. The same thing should hold true for the secret agent—and for you. I’m not saying you have to

http://www.mobilitywod.com/

http://www.dragondoor.com/workshops/?F_c=33&?apid=cfkoncepts



topple megalomaniacs seeking to control the world’s supply of gold, but you want to be able to test yourself through the auspices of a difficult workout on occasion in order to see if your training is actually working. Note: I have to mention a very powerful concept that changed how I train myself and others. You will see this as an underlying theme within the workouts and throughout the whole program. While no one workout in this eBook will address all of the skills below, most address several. Dan John identified five movement skills which need to be practiced and that you should be using when developing strength and experience:

Push

Pull

Squat

Hinge

Carry

Other – i.e., Turkish Get Up This grouping of movements should define your strength program, and also give you a framework for identifying your strengths and weaknesses. (For a more detailed explanation of this, pick up Dan John and Pavel’s book Easy Strength. It will give you a completely different perspective on your training requirements.)

http://www.dragondoor.com/b57/?apid=cfkoncepts



HOW TO PROGRAM THESE WORKOUTS FOR MAXIMUM BENEFIT Dan John once said that “anything will work for six weeks—anything!” The goal of this book is to give you a series of workouts that will last more than six weeks while giving you hard and fast proof that you are getting stronger. All of the workouts have been “field tested” and approved by avid kettlebellers and CrossFit athletes. (Note: the approval process usually entails me yelling “So, what do you think?” and getting a series of moans, groans and middle fingers in return.) Each one of these workouts have been tweaked and refined to help you reach your goals—increased strength, stamina or weight loss— but first and foremost they will make you strong. They will also challenge you to learn new skills, perfect old ones, and challenge your ability to move and mobilize your body. So, how do YOU use the workouts? That really depends on a lot of factors and you need to be brutally honest with yourself when determining the path to take. My only admonition is that you don’t try to push yourself too hard at the onset, causing either frustration or becoming so sore that you can’t continue. If you’re looking to increase your strength, give these workouts a try, get plenty of rest between workouts and go as hard as you can while maintaining good form and safety. If you’re looking to lose weight then these workouts will help you along that path as well. Your job will be to train, rest, and nourish your body with good “clean” foods. Your definition and mine may diverge when it comes to the definition of “clean foods” but let me point you in the right direction. Take a good look at the Warrior Diet, Paleo, and the Whole 30. Any one of them will help you lose body fat in a healthy way. Note - I didn’t put any links referencing the diets intentionally. It’s called the “inter-web” – use it! Also, each and every diet out there works if you stick to it. So pick one, toe the line and just do it. The practice in applying a little (or a lot of) discipline to your diet will benefit you in other areas. By the way, I heard a great quote the other day, “Ninety percent of weight loss occurs in the kitchen, ten percent occurs in the gym.” It really made me think. In a sense, the quote is absolutely right. If you’re tossing crap down your throat twenty-three hours a day, no workout in the world will be able to counteract it. But the more I started thinking about the quote, the more I realized that weight loss (and any fitness or life goals that you might have) all starts in your head. So in reality, one hundred percent of weigh loss occurs in your head. Most of the effort will need to happen between your ears. The entire process of planning, scheduling, decision making, etc. is dependent on your “grey matter." If your head is not dialed in and with the goal, then it’s not going to happen—or it will happen in a half-ass manner. You’ve got to make the decision to succeed; and if you know what the word “decision” really means, you are one step ahead of everyone else. “Decision” means to cut off any other path and move forward. In other words you cut off any chance of failure and do what needs to be done. The following items are a few schedules that you might consider when implementing these workouts. Take a look at each one, and decide which one you can live with and use to succeed.

Seven On This option is only for those who have their diet and recovery absolutely, positively 100% dialed in. They are eating three square meals a day and getting two high-quality snacks in as well – and are avoiding alcohol and sugar like the plague. They are getting a



minimum of eight hours sleep every night, and possibly a midday siesta if necessary, or even if they don’t. Note: this is going to exclude most people, and the people that it includes are invariably single and/or married and don’t have kids. Not to mention that they are more than likely in their twenties or thirties. Five On – Two Off This option is again for someone who has their diet and recovery dialed in, but knows that they need a little downtime in order to keep on course. This is perfect for someone who works during the week, wants to get their workouts in on workdays, and save the weekend for fun. They’ll still need to pay attention to how they feel as it gets later in the week. If they're starting to fade or lose interest in training hard, then they'll need to change to a different schedule with more built in recovery. Three On – One Off This option is good for someone who has a good handle on their diet and recovery—and who can recover quickly from the workouts. Being able to maintain intensity for three days in a row might be hard for most people to do, but this schedule will require you to “man-up” (or “woman-up” as the case may be) and put in three workouts back to back. In the following section more information will be given about how you can “wave” the workouts. This is one of the more popular scheduling options. Two On – One Off This option will work for the majority of people who are training. Two workouts, with a day off afterward, will allow you to go hard and then take a breather. Recovery should be manageable because you aren't doing many workouts on back to back days. You should feel refreshed after the day off.

Are there other schedules you can keep? Sure there are! You could do One On – One Off, Two On – Three Off, etc. They will all work and you should try them all to see how your body responds – just keep a good training log and you’ll find all the answers.



WHAT IS INTENSITY? When you discuss intensity you need to look at load and duration as well – because they are interrelated. Intensity can be looked as how explosive a muscular contraction will need to be for safe, efficient, effective execution of a given technique. In other words, a kettlebell snatch is a lot more intense than a biceps curl. Intensity can also be perceived as dependent on the overall physical condition of an athlete. Doing a series of fifty yard sprints would be intense for a powerlifter but not so bad for a soccer player—and it could outright kill a sedentary IT wonk! Think about this: as intensity increases so does the anaerobic capacity requirement. If you think running sprints and running a 10k are the same because they are both running, then think again. The anaerobic requirements of a sprinter and a long distance runner are completely different; but the sprinter will fare much better than the long distance runners when it comes down to anaerobic function. Also, don’t forget that intensity needs to be determined by the individual and is highly variable depending upon age, weight, diet, recovery, the presence of illness or injury, etc. Load refers to how heavy the object is that you are moving. Once again, heavy is a relative concept. If you are swinging a 53 lb kettlebell and switch to a 110 lb kettlebell, you will immediately get a sense for what load does to intensity. A light load will allow you to move faster longer, while a heavy load will only allow you to move “fast” for a short period of time. Did you notice how I snuck the relationship with duration into the load conversation? Yeah, they are mutually exclusive in that one is going to adversely affect the other. If you don’t have first-hand experience with this phenomenon trust me, you will very soon! I remember watching a video of an Olympic athlete (a weight lifter) doing a CrossFit workout that was thirty 135lb barbell snatches for time. This person was REALLY strong, and I’m guessing that he was snatching well over 400+ lbs on a pretty regular basis and a lot more than that every few weeks. But this workout put this poor guy on his butt. His comment afterwards, “I don’t train for this crap!?!?” The long and short of it is you’re going to need to gauge the intensity of the workouts based on your own experience and the advice of your coach. Going too fast with a heavy load will “blue flame” you and going too slow with a light load will get you nowhere. You’ve got to find just the right mix—and that includes attention to form, execution and safety— as you progress through the workouts.



WAVING THE WORKOUTS “Waving the workouts” means that you are varying the load and intensity of the workouts over a set period of time. The smallest increment you should be worried about in this instance is a week, but if you are good at planning, you could easily stretch this out over six or more weeks. How do you “wave” your workouts? It’s really a simple concept that has been used in strength and conditioning circles for a long, long time – think leopard skin trunks long time. The idea is to vary the load and intensity throughout a series of workouts so your body won't be over-stimulated but still challenged enough to still make gains. Waving also allows for sufficient recovery and muscle growth, as well as keeping you mentally engaged in the training process; i.e., not dreading going into the gym the next workout. The following are a few examples to help you visualize the process: Five On – Two Off Examples In this example you get two high intensity, two low intensity, and one medium intensity workout over the course of five days. This should give you enough stimuli to make gains without too much fatigue – as long as everything else is PERFECT!

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7

High Low Med Low High Off Off

Table 1 - Five On - Two Off Example 1

If you are feeling particularly “frisky” one week you can try the following schedule, but only with enough rest for you to bounce back completely between each workout:


High Med Low Med High Off Off

Table 2 - Five On - Two Off Example 2

Here is my favorite training schedule – Three On – One Off. It's a schedule and intensity I can easily maintain and recover from – even with a wife, two kids, Freckles the Wonder Dog, two jobs, and coaching basketball (or whatever season/sport the boys are playing at the time).


High Med Low Off High Med Low

Table 3 - Three On - One Off Example 1

This is a great schedule because I know I can push the first workout of this weekly cycle as hard as I want, then scale back the following two workouts to allow for additional recovery and skills practice.



The following example is similar and has worked well for me in the past as well:


High Low Med Off High Low Med

Table 4 - Three On - One Off Example 2

This great schedule gives me a low intensity day between tough workouts, allowing for extra recovery time so I'm ready for a hard, but less intense workout on the following day. Invariably you’ll need to experiment with the schedule to find what works the best for you. That takes time, so start now!



PRACTICE VERSUS WORKING OUT Now seems as good a time as any to discuss the difference between practicing and working out. Some people do one exclusively and some do the other – what I’d like to suggest is that yoo do both. You’ll hopefully you'll agree in a minute. Practice entails mindful, meticulous attention to detail, execution, and safety (three things that sometimes go out the window during workouts). When practicing, you are intentionally executing a technique as perfectly as possible, working on transitions, range of motion, tension, etc. There's no time requirement during a practice session – similar to Dan John’s concepts behind “punching the clock” workouts; you show up, get the work done, and go home. In a practice session you create the foundation for the technique (and other techniques as well). You're trying to make that foundation deep and wide. Practice is important and while it’s not especially glamorous or exciting – it’s necessary. Working out means you have a plan and you will to attack today’s objective. Less attention (and sometimes none at all) is spent on perfect movement or technique – you just hit it as hard as you can. Doing a workout is an opportunity to test your technique while under stress – sweat, snot, blood, and pain are all considered stressors in the gym, on the field, and in a fight. You are using the broad technique and strength base that you established during practice and seeing how it holds up under fire. Sometimes you'll do really well, while other times you'll realize it's time to practice more. The RKC School of Strength, spends a lot of time progressively loading and practicing perfect technique. This is a great method for developing strength in a traditional manner and works very, very well. CrossFit, “The Sport of Fitness,” relies less on practicing and more on testing the technique under stress. This allows for tremendous adaptation as well as amazing physical transformations in a relatively short period of time. I suggest making both the ideas of practicing and working out an active of part of your workout planning. Why turn your low intensity days into a practice sessions instead of workouts? Take one or two workouts a week to broaden and strengthen your technique-base, as well as you strength-base, so that when you decide to apply yourself during a tough workout you'll have the skills to match the intensity. Invariably, someone will ask, “Excuse me Brainiac, but can’t I practice the technique before the workout as opposed to wasting a whole workout?” My reply has been and always will be that a workout is never wasted when you practice the basics – NEVER. You’ll be a better athlete in the long run if you focus on the basic skills and basic strength techniques of your sport. This type of attention will allow you to make a difference when your moment in the spotlight comes. Remember the old adage that “practice makes perfect”? Well it's wrong – PERFECT practice makes PERFECT. You’ll never be able to work on perfecting a movement skill if you are doing it under stress – you’ll make bad accommodations and you’ll cheat. Practice will give you the ability to deeply ingrain good movements into your skill set with the ability to use them when necessary.

http://www.dragondoor.com/?apid=cfkoncepts



When you’re planning workouts, place a practice “workout” on your low intensity day and make sure it includes something you really need to work on. This will give you a chance to slow down, focus on technique, while still “punching the clock” and getting some work done.



PLANNING AND TRACKING YOUR WORKOUTS In order to get the most from these workouts, you’ll need to make a plan and stick to it – I’m serious! Yes, if you just pick and choose a few workouts you’ll have a lot of fun and get all hot and sweaty, but you’ll just be going in circles. Remember, by planning your workouts you'll see where you're gaining ground, and where you're going astray. Here is a sample workout plan (Three On – One Off Cycle) that will take you through nine different workouts, three times over the course of thirty six days. This simple table will allow you to keep track of the workout name, the weight used, the time it took to do the workout, and the number of reps. Note: depending on the structure of the workout you may not need all this information. Some workouts will require you to only keep track of the weight, while others will need you to log the time or reps. Modify the log to fit the workouts that you are using this cycle.

Workout Name Intensity Cycle I Cycle II Cycle III

Lbs/Time/Reps Lbs/Time/Reps Lbs/Time/Reps

Workout 1 High

Workout 2 Med

Workout 3 Low

REST N/A N/A N/A N/A

Workout 4 High

Workout 5 Med

Workout 6 Low


Workout 7 High

Workout 8 Med

Workout 9 Low


Table 5 - Sample Workout Log for Three On- One Off Schedule

At a minimum, if you aren’t going to plan your workouts, the least you can do is create a training log for reference. This will give you a written record of your workouts, practice sessions, and will let you see if you are making progress over time. By the way, each and every one of my clients is required to keep a training log. Most are reticent at first, because they aren’t used to the discipline involved with the process. Eventually, they all see the benefits - especially when they do a workout for the second or third time and see that they’ve increased weight, decreased time, increased reps, or even all of the above.



The following is a sample training log entry: 01/17/13 Mission 2: Trains, Dames, and Bullets 07 Alt KB Swings 07 03-Count Push-ups 07 Alt KB Snatch 07 Pull-ups 10 rounds for time w/53# KB; 15:34 NOTE: Felt strong and should be able to decrease overall time by compressing the rest periods next time around.

This entry tells you the name of the workout, the reps and exercises done, the weight used and the time finished. You may also want to make notes on any exercises you substituted or anything that will benefit you when you come back to review the workout: if you were fighting a cold, tweaked a muscle, or were recovering from a late night “training session” with a Ukrainian super spy! I can’t state how important it is to track your workouts over the long term. One of the smartest people I know (Dan John again) said that he has his training logs for the past twenty plus years or so – and he stills go backs and studies them. If Dan John says to do something, don’t be stupid – just do it!



BEFORE AND AFTER THE WORKOUT OR PRACTICE SESSION Before starting any workout or practice session, prepare your body for the work you are about to do. Up until a few years ago I would just jump in cold and “warm up along the way”. Now that I am much older and wiser (I’m 50 years old), I’ve learned that you really need to take a more directed approach at preparing yourself to train. One of my favorite things to do both pre and post workout is do a little Primal Move. If you don’t know what Primal Move is then you need to once again warm up the computer and jump on the inter-web and do some research. There are videos available on YouTube and training is becoming more and more accessible from Primal Move instructors around the world. It's a lot of fun; it will get you warmed up and ready to train or cool you down from a hard workout, and can fix some movement and mobility problems you may have picked up along the way. Another thing I do every single day is spend some quality time with my foam roller or lacrosse ball. This is something that every athlete that I’ve worked with needs to do – and do often. I’ve seen grown men break into tears while rolling out and I’ve had women compare it to child birth. Wow! If that doesn’t make you want to run out there and try it, nothing will! Seriously, check out the inter-web or get with someone who knows what they are doing. This is an invaluable tool that will help you move and feel better. Note: you can pick one up online for under twenty bucks and it will pay for itself in a very short period of time by making you move and feel better. It’s cheap and it works – get one and start using it today. I also can’t say enough about the work that Kelly Starrett has been doing on his and you could literally spend hours going through the content on his site. If you are currently experiencing a mobility or flexibility issue, I strongly suggest you check out his site. I’m going to guess that Kelly has something there that will help you move safer and better.

http://www.dragondoor.com/workshops/?F_c=33&?apid=cfkoncepts

http://sanfranciscocrossfit.com/staff/



A WORD OR TWO ABOUT THE WORKOUT FORMAT I’ve documented the workouts in a format that I’ve used for over five years. It’s been tweaked and changed over time for this final result. The basic format is: Workout, Equipment Needed, and the Workout Protocol.

Workout

This section lists the techniques used in the workout, and the order in which they are to be performed. There will also be a listing of repetitions per exercise preceding the name of the exercise. In several instances you will see some strange names for an exercise; in that case look for directions in the Workout Overview section that will help you figure out what to do. If all else fails, go back to the inter-web and do a search for a video – you may actually find something worthwhile.

Equipment Needed

This section lists the equipment necessary to perform the workout as described. You will also see recommended weight amounts in this section. Use these numbers as guidelines, not absolutes. The loads listed should challenge an experienced athlete and could possibly hospitalize a beginner. Don’t be stupid – scale the load! In case you don’t have a particular piece of equipment, feel free to swap it out with something you have. While I have intentionally made the equipment list somewhat “Spartan” you may find that you don’t have everything you need. No problem! Get on Craigslist and get it! People are getting rid of equipment all of the time and you can pick it up for pennies on the dollar!

Workout Protocol

This section will give you specifics on the reps and sets or time constraints of the workout you're about to perform. Read it carefully and make sure you understand what you are getting into before starting. Remember the “scaling thing” a couple paragraphs ago? Scaling applies to time and reps as well. Remember, not only is the load listed for an advanced athlete, so are the reps and times. It’s better to go light the first time through than be immobilized for two or three days afterwards. Use your head... no, the big one!

http://www.craigslist.org/



TWENTY FOUR MISSIONS TO BRING OUT THE SECRET AGENT IN YOU! The following are twenty four different “mission-based” workouts in homage to the James Bond 007 movies. The mission parameters (the Workout) are explained along with your mission supplies (the Equipment Needed) and your Rules of Engagement (the Workout Protocol). Mission success is only guaranteed if you follow the Mission Briefing (Workout Overview) to the letter. So read all four parts carefully before you start the mission. Good luck and watch your six!

Mission 01: Blood in the Sand

Mission 02: Trains, Dames, and Bullets

Mission 03: All that Glitters is not Gold

Mission 04: Sharks But No Lasers

Mission 05: Ninja Assassins

Mission 06: Lead Poisoning

Mission 07: Taking Out Bambi and Thumper

Mission 08: It’s All in the Cards

Mission 09: Killer Gold

Mission 10: Agent XXX

Mission 11: Gravity Sucks

Mission 12: An Eye for an Eye

Mission 13: Trouble Times Eight

Mission 14: Welcome Back Mr. Bond

Mission 15: 20-20 Vision

Mission 16: Hard to Kill

Mission 17: License Revoked

Mission 18: Marked for Death

Mission 19: A Night in Paris

Mission 20: Christmas in July

Mission 21: Jinxed

Mission 22: Dead Man’s Hand

Mission 23: Better Red than Dead

Mission 24: Resurrection



MISSION 01: BLOOD IN THE SAND

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This is one of my favorite workouts in this series. It takes you from the racked position (the clean), through to the jerk, and finally to the snatch. Be sure to pause in the rack during the clean. Pause in the rack for the clean AND again overhead for the clean and jerk. Finally, pause overhead at the completion of every snatch. This is a “meat and potatoes” workout in that you are going to be working on a lot of technique and transitional skills. The intensity can be relatively high or dialed back to make an excellent practice workout. Be aware that the dead-hang pull-ups get to be very difficult in the later rounds and they should be done tight and strict – no kipping and no kicking your legs like that little whiny mermaid from Disney.

Workout Equipment Needed

05 KB Clean (Rt and Lt)

02 Dead-hang Pull-ups

05 KB Clean & Jerk (Rt and Lt)


05 KB Snatch (Rt and Lt)


01 KB; 53# for men and 35# for women

Pull-up Bar

Workout Protocol

07 Rounds for Time

DR. NO MOVIE TRIVIA

Sean Connery wasn’t the producer’s first choice to play James Bond in “Dr. No”, and he wasn’t even on Ian Fleming’s short list for actors for the role. The job almost went to Cary Grant. Connery won the role when one of the producers saw his acting (and fighting) skills in the film “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”.

James Bond’s iconic sidearm, the Walther PPK in 7.65mm, wasn’t Bond’s choice for a firearm. He much preferred the Beretta 418 in .25 ACP but was overruled by M after it jammed on a previous assignment. This malfunction caused Bond to spend six months in the hospital recovering from the resulting injury.

Sean Connery wore a toupee in all of his James Bond movies. From the start, Connery had an issue keeping his head covered so a new “top” was applied for him. If you look closely during some of the action scenes you can catch a peek of the delineation between real and not-so-real hair.

Ursula Andress, the actress who played “Honey Rider,” had her lines replaced by a voiceover because her accent was so “thick”. An actress named Monica Van Der Syl, (aka Nikki Van Der Zyl) stepped in during post-production to make the lines clearer and more succinct on film; she also filled in for other actresses on Dr. No and in future Bond films.

Smirnoff vodka is the only vodka used to create James Bond’s signature “shaken but not stirred” vodka martini. This product placement has held for 23 out of the 24 movies to date.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000125/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055928/




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_PP

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_418



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smirnoff



Ian Fleming originally wanted his cousin Christopher Lee to play the villain Dr. No. He also approached Noel Coward and Max Von Sydow (who would later appear in “Never Say Never Again”). Eventually, the role was cast with Joseph Wiseman – the only early James Bond villain that didn’t have his character’s voice dubbed by another actor.





MISSION 02: TRAINS, DAMES, AND BULLETS

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This workout is another one that can be dialed up or down for more or less intensity. During the hand change for the alternating swings and snatch, don’t just bend over and half-way pop your hips for the hand change. Drive through each one for a strict, tight hand change. The 3-count push-ups are strict push-ups with the 3-N’s in place (nose, nipples and nether-region touching the ground) with a three second hold in the bottom position. No bouncing and no plopping – hold the bottom position for a full count of three before driving up for the next repetition. The pull-ups for this workout are ballistic so have at it – just don’t do those goofy “butterfly pull-ups”! Real men and real women don’t do any exercise with butterflies or unicorns in the name!


07 Alternating KB Swings

07 3-Count Push-ups

07 Alternating KB Snatch

07 Pull-ups


Pull-up Bar

Workout Protocol

10 Rounds for Time

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE MOVIE TRIVIA

In an article published in Life magazine on March 17, 1961, US President John F. Kennedy listed “From Russia with Love” as one of his top ten favorite novels of all time. It's said that this comment pushed the producers to make this the second James Bond movie.

“From Russia with Love” was also the last movie that JFK would watch. He attended a special screening of the movie at the White House on November 20, 1963; he was assassinated two days later.

Sean Connery was almost killed during the filming of the movie. A helicopter, containing director Terence Young, veered dangerously close to Connery while filming a scene and ended up crashing. Young was trapped in the helicopter for an extended period of time and survived by breathing air trapped in the helicopter’s canopy.

The iconic role of “Q”, which is short for “Quartermaster”, started for Desmond Llewellyn with “From Russia with Love”. He would go on to appear in sixteen more James Bond movies.

The fight scene on the train between James Bond and Red Grant (played by Robert Shaw) lasts just over two minutes, but took almost three weeks to film. The actors took a serious beating, but only got bumps and bruises

The working budgets for “From Russia with Love” was double that of “Dr. No.” While it cost over $2,000,000 to produce it eventually grossed $78,900,000 worldwide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy







MISSION 03: ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This workout is a station based scorcher. It has the same format as the very popular CrossFit workout called “Fight Gone Bad”. You’ll have one minute per station and will need to keep a running count of your reps for each station. The score for each round is the total reps completed. Watch out – don’t “blue flame” yourself in the first round and end up too gassed to do all four rounds. NOTE: Use absolute strict form for all the exercises. If you drop the ball on the Dynamax ball overhead throw and catch, it doesn’t count towards your total. Also, you can substitute American swings (overhead) for KB swings (chest high) if you want. Make sure your elbows “kiss” your knees on each and every goblet squat or – you guessed it – it doesn’t count.


Jump Rope (forward)

KB Swing

Push-ups

KB Goblet Squat

Dynamax Ball OH Throw and Catch

Jump Rope


Dynamax Ball; 14# for men and 08# for women

Workout Protocol

01 Minute/Station

01 Minute Rest after 05 Stations

04 Rounds for Points; keep running count of reps for all five stations

GOLDFINGER MOVIE TRIVIA

“Goldfinger” had the biggest budget so far at $3,000,000. It also made more than the previous two Bond movies by grossing $124,900,000 worldwide.

Gert Frobe was cast as the villain Goldfinger by producers, but they had to hire another actor (Michael Collins) to do a voice over during post-production. This would happen frequently in future Bond films with foreign actors. While they had the acting skills to play the roles, their English was so accented, voiceovers were required in post-production.

Honor Blackman, who played Pussy Galore, was the oldest ever Bond Girl. She was 37 years old at the time of filming. Her role was re-written to include her doing Judo since she studied Judo at the world famous Budokwai Dojo in London.

Ian Fleming visited the set often during the shooting of the movie but died a little less than a month before the film was released on August 12, 1964.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo_in_the_United_Kingdom



“Goldfinger” won the first of several Academy Awards for a Bond film (sound effects). It seems only fitting that the movie should win an Oscar, the statue resembles the gold covered girl (Shirley Eaton) in the movie's title sequence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awards




MISSION 04: SHARKS BUT NO LASERS

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

You'll either love or hate this workout. I'll guarantee one thing – you will remember it! If ever a workout was deceiving, this one takes the prize. All you need to do are five deadlifts and then crawl (butt down and head up please) fifty feet forward and then fifty feet back – the length of a good size gym. If you don’t have that kind of room to train, then crawl for a total distance of 100 feet.


05 Barbell Deadlift

Four-point Crawl (50 feet forward and 50 feet back)

Olympic Bar; 185# for men and 95# for women

Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 18 minutes

THUNDERBALL MOVIE TRIVIA

“Thunderball” had a massive budget for the time, at around $9,000,000; it eventually grossed $141,200,000 worldwide.

Tom Jones, who recorded the theme song, reportedly fainted after holding the sustained high note during the song’s climax.

Both Claudine Auger’s (Domino) and Adolfo Celi’s (the villain Largo) voices were considered too heavily accented for most audiences to understand. Both of them had their lines recorded by voiceover actors in post-production.

In the underwater scenes where Bond encounters sharks, his reaction is all too real – absolute terror. Connery was supposed to be protected by small clear plates of plastic, but the sharks easily circumvented them and got a lot closer than intended.

Of all of the Bond movies where Connery appeared - six in all - this is reportedly his favorite.







MISSION 05: NINJA ASSASSINS

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This is another workout that seems to sneak up on you! For the kettlebell plyo box step-ups, you can hold the kettlebell down by your side or in the rack. Either way don’t even think about jumping off the box without making sure to keep your elbow tucked in if you’re holding the kettlebell in the racked position. Ring push-ups are a lot of fun and if you haven’t done them before you’re in for a learning experience. Be sure to use a full range of motion, and here's a little hint: don’t try to lower yourself into the bottom position. Instead, actively pull yourself down – you’ll be a lot more stable and won’t burn out your triceps. That’s not to say that you won't be shaking like a Chihuahua during a cold snap in San Diego – because you will be!


05 Pull-ups

05 KB Plyo Box Step-ups

05 Ring Push-ups

05 KB Snatch (Rt & Lt)

Pull-up Bar


Plyo Box; 24”/men and 21”/women

TRX/Gymnastic Rings

Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 21 minutes

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE MOVIE TRIVIA

The budget for “You Only Live Twice” was only marginally higher than that of “Thunderball” ($9,500,000) and it grossed considerably less than its predecessor ($111,600.000 worldwide).

Nancy Sinatra, who performed the title song for “You Only Twice”, was the first non-British singer to record a theme song for a Bond film.

Actress Tsai Chin, Bond’s playmate in the opening sequence of “You Only Live Twice”, returned later in the Daniel Craig Bond film “Casino Royale”. She pays one of the Texas Hold’em poker players that take part in La Chiffre’s high-stakes tournament.

Martial arts legend Donn F. Draeger was on the set to help train Connery for the many fight scenes. Draeger was known as one of the first non-Asian’s to have earned multiple black belts in traditional Japanese martial arts.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donn_F._Draeger



MISSION 06: LEAD POISONING

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

I received a lot of feedback about this one! Most of it was directed at the jump rope crossovers – ouch! Getting good at the crossover will take time, but the only way to be consistent is to finish crossing your arms before you try to un-cross them. I know that this sounds like common sense but it’s beyond most people. The other comments were about the Hindu push-ups. These are a smoker even when you cheat – but you won't! Make sure you are “diving” through your hands with your nose, then your chest, and finally your hips will lightly scrape the ground. Don’t even think about not locking your elbows at the beginning and end of this technique – seriously!


50 Jump Rope Crossovers

Double KB Farmers Walk (50 feet forward and 50 feet back)

10 Hindu Push-ups

Jump Rope

02 KB’s; 53# for men and 35# for women

Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 20 Minutes

ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE MOVIE TRIVIA

George Lazenby (007 in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”) is the only actor to play the character one time. Lazenby decided that he was not cut out for the role and decided to quit even before the movie was in the can.

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is the longest Bond film to date, running at 140 minutes long. Overall it comes in third behind “Casino Royale” and “Skyfall”.

After years of teasing poor Moneypenny (played by Lois Maxwell) through five movies, she finally gets kissed by James Bond.

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service" only had a budget of $7,000,000 and made a lackluster $87,400,000 worldwide. This is attributed to several things, partially to the replacement of Sean Connery with George Lazenby as James Bond, and to what some considered a weak storyline with tepid acting.

The movie's theme song, “We Have All the Time in the World”, was the last song recorded by Louis Armstrong.

This movie comes the closest to actually following the “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” novel by Ian Fleming than any of the other previous movies, and most of the future ones as well. Most of the Bond movies borrow a title from one of Ian Fleming’s novels or short stories and then build their own story independently. This movie actually carried the original story and plot pretty much verbatim.







MISSION 07: TAKING OUT BAMBI AND THUMPER

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

What could possibly be wrong with heavy cleans and ring push-ups? Nothing that I can think of! This is a great workout that combines a traditional power technique, the clean, with a dynamic press and a squat. The addition of rings to force stabilization in the push-ups, plus having the feet close together for the bodyweight squats makes a great combination. Note: You should descend as deeply on the legs-together bodyweight squats as you would for normal bodyweight squats. Don’t make these half-squats. Don’t be surprised that when your feet are together that your knees want to open up a bit. It's okay; just don’t let them stray so far that they pry your feet off of the ground. You’re going to be feeling muscles you never knew existed!


07 Barbell Clean

09 Ring Push-ups

11 Legs-together BW Squat


TRX/Gymnastic Rings

Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 18 Minutes

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER MOVIE TRIVIA

“Diamonds Are Forever” had a modest budget of $7,200,000 but grossed $116,000,000 worldwide – saving the franchise and bringing Sean Connery back into the spotlight while breaking the three-day box office gross record in the process.

This is one of the few Bond movies that featured only one location: Las Vegas, Nevada (with the exception of a couple location scenes in Amsterdam).

Jill St. John became the first American Bond girl in the role of Tiffany Case. She was originally cast as Plenty O’Toole but that role eventually went to Lana Wood. Other actresses considered for the role of Tiffany Case were Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway and Jane Fonda.

George Lazenby was originally contracted to do “Diamonds Are Forever” but declined. The producers then turned to American actor Burt Reynolds but his schedule wouldn’t allow it. Sean Connery returned to the role with a hefty increase in pay ($1,250,000) and a two-picture deal.

Shirley Bassey returns to sing her second of three Bond theme songs. The first was “Goldfinger” and the last was “Moonraker”.











MISSION 08: IT’S ALL IN THE CARDS

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

I think this workout really surprised some of the athletes who tried it for the first time. Most of them didn’t realize how imbalanced they were – physically, not mentally – the mental imbalances are a given at this point! Anyway, what got them were the officer push-ups and the lateral lunges. Officer push-ups start and end like regular push-ups, but you “salute” at the top of every push-up. What makes this difficult is the big weight shift to unload one hand so you can salute. But guess what? I don’t want a big weight shift – I want you to internally shift internally without even moving an inch. Not to mention, I want you to do the salute nice and slow. The lateral lunge is just a side step into an extended bodyweight squat position. Keep both feet on the floor and crease the hips way back while keeping the chest and head up. The snatch and Clean and Jerk are described elsewhere in this document so review the protocols. Yeah, you’re going to love this one… after it’s over!



07 Officer Push-ups

07 Alternating KB Clean & Jerk

07 Lateral Lunge


Workout Protocol

10 Rounds for time

LIVE AND LET DIE MOVIE TRIVIA

Roger Moore makes his first appearance as James bond in this movie with a modest budget of $7,000,000. It grossed $91,000,000 worldwide, slightly more than “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.

Roger Moore was “blessed” by former James Bond actor Sean Connery – Connery called him “an ideal Bond”. Other actors considered for the role were Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford – all Americans.

The main title song, “Live and Let Die”, was performed by Sir Paul McCartney and Wings. It hit #3 on the pop charts. Sir Paul was also the first artist to be nominated for a Best Song Academy Award… who needs The Beatles anyway?

Roger Moore was the oldest Bond to date. He was 45 years old when filming began. The youngest Bond was George Lazenby at 29 years old.

Jane Seymour, who played Solitaire, was only 18 at the time filming began. She was another in a long line of actors and actresses whose lines dubbed during production (by James Bond voiceover veteran Nikki Van Der Zyl).










MISSION 09: KILLER GOLD

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This is another fun station workout that can be done with a group or alone. You’ve got one minute per exercise, for five minutes of continuous work, with one minute to rest. Note: Rest means gasping for air, wiping the sweat out of your eyes, and wondering if you fell into a black hole because the minute seems to fly by. On the kettlebell snatch and thrusters, be mindful of the overhead lockout. Overhead really means “overhead”, not out in front of your head. For the kettlebell thrusters, squat deep enough so that your elbow “kisses” the inside of your knee. Be sure to drive up out of the squat. Note: You'll be able to tell who dropped into their kettlebell thrusters a day or so later, they'll have bruises on the inside of their knee. Sprawls should be crisp with a lot of hip explosion. In the bottom position, the elbows should be locked, shoulders down and “packed”, your head up and looking forward, hips pressed down, and the glutes tight.


Jump Rope (backward)

KB Snatch

Legs-together BW Squat

KB Thruster

Sprawls

Jump Rope


Workout Protocol

01 Minute/Station



THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN MOVIE TRIVIA

Maud Adams appeared in “The Man with the Golden Gun” and “Octopussy” – which is in and of itself a record. She also appeared in an un-credited crowd scene in “A View to a Kill” – giving her three Bond appearances - more than any other actress (excluding those in a reoccurring role i.e., Moneypenny, M, etc.)

“The Man with the Golden Gun” was the first James Bond film to be screened at the Kremlin.

The role of Francisco Scaramanga was originally offered to Jack Palance, but eventually fell on the very capable shoulders of Christopher Lee – who just happened to be Ian Fleming’s cousin.

Mary Goodnight, a reoccurring character in the James Bond novels, only appears in one movie, “The Man with the Golden Gun”. She is played by Britt Ekland, who originally auditioned to play Scarmanga’s mistress - the role which went to Maud Adams.






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kremlin





MISSION 10: AGENT XXX

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

I was told by several of my clients who are teachers that this is a “GT” workout (GT stands for “Gifted and Talented”). I guess it could be seen that way – I just thought it was a great combination of dynamic movements. We’ve already reviewed the requirements behind the clean and jerk and they apply here as well. For the TRX/gymnastic ring rows you need to start below the rings with arms straight, legs straight with heels on the floor, or legs bent with feet on the floor. Pull yourself up until the rings touch your armpits, pause and then push yourself back down again. Keep your midline tight and your glutes clenched – this is not the time for a droopy butt. The kettlebell figure-8 and open palm tactical lunge sound complicated, but they aren't. Just keep your hips and midline dialed in. Start with the kettlebell in your right hand, hinge the hips, then pass the kettlebell between your legs to the left hand. Once you’ve made the hand-off, explosively contract your hips and “uppercut” the kettlebell into the palm of the right hand. Balance the kettlebell in the right palm as you step back with the right leg letting the knee “kiss” the ground. Drive through the right foot as you stand up. Use a quick dip and drive to toss the kettlebell out of the palm of the right hand. Catch it, then make two passes between your legs and do the uppercut. The kettlebell should now be resting in the palm of the left hand. Now you’re ready to do the tactical lunge on the left side. This one will sneak up on you!


07 KB Alternating Clean & Jerk

05 TRX/Gymnastic Ring Rows

07 KB Figure-8 and Open Palm Tactical Lunge


TRX/Gymnastic Rings

Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 21 minutes

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME MOVIE TRIVIA

“The Spy Who Loved Me” marks the return of big budgets to the Bond films ($14,000,000; the most expensive Bond movie at the time.) It also had a bigger box office gross worldwide ($185,400,000).

“The Spy Who Loved Me” was the last movie that Elvis Presley saw before he died on August 16, 1977. He attended a special viewing of the movie at the General Cinema in Whitehaven, Tennessee on August 10, 1977 – six days before he died.

The movie received three Academy Award nominations, Best Art Direction (Set Decoration), Best Score, and Best Song for “Nobody Does it Better” performed by Carly Simon.







Barbara Bach plays opposite Roger Moore as Major Anya Amasova, also known as “Agent XXX”. Prior to being chosen as a Bond girl, Bach appeared in several small features, but followed up with parts in “Force 10 from Navarone” (with Harrison Ford and fellow Bond alumni Robert Shaw) and "Caveman” (with her husband Ringo Starr).








MISSION 11: GRAVITY SUCKS

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

Without a doubt, his workout is a “grinder.” The clean and press should be done slow and tight with a full lockout at the top of the press. Don't just pass through the lockout to lower it back down, get it up there and hold the lockout. The TRX/gymnastic ring rows were previously explained and all of those points apply here as well. As for the kettlebell 3-count goblet squats, do the goblet squat, then hold the bottom position for a full count of three. No dropping and bouncing, and you’re going to need to work on bracing before trying to come out of the bottom of the squat. Those of you who lose tension in your glutes at the bottom of the squat will suffer for it…


05 KB Alternating Clean & Press


05 KB 3-count Goblet Squats


TRX/Gymnastic Rings

Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 20 minutes

MOONRAKER MOVIE TRIVIA

The trend for bigger budgets and bigger movies hit the jackpot with “Moonraker”. With an operating budget of $34,000,000 it eventually grossed $210,308,099 worldwide (the highest grossing Bond film until “Goldeneye”). Note: The budget for this Bond franchise venture was equal to the budget of the first six Bond films combined – an impressive number at the time.

Jaws, the metal-mouthed henchman played by Richard Kiel from “The Spy Who Loved Me” returns in “Moonraker”. This is the first and only time a henchman has returned in a Bond film.

“Moonraker” is the only film where Bond’s signature sidearm, the Walther PPK, is not seen in any scenes.

Frank Sinatra was originally slated to sing the main title theme. After deliberation it was decided that he wouldn't to be able to record it, they approached Johnny Mathis. When that didn't work out either, the producers changed songs, returning to Shirley Bassey who recorded her third and final Bond song.

The climactic scene between Bond, Jaws, and the pilot fighting over the last parachute took only a couple minutes of screen time but required over 88 separate jumps and several weeks to shoot.








MISSION 12: AN EYE FOR AN EYE

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This is a particularly nasty variation on a pretty basic workout. Start with three kettlebells, one just below your working weight, one at your normal working weight, and one just heavier. This workout will make you dial-in your technique and give you an appreciation for the kettlebell you are using most of the time – it’ll feel light by the end of this workout. The kettlebell swings are two-handed this time and should be crisp and tight. If you insist, you can do American swings, but keep them close to your body with a good lockout overhead. The kettlebell box steps have been previously described. All the points discussed apply here as well. Paranoid push-ups are push-ups with a twist – literally. As you pull yourself down into the bottom of the push-up, look over your right shoulder, as if someone is sneaking up behind you. This will make your left shoulder drop lower and your left arm will take more of the load. Really look back so that you can load that opposite arm – no sneak and peeks here. Alternate looking over each shoulder, making sure your elbows stay close to your body. The 3N’s still apply, if you don’t remember what the 3N’s are, go back and find it!


07 KB Swings (2-hands)

07 KB Box Steps

07 Paranoid Push-ups

03 KB’s; 44/53/61# for men and 26/35/44# for women

Plyo Box

Workout Protocol

As many Heavy Rounds as possible in 21 minutes

01 round equals a set with the light, medium, and heavy KB’s

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY MOVIE TRIVIA

James Brolin almost ended up as James Bond. Roger Moore’s contract had expired prior to shooting “For Your Eyes Only” and the producers were scrambling to find a replacement. James Brolin, among other actors, was screen tested for the part and was in line for consideration. Roger Moore eventually signed on to reprise his role as James Bond and for good reason – he would be going head to head with the original James Bond (Sean Connery) who was filming “Never Say Never Again” at the same time.

The budget for “For Your Eyes Only” was slightly less than “Moonraker” ($28,000,000) and it performed almost as well ($195,300,000 worldwide).

The title song, sung by Sheena Easton, was the first time a singer was part of the opening sequence. The song hit the Top 10 on both the US and UK charts and went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.

“For Your Eyes Only” started as a short story and was published along with four others originally conceived as treatments for a failed James Bond television show.







Future James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan’s wife, Cassandra Harris, was part of the cast of “For Your Eyes Only”. During production he visited her on the set and she introduced Brosnan to the producers of the movie. The rest, as they say, is history.

In a decidedly odd twist, one of the Bond “girls” was actually a man. Caroline Cossey, whose stage name is Tula, is a male to female transsexual. She appears poolside in a white bikini with shoulder-length brown hair and looks perfectly at ease.






MISSION 13: TROUBLE TIMES EIGHT

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This workout is evil! The pull-ups can be grinds or ballistics – either one will add to the smoke coming off of your muscles. For the double kettlebell box step-ups, pause at the top of every step (with both heels on the box) before stepping back down. The TRX/gymnastic ring rows have been previously described and all the points still apply. For the double kettlebell cleans, pause in the rack with both kettlebells stationary, before doing the next clean. This is will force you to keep your elbows tucked in, while you brace with your glutes and abs. Do your best to make this one as crisp and as tight as possible.


08 Pull-ups

08 Double KB Box Step-ups


08 Double KB Cleans


Pull-up Bar

Plyo Box

TRX/Gymnastic Rings

Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 21 minutes

OCTOPUSSY MOVIE TRIVIA

“Octopussy” was another moderate budget ($27,500,000) movie that paid off at the international box office ($187,500,000). Released at approximately the same time as the rival James Bond movie (“Never Say Never Again”) starring Sean Connery, which grossed $160,000,000, it guaranteed a substantial paycheck for both “Bonds”.

This movie marked Roger Moore’s sixth and final appearance as James Bond, and equals the number of appearance by Sean Connery... Unless you count the “unofficial” Bond movie “Never Say Never Again” which gives Connery seven appearances.

The title song, “All Time High”, sung by Rita Coolidge, made it all the way to number two on the Adult Contemporary Charts. This is also the first time that the movie’s title was not part of the song's lyrics. This would happen again for the title songs of “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace”.

“Octopussy“ was the last story ever written by Ian Fleming. It was also the name of his boat and his pet octopus as well – but it goes a lot deeper than that. Ian Fleming's friend, neighbor (in Jamaica), and lover Blanche Blackwell (Fleming's inspiration for Pussy Galore) gave Fleming the coracle (a small one-man boat) while he was staying at Goldeneye (his property in Jamaica). The octopus was named after a SOE (Special Operations Executive) agent Pussy Deakin aka Livia Stela.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_Galore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coracle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfinger_(novel)



Maud Adams makes her second of three appearances in a Bond film. Interestingly, the role she plays, Octopussy, was also offered to Barbara Carrera. She declined the offer because she wanted to play opposite Sean Connery in “Never Say Never Again”.





MISSION 14: WELCOME BACK MR. BOND

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This is another station workout that you can do by yourself or as part of a group. You’ll have one minute per exercise, then a minute break in between rounds. Trust me, you’ll need it! For the double kettlebell deadlift, you need to hit full extension with knees and glutes locked before lowering - not dropping - the kettlebells for the next rep. The double kettlebell cleans need to settle into the racked position before moving on to the next rep. Stop in the rack and then go – don’t transition through the rack. The most important point you need to remember in regards to the double kettlebell push press is hitting the overhead lockout – and holding it. Once again, don’t transition through the lockout. The only way you’ll get stronger is to train to hold that load in place. . Note: the previous two station workouts are going to seem tame compared to this one!


Double KB Deadlift

Jump Rope (forward)

Double KB Cleans

Jump Rope (backward)

Double KB Push Press


Jump Rope

Workout Protocol

01 Minute/Station



NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN MOVIE TRIVIA

Steven Seagal was the martial arts instructor for “Never Say Never Again”. He has a reputation for being a little “overzealous” sometimes. He's remembered for breaking Sean Connery’s wrist while preparing him for the movie.

Sean Connery returned to the role of James Bond in this “unofficial” Bond movie. Connery received a big paycheck (reportedly $1,500,000) to reprise his role.

The budget for the movie topped out at $36,000,000 dollars and brought in $160,000,000 worldwide; about $25,000,000 less than the competing Bond film starring Roger Moore.

The movie is basically a repackaging of the “Thunderball” storyline. Connery’s co-star, Kim Bassinger, signed on for the movie without ever seeing a James Bond movie. Another interesting side note: this was the first James Bond movie with a title that didn’t originate from an Ian Fleming novel or short story.

An interesting first – Rowan Atkinson, well known as “Mr. Bean”, made his first big screen appearance in “Never Say Never Again” as Nigel Small-Fawcett (where do they get these









great names?) Atkinson would later return to the big screen in a James Bond parody “Johnny English”.

Where did the title of the movie come from? According to Sean Connery it came from a conversation he had with his wife. He said he would “never play Bond again”. After he signed on for the role, and the accompanying big paycheck, she was quoted as telling him to “never say never again”.




MISSION 15: 20-20 VISION

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This workout is unique in that it is all kettlebells – all the time. On top of that, you have three different kettlebell weights to manage throughout the workout. There are two techniques in this workout that you may not be familiar with: the kettlebell flip swing and the kettlebell tactical lunge. The flip swing is a kettlebell swing that requires you to release the handle at the top of the swing, letting the kettlebell rotate one full turn, before you catch it to finish the backswing. The challenge will be trying to not speed up the rotation by flipping the kettlebell with your wrist and to manage the different rotation speeds of the kettlebells. The tactical lunge is a great lower body strength and stabilization exercise. With the kettlebell in your right hand step back with the right leg and pass the kettlebell to the left hand. Stand up and do the same thing on the left side. Remember to stay as tall as you can and really drive off the loaded leg to stand up. Note: I would not advise doing this workout around small children, animals, or near the 60 inch HDTV… the results might be disastrous!


05 KB Flip Swings

05 KB Snatch

05 KB Goblet Squats

05 KB Clean & Jerks

05 KB Tactical Lunges


Workout Protocol

04 rounds for time

01 round equals 01 set with each KB weight

VIEW TO A KILL MOVIE TRIVIA

Christopher Walken was the first Academy Award-winning actor to star in a James Bond film. The role he took, that of villain Max Zorin, was loosely based on “The Police” front-man Sting and was originally offered to David Bowie.

The budget for “A View to a Kill” was set at $30,000,000 and ended up grossing $152,400,000 worldwide.

This movie would be Roger Moore’s final appearance as James Bond. Moore felt that this was his worst showing of the six movies he starred in; primarily because he was against the excessive violence and the fact that he that he was too old for the part (he turned 57 during filming). Also, there was no chemistry between himself and the female lead (Tanya Roberts) who was a couple decades younger than him – go figure.

It would also be the final appearance of Lois Maxwell’s tenure as Moneypenny which started in “From Russia with Love”. Maxwell was one of several actors and actresses who have had recurring roles in the series from its inception.

The title song, “View to a Kill” performed by Duran Duran is the only James Bond song to reach number one on the US music charts, where it stayed for two weeks. Note: Duran


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Police









Duran also supplied music to the Daniel Craig movie “Layer Cake” which brought him to the attention of the Bond producers.

Alison Doody, who played Jenny Flex, was the youngest Bond girl ever, who played opposite Roger Moore at nineteen years old. She has an additional Bond connection: she wooed both Harrison Ford and Sean Connery in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”.








MISSION 16: HARD TO KILL

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This is a fast paced workout with lots of transitions. Chin-ups were included to give variety to the pulling motion. Most men will find them easier than pull-ups and some women might find them easier as well. Either way, you need to get your chin over the bar for it to count. In regards to the kettlebell swings make sure to stay tight and crisp. Try to get the kettlebell to chest height. You will be seeing daylight after this one – from your back!


100 Jump Rope (forward)

10 KB Swings (Rt)

05 Chin-ups

100 Jump Rope (backward)

10 KB Swings (Lt)

05 Chin-ups

Jump Rope


Pull-up Bar

Workout Protocol

08 Rounds for time

THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS MOVIE TRIVIA

“The Living Daylights” marks Timothy Dalton’s first crack at the James Bond mantle. The movie had a projected budget of $30,000,000 (about average for a Bond film) and grossed $191,200,000 worldwide (almost $40,000,000 more than Roger Moore’s last shot at Bond).

Timothy Dalton won out over a pretty big list of actors to fill Bond’s shoes. It included: Mel Gibson, Sean Bean (who would return as 006 in “Goldeneye”), Sam Neill, and Pierce Brosnan (who couldn’t get his schedule cleared from “Remington Steele” and would return as Bond in “Goldeneye” as well).

The rifle Bond uses in the movie is not a Hollywood mock-up but the real deal. It is an advanced sniper rifle made by Walther of course.

The movie was originally written with Roger Moore in mind but was retooled when he retired and passed on the torch. The second rewrite was for Pierce Brosnan, which had to be scrapped when he couldn’t be released from his “Remington Steele” contract. The third, and final rewrite, for Timothy Dalton needed have some of the more humorous aspects removed in deference to Dalton’s more “serious” take on the role.

Bond’s female counterpart in this film was Maryam D’abo. She was the end of the line so to speak for “Blondes for Bond”. Every subsequent Bond girl has been either a brunette or a redhead… Sorry James!










MISSION 17: LICENSE REVOKED

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

Training to stabilize the overhead position is the backbone of this workout. The kettlebell clean and push press should be strict and tight. Be sure to stay under the kettlebell on the way up and actively pull it back into the rack on the way down. For the kettlebell push press, the press part should be much faster than the clean and press. You really need to dial in the “dip and drive” to make the push press fast. Balance it out so that the lockout is soft though. The clean and jerk is all about timing, and this requires a lot of practice. The jerk is all about transitions, you’ll need to decide how you want to do it. I prefer the “dip – drive – drop” method as opposed to the “dip - drive – dip” method. Basically, you'll try to “catch” the kettlebell as you drop into an overhead squat. I know it sounds easy but it’s not. Focus on completing the “dip and drive” to make the “drop” more effective. Remember – it is hips back not knees forward. The WOP (aka the Wheel of Pain) is the tried and true ab wheel - done right. Keep your back and butt flat and tight, keep your wrists and elbows locked and “push” the WOP through the floor to go forward. “Push” it through the floor to return to the starting position. N3 applies to the WOP as well and will help to keep you safe and make you strong. Check out this video on YouTube to see a demonstration of the WOP as well as this video on YouTube for a demonstration of the kettlebell clean and jerk.


05 KB Clean & Press (Rt and Lt)

03 2-count WOP

05 KB Clean & Push Press (Rt and Lt)

03 2-count WOP


03 2-count WOP


WOP aka Wheel of Pain

Workout Protocol

05 Rounds for time

LICENCE TO KILL MOVIE TRIVIA

“Licence to Kill” is Dalton’s second and final appearance as James Bond. With a budget of $32,000,000, it wasn’t able to top the previous box office, only bringing in $156,200,000 worldwide.

Not only does Dalton leave after the end of this movie, but so does Robert Brown, or as most people would know him, “M”. Robert Brown retired after being in most of the Bond films and as a staple of the franchise cast, like Lois Maxwell. Desmond Llewelyn, also known as “Q”, had some major screen time for the first time after being a walk-on role in all of the previous Bond films.

“Licence to Kill” would be the last Bond film for almost six years. Coupled with the departure of John Glen (director of several Bond films), the death of primary screenwriter Richard Maibaun, the retirement of producer Albert R. Broccoli, and a morass of legal

http://youtu.be/w7vdvKO4M2c

http://youtu.be/z_rzHUnP8QY









battles over the James Bond character, the production of the next film would be delayed and would ensure that Timothy Dalton would not return as Bond.

James Bond’s weapon during the opening credits is a Beretta 92F, which at that time was only available to military and law enforcement. This is the first time since “Dr. No” that Bond has returned to the Beretta and not carried a Walther.

“Licence to Kill” premiered as part of a lavish charity event to benefit The Princes Trust, a charity run by Prince Charles and Princess Diana. This would also be the last Bond premiere they would attend together.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_92F

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princes_Trust

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Diana



MISSION 18: MARKED FOR DEATH

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This workout is going to rock your world! You should use two kettlebells: one slightly lighter than the one you usually training with, and one slightly heavier than your usual kettlebell. You’re going to have fast rounds and slow rounds – but all the rounds should be technically challenging. The only new technique in this workout is the karate push-ups (or knuckle push-ups). These are a great push-up variation that will force you to maintain tension in the hand and wrist throughout the movement. As always, a full range of motion is expected. Ladies can put a yoga mat or towel under their knuckles. Guys you will just need to suck it up! Note: for a video demonstration of the kettlebell clean and jerk check out this video on YouTube.



05 Karate Push-ups (knuckles)


05 Legs-together BW Squats

02 KB’s; 44 and 61# for men and 25 and 44# for women

Workout Protocol

06 Rounds for time

01 rounds equals 01 set with both KB weights

GOLDENEYE MOVIE TRIVIA

The name for the movie “Goldeneye” came from Ian Fleming’s beach front home in Jamaica where he lived while writing the James Bond novels.

After a six year hiatus, the Bond franchise returned with “Goldeneye” and a budget of $58,000,000 (almost double the last three movies). It raked in over $351,500,000 (more than double the worldwide earnings of “License to Kill”). “Goldeneye” was the most successful Bond film since “Moonraker”.

Before Pierce Brosnan was eventually cast as James Bond (after legal, writing, and other issues) a number of popular actors were considered. Notables include Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson, Sam Neill, and Hugh Grant (really?).

An equal number of pretty faces were considered for Bond girls. That list includes Elizabeth Hurley, Elle Macpherson, Paulina Porizkova, and Eva Herzigova. The role would eventually go to Izabella Scorupco (a relative unknown at that time).

“Goldeneye” would see the appearance of a female “M” (Dame Judi Dench) and the return of Desmond Llewelyn as “Q”.

“Goldeneye” was the first James Bond movie to be released on DVD.

http://youtu.be/z_rzHUnP8QY















MISSION 19: A NIGHT IN PARIS

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This is the final station workout that can be done on your own or with a group. The burpees should be done as a study in transitioning through each position as opposed to simply flopping on the ground and jumping back up. Nothing drives me crazier than watching people throw themself on the ground and jumping back up and trying to pass that off as a burpee... Okay, maybe triceps kickbacks with a kettlebell make me angrier, but only a little! Bodyweight tactical lunges are reverse lunges where the knee “kisses” the ground and you drive with the opposite leg to return to standing. Make sure you stand all the way up after each tactical lunge. The kettlebell one-leg deadlift is a lot harder than it looks, and if you’ve done them before (correctly), then you know what I’m talking about. Think about the one-leg deadlift as being the same as a regular deadlift and you’ll be just fine. Don’t do any goofy stuff like only hinging at the hip, with the other leg up in the air – it’s not a deadlift, and it just looks stupid! The one-leg deadlift should make you work extremely hard at stabilizing your base while resisting midline rotation. The Four-point Crawl is just plain old crawling forward three steps and then crawling backward three steps. Just make sure that the opposite hand and foot are in sync!


Burpees

KB American Swings

BW Tactical Lunges

KB One-leg Deadlift

Four-point Crawl (3-fwd and 3-bwd)


Workout Protocol

01 Minute/Station



TOMORROW NEVER DIES MOVIE TRIVIA

“Tomorrow Never Dies” marks Pierce Brosnan’s return as James Bond – with a budget of $110,000,000 it was almost twice as expensive to make as “Goldeneye”.

Teri Hatcher, who plays one of the Bond girls (Paris Carver), accepted the role to fulfill her husband’s lifelong fantasy of being married to a Bond girl. NOTE: Monica Belucci and Natasha Henstridge were also was considered for the role of Paris Carver.

Michelle Yeoh, an unknown to American audiences, did most of her own stunts. There was talk of a whole new movie series based on her character in the movie. Sadly,this never happened.

In the climax, director Roger Spottiswoode created a great motorcycle scene that was included in the movie. He pulled both Brosnan and Yeoh aside separately and told them









not to let the other drive. The eventual confusion and interplay was caught on film and included in the final cut.

Ricky Jay, an internationally recognized magician known for his ability to throw cards with amazing speed and accuracy was asked to replicate his skills as part of the movie. Jay immediately thought it was a bad idea but eventually acquiesced. On the first take, at a distance of fifty-plus feet, Jay hit Pierce Brosnan right above the eyes with a playing card. Amazingly he was not asked to replicate the feat again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Jay



MISSION 20: CHRISTMAS IN JULY

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

Sometimes the workouts which appear simpler are the ones you need to look out for – and in this case it’s true. Toes to bar, while appearing very simple, is hard for most people to do. To make them as effective as possible, keep your legs straight, knees locked, and toes pointed. Hinge from the hips while keeping the arms straight, shoulders packed, while slowly touching your TOES to the bar. Toes, not shins – because if you're cheating and pulling with your arms you will invariably touch your shins to the bar as opposed to your toes. Barbell front squats are just that – squats with the bar on the front of your body - in the "rack”. This will take some practice because you need to develop a solid rack position with the bar. Think about controlling the bar with your fingertips in the racked position while keeping your elbows high. I love adding variations of jump rope drills to workouts. In this instance, doing ten forward by ten backward for one hundred reps is fun – especially when most people are adequate going forward and abysmal going backwards!


05 Toes to Bar

07 Barbell Front Squats

100 Jump Rope (10 forward, 10 backward, etc.)

Pull-up Bar

Jump Rope


Workout Protocol

AMRAP in 19 minutes

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH MOVIE TRIVIA

The pre-credits action sequence in “The World is Not Enough”, runs about 15 minutes and is the longest in any James Bond film to date. The boat chase on the Thames took seven weeks to film and the reactions of the people, including the policemen in the scene, are real. Note: The “Q Boat” could achieve almost eighty miles per hour on the water. The engines were so powerful that they could literally drive the boat underwater.

Desmond Llewelyn, or “Q”, makes his final appearance in “The World is Not Enough”. Llewelyn appeared in seventeen previous Bond movies and had planned on appearing in at least one more. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident shortly after the movie opened.

Several actresses were auditioned for the part of Elektra King. Maria Grazia Cuccinotta auditioned for the part, but her accent was a stumbling block. Eventually she settled for a lesser role. While French actress Sophie Marceau would eventually get the job, she was in a competition with none other than Sharon Stone for the role.

Denise Richards played nuclear scientist Christmas Jones in the movie and she was excited to get the role. Unfortunately that enthusiasm wasn’t shared by fans who thought









she ranked among the worst Bond girls ever. She even received a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razzie_Award_for_Worst_Supporting_Actress

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razzie_Award_for_Worst_Supporting_Actress



MISSION 21: JINXED

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

If there is one thing I really love to do, it is kettlebell thrusters! I’m sure there is a special place in Hell waiting for me, but I think they are a great technique. This workout will give you lots of opportunities to perfect your form – because you’ll be doing them with three different kettlebell weights. The thruster starts with a good rack position, elbow tucked in, and the glutes tight. Pull yourself down – prying your hips away from your elbow – until you are able to touch your elbow to the inside of your knee. Crank up the tension and explode out of the bottom position, launching the kettlebell into a locked out position overhead. Remember: you are not trying to press the kettlebell; you’re using your legs to drive it overhead. Note: dead-hang pull-ups were described in an earlier section. Pay attention to the guidelines and do this right!


03 Dead Hang Pull-ups

05 Push-ups

07 KB Thrusters


Workout Protocol

05 Rounds for time


DIE ANOTHER DAY MOVIE TRIVIA

With a budget of $142,000,000, Brosnan’s third time as James Bond raked in approximately $431,971,116 worldwide. Until the release of “Casino Royale”, “Die Another Day” was the highest grossing movie in the Bond franchise.

Halle Berry, who appeared as Jinx, became the first leading Bond Girl to win an Academy Award (Best Actress) which she actually received it while in production. Other female Academy Award winners were Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) and Dame Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love). NOTE: Bassinger starred in “Never Say Never Again” with Sean Connery as 007, but it was not considered an “official” James Bond movie.

Another Halle Berry tidbit: she also was offered a spin-off from the Bond series. A script and budget were developed, but the failure of several other female-character-driven movies put a halt on the project. Berry mentioned that she would like to appear in another bond film in the future – and would even do it for free.

Several potential Bond girls were sought for this movie. This list included Catherine Zeta Jones and Kelly Brook. In addition, Michelle Yeoh, reprising her role from “Tomorrow Never Dies”, was supposed to appear in this movie and assist Bond in his escape. Between scheduling woes and other issues this never happened.












For the first time since 1962 someone other than Desmond Llewelyn played the role of “Q”. Veteran actor John Cleese stepped into the role and made it his own. Cleese was introduced in the “The World Is Not Enough” as Q’s assistant.

The movie’s title song, “Die Another Day”, was performed by Madonna and was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song. NOTE: Madonna also had a cameo appearance as Gustav Graves (the movie's villain) fencing instructor (Verity).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Globe_Award_for_Best_Original_Song

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Raspberry_Award_for_Worst_Original_Song

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Raspberry_Award_for_Worst_Original_Song

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0000315/



MISSION 22: DEAD MAN’S HAND

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This workout is fast and furious – just like the movie. The two loaded techniques, the clean and push press, and the clean and viking Press, will get your heart racing and challenge your whole torso to stabilize the kettlebell overhead. The clean and push press has been described earlier in this document, but the clean and viking Press may be new to most of you. The viking Press is the reverse of the push press. The viking Press starts with the kettlebell locked out overhead, and then you forcefully pull it back into the rack. With a ballistic dip and drive of the legs, you send it back overhead. Remember – the legs do most of the work to get the kettlebell overhead. The timing on the viking Press is difficult at first, but if you actively pull the kettlebell back into the rack you will be able to maintain control of it so you can quickly launch it back overhead. Note: the WOP has been described before so follow those guidelines. The thruster is just a burpee without a push-up in the middle, or a jump at the end.


07 KB Alternating Clean & Push Press

07 WOP

07 KB Alternating Snatch & Viking Press

07 Thrusters


WOP

Workout Protocol

07 Rounds for time

CASINO ROYALE MOVIE TRIVIA

With a budget of $150,000,000, Daniel Craig’s first venture into James Bond territory was a success. “Casino Royale” made over $594,239,066 worldwide and became the largest grossing movie in the James Bond franchise to date.

Daniel Craig, who was considered to be a poor choice for James Bond by many, ended up revitalizing the franchise. His performance in the British movie “Layer Cake” clinched the role for him. Note: he is also the only actor to play Bond while being younger than the franchise; he was under the age of forty when filming started.

Before Craig was officially chosen to play Bond, over two hundred actors were considered. The list includes: Julian McMahon (from “Nip/Tuck”), Dominic West, Gerard Butler (from “300”), Sam Worthington, Rupert Friend, and others. Henry Cavill almost got the part but was considered too young to pull it off.

Eva Green, who played the female lead (Vesper Lynd), was based on someone Ian Fleming knew. The character (for both Vesper Lynd and Tatiana Romanova) is loosely based on a WW2 resistance fighter named Christine Granville (nicknamed Vesperale) with whom Fleming reportedly had an affair.












http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesper_Lynd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatiana_Romanova

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Granville



Eva Green also became the fifth French actress to become a Bond girl. The list includes: Claudine Auger (“Thunderball”), Corrine Clery (“Moonraker”), Carole Bouquet (“For Your Eyes Only”) and Sophie Marceau (“The World Is Not Enough”).







MISSION 23: BETTER RED THAN DEAD

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

This workout will either tighten up your kettlebell snatch or convince you to get some training. You’re going to do one hundred eighty nine kettlebell snatches in a very short period of time. It will make or break you. Be sure to protect your grip as much as possible during the snatch. Use a full hip snap for the hand change on the alternating snatch. For those of you who don’t know what a sit-out is, you’re in for a treat. It takes a lot of coordination to do, but once you get it down it’s a lot of fun. Instead of going through a long explanation of the technique, it’s easier to just give you a link to a video showing you how to do it. You can always look on YouTube and search for “sit out exercise Krivka” and you’ll find an example.


07 KB Snatch (Rt)

03 Sit-outs with Push-up

07 KB Snatch (Lt)





Workout Protocol

07 rounds for time

QUANTUM OF SOLACE MOVIE TRIVIA

“Quantum of Solace,” Craig’s second helming of the James Bond franchise, had a budget of over $200,000,000 and made over $586,090,727 worldwide. While earning slightly less than his previous film, Craig established himself as the new (and improved) Bond. It’s also the shortest Bond film running at 106 minutes (which follows “Casino Royale” as the longest).

Daniel Craig paid the price to be Bond in this movie and to earn his reported $4.5 paycheck. While he was still in excellent shape, he found the training leading up to production to be extremely intense. Everything from boxing, running, speed boating and driving were thrown at him to prepare him for the role.

For the first time, a Bond movie used a desert as the environment for the finale. In previous Bond films inhospitable environments abound, from beaches to mountain tops, but this is the first time that a desert was the setting for the final confrontation with the villain.

Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko won the role of Camille because she was the “least nervous” of all of the actresses (400 plus) testing for the role. She was put through a rigorous training regimen that included weapon and fight training as well as coaching from a dialect coach to give her a Spanish accent.

http://youtu.be/vF76dmusbnA





Gemma Arterton managed to prevail over 1500 other actresses for the role of “Strawberry Fields”. She becomes fifth redheaded Bond girl in the franchise; Lucian Paluzzi (“Thunderball”), Jill St. John (“Diamonds Are Forever”), Karin Dor (“You Only Live Twice”), and Diana Rigg (“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”).









MISSION 24: RESURRECTION

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

The final workout of this series is another multiple kettlebell challenge. Until you’ve actually done this workout, you’ll have no idea how much work it’s going to be – but by then you’ll have already done it! The variation of three kettlebells should keep your hip snap and overhead lockout working overtime. Work on using the appropriate amount of force to get the kettlebell where you want it to be and no more. Note: push-ups and legs-together bodyweight squats have both been described in earlier sections.



05 Push-ups

03 KB Swings (Rt and Lt)

05 Legs-together BW Squats


Workout Protocol

As many Heavy rounds as possible in 21 minutes


SKYFALL MOVIE TRIVIA

“Skyfall,” Daniel Craig’s third outing into Bond, had a $150,000,000 budget. This is a leaner budget than “Quantum of Solace” (whose budget was $200,000,000) but the movie will not suffer because of it. Opening week of the movie in Great Britain netted a cool $100,000,000. This means they should easily recoup their budget investment with the opening weekend in the United States.

Many beautiful women once again fill out the cast, led by Naomie Harris (Eve), Tonia Sotiropoulou (Bond’s lover), and Elize du Toit (M’s Assistant). A number of actresses were considered for Bond girl roles in this film, including: Freida Pinto, Olivia Wilde, Esti Ginzburg, Margarita Levieva, Ana Ventura, Emilia Fox and Rachel Weisz (Mrs. Daniel Craig).

Kevin Spacey was originally considered for the role of the villain (Silva) by director Sam Mendes. Mendes directed Spacey in “American Beauty” but he was unable to accept the role due to scheduling conflicts. The role eventually went to Javier Bardem whose performance in “No Country for Old Men” won him a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award.

Ben Whishaw is now filling the shoes exited by John Cleese and Desmond Llewelyn in the character of Q. This is the first time that the character has been younger than Bond and it was done intentionally by the writers to give the character new dimension and technical savvy that only a younger Q could possess.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elize_du_Toit



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esti_Ginzburg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esti_Ginzburg













“Skyfall” comes in as the second longest Bond film to date (at 143 minutes) with the longest movie being “Casino Royale” (at 144 minutes).



BONUS MATERIAL The following articles cover a variety of subjects but mostly focus on Kettlebell training and utilization. I hope you get some additional insight, understanding, and value from the following information:

Understanding Ballistics and Grinds

Kettlebells to the Rescue

“Fast Hips – Slow Hands”

Mirror Muscles or Martial Muscles?

Ten Reasons Why I Train with Kettlebells

Random Thoughts on Russian Kettlebells



UNDERSTANDING BALLISTICS AND GRINDS Kettlebell exercises can be segmented into two general categories: ballistics and grinds. The simplest distinction between the two is that ballistic exercises are fast, and grinds are slow. A more insightful distinction would be that ballistics train the practitioner to generate and absorb power in a dynamic fashion, while grinds train the practitioner to generate full-body power (and tension) in a contracted or sustained fashion. “Ballistics” refers to compound, dynamic, explosive, multi-joint exercises such as the snatch, swing, jerks, etc. These exercises are normally performed within a wide range of motion (or movement pattern) and incorporate a large number of muscles and muscular chains. Ballistic exercises tax not only the muscles but also the heart and lungs – think wind sprints as opposed to a slow comfortable jog. Ballistics challenge your ability to regulate your breathing, monitor your form, and master the “tight-loose-tight” method of body tension. “Grinds” refer to controlled pressing, pulling or squatting exercises i.e. the military or overhead press, squats, deadlifts, etc. These exercises are designed to keep tension on the muscle or muscular chain throughout the execution of the exercise. Grinds require particular attention to whole-body tension and the regulation of sustained power breathing. Grinds will challenge your ability to maintain tension, smoothly transition from muscle group to muscle group, and point out inconsistencies and inadequacies in your structure and alignment. A third possible category is “hybrids” or “combinations.” They feel a bit like a ballistic and a bit like a grind - think thruster, snatch, and overhead squat. These exercises are designed to accentuate the best and the worst of ballistics and grinds. They are performed within a wide range of motion (or movement pattern), require you to move between maximum tension and maximum relaxation, tax both aerobic and anaerobic thresholds, smoothly transition from muscle group to muscle group, and develop the ability to transition from sustained strength to dynamic strength in the same exercise. Hybrids are a lot of fun to perform, but you need to be particularly careful that you don’t keep going after fatigue (and oxygen deprivation) has made mush of your form. Workouts can be designed to incorporate all three types of exercises. The only caveat is you need to be cautious when sequencing the exercises, along with the number of sets or duration of each type that are performed. Trying to perform effective grinds after a lung-searing session of ballistics or hybrids may be detrimental to your health. You might toss your lunch, or drop a kettlebell on your head!



KETTLEBELLS TO THE RESCUE! The more I train with Russian kettlebells (KB’s), the more I am convinced that they are truly the most efficient path to strength, power and super-human conditioning. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life either in the gym or the dojo, and I can tell you from hard-won experience that to excel in any sport you need to have superior strength, superior speed and superior conditioning. You can do all the bicep curls and calf raises you want, but you’ll still have one-tenth the strength that kettlebells can provide. The following are many points you can ponder on how Russian kettlebells can benefit you. Kettlebells...

Accelerate your all-purpose strength so you can readily handle life’s toughest demands.

Boost your physical resilience to repel life’s hardest hits

Build your staying power so that you can endure and conquer - whatever the distance or task

Create a potent mix of strength-with-flexibility

Forge a fighter’s physique – so that form matches function

Challenge your body & mind – kettlebell training will take you to a place physically and mentally that you have never been before

Avoid the ‘Looks like Tarzan, trains like Jane’ trap – avoid bloated, unsightly bodybuilder-looking muscles while having the functional strength to cut your own path in the world

Develop sustained strength – be strong, hard, and ready to roll while everyone else is looking for their Momma!

Develop “in-between” strength, and be strong at odd angles and in less-than-optimal push or pull positions - just like in the real world

Enjoy a lung-searing, heart-bursting aerobic workout without running or doing aerobics

Have strong muscles and a strong heart – kettlebells straddle both the strength and cardiovascular world by being neither pure strength nor pure cardio

Develop explosive, coordinated strength – kettlebells stimulate a broad motor pathway that force a whole series of muscles to work in a coordinated fashion; something that machines will never do and free weights can’t do

Toss up a fur ball – by increasing the KB weight, speeding up the pace, or extending the duration of your workout, you can increase the cardiovascular intensity of a workout well beyond the capacity of ‘mere mortals’

http://http:/www.dragondoor.com/shop-by-department/kettlebells/?apid=cfkoncepts



“FAST HIPS – SLOW HANDS” I’ve used the phrase “Fast Hips – Slow Hands” for a number of years to ingrain the dynamics behind ballistic movement of a kettlebell. Most people approach a kettlebell with the same mentality as approaching a machine or dumbbell: moving this thing without a conscious thought as to how they are going to accomplish the task. What this really means is they will use their arms to “muscle” the kettlebell around. This might work with a relatively light kettlebell but you won't be successful, and very likely in pain, if you attempt it with a heavy one. “Fast Hips – Slow Hands” means rethinking how you generate power with the arms or legs. By thoughtfully increasing your hip speed, you will be able to move the kettlebell much faster and with less strain on the shoulders and lower back. What you will also find is your hands are not doing a whole lot of work – they’re just along for the ride. Done correctly, the swing, clean, and snatch require very little effort to maintain your grip on the kettlebell. If you're using a shallow hip snap, your grip, forearm and shoulders will fatigue quickly. “Fast Hips – Slow Hands” also means that you will need to pay particular attention to how you perform your ballistics. Are you using a deep index such as elbow to inner thigh as opposed to wrist to crotch? Are you explosively engaging the hips and glutes? Are you able to relax your hand for most of time while performing ballistics? If you were unable to answer with an affirmative to the above questions, you may need to rethink how your hips are being used. As my friend Jeff Martone (TacticalAthlete.com) likes to say: “Snappy Hips are Happy Hips!”

http://www.TacticalAthlete.com/



MIRROR MUSCLES OR MARTIAL MUSCLES? I’m sure you know what I mean when I say “mirror muscles” and I’m going to bet you can paint a pretty good mental image of someone who spends a lot of time building them. Yeah I’m talking about pectorals and biceps here. Add the “wife beater”, chains and a couple tribal tattoos to complete the picture. But what are “martial muscles”? Simply put, they are the muscles that allow you to push, pull, throw, or lift something heavy quickly and explosively. A perfect example was Bruce Lee – who had relatively little development on the front of his body, the mirror muscles, but tremendous development of the shoulders, lats and glutes. (There’s even a quote attributed to Bruce Lee about men doing too much bench pressing to develop breasts – and it wasn’t complimentary.) Not familiar with what Bruce Lee looks like? Imagine someone like a college gymnast. They're typically great examples of someone who has the ability to move something heavy explosively (their bodyweight) up, down and side to side. I’ve always said that I’d rather look good walking away than walking towards a fight. But there are a lot of “closet curlers” out there who would disagree. So while they’re concerned with the size of their “guns” (think “pea-shooters”), I’m going to continue working on adding some steel behind the Abrahams Assault tank I’m going to run over them with.



TEN REASONS WHY I TRAIN WITH RUSSIAN KETTLEBELLS 1. Kettlebells (in conjunction with CrossFit) provide an intense full-body workout in an

incredibly short period of time. Most workouts are less than 30 minutes long and leave you drenched with sweat and gasping for air. Most “trainers” recommend that you perform lengthy cardio and resistance sessions for up to 6 to 8 hours a week. A week’s worth of kettlebell workouts equal only a fraction of that and you get much better results.

2. Kettlebells require that you develop a high level of grip strength that readily carries over into all forms of athletics. The kettlebell's displaced center of gravity create grip and forearm strength requirements that cannot be matched by regular free weights or machines. Tension, in its proper form and application, is of paramount importance to any athlete. Not only is it a factor in strength, but also in speed, flexibility, and endurance as well. Muscles become stronger by learning how to contract them more effectively, explosively, and efficiently. The body as a unit becomes stronger by learning how to instigate a coordinated firing of muscles in a more effective, explosive, and efficient manner.

3. Kettlebell training requires you to “be in the moment,” allowing you to develop a high-level of concentration and body awareness. Lapses in concentration or body awareness are swiftly punished. How many people have you seen staring off into space while they were working out? Don’t even think about doing that with kettlebells unless you enjoy sitting in the ER waiting room.

4. Kettlebells require you to constantly challenge your spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, and timing. Once again, very martial skills that will cross over into your training in combat athletics. Doing a 7.5 foot ROM snatch requires a much higher degree of skill and muscle mastery than a 1.5 foot ROM bicep curl does. Think about it.

5. Kettlebells develop thick, dense muscles that deliver when you need them – as opposed to the puffy, tribal-tattooed “look good in a Speedo” muscles. By forcing the muscle to support the KB you end up activating the deeper, harder-to-work, stabilizing and supporting muscles

6. Kettlebells require that you develop unilateral skills and strength. There is no hiding behind your strong-hand in kettlebell training. Try getting the meathead at the gym with the 250# bench press to military press your 53#’er – try not to laugh when he can’t get it off of his shoulder. I can’t resist!

7. Kettlebells combine strength, flexibility and anaerobic training in one workout. KB training specifically trains all of the physical traits required by the martial athlete and succeeds where other methods fail. In particular, KB training addresses strength, endurance (muscular & cardio-respiratory), agility, and coordination.

8. Kettlebell training develops a high level of mental toughness and controlled aggression. You can’t approach a kettlebell workout without either – the kettlebell is the enemy and it has to be submitted, controlled or destroyed; or the kettlebell will destroy you.

9. Kettlebells require you to learn how to move your body. Sitting in a machine or lying on a bench is not going to give you the athletic ability to do a single leg takedown or knock-



out an opponent. Kettlebells will slap you in the face with your weaknesses until they are strengths – and then humble you again.

10. Kettlebell training is in a word – FUN! No other workout tool that I've ever found allows you to work your butt off and enjoy the whole process. The workouts are challenging, exhausting, and mentally engaging – something that a machine will never be able to match.


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RANDOM THOUGHTS ON RUSSIAN KETTLEBELLS “Booty Work” - Activating the glutes (I’m talking about the “booty” or a$$ here) is the key behind creating tension in the abs and protecting the lower back. This trinity of strength (abs, a$$ and lower back) must be developed to not only increase your overall strength, but to avoid injury. Time should be invested in recognizing the correct alignment of the back, hips, and abs to create maximum tension in the glutes – as well as recognizing when gluteus tension creates positive tension in the abs. Most people (and I’m talking about advanced athletes in this group as well) suffer from what I call “Gluteal Amnesia,” meaning they forgot where their a$$ is and couldn’t find it with a map, flashlight and both hands! “Breathe Stupid!” - Breathing is such an important part of kettlebell technique that a volume could be written on that aspect alone. Coordinating your breath with motion and using the proper technique, will make you stronger, last longer and facilitate coordination. Try squatting with your mouth open, then breath held, and and finally power breathing through the teeth – then try tell me there isn’t a correlation between breathing and strength. “Balance” - Success in athletics (and life) is based on excellence in a number of areas i.e. being a good parent, wife/husband, friend, employee, etc. Over-emphasis in one area will adversely affect the other areas i.e. too much emphasis on work will adversely affect your ability to be a good parent, friend, wife/husband, etc. The same holds true in regards to your fitness. Your workouts should consist of a wide range of skills and exercises that do not emphasize endurance over strength or vice versa i.e. lots of cardio and very little strength work (in particular upper body strength work for women). “Survival of the Fittest (and Best Prepared)” - Anaerobic capacity will transfer to aerobic endurance while aerobic endurance will not transfer to anaerobic capacity. This means that the person who is really good at running 10K’s will have a difficult (if not impossible) time performing an intense 10-20 minute workout consisting of kettlebell and bodyweight exercises. Conversely, the person who is accustomed to performing at a sustained intense level will perform well at a sustained aerobic output level. “Momentum/Movement is NOT Cheating!” – It's how you train the body to transition from one power center to another – from the lower body to upper body or from upper body to lower body. The key to exercise should be the development of seamless transition from one muscle group to another without visible breaks or leaks in power. “Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast!” - Take the time to develop superior technique before you increase speed, weight and/or intensity. If you are going fast to hide bad technique all you will have is a bad technique done fast – or as I like to express it (appealing to the math geeks out there):

Slow Speed Fast Speed

= Shit for Technique Shit for Technique

The common denominator is still SHIT!!!


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael A. Krivka, Sr. is a Washington, DC native who has been involved in Russian Kettlebell training since 2001. He is a certified Kettlebell Instructor (RKC), RKC Team Leader, and Member of the RKC Board of Advisors. He's currently listed as one of the top reviewed Kettlebell instructors in the world on the Dragon Door website. Mike has traveled coast-to-coast to teaching kettlebells to a wide variety of people (SWAT/SERT teams, USMC officers and enlisted personnel, MMA and BJJ practitioners, and even “Soccer Moms”) and has been universally lauded as being an “exemplary instructor, an outstanding motivator and a highly accomplished and technically precise practitioner of the art of the Kettlebell”.

Mike’s teaching of Russian Kettlebells is strongly influenced by over thirty five years of training in the martial arts. His martial arts background spans early training in Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Wrestling, Western Fencing, Arnis, Escrima, Sambo, Muay Thai and Gung Fu. His lifelong devotion to the martial arts is highlighted by over 25 years of training in JKD Concepts (Jeet Kune Do Concepts) and the Filipino Martial Arts (Kali, Escrima and Arnis) where he is a Full Instructor under Guro Dan Inosanto.

He is a happily married (to “Francesca”, his own Bond girl) and the father of three “boys” (Mak, Jr., Jak, and Freckles the Wonder Dog). In his spare time he runs a CrossFit affiliate (CrossFit Koncepts), a martial arts school (Martial Arts Koncepts), and a 501(3)(c) (Kettlebells For Warriors) that plans and promotes events that raise awareness and funds for the Wounded Warrior Project and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

http://www.dragondoor.com/rkc/?apid=cfkoncepts

http://www.inosanto.com/



http://www.martialartskoncepts.com/

http://www.kettlebellsforwarriors.com/

http://www.kettlebellsforwarriors.com/

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

http://www.cmohs.org/

Code Name Indestructible

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