What Would Kettle Do?

Oh, what a wonderful thing Stage 5 is.

My training breaks down into five stages. Think of it like this:

Stage 1 Preseason

Stage 2 Regular Season

Stage 3 Post season

Stage 4 Championship game

Stage 5 Off Season

During these stages a lifter will use standard periodization to ramp up and peak at the competition. What I was thinking I would do is bitch a little about the different stages as I go through them. But before I talk about Stage 1 (which I am in now), and before I go downstairs to train, I just want to take a moment to tell you about my Stage 5.

It started as soon as my snatch set ended in Siberia. I hit my number, the one I had been training for all this time, and everything changed.

You see, by the time Jason and I were knees deep in Stage 4 we had given up all of the things that we loved. No booze, sugar, bread, nights out, and even women. The training was just too hard to think of indulging in these things. When we were not training we needed every moment of our rest days to recover. We were using only the best fuel we could afford. We needed sleep. I slept like a log every night for a month. There was nothing else I could do. So every time we saw something, a beer, a dessert, even a girl all we could say was staaaage fiiiive…

It was all we had to keep our sanity and honestly it was all we needed. That little light at the end, finally a little break in the clouds. We would look to our island.

So when that bell hit the ground it rung in STAGE 5!!!!! We were so happy! Rudnev had caught on to our little mantra earlier in the week and he chuckled about it. He teased us that we were gonna crack a beer right there on the platform as soon as the last set ended (Stone Cold Style).

Funny thing though, Dolby only had one set and I had two. When he finished I looked at him and told him he was in stage 5. He was still gasping and told me “not yet Chu-Hu” Fucking guy was waiting for me. That’s Dolby for ya…

After the competition Rudnev told us to be ready at “7-4-5 o’clock” for our celebration. He (and Igor) picked us up and brought us to a banya where we (and a few of Rudnev’s friends) enjoyed a feast. Homemade whiskey, homemade pancakes, and other unreal Russian delicacies were being shared with us along with the bbq’d sword stabbed steaks. They cooked for us. They shared their spirits and their stories.  These guys were Super high level. Cup of Russia winners, World Class Masters of Sport, world champions, and high military men, we drank with them. They honored us (THEY freaking honored US, insane, totally insane, totally backwards). It was incredible. It’s taken me all this time to write about it.

We feasted and then hit the Banya then out in the snow, then back in the banya, then back in the snow, in Siberia, in February. Almost all of the guys spoke some English but they all seemed to know how to say “Real Russia” in English.

That was the start of Stage 5. On the trip home we got to drink on the train, and at the airport, and on the plane…Real Russia! BOOM!!! Chu-Hi!!! I got to eat whatever the hell I wanted. There was no training for a week. Then just gpp for a week. We taught a great workshop in Texas (which I will write about tomorrow) and I ate more fried food than I thought I could. Then I got the email…

“Stage 5 is OVER!!!”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…My beloved stage 5, I hardly knew you…

The length of Stage 5 is determined by your competition schedule. I am competing three times this year so my Stage 5 is short. Some lifters only train for one comp per year so their Stage 5 is longer. Some of them take the time to pickup pet projects. For example, Rudnev wanted to see how many dead hang pullups he could do. He trained for it and he did 41.

Or weird stuff like this

Stage 5 is super important. It gives you hope. It gives you a mental break and a physical break. It also gives you a chance to train in a different manner than standard GS training.  I am trying to be a sportsman but I can’t quit being a rockstar/ lothario /daredevil / king of all things bad for you cold turkey . That could kill me.

Sooooo Stage 5

When Jason and I got back to California, on the way home from the airport we needed a burger. We walked into the joint and I said to the girl behind the counter “I need the meanest thing you got here, twice, please help me, I think I love you” Dolby leaned in “what he said, hi, I’m Jason”.

Staaaaage Fiiiiive BOOM!!!

Oh, right, The Ritz…

We had stage five at the house of Ritz and—————edit for content——Chu-Hi————-cops——————huge———————————edit for content—————glitter———————with a—————edit for content————rubber ducky—————- looked like I beat up a clown.

It was epic.

Oh Stage 5, I feel like I should write you a poem…

Oh my sweet stage 5

Why is it so hard to get

Glitter off a rug?

See you in July Stage 5…

no, you hang up first…

ok, same time…

1…2…3…

Kettle,

Nazo is in Tokyo.

She has been there since before the earthquake and she will stay there until she is finished with some personal matters. You can’t imagine how badly Jason and I want her to come home. She is on our minds every moment of every day.

We have been communicating via email and facebook. I asked her to write a guest post on the blog. Thank you very much Nazo!

Here is Nazo from Tokyo:

As you know that both my parents are sick but this time my mother got worse and I had to fly back urgently.  After two  flights cancelation due to heavy snow in NY , I finally got into Tokyo.   14 hours flight and 90 minutes drive and then I arrived to my mother’s hospital in the Tokyo bay area. I am staying with her 24/7 .  Basically I don’t go out.  The most entertaining thing was video chatting with you two in Siberia every night  (I didn’t know that Siberia and Japan have no time difference !)  You two were just soooo funny and happy at there just like Tarzan and made me smile and laugh a lot. I really missed you guys but I made a right decision not to go with you because it would have changed the color of whole trip…. 

I needed to go to Ginza area and I got out from the hospital at first time in three weeks, and it was 3/11.   Ginza is hart of Tokyo (imagine that combination of  NYC upper east Madison Avenue and Times square with those illuminations ).  It was about 2:45pm.  I was just about leaving Citi bank and felt  first shock,,,, or I just felt dizzy (that I thought).  There was a Gaijin man standing next of me and shouted “HOLY SHIIIT !!!!” and ran out from the bank. I followed him and looking down to  Ginza 5-chome crossing from 2nd floor’s  entrance of the bank.  I took this photo about 20 seconds after earthquake started.  People were just about running out to middle of  the street from buildings.  I looked up the buildings . They were swaying like a willow tree (base-isolated quake proof buildings) and hundreds of people were evacuating from those fashion, office, restaurant buildings.  All cars stopped and drivers got out the cars. The ground was really moving and many people couldn’t keep standing and squatting in middle of the Ginza junction.  It was long .  It was 5 minutes long and about magnitude 7 strong.   You may lift 5 min sprint set or 5 min x 100reps snatch test but Nyet standing 5 min on magnitude-7 earthquaking  ground …. No place to hide or run. It was very, very scary moments.   Some reason I was carrying 3 cell phones and 1 i-pod touch but none of them were working neither email or SMS of course.

 

The subway, JR Train, bus, taxi,,, everything has stopped so I walked one hour back to the hospital. Piece of cake  About 200 ~people have no way back home and they stayed at the main lobby area as hospital provided blankets and rice ball and water.  There is a convenience store at the lobby area and all food and water were sold out.  All elevators/escalators were stopped and I walked up and down to our top floor (12th)’s room.  No problem The problem was there was a“post quake” keep shaking the building all day and night and we all felt like sea sick. Also medium big ones came once in a while and the warning sirens and announcement in whole hospital and an emergency alarm’s on  from government to every cellphone constantly and it was extremely loud and made us nervous and annoying.

As you know the center of this earthquake is Tohoku area (North Japan) and it was Magnitude 9.0. This was the world  4th largest earthquake since 1900.  (900 times more powerful than ‘1989’s San Francisco earthquake)

We  have got used to earthquake and most of high-rise buildings are earthquake resistant built.  That’s why we have only minimum damages and lost people’s life. But not a Tsunami case.  Tsunami killed many cities and people’s lives. At this moment (3/17),  over 15.000 are died or missing, 390.000 are in the shelters, 1 million houses have no water.  Nothing is enough for their lives. Phone line, doctors and medications, clothes, food and water, toilet, electricity, batteries, TVs and radios etc…. but most importantly the gasoline !  There are food donated from all over Japan but the trucks have no gasoline.  This has not happened only to Tohoku area but Tokyo as well. There is no fresh food and water in the supermarket or convenient store. Last 7 days we ate a lot of junk food like cup noodles, potato chips,,,,,  my mother’s stomach accepts only  few sips of water or weak green tea each day but I have to give her tap water.  My father said that all gas station’s gasoline’s are run out.  And the government decided of “scheduled blackout” and it caused whole Tokyo chaos. All subways and JR trains’ schedule are messed up and runs only 50% or zero.  The old houses, small hospitals and clinics have no power. Without electricity there is no water too.  No one control the traffic when the traffic lights are out…..  so this is Tokyo now and we still have magnitude 6 ~7 level of quake few times a day and mini quakes about 50~100 times a day.   Including my mother’s thing this whole thing is too unreal for me.

 

This is not a movie.

As I said before that there is still quake is on and on every day but I am in a one of safest places so no worried, guys .   I haven’t  trained for so long  but after over a month in here I have found a cute 10kg Kettlebell at near my parents house and now I have a kettle in my mother’s room  !   I train 30 minutes every day at the hospice’s super tiny guest room.  (About photo) this is only what I have got in here.  But as Aleks and you said “One bell is enough. Simple is good “.

It is tough time for me but for whole Japan as well now.
I miss okc “crazy boys” very much !!   You two are my family and the only people who can make me keep laughing until I fall off.

Thank you Nazo! We can not wait to see you soon too! Please be safe and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come home soon. We need you

Kettle,

Jason asked me if I remembered almost flying into the steel grill of an oncoming truck and then being spun off into the eternity of the Siberian Tundra. I told him that I remembered only the second half of the first time but that I remembered all the ones after that.

Rudnev was driving a mach speeds. We had to catch the railroad. Jason and I were up at 5 am and were on the road before 6 on our last day in Blago. We had to drive 2 hours into the Siberian countryside to a small town in order to catch the train to Vladivostok. It was gonna be tight. Rudnev was flying down the frozen road.

Every street in Blago was covered with ice. The drivers there were so used to it that they were making quickturns without a thought. Actually, the sidewalks were man made glaciers. Rudnev said that it had not snowed since December but the roadside snow was deep, frozen, and black. The sidewalks had been pounded into man made glaciers. I never knew that basic foot transit could do such a thing.

Rudnev didn’t care. We were flying down this highway (or small country road depending where you are from) and fishtailing around turns like Cole Trickle around turn four (he must have had special tires). That was enough to turn my stomach a little.

But it was the passing of the cars that got even Jason to stop taking pictures.

Jason is a picture nerd (sorry bro, it’s true). Even when Nazo does her Dolby impression it is not BOOM!!! Or CHU-HI!!! It is the way he takes pictures. He always has at least one camera on him. He never stops…never.

The oncoming military truck stopped him

In Blago, the cars drive on the right side of the road just like they do here. But most of the cars (although not all of the cars) have the drivers on the right side (or the wrong side depending on where you are from). You hardly even notice, until you are in the passenger seat while your coach is leaning over trying to see if the oncoming traffic is close or if it is deathly close.

I never thought I was going to die, but one got on me so quick I thought I was dead for a sec.

We got off the “highway” and were driving through this small town. This is what I always had pictured in thoughts of Siberia. Forest, old, old, oooold houses, and tightly bundled people walking around. The wind was blowing. It was like a frozen desert. I almost expected a frozen tumbleweed to blow by us.

Coach stopped and asked for directions. When he opened the window it was colder than any air I had ever felt, by miles. At least it was a dry cold, I hear that makes all the difference.

We got to the train station and there was nothing. I mean there was Nothing man… we were way out there. We were in the Tundra…finally.

For the first time I had to put gloves on right away and even coach put his hood up. Jason snapped a few more pictures. I was thinking of the friends we had made on this trip and how I was going to miss them.

People always say that there is only so far a person can go before they can’t come back. I don’t know how far away that is. I feel like whenever I go on an adventure and I meet you, we make a little trade. I give you a little piece of me, you give me a little piece of you. Now we are different, better. We can never go back.

The train pulled up. Coach started yelling “GO!! GO!! GO!!” as he tossed our luggage on the train.

In under 2 min we were on the train, in our cabin, heading home.

It all happened so fast. It felt like a rip, like we were leaving something.

A little piece of you (or a little piece of me, depending on where you are from).

Kettle,

My Friend Tom Furman asked me this question today:

“John, tell us how the St. Pete, and Siberian trip, with the change in templates, conditioning, and bodyweight have affected your overall, vixen lifting strength? How about overall fitness, health, sleep, flexibility, etc.?”

It’s funny because I have wanted to write about this anyway. Since I have been training exclusively for GS my max pure strength has dropped significantly.

A few weeks ago I was teaching a workshop in Oakland and I was trying to impress some guys by strict pressing a stacked pair of 28kg bells. I was being very nonchalant about it because I needed it to look easy. It was a safe weight for me. A year ago I could press stacked 32’s so I knew that this lift would be easy.

Eh…Uh…No.

Surprised and a little embarrassed I tried again. Then I was pretty upset and I really tried.

No

WTF? I put it down and then out of my mind. I had work to do. Later in the day I “had” to demonstrate my “awesomeness” so I went to jerk stacked 32’s.

NO

What? This couldn’t be happening. I felt like my heart had been ripped out. Like I lost my identity. Who am I if not the guy who can do all of these tricks? It was a suck ass moment.

What I really couldn’t understand is that I had been training harder than I ever had. I had been eating cleaner and resting more than ever. My bodyweight and bodyfat were both down and I felt great.

When I went to Siberia I asked Rudnev about this. He said “of course”. As in, what did I expect to happen when I started to train for endurance? He laughed and said I am plenty strong enough to reach all of my goals and that there were many great GS lifters that could not even press the 32’s over head.

I asked him if my strength was hurting me and he said “of course not”. As in, what kind of stupid question is that? He said what hurts me is my lack of flexibility and Endurance. Without the required amount of flexibility I would not be able to lockout or rest in the rack which will prevent me from developing the static strength I need to succeed. Without more endurance there is no chance.

Coach has had me doing General Physical Preparation (GPP) since the beginning. I was doing barbell work, ballistic work, bodyweight work, endurance work, running, swimming, and rowing etc. I enjoyed this but I never fully gave in to his program. He had me doing fast paced work. He had me supersetting everything and really getting my heart rate up. I was told to do everything back to back to back then change my shoes and run. All of this was to be done right after my GS training when I was exhausted. I was going slower and heavier but still submax. I was lifting inbetween, with no real purpose and it showed. I was not hustling between exercises. I would mosey from one to the next. I would do it all but I could do it better. I can do it better. He had me programmed to work my endurance and the way I went about it was more, dare I say it, general fitness (I know, I know, forgive me).

So, I was training very hard. I was training harder than at any point in my life, but I wasn’t doing my heavy lifting anymore or following Coaches programming with complete understanding so my results 38/152 were what they were…mediocre.

The flexibility work started out very poor and has been upgraded to slightly better than very poor. I hate it…HATE it. But I am committed to doing it with more urgency. I will say though that I have noticed improvement in my overall flexibility and I am confident that it will continue to improve.

My overall health is much better. I am far leaner than I was last year. My clothes are smaller. The word is that when I snore at night it no longer sounds like an army charging on heavy horse. It apparently now only sounds like several dozen Kodiak Grizzly Bears arguing over proper kettlebell lifting technique. I sleep way better and don’t worry, I can still throw a pretty good sized lady overhead with relative ease

So, my overall 1 rep max numbers are down, definitely.  I really can’t see how the outcome could be different. I don’t train GS to get stronger. I am strong enough. I train GS because I love lifting bells and I want to be as good at it as I can be. Those are two different goals. Maybe someday my goal will be to be the strongest guy in the room again. Right now it is all about moving that ball and if it means I have to train a little more endurance than power, so be it.

Rudnev made it clear that leg strength is not as important as power sequencing. He looks at his legs and points out how small they are. I asked if extra strength will help at the end of a set when you are exhausted and clearly using your legs. “Of course” he said as in, that’s obvious. Then we did our gpp. He did dumberll squats/jumpsquats/abs than 30 pistols per leg (I did lunges) then 30 jumpsquats (bodyweight ass to the ground) then abs. Then I blacked out.

So that is what is next for me, crazy gpp after GS training. We will see what it does to my endurance. We will see how it affects my numbers. It is in the program, every day. When we were there we were watching Aleksandr Khvostov workout every day we were there and he was training his GPP every day. He was doing lunges that I don’t even like to think about.

So, I guess that my ability to literally pick up ladies overhead has been reduced. The tradeoff is that it is now much easier to pick them up figuratively, which is a solid trade I think.

Kettle,

Really, how different could the bells be?

We had just spent 30 hours or so in airports and 22 hours on the train. We had been in town for about 12 hours and we were off to the gym to train. Jason and I had been working towards this moment for what seemed like forever and now it is finally here.

Time to train!

A little warmup, no problem, a few swings, a few one arm jerks, easy money. Then a few snatches, the snatches felt a little weird. Rudnev told me to do a few short Jerk sets for warmup and that was not really hard but not really comfortable either. My first working set was a nightmare. I blamed it on the jetlag.

Jason was up. He did a few warm up sets and then a few reps into his working set he crushed the middle finger of his left hand on the drop. He held on and finished his set but you could tell he was in pain. The finger was clearly broken.

I was up again and my set was still, well, lets just say it was still jetlagged. Then it was time for the snatch. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t catch the bell. It was a nightmare.

Jason and I went back to the hotel and we could not figure out what was wrong. Later that afternoon when we returned to the gym we talked to Rudnev about the bells being too small.

He laughed at us.

I showed him that the space inside the handle was too small for me to get my hand through. I had never felt that in a comp bell before. I could barely squeeze my hand through even with the bell sitting on the ground. There was no way I could do it on the clean or snatch. It was horrible. I felt desperate.

Jason was having trouble too. The insertion was giving him major problems as well. These are standard Russian Sport bells here. (We travelled all of this way to see the real thing and there they were. They were old and beat to hell. There were no clear weights written on them. They were crazy!!!)

We will have to use them in competition and we can’t even use them in practice. I know that my hand fits. It has to fit. The Great Mishin’s hands fit and they are bigger than mine. I started cleaning the bell again and again until my hand started to bleed, ON THE BACK!!! The back of my hand was scraping on the bell and I couldn’t fix it.

The next day we went to the Far East Military Institute to train (wow, that’s a whole other blog). Coach’s friend Sergey was there to help us and train with us. We were showing him the problem and he laughed as he pointed to the Cheburashka bells (which are shaped more like DD bells than Comp bells) and told us to try them. We did and they were easier to use than the comp bells.

I have been using comp bells for years. The set I have at home are all comp bells. I have a set of cast iron bells but my buddy has them at his house because I never really use them. I didn’t think I would be able to work with the Cheburashka bells but I realized that the way they sat in my hand made it easier to lockout. My hands are huge and the diameter of the handle hardly ever bothers me, and these comp bells did have thicker handles than what I am used to. I realized now that the size of the bell isn’t that big of a deal to me either. What made the biggest difference for me was the size of the space between the handle and the ball. These Russian bells had a smaller window, much smaller.

I imagine for someone with a smaller hand this is not a problem but for me it was the problem to end all problems. I have enough problems with my lockout. To get a new one this late in the game was the last thing I needed.

If I can’t insert my hand all the way and I can’t get the bell in the right spot I can’t lockout. This was the best thing about this experience. Rudnev worked with me on my positioning. He noticed that when I drop the bells I cross the handles a little. I am pretty sure lots of us do this and it is fine. The problem for me was I would do it on the drop to try to strip away any extra movement. When I would do that eventually the bell in my left hand (which rests on top) would be bumped up a tiny bit each drop until it was just high enough to be out of place. Once that happens (for example rep thirty for me) I am on borrowed time.

So they decided to let Jason and I train and compete with the Cheburashka bells. Rudnev said this was a small regional tournament. He said that at a tournament at any higher level we could never do this. It is actually interesting. The higher you get, the tighter the rules get. They seemed to be designed for people to have success. So they let us use our bells.

Coach Rudnev is carrying the Cheburashkas

During training one day Rudnev was telling us that the new Russian standard bell has a bigger window than his bells. He said that at the world championships in Finland the bells were closer to what we use here in America and that many of the Russian lifters hit personal records using that bell. So they changed, which is awesome on so many levels.

We asked Coach to drive us to the store to see the new bells and he did. The difference was clear. I can’t say if the handle was thicker than what I am used to but it was a little smaller than the bells at the gym. Also the window wasn’t a little bigger, it was A LOT BIGGER!!!

Horosho!

Chu-Hi!!

So we went back to work. With the Cheburashka Rudnev was teaching us more about how to hold the bell during rest. It was frustrating because we were learning a whole new motor pattern. That is the thing about learning new technique though, it is not like a magic pill. I understand what he wants me to do but I can’t just do it. I’ve got to do 10,000 reps before it sticks. I did not have time in Russia so I improved a little before the comp but largely what you saw is what I had. For example, early in my snatch set the insertion was better on the right. As I got tired it got worse. My left is not close yet but it is something to work on which is exciting for me

I know that if I had a year I could compete with the Old Standard Russian bells. I could learn the motor pattern even with a big hand. It is just that the margin of error is very small and I am not at the skill level I need to be to use that equipment.

It’s too much car for me.

For now.

But I will practice…

And practice…

And practice…

Kettle,

One last thing…Cheburashka. We first heard the term from Denis Vasiliev in St. Petersburg last May. They call this kind of bell a Cheburashka because they think it looks like him/her/it. They always say it with a smile. It is a term of affection. This is Cheburashka

Hi Everyone! We flew all the way around the world today! From as far east in Asia as you can get to Los Angeles the long way. So if you don’t count the Pacific Ocean (no big deal right???) We flew all the way around I am putting in the pictures for this blog so it looks a little more like what we had in mind. I will have a new blog up today, so don’t spoil your dinner on this one

Thank you for reading!!!

jw

Dolby LC/24kg/70

Buckley J/24kg/38, S/24kg/76+76

Now that we got that out of the way we can move on to the important stuff

Jason and I were nervous. How could we not be? We had been looking to this comp for so long that we had forgotten what it was like to not be stressed about it. Now it was here and we were in a locker room with all of these lifters (over 100 competitors) and we knew that every one of them was going to beat us down. Then there was a command given and everyone formed two lines. An official came and grabbed Jason and I and brought us to the front. We were begging her not to put us ahead of everyone there. The two Americans, we thought, would be treated with resentment. We lucked out and the whole line started moving before we got to the front so we were able to blend in…a little.

They played the national anthem (the same exact version that was in Rocky 4! Super intense!!!) and raised the flag. My heart was in my throat. Then they honored the lifters with mini children ballroom dancing and large retired military men feats of strength. It was pretty cool.

There were no clocks or counters. It was a bring your own situation so Jason and I were nervous from the get. We realized that our environment would be different than what we were expecting. We just didn’t know how much.

(By the way, super cute Russian girl judges? Really? Not distracting, totally awesome, totally Chu-Hi)

The kids were first. They wanted pictures with us. Then it was the older lifters. Then some girls then the champion lifters. We must have taken 100 pictures. We were worried about them hating us because we were on TV and in the paper and they could out lift us on any day but they did not. They welcomed us. We also noticed that they all seemed to like and support each other. (Except for one guy, but there always seems to be one of those guys).  I was trying to warm up for my set and they kept asking me for pictures. It was cool. That was the moment I realized I was probably not going to get good numbers. Crazy environment, can’t warm up, and maximum distractions? This could be the most awesome kind of excuse in the world.

Funny thing is, I did well. Well for me that is. The jerk is my worst lift. I still have trouble with rest and the lockout. But 3½ min and 38 reps is a pr for me (I know it is terrible). I was hoping for 40 but I’ll take 38. So no excuses on that set

Michelangelo?

Dolby broke his finger on the drop during his first set of his first practice last week (he finished the set). As you can imagine a broken finger can affect your long cycle mechanics and his back spasmed. Rudnev didn’t think he could compete. But he practiced all week like that and was allowed to compete, although Rudnev made him use the 24’s. He finished his 10 min and got 70 reps. Jason was disappointed but he earned a roar from the crowed and the reward of Rudnev yelling “REAL MAN JASON!!!” at the end of his set.

Horosho!

When I was about to warm up for the snatch I was pulled aside by a foxy Russian TV reporter and was asked to do another interview (uh, yes please). Then another reporter (looked like her grandpa) and then another (foxy with a mean-girl vibe). I got a few warm up snatches in and then went up and set another pr. 76/76 (although apparently I got a no-count because my total score was 112.5 for both lifts. I went a little over 9 min and was that last man snatching (CHU-HI!!!)

Rudnev said my goal was 63/63 and when I hit 75 with the first arm I got the “REAL MAN JOHN!!!”  It was my first one He greeted me after the set and asked to see the tears on my hands. There were none. He was surprised and said “No trauma! I honor you.” (ok, so I almost…ALMOST…cried)

We got our medals (gold in empty weight classes) and then we received trophies from the Veterans from the Russian-Afghan War. They were not for lifting. They said they were for traveling so far to compete in their town. There was crazy applause. It was a very high life moment for me.

Horosho!

It’s funny, I have never talked about my numbers before. In this sport it is numbers, numbers, numbers. I have never talked about them because I have never had them. In my opinion, there is nothing more personal to me then the numbers I hit in practice. They are a reflection of my effort, my dedication. There is no excusing your way out of your training numbers. Mine are a direct representation of who I am. I share them with my friends (maybe) and when I do it is private. I don’t do the footage thing because you can stop the camera. You can try again. Footage is great for my training for analysis purposes but as for posting it I just could never do that.

You all know how I write by now. I believe that the best thing to do when you write is be honest. The reader will forgive your failures if you are honest. You don’t have to be perfect because they can relate to your shortcomings and connect with you. I write honestly and expose much of myself to you all and I still can’t expose my training numbers. They are that personal.

Again, in my opinion, what makes this a sport is getting on the platform. The numbers you put up under pressure are your numbers. In the sport, the numbers in your living room don’t count. Your blood and sweat build and prepare you. They have value beyond words but for your numbers to count you have to play the game.

The Patriots were 18-0. They were supposed to be the greatest of all time before the Superbowl. They couldn’t lose? Why even play? They had to play the game. So do we.

The footage we do have from the comp is backlit so we look like shadows (as you can see by the picture of me up top). We will throw it up if it comes out at all but you’ll never see that jerk set NEVER I SAY!!! (Update: So Rudnev posted some of my set and the Snatch and the LC from Jason as you can see above. I’m still not putting my Jerk set on here SO THERE!) Luckily, we have diplomas with our numbers on them notarized by a Russian government official; they are entered into the Russian sport record log.

So I have numbers now. They are not great numbers but they are my best numbers. They are PR’s in reps and time. I am lucky that they came in competition. I look forward to competing again. Coach says June and again in the fall. My next personal goal is to do 100 snatches per arm in competition (24kg). I saw that Will Metcalf did that in competition and I think that is pretty damn cool. I don’t know what other Americans are in that club but I want in. The Jerk is a work in progress but it is coming, slowly.

This has been such a crazy adventure and we still have tons of stories to tell and pictures to show. Thank you all so very, very much for following us and supporting us. We love lifting and training and traveling and teaching. We love being part of this community and culture. We are looking forward to whatever is next, whatever it is, and bringing you all with us.

Ochen Horosho,

Balshoye Spasiba,

Kettle,

One more thing. Thanking Sergey and Natalia Rudnev and their beautiful family will be a whole entry to itself. I can’t just say thank you on the end of a long blog like this but I can’t write about this competition without saying something either.

You have all treated us like family.  We never expected anything like this. There are no words to tell you how we feel. You have taught us both so much. We will remember this forever and try to treat the people that come into our lives as well as you have treated us.

Thank you very very much.

Love,

John and Jason

Jason and I are grabbing some breakfast and then we are off to the comp.

Thank you to all of you who have been following us on this adventure. Your comments and emails have been amazing and we are both very inspired by all of you. We will do our very best today. No matter the outcome we have learned so much on this trip. We are new men.

My first rep is for you Nazo.

Kettle,

It’s crazy.

Since the moment Jason and I started on this trip it has been cool awesome thing after cool awesome thing. We keep wanting to write about stuff but by the time we have a moment something that feels more pressing comes along. So we are finally getting around to this stuff

On the first day of training we were told that a local tv crew wanted to interview us. They showed up and did the interview and right after that another crew came, then another. After our training session we were told we had to go down to the studio to do an interview. It was pretty nuts.

The guy who was interviewing us was nice. He thought it was pretty funny that we are as old as we are and still trying to do what we are doing. The old thing is a first for me. I told him you are never to old to be awesome! He interviewed us for about 30 min and here is the result :

I think it is pretty cool. Can you tell we came straight from the gym ???

The interview from the gym itself is here:

This is a time that we REALLY missed Nazo. Jason and I are built for radio, Nazo has the TV smile!

When we were at the gym later the interview came on the news and everyone was clapping and whistling. The people at the gym are so warm and friendly (and the girls are really really ridiculously good looking) it is unbelievable. We feel very welcome there. I know that Jason and I will be very sad after our last workout.

But I digress.

After all of that there were a few newspapers. Jason and I arrived yesterday and Coach Rudnev was holding up a paper and said “Who’s That?” I said “holy shit!”

This is the front cover It says “Hello from California!!!)

Here is the article

When I saw it I asked Coach if he could bring me to the news stand to get a few copies and when we arrived he showed me another paper:

This is the cover

…and the good stuff

Later in the week we were in the classroom and another reporter came by. Coach Rudnev explained to us that he was…kind of a big deal…and when he arrived you could tell it was true. He may be the most serious man I have ever met. When he asked me if I wanted to be “World Champion” and Rudnev exploded into laughter he didn’t even flinch. We were all laughing at that one but I guess he didn’t know why it was so funny, which is sort of nice now that I think about it.

I don’t know if his piece is one of the ones on the blog or if it comes out later but I will keep you posted.

Yesterday some guy recognized us on the street and was saying “American!!! Giri Giri!!!” He was smiling. It was pretty cool and another first for me.

I had no Idea that anyone here would have interest in this. It is kind of overwhelming, but in a good way.

kettle,

oh, one more thing. I know those green bells look small. They are small. We brought them back with us from the Military Institute because my hands fit in the handles. The old Russian standard bells are very different and have been giving Jason and I big trouble. Jason broke his middle finger on his right hand. I will write about it tomorrow along with some more details about the bells and some of the issues we have run into. It’s all good though. We are gaining a ton of experience

Over the past few days we’ve gotten more emails and questions than any of us have ever gotten before (Thank You!!!) So many of them were asking about how we can afford to do what we do that I thought it would be quicker and easier to answer you here than via email.

I don’t have money. I really don’t. In 2007 I was coming to the end of my time at Equinox and I was the same as all of my friends that worked there. I was broke. I couldn’t afford to do anything. I couldn’t go anywhere, take the courses I wanted to take, or buy the equipment I wanted to buy. The funny thing is I was making more money working for them than I am now.

2006 was a year of deaths and divorces in my family. I have no doubt that everyone reading this has had one of those periods in his or her life that ended in reflection. I had decided to make some big changes and the first thing I decided was my waiting was over. I liked Equinox but I was finished. It was safe and secure and largely supportive but I was bored and complacent.  I needed a challenge so I quit and decided to go out on my own.

I know that most people have a concrete business model for this kind of big move but I did not. I just wanted to be free.

I have always lived low. No car payments, no house, no kids or wife or any of those pleasures. I am largely self-absorbed when it comes to my life. I spent most of my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood alone. It is easy for me to strip my life down to a backpack and walk away.

I have left my life behind more than once before. You can ask around, I never go back. I don’t know why. I always have one or two close friends that hold over but otherwise I am on the wind.

I live in my gym. It is a loft that I split with my brother from an older life. I live upstairs and work downstairs. I live in Oakland across the street from Oakland Technical High School (Clint Eastwood went there ). Someone gets shot in front of that high school every couple of months.

I have a 92 Jeep (which I love) that I never drive. I’ll hop the transbay bus to work in San Francisco. I take the train and I walk everywhere. My big monthly expense is the gym I belong to in downtown Oakland because they have a pool, an indoor track, and a good whirlpool/sauna/steamroom.

I’ve got 2 cats. They are pretty cool and are good company (which is good because I don’t socialize much). I never go out anymore. I take the $200 I would have spent at the bar and I buy a VISA. The $1000 for Vegas? That’s a plane ticket and a train ride. When I go to SFO to fly out I take the bus, to the train, to the airport. It is super easy once you get the feel.

I have a few clients that are steady and are very dear to me. They believe in me and support me. They are my family. I know I could not do any of this stuff without them. But I have my business stripped down to 2 full days a week plus online training. It allows me the flexibility to travel and teach workshops.

Our workshops are priced low because we love to teach and travel. We give small group discounts and the Military discount to make it accessible. We know that if we get to a certain number we can make the trip. We are not really worried about making a big profit (just ask the people who have hosted us). We get our cut and the host gets their cut even if it is small. Fair is fair. As long as we can cover we are coming.

I know that this is not a million dollar business model but our model is not designed to make millions. It is designed to make us free. I feel very free.

Most of the travel we do is paid for by the workshops. The other stuff (like this trip to Siberia) is paid for by sweat and sacrifice. I could have fixed the jeep twice for what I spent to get here but I will probably end up selling it to by those new weights of kettlebells (14,18,22,26 etc). It’s just who I am, I don’t know why I am like this.

The one thing I do know is this. All of this shit may blow up in my face. I take a lot of risks and one day I may get smashed and end up digging ditches. I am cool with that because I know that even if I grow old digging ditches I’ll be a guy who took his shot. I was afraid but I did it anyway even if I looked silly or out of place. I won’t die wishing I had spent my life doing something else. I am doing this now and I am doing it with all my heart. Maybe in ten years I’ll be doing something totally different but I will also be doing that with all of my heart.

I will dig a ditch the likes of which you have never seen, they will talk about it forever.

Kettle,

Jason and I have been training and preparing for this trip for a long time. We started working towards it in May of 2010. When we first put it together we just wanted to come out and train with Coach Rudnev. We were hoping to spend a week or so lifting and if he felt ok about it we really wanted to learn more about his training method. It was a little after that when we decided to ask if there was a competition we could compete in.

Training for the comp has kept Jason and I focused on this trip. There is a unique perspective you gain by spending time under the bells and there is no way around that. But we never let out of our minds what the meat of this trip was.

We have been training twice a day every other day. Hard kettlebell training in the morning and gpp/stretching/running in the evening. On the other days we have been (among other awesome activities) in the classroom.

So far we have been able to spend 2 four-hour days in class working on programming. We are joined by his wife Natalia who is our translator (she is an English teacher and we are using her classroom for studies).  Thank you Natalia!!! We are expecting 3 more classroom days before we leave where we will also cover contest preparation, competition strategies, recovery, and nutrition.

The programming is beautiful. Rudnev said that he developed his system out of necessity. He started out training like the rest of us, long hard sets all of the time. He achieved a level of success and then stopped. His training and progress flatlined. So he started working on his method, which is very similar to other periodization models we know. Macrocycles, Mesocycles, and Microcycles.  (He went back to school to study physical method and education to become the best coach he could be and ended up teaching full time at the Far East Military Institute in Blagoveshchensk Russia.) The interesting part of the programming is the mathematics. He has the training broken down into equations with different moving variables.

A few examples of variables are:

(If the sportsman cannot complete a ten minute set already)

1)   Sportsman does not have enough static strength.

2)   Sportsman lacks necessary flexibility.

3)   Sportsman lacks both static strength and required flexibility.

It starts out complicated but as you move further along things begin to fall into place and we begin to have dialogue like this:

John: “So if I can do this here, than I can do that?!?!”

Sergey: “Of course”

There is the general protocol for sportsman who already have good results.

Then, there is the protocol for the beginners.

The beginner protocol involves addressing the variables I have mentioned above as well as other things like available equipment, age, mental makeup, work schedule, and available training time. As you can imagine, there is a much higher level of skill required to coach a sportsman with many variables. A professional sportsman with Kettlebells in every 2kg increment and infinite time who can already go for 10 min is the easiest to train.

If anyone reading this has read any of my other entries you know that I have spent most of the last year working on my personal variables. I am almost ready to really train. I had never made the progress I desired. I needed to address these issues. Rudnev says that the hardest one to overcome is the lack of flexibility, then (by a great distance) the lack of static strength). I have to overcome both. So for those of you having trouble with these common problems, there is hope

All of that being said, there is a certain artistry and imagination required to be a great coach. Rudnev will blush as he tells you this. He enjoys his work and this is clearly his favorite part.  He is an artist.

Coach talks about his system and how when you look at the training cycles you will see they resemble a heartbeat on an EKG machine. He says “this is the training of a living man, a man with a heartbeat, not a dead man.” He has worked on his theory and method for over twenty years. He talks about the thousands of sportsman he worked with over the 14 years he was at the Far East Military Institute and how he used that time to work and shape his system with their help. He recorded the data over 14 years.

Coach Rundnev outside the sports hall at The Far East Military Instistute.

Coach Rudnev has used his system to coach:

42 Master of Sport

8 Master of Sport World Class

1 Honored Master of Sport

He smiled and started to talk about the most important variable. The Sportsman. “This is not awesome John, it is a lot of work.” He makes it clear that the sportsman is the one who is responsible for the work. The sportsman is the orchestra with all its moving parts and he is the Maestro.

He is the Artist.

Kettle,