A big part of my personal journey recently has been about improving my training. I’ve come at this goal from a bunch of different directions and used many different tools and ideas from a wide range of disciplines and areas to make it happen. Not everything I’ll suggest is typical, but it IS something that’s improved my training on some level and that I think can improve yours too…

1) Set Goals – I talk a lot about setting goals. And I think goal setting is a HUGE step in the process of improving your fitness and improving your life. One of the best programs I’ve ever worked through on goal setting is “Time of Your Life” by Anthony Robbins. It literally changed my life. If you want to see the method I use to keep track of and refine my goals, check out this video blog I did on goals and creating a fitness vision. You don’t need to take it quite to that level – though I think doing so will greatly improve your results AND your life – but the process is something you can use to get yourself on track and get a vision for where you want to go that’s bigger than where you are currently.

2) Add Some Active Recovery Training – This can really be anything from yoga to basic stretching to joint mobility work to committing to using a foam roller regularly. Currently, my active recovery stuff is yoga, meditation and walking around the beaches here in Saybrook Manor (sometimes with a few pounds in my weight vest). The point is, you NEED to “put something back in the tank” when you’re training hard regularly and pushing your limits. I’m always amazed when I see people – particularly CrossFitters – who train themselves nearly to death in their workouts and do virtually NO recovery stretching or “body maintenance” type stuff to help the body recover and improve flexibility, range of motion, etc. If you need some suggestions for this area, check out “Yoga for Dummies” and “Yoga on the Edge” by Sara Ivanhoe and also mobilityWOD.com by Kelly Starett. BTW, things like yoga and mediation have some massive additional benefits that I talk more about in number 10…

3) Learn and Refine a Sport  – For me, this is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and, to a lesser extent, Mixed Martial Arts. It can really be anything you want and are interested in though. I have a few friends who are into cycling, lots of friends who do martial arts, some who are into Olympic lifting or Powerlifting, etc. The point is, when you choose an area to focus on that has a “constant improvement” or “competitive” aspect to it, all sorts of good things happen. It also helps focus your training because now you’re training for performance in a specific area – it gives you “yardstick” to gauge your progress. If CrossFit or “Sport of Fitness” is your sport, you can still choose a “sub-division” to train, refine and specialize in for a period of time. Find a CrossFit cert that’s interesting to you or nearby and commit to training that particular area for 6 months to a year. For example, you could do a Rowing Cert, Running Cert, Oly Lifting, etc. and then train the techniques you learned. Either way, when you start really training yourself in a focused and specific area, your body and mind respond in a way that’s different from when you’re just “training to get in shape…”

4) Periodize Your Training – This one is HUGE for me. Like most “exercise addicts,” I LOVE to train. I feel weird and depressed when I don’t train and that makes it really hard to take rest days and cycle my training in a way that works LONG TERM. CrossFit is a place where this is particularly important because the usual idea is to “go hard” all the time. My opinion – and guys like Robb Wolf will back me up – is that you need to cycle your intensity by scaling workouts or changing the “perceived intensity of effort” in a regular way. If you look at the Powerlifting world as an example, you’ll see that NO Powerlifters train all out, all the time. In fact, they usually only “peak” their training poundages a few times a YEAR with an absolute maximum effort. Look at the Westside Barbell program by Louie Simmons or Wendler 5/3/1 to get a better understanding of what I’m talking about. Both of these programs cycle intensity and take a very long-term approach to progress. I’ve also talked about this topic at length in my blog posts “Strength Training and CrossFit” and “CrossFit Workouts and Becoming More Efficient.”

5) Clean Up Your Diet – This one is just SO important. By now, everyone probably knows I’m pretty much sold on some interpretation of Paleo. But, seriously, if you haven’t tried REALLY cleaning up your diet for 30 or 60 days – and I mean 100% CLEAN – you’re cheating yourself. I recently recommitted myself to eating 100% clean for a month and you know what happened? I felt so good when the month was over I committed to doing the ENTIRE SUMMER 100% CLEAN. I’m not even going to have a birthday cake for my birthday in July – I’d rather FEEL AWESOME on my birthday and the days after! Clean up your diet and you’ll see that commitment and focus expand into other areas of your life – and you’ll feel great besides. BTW, if you need some REAL WORLD information on diet – Paleo or just healthy eating in general – check out my eBook “The Paleo Dieter’s Missing Link.” It’s over 160 pages of unbiased, hard-hitting, no BS information on eating for health!

6) Choose a Short-Term Focus Area – I touched on this one a little bit above. Choose an area you’re going to focus on for a 3, 6 or 9 month period and work it HARD and CONSISTENTLY. It could be Pull-Ups, Double Unders, Gymnastic Skills, Running or a certain technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu like Arm Bars or Side Mount. This particularly effective when it’s something you currently SUCK at. The point is, if you “drill down” into a specific area or two, you can likely become nearly expert at it in a relatively short time period. It’s just a matter of focusing your efforts. When you focus on a technique or skill or two like this for a time period you’ll actually make much faster progress than if you try to train “everything” for the same period.

7) Choose a Long-Term Focus Area – This one is different from what I was talking about above. You need to also decide on your LONG TERM training focus. This is your MAJOR area of focus and is probably going to be the area you’re most passionate about, the best at and the most committed to improving over a lifetime. Especially when into “everything” like I am and lot of others are, you have to decide what you’re going to become OUTSTANDING at. For example, if you’re a Martial Artist and you’re into Kettlebells and CrossFit, you might decide that Martial Arts are your lifetime focus area where you commit to becoming world class over the course of your lifetime, kettlebells are something you excel at and CrossFit is something you enjoy the benefits of because it improves your other training and makes your Martial Arts better. I talked about this topic in detail in my post “You’re Only as Strong as Your Foundation.” The point is, you simply CAN’T be awesome at everything you do and you need to choose where to focus your limited resources. I think it’s also really important to take Seth Godin’s advice and choose an area that you can actually become THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT. Read his incredible book “The Dip” for more on this and check out this tiny little post by Seth called “Make the World Smaller.”

8 ) Do Technique Work – This goes along with 3, 6 and 7 and has a lot to do with the blog post I mentioned in 4, “CrossFit Workouts and Becoming More Efficient.” It blows me away when I see people training movements like the Powerlifts or Olympic Lifts and they have ZERO understanding of the technique fine points. Do you REALLY think – because your “trainer” or “coach” showed you how to do a movement for 10 quick minutes as part of a warm up before the WOD – you actually “HAVE” that movement and don’t need to practice and refine it? Some athletes spend AN ENTIRE LIFETIME perfecting movements like the Front Squat, Deadlift, Clean and Clean and Jerk. A freakin’ lifetime! There is ALWAYS room for improvement. If you don’t believe me, check out this short little article by Coach Glassman called “Fundamentals, Virtuosity and Mastery.”

9) Create Hard Deadlines – This is a great one to put positive pressure on yourself to really deliver over the short or medium term. This can be anything you want. Enter a local CrossFit competition, commit to a 30 0r 60 day Paleo Challenge at your box, enter a Powerlifting competition or whatever. I just recently did this when Jason Lambert from the UFC was coming to teach a seminar at Modern Self-Defense Center last month. I committed to eating 100% clean and being in the best possible shape I could be in for the seminar – and I organized my training for the 5 weeks leading up to the seminar accordingly. When you have a hard deadline to be in shape and feeling good, you make different decisions and you bring a greater intensity to your training.

Me with Jason Lambert in May of 2011

10) Learn to Quiet Your Mind – This might be one you weren’t expecting. I’ve been working with the concepts in Eckhart Tolle’s incredible book, “The Power of Now,” for over a year – and they CONSTANTLY take on new meaning for me and lead me to deeper and deeper understandings of myself, my spiritual side and so many other things. If your mind is constantly “chattering away” and you’re not in control – or at least conscious – of  your behavioral patterns, motivations and, particularly, the places where you screw yourself up, you’re going to have a really hard time making progress. Beyond that, I think TRUE HEALTH happens on EVERY level – Physical, Emotional and Spiritual. There’s a lot more to being healthy – things like having a life you love and being able to function in your work, your friendships and intimate relationships. Health isn’t just about having abs and  a good Fran time…

That’s if for now. Below is a little bonus for you if you feel like picking up a new book or two this week.

ttys

Adam

Three Books (That Have Nothing To Do With Training) That Will Improve Your Training…

1. “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle
2. Some good fiction like “The Dresden Files” series by Jim Butcher – I first received the advice of reading fiction at night to wind down from Tim Ferris in “The Four Hour Work Week.” I am a HUGE fan of light fiction reading at night to reduce stress and improve sleep!
3. “Full Catastrophe Living” by Jon Kabat-Zin

Today’s answer is a follow up to Cara’s question yesterday and the great feedback I got from some of the MidCoast CrossFit girls and others. In this video, I give some firmer recommendations and talk more about implementing Westside or Wendler 5/3/1 into your CrossFit program.

Thanks again for your question, Cara and Maggie, Robert and Kristin for your feedback!

ttys

Adam

IMPORTANT! Adam Farrah is not a doctor or medical professional. This information is based on my own opinion and is not meant to be medical advice or to treat, diagnose, cure or prescribe in any way.

A BIG thanks to Sonya Conrad for this pic – Sporting a SINS shirt on Mt Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia! Thanks Sonya!

This answer is in response to Jennifer’s question below:

“Hi Adam,

I have been hearing a lot lately about over training, even my own trainer has insinuated that I am no longer changing my body because I am not allowing it to recover. I go to the gym 6x a week for an hour. I do the classes as I find motivation with others. I also see my personal trainer twice a week for a half hour. In the past, I noticed my body was changing but now I feel like I have hit a wall. Yes, I have other things to consider such as diet. I don’t think I eat enough actually do a hectic night job (I’m 5’5 122lbs). I’m thinking of chaning my routine and starting crossfit but working out less.
Anyhow, my question is how do you find the right balance over working out and recovery?

Thank you,

Jennifer”

Thanks again for the question, Jennifer!

Here are the two blog posts of mine I mention in the video:

Overtraining and Adrenal Fatigue

CrossFit Workouts and Becoming More Efficient

ttys

Adam

IMPORTANT! Adam Farrah is not a doctor or medical professional. This information is based on my own opinion and is not meant to be medical advice or to treat, diagnose, cure or prescribe in any way.

My "Home Gym"

What do you REALLY need to get in a good workout?

My life is a bit disorganized and crazy at the moment. Let’s call it “fluid” or “in flux” instead I’m living in my family’s little summer cottage in Old Saybrook and I have a “limited” amount of stuff to train with. I have:

• An Olympic bar and two 25lb bumper plates
• A bunch of kettlebells from 12kg to 24kg
• A chalk/puke bucket
• A 20lb Med Ball
• A GymBoss Timer

I also have a BEAUTIFUL little beach neighborhood that gets little traffic other than all the golf carts and it has a NASTY hill for sprints.

And, you know what? I’ve trained my ass off this summer with ZERO boredom. You don’t need much if you want to be honest about it…

Swings, Comrade, Swings…

I’m also seeing the value and beauty in the basics again. Having a limited amount of stuff to work with gives you a different perspective. I work two handed swings ALMOST EVERY DAY and find nuances in them almost every time that I hadn’t noticed before. Let alone the stuff you find in timed sets of kettlebell snatch or long cycle. You could train a lifetime with a few kettlebells and a timer. Combine in the CrossFit stuff you can do with a Med Ball and a 95lb Olympic barbell and you’re good to go. INFINITE POSSIBILITIES. All the other stuff is cool: rings, rowers, pull up bars, bench presses, max weight, etc., etc… But at times that stuff can be a distraction too.

There are no Quantum Leaps…

I’m also learning that there are no quantum leaps in fitness – or anything else for that matter. You get from here to there one step at a time. One TINY step at a time. Sometimes they’re so small you miss them. You get there by doing and “doing” happens in the here and now. Not later. NOW.

Are you living it RIGHT NOW?

Are you living in the present or are you living in the future? Hopefully, you’re not living in the past… It’s tempting to think about all our great goals and where we can be in a few months or a year. And, the truth is, we CAN make tremendous progress if we set goals and work toward them. But the “work toward them” is the interesting part. You can set a goal out a few weeks or a few months, but it’s easy to live in the future that way. Lately I’ve been asking myself if I’m living the life I want RIGHT NOW. Am I training RIGHT NOW? Am I perfecting my technique RIGHT NOW? Is my diet clean and Paleo and what my body needs RIGHT NOW? It’s too easy to set future goals and have it amount to a self-help, super-slick way of procrastinating and “I’ll do it later.” DO IT RIGHT NOW! Fall is almost here. Then winter. Then guess what? It’ll be spring again. Where can you be in the spring if you get on it RIGHT NOW?

I’m going to keep a real close eye on myself in the coming weeks and months. I have a lot of things I want for the near future, but I’m going to be damn sure I’m doing what I want and need to be doing IN THE PRESENT to get myself there. Otherwise, all the goal setting stuff is just mental masturbation…

And, if you’re trying to do too much and your head is spinning (not to mention your “wheels” are spinning) check out my post “Is Your Lifestyle Sustainable?”

ttys

Adam

In the video, Valery explains the difference between the Kettlebell Push Press and the Kettlebell Jerk. I know, most everyone “knows” the difference, but there were a few subtle points he brought up that made things very clear to me and gave me some things to work on. I actually commented back and forth with Valery on Facebook regarding the video. This was a BIG help and was greatly appreciated. The magic of the internet age…

REALLY Understanding the Details of the Kettlebell Push Press

So, of course, the next morning I HAD to go out and train the stuff Valery showed in the video. I kept it VERY simple and light:

• 12kg Kettlebell
• 1 min Right, 1 min Left, 1 min Right, 1 min Left

Why so little and so light? Two reasons:

1. I have a weak Strict Overhead Press and a strong Jerk
2. I wanted to BE SURE that I worked the details and DIDN’T turn the movement into a Jerk.

This is actually one criticism I have for “Speed at Any Cost” training and I’ve spoken about this in my blog response to Robb Wolf on Becoming More Efficient. I think my shoulders have actually become WEAKER because of my pursuit of speed over the last year. When you’re going fast, even if the Rx’ed movement is a Press or a Push Press, you’re going to turn it into a Jerk – especially if your Jerk is strong.

Another point here is that I used time instead of reps. I actually found it difficult to focus on all the things I needed to do to keep a GOOD Push Press going AND count reps. THAT’S how much was going on for me learning-wise. I couldn’t afford the extra attention to count the reps!

Here’s what I learned training the Kettlebell Push Press slowly and deliberately with the points Fedorenko made in the video

I naturally go back to a Jerk when I fatigue – This was interesting. It opened up a new level of understanding of Kettlebell training for me, actually. Here’s the thing. If you’re training the Push Press you need to ACTUALLY train the Push Press. Genius, right? Seriously! If you SAY you’re going to train the Push Press and you turn it into a Jerk, you’re not really gaining anything. At least in terms of the Push Press.

Pressing THROUGH the heels makes all the difference – This was a fundamental thing that Valery pointed out for me. When I Jerk, there is a very quick lift of the heels as I’m pressing up. I honestly can’t even explain the timing of it yet. I’m only just now aware of it because of Fedorenko’s comments to me on Facebook. The lifting of the heels is very quick and natural to me but I find it VERY DIFFICULT to NOT do it during the press. It will take a lot of practice for me to really push through the heels in the Push Press during an entire set, rep after rep, even when I’m fatigued. I currently have to REALLY CONCENTRATE to keep my Push Press from turning into a Jerk.

Maintaining a good Push Press rep after rep isn’t easy – There’s a lot of concentration involved and, if you’re like me, your body needs to REALLY learn the movement. If you naturally tend toward a Jerk when pressing overhead, it’s difficult – and even neurologically taxing – to do a proper Push Press and keep it clean, smooth and strict rep after rep.

Lifting the heels ON THE WAY BACK DOWN makes a big difference, but the timing is very tricky – Lifting the heels and coming up on the toes as the bell comes back down is a part of the Press/Jerk movement I’ve wanted to learn and train for a while. I have a better understanding of the timing now and I’m going to go after training it. It really takes some CONCENTRATION though.

Thanks to Valery Fedorenko for the GREAT VIDEOS and the personal comments that helped me so much

I’ve got A LOT of training to do, but I feel like I have a new appreciation for the subtleties of Kettlebell lifting, thanks to Valery. I also feel like this new appreciation is a GREAT BALANCER for my CrossFit training where speed tends to be King. As I said to my friend Fin on Facebook yesterday, the CrossFit and Kettlebell guys have A LOT they can learn from each other.

ttys

Adam

I hadn’t thought about it like this before, but a lot of what we do as athletes and martial artists – and probably in life too – is work at becoming more efficient. Speed isn’t really what we’re after. It’s efficiency. And with efficiency comes the speed and power we want.

Robb makes an awesome point when he compares learning CrossFit exercises to learning martial arts. I often said that my own martial arts background carried over to my coaching when I got into CrossFit. I was also lucky because most of the people I was coaching weren’t “CrossFitters.” They were people who wanted to get into shape. This meant they were a blank slate for learning technique on the various exercises and I took a lot of time getting everyone’s movement right before upping the intensity of the workouts. I teach kettlebells the same way. Learn the technique first then increase the intensity.

I say I was lucky the people I was coaching weren’t already exposed to CrossFit because no one was really worried about speed. They didn’t have the “spank it hard every time” mentality with their workouts so I was able to ramp them up slowly. I spent a lot of time teaching exercises and techniques and gradually ramped up the intensity and speed. They were already efficient in the basic CrossFit exercises before the intensity was ramped up. I also continually drilled the fundamental movements in our warm-ups to keep refining technique.

One of Robb’s prescriptions for a question about how to spend a year of training so the listener could advance through the sectionals next year was to spend more time on efficiency. The guy who asked the question was doing Wendler 5,3,1. Robb recommended working snatch variations on squat days: hang snatch, hang power snatch, etc. in a 10X2 on the minute format to get some volume worked up. Robb recommended push press and push jerk work in the same format on the pressing days. The 10X2 format sounds familiar to me since I just did the CrossFit Powerlifting cert with Louie Simmons. Robb also recommended getting really efficient on running.

The takeaways:

• Get strong and get technical!
• Incorporate Periodization and De-load periods

Robb on Tackling the “sport of fitness” from a “skill” standpoint

During the podcast, Robb used a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu analogy:

“You can’t roll hard every day and make that the whole thing. You have to work positional sparring, drill specific techniques, get ‘wickedly’ efficient at it, do tons and tons of reps and THEN progress it to a live, full speed setting.”

And there was another great point Robb made – one I rarely hear addressed – that dropping the competitive element gives your psyche a rest and lets you recover mentally. Sort of a “de-loading” for the mind. I think this is a highly overlooked and underrated factor in recovery.

Robb also mentioned actually getting better at your chosen sport by shelving the ego, slowing down and being self-critical. “Volume first, intensity second.”

All great stuff.

Coach Glassman wrote an article a while back called: “Fundamentals, Virtuosity and Mastery.” In it, he talks about “performing the common uncommonly well.” Sounds a lot like efficiency of movement, right?

In the end, Robb puts forth a different prescription for progress in CrossFit and Sport of Fitness: “Get strong, get technical THEN build capacity.”

Sounds like a great plan.

More on this soon…

ttys

Adam

I firmly believe that the right behaviors repeated over time will produce consistent, predictable results. So, for me, the key to “How do you become outstanding?” is to repeat the right behaviors over and over again.

But, what are the “right behaviors?”

This is where the question really is. Obviously, if you do the “right” things over and over you’ll get your result. It’s knowing what those right things are – or figuring out what they are before you run out of time. (“Before you run out of time” can mean many things and will mean different things to different people. It can mean getting too old, running out of money, losing interest in a goal, missing an important peak in the history of the pursuit, etc.)

The time thing is something I continually grapple with. An interesting side note here is that, in looking back at skills and goals I’ve pursed in the past, I can say one thing without reservation. If I had stayed with some of the things I started out at early in life – no matter how poorly I felt I did them at the time – I would have been absolutely outstanding at them now.

This tells me that one thing you need to do to become outstanding at something is to keep doing it and keep learning no matter how bad you think you are or how long you feel it’s taking.

I think – particularly in myself – there’s a “distorted perception” that happens when you want to become really good at something. You sort of lose site of the progress you’re making because you’re so focused on the weaknesses you’re trying to overcome. Progress seems so painfully slow. But, again, even if you make painfully slow progress that progress will add up to great skill eventually.

This brings me to a great concept and a great book I read recently: “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson. Jeff’s Slight Edge concept is the “little bits of progress added up over and over” idea defined and built up in awesome detail.

Another illustration of this comes from Stuart McRobert’s classic, Brawn. McRobert espouses over and over in all his writing that little bits of progress repeated over and over again add up to BIG gains. The classic example is the idea of adding just one pound to the bar on your bench press once a week. Not too impressive. BUT, add up those one pound gains over an entire year of consistent training and you’ll have added 50 pounds to your bench press!

By the way, below is a pic of my small discs for loading a barbell with VERY SMALL weight increases. They go as low as 1/16th of a pound! Pictured below are: 1lb, 0.75lb, 0.5lb, 0.25lb, 1/8th lb and 1/16th lb. With these you can literally go on for EVER making tiny gains in strength every workout – if your patience can stand it. And mine never could…

This is exactly what Jeff Olson talks about in “The Slight Edge.” Jeff explains how there are no “quantum leaps” in progress. Progress can LOOK like it came in a quantum leap but what you’re really seeing is the cumulative effect of all the little – sometimes imperceptible – bits of progress that have been made when they finally accumulate to get big enough to be seen.

I’m going to continue to explore this topic, but here’s one rule I believe is valid for becoming outstanding: Focus on making little bits of progress with consistency month after month and year after year.

ttys

Adam

Originally posted on my site: [http://deathbywallball.com/becoming-outstanding-kettlebells-crossfit-martial-arts]