My RSS Feed

Grip Work Carryover

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-05-13T10:29:03-07:00

I’m fortunate to have had the chance to talk to some very strong cat in the world of grip strength, among them Adam Glass and Russ Jodrey. Russ is incredibly strong and I met him at the Louie Simmons Seminar in Sacramento. Russel had mentioned that shield casts with club bells made his overhand bending much stronger, and assisted a lot in thumb strength development. I started implementing these and of course he was right. The other day Adam mentioned to me (make that forcefully stated) that I should start working my pinch grip more as he’s seeing a strong carryover from this strength development to everything else, so I am doing that as well. As I run into more stuff like this I’ll keep you updated. Below is some video of Russ Bottoms up pressing a 16 kg. with a 24 kg. stacked on top. Consider that this was done with pro-grade bells, whose handles are about the size of a 12 kg. DD bell. Very impressive.

The old blog is back up

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-05-10T13:24:38-07:00

My original blog at http://averagetoelite.blogspot.com is active again. I think most people are more comfortable with the blogger format and most kettlebell types use it as well. This one will keep running, and I’ll probably have different content for the most part on both blogs.

Don't question my art.

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-05-06T22:54:33-07:00

Today I did some steel bending with a 3 foot by 1/4 inch section of cold rolled steel. This was harder than I anticipated and I didn’t get the same tight bends I got on the 3/16. I’m really feeling it now, later in the day. In the past I’ve been a graphic artist, web designer, musician, and writer, so I dig this as a means of artistic expression.

Pavel's new DVD 'Return of the Kettlebell' is out now.

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-05-04T22:49:08-07:00

Pavel Tsatsouline’s long awaited new DVD ‘Return of the Kettlebell’ has been released by Dragondoor. Click the image below to find out more.

This is what heavy looks like.

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-05-03T20:59:28-07:00

My client Bert sent me this from the TSC in Sept. 2008. This wasn’t my max pull, but the one prior, about 365 lbs. This was also the last TSC at the Rifstonian Institute.

I will re-define heavy with a 450 pound deadlift in the next six months.

All moved in

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-05-02T11:11:27-07:00

We are officially all moved in to the new house. What a huge difference this makes. Just having more space and more natural light has already made me much more productive. I now have an office as well as a two car garage dubbed PATRI that I am setting up my home gym in.

Why am I such a stickler for DD kettlebells?

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-29T17:50:38-07:00

Sometimes I get the feeling that some people think I make too big a deal about using DD bells exclusively. Today a trainer friend of mine Ivan e-mailed me about how one of his clients was doing snatches with a kettlebell from play it again sports (you know the brand) and the freaking handle broke off! Hey, this stuff does actually happen. Dave Whitley Senior RKC just had a blog post up about how the handle on one of his older off brand kettlebells is starting to come off. Read it here.

I would like to clarify that I am not some weird partisan who can’t tell the difference between day and night. If I’m doing GS work (which I occasionally do) I use GS bells. However, most of my work is hard-style, and so of course I’m using DD bells for that. So they don’t, oh... I don’t know... break in half.

Get some go again

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-28T09:49:21-07:00

I was really into that CD back when it came out in 1932, before Henry Rollins turned into one of the main characters from the book ‘Little Women’.
Anyway, I’m finally getting moving on a lot of stuff I’ve been slacking on, not the least of which is getting this website finished. I’ll be doing a lot of work on it over the coming months, as I want it to be a useful resource to those who need it.

50 Blue Nails in 50 Minutes

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-26T09:32:51-07:00

Sunday evening I took down 50 blue nails (60D) in a row, which took me 50 minutes. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but afterward I felt like I had taken a beating. I got thirty minutes of it on video, then the Flip video froze. No big deal. I’ve embedded the intro video below, the rest of the videos are on the same youtube page if anyone is interested. Everyday I inch closer to the red nail.

Blue nails in Ironmind Pads

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-23T16:38:28-07:00

Today I decided to do some bending in the ironmind pads as that’s what I’ll have to bend the Red Nail in. Dennis Rogers told me a while back that I was stronger in bending than I thought I was, and needed to plug my shoulders in tighter. Zach Coulter and Adam Glass had also mentioned that I needed to get the nail up higher under my chin, which required more shoulder flexibility. So I’ve been working on my shoulder flexibility, and today I easily got the nail up under my chin, felt my shoulders plug in tighter than they had been, and ‘snap’ I started bending blue nails in IM pads like toys. I am suddenly much stronger.

Video on double kettlebell work

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-22T22:18:13-07:00

This is a video I put together on basic double kettlebell work.

Today I put up 225 lbs. in the Zercher. Not close to a max yet, but easing into it. I have 255 in me.

The Reebok Core Board

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-20T20:57:53-07:00

Today I picked up a couple of reebok core boards for a killer price. I’ve been reading Gray Cook’s ‘Athletic Body in Balance’ as well as watching the Secrets of Primitive Patterns DVD. Gray uses this thing a lot so I figured it was worth looking into. I was able to kick my own ass on it in about 10 minutes. It really exposed where I was tight and where I was compensating. More accurately I should say the movements I performed on the board brought these issues to light. I also put a few clients on it and was very pleased with the results. Sure, I could achieve similar results on something else, but if possible I like to use the right tool for the right job. If you’ve been looking at one of these and you aren’t sure about it I say jump in.

Firing up PATRI

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-18T10:07:37-07:00

First workout in the new training space (my garage) today. I’m still assembling it, which is why the Marine Corps flags weren’t up yet.

Don’t worry about Cecil the Wonderdog, he was tied up. Like Dave Whitley says ‘It’s not if the doggy gets hurt, it’s when.’
So I make sure he’s not wandering into my backswing. :)

Working on my Zerchers

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-17T13:55:14-07:00

I started up again with Zerchers today. I went up to 185, not too heavy as I need to build my pain tolerance back up. I’m interested in the Zercher Harness West-side put out, I just need to figure out if it’s worth the price. I’ve consistently heard good things about it from strong people.

PR- 3 clean presses on the 32 kg.

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-16T18:08:41-07:00

I had put the 32 kg. up for 3 reps before, but not even close to as cleanly as I did today. I cleaned up the 32 kg. kettlebell and military pressed it for three reps on my right side. I think I could have gotten 4 or even five, but decided not to push it as today is supposed to be an off day, not a max effort day. :)
Left side was okay. I only got one, but I know it’s a technique issue, not strength. I’ll fix it. Only a couple months ago it was reversed.
My right shoulder is way loosened up, and I give all the credit to my repetition get ups and RKC arm bars. I’ve started doing the arm bars consistently now and it’s made a big difference.
People often forget how important technique is in a lift and think they can rely on brute strength. Think again. I’m a little guy, and if I didn’t spend as much time as I do honing my technique there is no way I could pull off the stuff I do.
I’m going to keep hitting ladders on the 28 kg. and go up to my friend Joey’s place in the next few weeks and press his 36 kg. I’ll get it on video when I do.

Also, check out this video. Taikei snatches the 32 kg. for 32R/32L. This is an outstanding display of power, endurance, and technique.

Phone Book Tear

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-15T18:09:56-07:00

This was my second ripping of the Menlo Park/ Redwood City/ Palo Alto phone book. I totally forgot what I was supposed to do and this was very sloppy. Next time I know I can do it in half the time and much cleaner

Training is going well. My pressing strength is finally making some jumps and I’m getting stronger and stronger on the lever block.

Stone the crow

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-14T23:14:34-07:00

Really important news here. I stumbled back upon a video for ‘Stone the crow’ by Phil Anselmo’s other band ‘Down’.

If you dig Pantera but aren’t familiar with down I can’t recommend them highly enough.

60 cards torn

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-13T21:25:23-07:00

Today I decided to push my limits a bit and try to tear a full deck plus 8 cards for a total of 60 playing cards. It was hard fought, but I pulled it off.

Quartering a deck and a 5x1/4 inch nail bend

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-12T22:25:35-07:00

Tonight I wanted to get this on video for some constructive criticism from those with more experience than I have. The nail bend was a PR for me as I’ve moved a 5x1/4 inch piece of steel before, but not this easily, nor brought the ends this close together.
I ripped the deck pretty easily, and quartering the first half wasn’t that rough either. By the second half my hands were smoked and it took a lot more effort.

Full deck of cards quartered

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-11T07:48:24-07:00

The other day I quartered my first full deck of cards. I did it by accident. I had torn a deck toward the beginning of my workout but it took a lot of effort, so I set it down and returned to it later after some presses. I had forgotten that it was a full deck and quartered the halves pretty easily. I have to get the time down on this, but I’m going to do some video next week.

Why the new site?

jordan@strengthbeyondstrength.com — 2009-04-10T10:25:18-07:00

So why the new site? I generally find it’s best to separate your business and personal interests, which is why I started strengthbeyondstrength.com I see this as being not just a log of physical strength, but moral, spiritual, and intellectual strength as well. Without a combination of all of those you really have nothing. You become the bad guy from karate Kid 2-3.