Kettlebell Swings and Margaritas

And, we're back! Thank you to all who took the time to fill out our survey, it has been very helpful! Based on feedback we have received as well as our own abilities to manage our blog, we have decided to change the format a bit. We will be posting once a week and cataloging everything in the "Important Posts" section to the left. Our weekly posts will include various information from exercises to focus on for that week, to recipes to try, to advice about primal living, to videos. Please leave comments if you feel inspired to do so!!

Exercises of the week:
Kettlebell Swing-

-Start in a partial squat with a tight grip on the KB
-Engage your core muscles and keep your chest and eyes up
-Explosively and fully extend your hips and knees as you simultaneously swing the KB to just above head height
-Bring the KB back down and allow it to swing between your legs before you repeat the upward motion
*This can also be done with a dumbbell
*Men use 35-55 lbs
*Women use 20-45 lbs

Hanging Leg-Lift-

-Hang from a bar with hands shoulder width apart in a pronated, pinkies out grip
-Lift straight legs to 90 degrees or toes to bar
-Modify it by bending your knees and lifting knees to chest
-Maintain a tight core and control your decent to prevent swinging

Backbend-

-Start lying on your back on the floor
-Place hands next to head, fingers pointed to shoulders and palms on floor
-With feet and palms flat, press into the floor and lift hips, arch back, and let head and neck relax -Modify this by only doing the lower body portion, keeping shoulders, neck, and head on the floor

Recipe of the week:

The NorCal Margarita- (thanks to Robb Wolf of CrossFit NorCal for sharing his secret recipe with us back in June)
1 tall shot of tequila (we encourage above bottom shelf tequila!)
Juice and pulp of 1/2 lime (squeeze the crap out of that lime and rake the pulp out with a fork)
Soda water (fill to taste)
Ice
=DELICIOUS

NEWS: We will be celebrating our summer full of early morning Ninja training this Thursday at 6:30pm at Virgo & Pisces in NW Portland. They have a killer happy hour that goes until closing time, and they have a gluten-free menu! All are welcome!

UPDATE

Thanks for your patience while we generate ideas
for improving our blog!
We will be posting regularly with in a week, in the meantime-
Check out this cool video from Parkour Generations!

UPDATE

We will not be posting anything this week while we figure out ways to make our blog better. Thanks for your patience! Leave comments if you have any input.

Rest Day

Here is a video from MovNat (Methode Naturelle), a site we stumbled across online. This video and the philosophy of MovNat is everything that we believe in at Rip City Fitness. We are constantly brainstorming ideas and coming up with new programs that will help us and our clients achieve this sort of natural, primal fitness. Enjoy~



"I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see."
~Duane Michals

Workout of the Day

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 rep rounds of the following for time:

Dive Bomber Push-Ups
L-Pull-Ups

Post results to comments.

Workout of the Day

Max reps in 10:00 of:

Handstand Pushups
Pistols

followed by

Max reps in 10:00 of:

Pull-up
Leg Lift

Perform each exercise in the couplets to failure before switching to the next exercise.

Post results to comments.

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
~Albert Einstein

Workout of the Day

100 Box Jumps

Post results to comments.

Rest Day

Here is Part 2 of "Paleo In a Nutshell"...



"Always do what you are afraid to do."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Workout of the Day

4 rounds for time, 2:00 rest between rounds:

10 Clap Push-Ups
10 Russian Twists
10 Lateral Bounds (5 each leg)
10 Pull-Ups

Post results to comments.
Who knew Fergie could do this! Not to mention while singing!

Workout of the Day

Max rounds in 20 minutes:

15 One-arm KB Overhead Squat : 15-25#
15 Pull-ups

Kettlebell should be snatched from the ground. Alternate sides for each round.

Post results to comments.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Workout of the Day

Max rounds in 15 minutes:

20 KB Lunges (10 each leg)
10 KB Push-ups + Renegade Row x 10 alternating sides
5 Pull-ups

Post results to comments.

Rest Day

We stumbled upon this guy who calls himself "Methusela" and has two blogs. One is called Pay Now, Live later and the other is Train Now, Live Later. He puts together some awesome videos that perfectly portray what we have been preaching to you the last few months. It's not just about a Paleolithic diet, it's also about moving the way the we are meant to move. Here is Part 1 of a two part series called "Paleo In a Nutshell". Enjoy!

"The worst sins are the ones we didn't commit." ~Oscar Wills Wilde

Workout of the Day

3 rounds for time:

Pistol x 7 each leg
Run 200m

Post time to comments.

Workout of the Day

50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds:

Double Under (jump rope makes 2 passes for each jump)
Sit-Up

Post time to comments.

"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching."
~Ghandi

Why Train? Weight loss is just the beginning.

In my years of teaching and personal training, I have noticed a pattern in the way most people view exercise. Often times, when I am interviewing prospective new clients, some of their top priorities will be to lose weight and look good. Secondary goals are often health, longevity and performance. The question is if we all want to look and feel good, why do so many people I talk to have a major problem with motivating themselves to get regular exercise? What about our eating habits? If we know that certain foods and drinks are potentially toxic and have very little nutritional value, why do we find ourselves consuming them?

ANSWER: If you have a problem with motivation to exercise or you routinely eat and drink loads of crap, looking and feeling good must not REALLY be that important to you. You can say all you want about how you would like to lose a few extra pounds or not suffer from as much joint pain, but unless you take the right steps to deal with the issue, then you don't REALLY want to look and feel better.

Listen, being overweight means you don't move enough on a regular basis AND you take in too much of the wrong kind of foods. Joint pain, often a major excuse to avoid exercise, is usually a result of poor nutrition and poor patterns of movement. For all of you who feel achy and tired with old injuries that never heal, you POOR DEARS. If life threw you a curve ball and you were injured in the past, then HEAL yourself for goodness sake! It can be done. Further, usually the method of healing is through movement and exercise, not "laying off of it" or "taking it easy" for too long.

Now, am I suggesting that if you are injured that you should try to work through the pain? No, that's called re-injuring yourself. Scale back the intensity a bit if needed BUT KEEP MOVING. Occasionally, if an injured joint or muscle has become very stiff or dysfunctional (by scar tissue for example), then expect a little pain if you haven't exercised that body part for a while. In this case, take time to warm yourself up adequately and trust your intuition so as to move forward in your exercise program safely.

*NOTE: If you don't know how to exercise without hurting yourself, then please seek the help of a professional trainer.

The difference between a person who remains fit and healthy late into life and the individual who grows fat, stiff, and "old" all comes down to motivation. Maybe you don't REALLY want to look good. Maybe you just say that you do because you want to be attractive and society tells you to be that way. Perhaps you don't want to feel good. If you did you wouldn't have all of your aches and pains to bitch and moan about.

In my personal practice, I have found that you sustain any lasting motivation, I have always needed something more than just the desire to look and feel good. Instead, I train to attain self-mastery of my mind and body. Yes that includes exercising sometimes when I don't want to! However, since the path to mastery is a never-ending journey, I am able to stay motivated to train. Looking and feeling good are nice side effect but not the goal.

Happy Training,

Ramman

Workout of the Day

Interval Sprints:

2 x 400m sprints
5 x 200m sprints
10 x 50m sprint

Post results to comments.

Rest Day

"Great efforts spring naturally from a great attitude."
~Pat Riley

Workout of the Day

10 rounds of the following for time:

10 Hollow rocks
10 Back Extensions
10 Squats

Post time to comments.

Workout of the Day

5 rounds for time:

QM 10m up and back
15 Knees to Elbows
QM 10m up and back
15 Tuck Jumps

Post time to comments.

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." ~Oscar Wills Wilde

Workout of the Day

Perform each set of the following at 100% intensity, moving from one group to the next with as little rest as possible. At the end of the circuit, rest 2:00 and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 circuits:

Circuit 1-

1:00 Front Plank
20 Dive Bombers
1:00 Handstand

Circuit 2-

:30 L-Sit
20 Lunge + Twist- 10 each side
:45 Side Plank - Each Side

Circuit 3-

20 Russian Twist- 10 each side
20 Pullups
20 Back Extensions

Rest 2:00 and repeat x 2

Post results to comments.