Natural Wonders of Iceland Wrap-Up

Hi gang,

I want to finish up with the rest of my personal Icelandic saga. After the MaxBells Cert in Reykjavik, I was taken on the grand tour of the island. Just before leaving, I taught a BJJ seminar at the local MMA club, Mjolnir. Mjolnir, as you may recall, was the given name of Thor's hammer. The level of jiujitsu on the island is quite good and the students are apt pupils and we all had a great time.

Next on the list was another BJJ club, Fjolnir. After several hours of jiujitsu and watching the students spar, I gladly made some belt promotions. Now, it was time for some real fun to begin: Gudjon and Vala were taking me down on the-farm, Icelandic-style!

Gudjon loaded up the family, tents, and sleeping bags into the rig and off we went to the West Fjords...After a breakfast of dried fish and skyr, we were energized and took on a steep mountain hike. This is what Gudjon refers to as "...taking a walk down to see the creek--would you like to come along?" It looked easy enough from the bottom, but man, it was a lung/thigh burner up to the ridge. Of course we had to finish with the traditional Viking ice-water plunge, to bathe away the sweat.

Still feeling a little feisty afterwards, we were looking around for something to lift...since there were no weights or kettlebells at the farm, I decided to make like Milo of Croton and grab the newborn calf--just came into the world the night before--and perform some impromptu back squats. For those of you unfamiliar with the legend: Milo was a famous Greek wrestler whose daily off-season routine included lifting a calf...for four years straight! As the calf grew in size and heft, so did Milo's strength accordingly. It is said he carried that four-year old bull clear across the Olympic stadium, then killed, roasted and ate it before the spectators. Thus we have the first recorded instance of progressive resistance training. It'd be nice to take that sweet calf home and emulate Milo, but we had to roll out. Always more sights to see in Iceland.

The Icelandic sagas are full of magic and mystical beings: fairies, elves and trolls. We stopped and viewed a natural rock structure which legend held to be a troll who, bent on human destruction, overstayed his night vigil and was turned to stone by the morning sunlight...as they do. Many sights in Iceland are attached to wondrous legends like this. After camping out at Hollar, we experienced the white night, where the sun never actually sets, and it remains light all night long. Because parts of Iceland are within the Arctic Circle, at times around the summer solstice, while the Southern part of the island may get dark, areas in the North will remain light the entire 24-hours. It's an eery experience, getting up to take a pee in the night and it's still dusk out--break out your sleep mask and double up your melatonin!

After packing up the camp, it was off to the Pearl of the North: Akureyri, a beautiful little village on the edge of a fjord and popular with tourists. I presented another Body Weight training seminar for the local judo club, which was housed in the same gym as the local team handball and football clubs. It was here I introduced that beast: the 100-METER Power Wheel Challenge (which is approximately 9-yards more than the 100-yd Challenge for those who wish to try it without Googling first.)

There was one Viking lad able to complete the Challenge and you can see his video finish below. After the seminar, your Coach walked a couple kilometers back to the hotel when I realized I hadn't yet gotten in my own daily workout...a-ha! I espied an especially lovely playground: lots of monkey bars and over-sized wooden structures. There I performed the following:

A1) L-Seat Pull-Ups x 5
A2) One-Arm Push-Ups x 5 L/R
A3) Pistols x 10 L/R
A4) Hanging Leg Raise x 5
for 5 rounds, w/ 60-sec rest between rounds

After which I climbed a stationary pole, using just the arms from the L-Seat, using a thigh-squeeze (like climbing a rope) for several reps.

Followed up with a Monkey Bar Traverse for several laps across the horizontal ladder.

Finally, I felt I'd earned my dinner! It was strange that it was about 10PM yet it was still light out and there I was training in a public park.

Upon my return to Reykjavik, we did one last tour of Thingvellir, Gullfoss and the eponymous Geysir. The waterfalls of Gullfoss were spectacular, the sun created a rainbow in the mist and, inspired by the tremendous energy there, I knocked off some Dive Bomber push-ups, you can view the evidence below.

Check out that rift in Thingvellir, it's the gap between the North American and European land masses! I straddled that rift for some one-arm/one-leg push-ups. My upper body is in Europe while my lower urges were confined to North America.
Thingvellir is famous as the founding site of the world's oldest continuing parliament (930AD) where the Viking Chieftains came to render important decisions--hardly barbaric. It's easy to see why it's a sacred place. It's also home to a deep, clear water stream in a crevasse, where (legend has it) if you toss a coin and watch its descent to the very bottom, your wish will come true. To get down to this deep stream, there's a long flight of wooden steps. My Viking friends were feeling itchy, so I challenged them to the Maxwell Backwards Bear Crawl-Up-a-Flight-of-Stairs:

With your feet upwards and hands downwards, you crawl up the flight of stairs using the arms, pushing at a similar angle to a Shoulder or Incline Press.

Note: A shallow, wide stair works especially well for this, steeper stairs are still good, just a lot harder.

The surprise this exercise holds for the participant is the intense abdominal involvement. Vala and Gudjon proved their Viking mettle by making it up to the top. After reaching the top, there was approximately a kilometer's worth of hike up a steep, rocky hill back to the car park...I had Gudjon carry his older son and Vala carried the younger one upon their backs while racing each other uphill. Both arrived winded but happy with their exertions. This is a terrific example of using your environment, including kids as ballast, for very productive, impromptu workouts. Between the backwards bear crawl up the stairs and the piggy-back carry up the incline, every muscle was brought into play, with bonus intense cardio goodness.

My last day, en route to the airport, I presented another Body Weight Seminar at a local fitness center. Then it was off to the Blue Lagoon, a natural hot springs/spa in the midst of a lava field. The hydro-therapy was so relaxing that the flight to Boston was no big deal, time literally flew by. It was so nice to see my little "house-car" there in the economy parking lot and later that evening I discovered a great little hidey-hole in which to spend the night along the many piers of Boston Harbor.

The next morning was up and at 'em for a private workout in a playground across the street from a Whole Foods Market. After buying some shaving cream I think I freaked out a couple locals by stripping down and shaving up in the men's room. I'm guessing it was the chest and armpit action that got them down. Hey, when you live in a van, you take your shaves where you can get them. I don't use the on board water supply unless I have to.

After my client's session on the playground, I then put my assistant through her paces with the 16s. She paid with a pound of flesh, at least. Finally, I grabbed my kettlebell and headed to the adjacent basketball court. This playground was built on a historic site, which was a fort during the Revolutionary War. I tore into that workout like as if being chased by Redcoats:

1) Rope Skip
w/Lifeline Weighted Speed Rope
10 min: 30-sec on/30-sec off

2) Maxwell Kettlebell Mobility Series
an original program of weighted joint-mobility utilizing the kettlebell

3) The Omelet
(slightly shorter than usual because of the rope skip)
1-min per side of the following movements:
a) one-arm swing
b) judo pulls
c) snatches
d) one-arm jerks
e) one-arm long cycle
f) circular cleans

Surrounding the court was a low wall, just below knee-height. I did 6 rounds of One-Leg Box Jumps in which, balancing upon a single leg, I'd jump to the top of the wall, jump down again, only to rebound back up. I did sets of 10, which were approximately 17-sec. Then I'd rest the reminder of the minute and do the opposite leg. This is a tremendous exercise for building explosive "springiness" in the leg and ferreting out any imbalances between the left and right sides.

As much as I enjoyed Iceland, it felt good to be back, living my vagabond life in my House-Car. Next stop: Philadelphia PA. Come by and say hello as we prepare for the upcoming Philly MaxBells Certification.

If you're in or around Ireland (or just want to go!) contact Dave Hedges of Wild Geese Martial Arts, in glorious Dublin, if you want to see me there.
Email: dave@wildgeesema.com

Following Rocky's Footsteps in Philly...

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love!

I've been enjoying visiting my old hang outs. It's fun catching up with friends, family and clients and opportunities for great training abound as always. As anyone who's been reading along knows, I've a real penchant for outdoor workouts. I love having the whole world as my gym.

Even when I lived in Philly and owned Maxercise, I spent a lot of time in my own backyard gym. I love the fresh air and sunshine. When it comes to training, I don't really mind even the heat and humidity...much. I love to work myself up into a lather, they say, and I've had plenty of opportunity to do just that with this east coast summer ambiance.

I decided upon an impromptu workout on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. One of the most famous workout scenes of all time is the scene from Rocky where Sylvester Stallone sprints up the stairs and does his jubilant dance while looking over the city. Bus load after bus load of tourists stopped at the base of the stairs as I watched the people unload and chase each other up the steps, each individually re-enacting the famous Hollywood scene. I decided to join them with my own version, doing as many stair sprints as possible in 15 minutes.

These stairs are tricky because they are neither even nor linear, they are broken up into several different lengths. Sprinting in general is fantastic for anaerobic conditioning, power, speed-endurance and HGH production. Because of the selective use of fast-twitch muscle fiber and the post-workout Human Growth Hormone surge (with its accompanying fat-burning and metabolic boost) stair sprints are an excellent anti-aging workout protocol. I regularly include sprint protocols in my own routines.

One of the downsides to stair sprinting is the knee stress on the descent. Running UP stairs is actually easier on your body than running down! For this reason, I take my time and walk back down instead of running.

I don't do stairs without thoroughly warming up. I chose another fantastic form of interval training for this: my trusty Lifeline Weighted Speed Rope. The weighted speed rope is a very deceitful training tool. It's about 1 kg, which is light enough to spin at a fairly fast pace, but the weight is heavy enough to thoroughly engage the upper body musculature so you'll feel the cardio effects throughout the entire body, instead of just the lower body. The hands, wrists, forearms, elbows and shoulders get a heavy, strength-endurance workout along with the feet, ankles, calves and thighs. The cool thing about the heavy speed rope is that it's actually easier for beginners to use than a regular jump rope because of its slower turning speed...but, just because you're going slower than you would on a regular jump rope doesn't mean you're getting any less of a workout. This rope is a total butt-kicker.

People who are used to jumping rope on a regular rope have expressed dismay when I put them on the weighted speed rope. They're shocked at how quickly their heart rate is driven and the level of fatigue they're experiencing. It's kind of like doing a whole-body sprint. Another cool thing about the heavy speed rope? It can be used in a confined space, e.g. indoors, so there's never any excuse not to get your sprint on, even in the inclement weather! With this baby, you can always get an amazing cardio workout--even in your jail cell!

For my Art Museum Workout, I started with:
15 rounds of 30-sec heavy speed rope sprints, with 30-sec recovery

After a 5-min rest I was ready to ascend the stairs, the stairs to heaven, if you will, since sprints produce a certain euphoria by stimulating the release of feel-good neurotransmitters.

Starting from the bottom, I sprinted to the top and then quickly walked back down.
I repeated as many rounds as I could get in 15 minutes. I got about 12 rounds. I lost count somewhere in the middle but who cares? I was...flying high, now!

I imagined the gray-sweat-suit-clad Rocky flying up those stairs.

At the end of the workout, I had that oh-so-pukey-good feeling and chugged my post-workout recovery treat drink.

I then availed myself to the municipal fountain for a post-workout dip--it's the ultimate recovery drink! When you live in a van, you can't be too choosy, though I read in the paper the Philly police will soon be cracking down on this sort of thing...

For you aging boomers out there, work in a set of sprints at least once a week. If you're low-carbing, be sure to replenish glycogen with a post-workout carbohydrate/whey solution.

Sweatin' to the Oldies

Hey gang!

I'm back to where it all began: Philadelphia is not only the "city of brotherly love" but is where the United States began. As much as I've been enjoying my old gym and friends and family, the ol' Coach still loves workout out outdoors the most, especially when the weather is less than optimal. This is a unique way to challenge myself. I like going where few dare to tread. When others scurry for the indoor comforts, I seek the mental, physical and spiritual challenges of pitting myself against Mother Nature. The weather has been typical of Philadelphia in July: high 90s with 90% humidity. It definitely reminds me of one of the many reasons I left!

So there I was, in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, just along the picturesque Schuykill River...with a heat index of 110. You people living in hot weather, quit yer bitchin. Get your ass out ther and work out--if I can do it, you can do it!

Today's workout:
* I'm wearing an Iron Wear weight vest . I think it's the best vest for this type of workout , where you're lying upon the ground a lot, because: the weights are very soft and flexible and don't hurt you when you lie on them. The vest also conforms to the body very well without shaking or loosening, it stays nice and snug. If you want to add a weight vest to make your body weight routines more interesting, start with about 10% of your body weight.

I did a circuit training, consisting of 3 rounds of the following exercises:

1) Pull-Ups
2) Power Wheel Roll-Outs
3) Hindu Push-Ups on push-up board
4) Power Wheel Leg Curls
5) Power Wheel Pike Ups
6) Deck Squats

Whatever number you get for your pull-ups sets the numbers for the rest of the exercises,
* Pull-ups and roll-outs = same number of reps
* Double that number for the Hindu push-ups, leg curls and pike ups
* Double that number for the deck squats

The weight vest REALLY made the deck squats hard! Rolling up into the squat position while being so top heavy was a challenge. The routine became quite cardio.

If you notice, there are many yogic conditioning elements in the routines I construct and every routine is geared towards mobility and ROM enhancement, with special emphasis placed on spinal movement.

Living in a van and not being in proximity to a gym, well, showers can be challenging. I joined a bunch of kids romping in a fountain on Benjamin Franklin Parkway and cooled off. Then it was down to Fourth St. Famous Deli for a giant omelette. Tonight, after BJJ training at Maxercise, it's off to see The Dark Knight.

There's still time to join me Sunday for my Body Weight Training Certification, where I'll show you many exercises, like the ones in the following video clips, along with their progressions, to help your clients become all they can be.