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The Strength and Conditioning King:
Rhadi Ferguson, M.A.T., CSCS
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The King’s Court
Vol 1 Issue 12
In this issue
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o Introduction: Even the King needs advice. Why I had to call on a Professional Bodybuilder for advice.
o Kettlebells: Dispensing Some of the Myths Behind the Mania…
o Garlic: It’s tough on the breath, but good for the body
o Ask The Strength and Conditioning King:
“I would have liked to have heard more of your thoughts on how to integrate the workout into existing skill and conditioning sessions. I am never sure of how much of each kind of session to do, until I do too much and get hurt. Some general guidelines or a strategy would be helpful. For example, how do I keep from letting my bodyweight exercises interfere with my skill sessions, and how do I avoid overtraining while still progressing, do I focus on the calisthenics and roadwork and then the skills, or the skills and then the calisthenics, or all at once, etc.. Of course it’s a whole art in itself to design a training program, but if there are general cross-training guidelines it would help.” - T. Stark
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Introduction:
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Even the King needs advice.
After chillin’, relaxin’ and hanging out with my wife on our Anniversary, I ballooned up to a nice and ripe 241 lbs. I’m laughing now as I write because I knew that I was doing it when I was doing it but I did it anyway, knowing that the price which I was going to pay was going to be CRUCIAL!
After swelling up, I knew that I needed some help, because the one thing that I wanted to do was keep all of my muscle, all or most of my strength and just lose the fat. And quite honestly, I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING and I know that I don’t know everything, and I think that’s what makes most people smart.
So, I called my good friend who is a professional drug free bodybuilder. His name is Ken Stewart and he was at 240 when he came to my home couple of months ago for a consultation himself (on the business side) and now I’ve book him for a teleconsult on the fitness side.
Oh, I forgot to mention, now Ken is a svelt 198 lbs and cut up like a nice piece of meat.
The reason why I’m mentioning this is because many people don’t really understand that the answers to some of the questions in life will only come by associating yourself with individuals that have the knowledge which you seek and desire.
If you believe that you are going to buy a $5.95 magazine and use the exercises and workouts that you see in there and achieve great results, then more power to you. But the bottom line is this…. It probably ain’t gonna happen. If you wanna look like Jay Cutler, then go workout with Jay or get in touch with somebody who has. If you want to get fast, then hire or consult with a professional who knows how to develop speed. If you want to prepare for anything, the bottom line is this…. You will have to pay.
Remember if you sow a $39 dollar seed, you will reap a $39 dollar harvest. If you sow a $2000 dollar seed, you will reap a $2000 dollar harvest. The key to this is to understand that it’s not about how much you sow, is about HOW MUCH you want to REAP.
So, I practice what I preach. I hired (my friend) for his expertise in the area or weight cutting. And I ain’t bad in that area, but I would like some extreme benefits so I have to take some extreme measures.
Even Donald Trump hires consultants and I’m no different. Remember all of the best athletes in the world have or had something in common…… They all had coaches. Just like all of the smartest men in the world all had a teacher.
I told my wife if I get any sexier, I may just have to get another wife. She didn’t think that joke was funny. And after thinking about, I don’t either. Wives are expensive (haaaaaa).
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Feature Article:
Kettlebells: Dispensing Some
of the Myths Behind the Mania…
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It seems that every time I turn around, I’m hearing something else about kettlebells.
Either people love them or they hate them. On the one hand, you’ve got the full-fledged fanatics. They run around raving about kettlebells, quoting Pavel like he’s the sole guru of weight training and eagerly seek out converts.
On the other hand, you’ve got the Kettlebell Inquisition, populated by opponents who are turned off by the cultish following and higher prices that kettlebells seem to demand.
So, where do I hang my hat in the Great Debate? I guess you could say somewhere in the middle… A professional fence-sitter of sorts. But to properly explain my own position, I need to first take a few moments to bust a couple of the most popular kettlebell myths WIDE open.
Myth #1: Kettlebells Are THE BEST Workout…
While there are plenty of fans that will swear otherwise, kettlebells simply aren’t for everyone. And they don’t yield magical results, either. In all reality, kettlebells are simply one tool available to you in the extensive resistance training toolbox. You can get the same results (sometimes better ones) using other forms of resistance, like dumbbells, barbells or even machine weights (depending on what your goals are).
And, just like any strength and conditioning equipment, kettlebells have their benefits – and their limitations. One of the greatest limitations I’ve encountered when it comes to kettlebells stems from the restrictions you encounter when you’re training with and/or for speed.
Case in point: When I train, I like to work at a very rapid-fire pace, and so do the majority of my athletes. We rely on a lot of rapid swings, fast punches and repeat snatches… These exercises work great when you’re working with dumbbells, but have you ever tried doing them with kettlebells? Believe me, you DON’T want to!
Because of how the weight is leveraged, safe and proper kettlebell training demands that you “ride the arc.” And while this may work out great in training situations where the goal is slow, controlled movements, there’s not a lot of room for it in MY workouts.
Here’s a challenge for you.Challenge #1: Try to do 5 Kettlebell Snatches in 7 seconds
Challenge #2: Try to do Fast Kettlebell Punches for 20 seconds
Challenge #3: Try to do Kettlebell Long Jumps
Challenge #4: Do 5 kettlebell swings in 7 seconds.Now try the same thing with Dumbbells. Now, I’m not knocking Kettlebells. I’m just saying, they have their limitations. I LOVE TRAINING FOR EXPLOSIVE (and repetitive) power.
Now try the same thing with Dumbbells. Now, I’m not knocking Kettlebells. I’m just saying, they have their limitations. I LOVE TRAINING FOR EXPLOSIVE (and repetitive) power.I don’t like “1-pump-chump” type strength.
And I’m not trying to “feel the burn”. I want my athletes, fast, explosive and quick.
Have I used Kettlebells? Yes.
Are they my favorite? NO!!
Are they a beneficial tool? Yes!
Do I recommend them? Yes, but only if you have DUMBBELLS!!
As one of my athletes said, “Dumbbells are the _hit!!”
In short, the equipment you rely on for your strength and conditioning training is really just a matter of personal preference. You need to stick with what’s yielding the best results, because in the long run, results are all that matter. If you’re getting great results working with barbells or dumbbells, don’t switch to something new like kettlebells just because you read about them in this month’s edition of your favorite fitness mag. Follow the advice of your coach. If you don’t have one, then study as much as possible and keep coming back to The Strength and Conditioning King’s blog and get as much info as you can.
Remember this: Carl Lewis, Dan Gable, Rulon Gardener and Sugar Ray Leonard all went on to win Olympic Gold Medals, and not one of them ever trained with kettlebells.
And that brings me to yet another myth that deserves a little deflating…
Myth #2: Kettlebells Are Great for Martial Arts…
Frankly, this is a myth I’ve heard at least one time too many… Maybe since I train martial artists, they’re hoping that I’ll push my athletes to run out and buy a set (at five or six times the cost of the equivalent dumbbells), but I guess I was born to break the rules…
Frankly, this is a myth I’ve heard at least one time too many… Maybe since I train martial artists, they’re hoping that I’ll push my athletes to run out and buy a set (at five or six times the cost of the equivalent dumbbells), but I guess I was born to break the rules…I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: a great weight training program will benefit ANY athlete, whether you’re using kettlebells or not!
I may be a little bit biased (or just a little bit old-fashioned), but if I were forced to choose between kettlebells and my trusty set of dumbbells, those “old” dumbbells would win, hands down, every time. I’m just a dumbbell guy – always have and probably always will be.
Sure, I’ve dabbled with kettlebells before, but honestly, they just didn’t stick.
I’d rather stick with my tried and true lightening fast dumbbell training any day, and I can guarantee I’m not the only one…
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It’s Tough on the BREATH,
but great for the body
Fact & Folklore: How Great
IS Garlic?
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Whether taken as a supplement or a spice, people have been raving about garlic for centuries – millennia even. Garlic is a member of the onion family, derived from a bulb known by the Latin name, Allium sativium.
Fondly referred to as the “stinking rose”, its cultivation and commercial value can be traced as far back as history has been recorded.
As far as modern medicine goes, a great deal of the garlic rave was thought to fall into the category of folk medicine. But, more recently, things have begun to change. What was once believed to be mere folklore has now begun to be substantiated by clinical facts. Indeed, in the past 25 years alone, more than 1,000 papers and journals have published garlic (and their active ingredient, allium) related facts and findings.
Garlic: A Brief History…
As I mentioned before, references to garlic date back to the beginning of recorded history. Over 5,000 years ago in China, herbalists were using garlic to treat high blood pressure, cardiac and a myriad of other circulatory maladies. At roughly the same time period, far away in Egypt, slaves that were laboring to build the great pyramids were being fed garlic for both strength and endurance. In fact, much more recently, a Welsh rhyme expounded the benefits of garlic well:
“Eat leeks in March and wild garlic in May,
and all year after physicians may play!”
Garlic: Here & Now
Thanks to scientific studies and advancements, garlic’s benefits are really coming to light – though modern medicine is probably the last entity to hop on the garlic bandwagon. Different cultures the world over have hailed the herb for its antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal properties. This basis is only further supported by the sheer number of cultures that have incorporated garlic into their local cuisine.
Today, garlic has been shown to have a marked impact on several persistent maladies, including:
- High cholesterol and triglycerides
- Increasing good cholesterol
- Blocking carcinogens that cause cancer of the breast, esophagus the colon and the rectum
- Increasing serum insulin concentrations and glycogen storage in diabetics
Healing infections
- Preventing atherosclerosis
Taking Garlic…
One of the biggest drawbacks of eating garlic is the bad breath. However, when you make the decision to incorporate a high quality garlic supplement into your diet, you can look forward to a noticeable improvement.
Garlic provides our bodies with potassium and phosphorus, which also containing significant amounts of both B and C vitamins, calcium and protein. Selenium is also found in garlic, and is believed to help prevent and combat the signs of aging. And, to top it all off, you can look forward to removing contaminations and free radicals from our bodies.
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Ask The Strength
and Conditioning King
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Ask The Strength and Conditioning King:
Question:
“I really enjoyed The Backyard Workout. However, I would have liked to have heard more of your thoughts on how to integrate the workout into existing skill and conditioning sessions. I am never sure of how much of each kind of session to do, until I do too much and get hurt. Some general guidelines or a strategy would be helpful. For example, how do I keep from letting my bodyweight exercises interfere with my skill sessions, and how do I avoid overtraining while still progressing, do I focus on the calisthenics and roadwork and then the skills, or the skills and then the calisthenics, or all at once, etc.. Of course it’s a whole art in itself to design a training program, but if there are general cross-training guidelines it would help.” T. Stark
Answer:
Todd, thanks so much for your question.
In terms of where everything fits in… Well, there’s only so much that I can cover in a book and quite honestly, everyone’s needs in that area are different. So such conversations usually fall under the umbrella of Strength and Conditioning Consultations. You are more than welcome to get in contact with m assistant Shannon at shannonk@rhadi.com and she will be glad to schedule you for a consult.
As a matter of fact, with the understanding that people are going to need “more” I’m pretty sure that you have 2 Consultation Certificates that came with The Backyard Workout. Now would be a great time to use them so that you can get your questions answered, that way I can address your individual needs and concerns.
On a general level, what we usually do is focus more on new skill acquisition in the beginning of the training cycle and then toward the end of the cycle the skills which were developed are honed.
In terms of the training, the volume of work is high and the overall intensity is low and as one gets closer to the event of preparation, the volume decreases and the intensity increases and the workouts move from being functional to being more sports specific. That’s on a general level.
Todd, I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon. And for those who are reading this who have invested in The Backyard Workout, I would highly recommend that you use your Consultation Certificates so that we can fine tune your workout and/or diet regimen.
If you have not yet invested in The Backyard Workout, then this is just another great reason to do so. http://www.thebackyardworkout.net
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In Closing
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- The DVD and Book Maximum Dumbbell Training should be here very soon.
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- I now have some great book recommendations on my website.
You can now get some of the same books that I have in my
personal home library–> http://www.rhadi.com/textpage.php?PageID=21
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always, thanks again for your support!
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© Copyright (c) 2007 Ferguson Marketing Systems. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, July 30th, 2007
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