This one requires some equipment. You will need something heavy to push, I used the econo-prowler loaded with 160lbs (scale as necessary), 2 clubbells of the same size, a sandbag or big bag of dog food, a kettlebell you can push press or jerk (not to heavy!), a pair of kbs for leg work and a pullup bar and/or rings.

 Each round is 2 minutes with 1 minute of rest and is done in a circuit. When you are at the push/press jerk station or the kickstand lunge station switch sides at the 1 minute mark.

This was pretty damned tough!

Swipes - take 2 cbs swing them back bring them through the clean position and behind the shoulders using the hips for momentum and the entire upper back & grip to brake. Pop the hips, give a quick flick of the upper back to propel the CBs over the shoulders then let gravity do its thing.

Sandbag shouldering - pick up the sandbag and put it on yor shoulder, drop it and do it agin on he other shoulder. Grip is front hand facing rear, back hand facing front. If you are going to the left shoulder left hand is in front, right shoulder right hand. Make sure you get that hand out from under the bag before it lands on the shoulder! 

Kickstand lunge - 2 bells and take a narrow lunge stance so the back knee will be close to the font ankle. Go up and down stayig on the toes on the back foot. Switch at one minute

We did 2 rounds in class and its a smoker if you use the appropriate amount of weight.

The guys used 160 on the Prowler, ladies used 70. on the clubbells it varied with all the ladies, so far, using the 5 lb clubs. Some guys used 10s some 15s.

Sandbags varied as well. Everyone didi push-presses, mostly because the aren't good with jerks yet. I did jerks with the 20 and got about 22 rpm each arm.

The kickstand lunges were brutal using 2x24 kbs!

On the pullups most did them until they couldn't get more then did ring rows. 

I've been having a running discussion with a guy name Scott Philips, who is San Francisco, about strength training. I originally responded to this blog entry he made at his site a few weeks ago: "The Two Finger Rule"  

He says that if you can't pick something up with the first two fingers of each hand you should get help or find a tool to help you lift it. He says that strength training impedes Qi flow is in general bad for you. I responded to that and we have been going over various aspects since then.

Hop over there and read the above link as well as this one - "A long strong-spirited response "  as well as this one about Training to Failure which he read about on this site, but distorted the phrase to "Training FOR failure "

Hop on over and read the articles and our comments and feel free to chime in over there 

A new article on MSNBC brings up the fact that just because something is sold at Whole Foods or another health food store, doesn't mean it is healthy.

Also don't assume the employees know anything about nutrition, they don't. While they may be a bit more educated than some of the workers at Kroger that doesn't mean they know more about nutrition. Most likely anything they tell you will be their own personal beliefs.

The highlights:

• fat is fat, good fat is good fat and bad is bad. Ghee, an Indian butter touted by Ayurvedic medicine as being healthy is just as bad for you as regular butter (assuming you believe the nutritionists that think butter is bad, I don't)
• Ice cream - always a bad idea, too much sugar too many calories
• The food bar at Whole foods has just as much crap as any other restaurant - potatoes with butter is potatoes with butter.
• Organic isn't necessarily healthy - Organic mac & cheese is not good for you. It may not have the preservatives and other junk as Kraft Mac & Cheese, but it still contains a lot of calories, fats & carbs.
• Eat the salads
• The article pushes the "faux meats" personally I think you need meat. Humans are omnivores. Eat meat
• Eat real veggies, not supplements, i.e. greens in a bottle or powder. Don't spend more on supplements than you do on real food
• Try to buy locally grown produce, It is fresher & will last longer
• Sugar is sugar -cane, sugar beet, turbinado, etc = bad
• Do eat lots of whole grains

As some of you know I have been nursing a shoulder injury for several months. The original injury was caused years ago by doing pushups. Lots of pushups, over a thousand per week. I developed a problem which I never had checked out and after a few weeks it was pretty much healed. I couldn't do dips anymore but other than that I had no issues with it.

Then, back in October 2007, I was doing AOS:Smokin Ladders which has a lot of pushups in it. During one set I felt the shoulder go. It wasn't too bad but I could tell it was messed up. Over the course of several weeks I tried different things, such as Jump Stretch bands using videos posted on YouTube to help with rehab. I also did some other things including lots of Joint Mobility and kettlebell rows. Slowly it got better.

A few weeks ago I was watching the "Boys are back in town" DVD that I mentioned in the last newsletter and Steve Maxwell was covering some bodyweight work that include some pushup variations. During that segment he showed how to correctly and safely perform a pushup. When I saw it I immediately dropped and did 10 full pushups chin to the floor.

A few days before I had done pushups the wrong way and could only go 1/2 way down without experiencing pain. With Maxwell's tips I was able to do pushups with no pain! Over the next three days I did about 200 pushups with no problems. Of course my classes didn't care for that since they had to do a lot as well.

Here's what Maxwell had to say about pushups:

• Get on your hands and knees.
• Spread the fingers apart on each hand so the middle finger points straight ahead and the thumbs point towards each other.
• Come up on your toes, back flat hips down and abs tight. The points on the shoulders should be directly over your finger tips.
• When going down, and up, move the entire body as a unit.
• Don't move the shoulders first then the torso then the hips.
• Make sure the pit of the elbow points forward at the bottom and that your triceps and lats are touching.
• Do not flare the elbows out. The rotation caused by flaring the elbows is what can cause shoulder problems. Wide pushups will cause the same issues as well.
• When coming up maintain a flat back and push from the triceps. 

Yes these pushups are harder but you will be stronger and have more resilient shoulders in the long run.

Enjoy!!