Thank you all!

Posted in Kettlebells, Wellness on April 30, 2012 by CTKettlebells

First off I would like to thank all of those who support me. This past weekend at track my Clients/friends did something really nice for my brother and I words can’t describe. Jaw dropping to say the least, but heartfelt and so very warm that I’m still smiling thinking about it. One thing I did realize was how meaningful theses individuals are to me; I hold them each dear to my heart. It’s one thing to have people who believe in you it’s another to have people who truly care. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, your kindness will always be remembered and appreciated!
So with that said I have a new challenge Trevor and I will be putting together for June. I want you all to use the next month to jump start any deficiencies you have and put all you can into preparing for whats to come. Hint: Kettlebells!! So if this is a warning than take it as that because a new challenge will emerge and we shall see who’s up for it.

“A man’s growth is seen in the successive choirs of his friends.” Emerson. So let’s see what you got!!!

On a personal note, Month 4 has come to an end for me and my crew! And I can honestly say we have raised the bar for ourselves. Our growth in the last few months has taken off. We all are exceeding what I deemed as a slow progressive pace, but what has happened is that each one of us individually have gone beyond our goals and we still have two months to go! I’m excited to see the end product of our 6 month adventure in strength. Stay tuned!
And finally I have some KB practice for you to do this week just one day if possible, Try it:

20 Sets: 2 reps each arm equals a set! = 80 reps
Standing Shoulder Presses (appropriate bell)

20 Sets: 2 reps each arm equals a set! = 80 reps
Clean and Presses (appropriate bell)

Hard but doable so get it done and rest appropriately, not over excessively!

Work Hard, Live Well!

People, people, people!

Posted in Wellness, wisdom with tags , on April 19, 2012 by CTKettlebells

As of now we all should be at least half way through the first week of Snatches ‘N’ Cleans, am I right? HA! That would be like me counting my chickens before they hatch. And I don’t take chances like that anymore! As Oscar Wilde would say,“People who count their chickens before they are hatched, act very wisely, because chickens run about so absurdly that it is impossible to count them accurately”

If it’s one thing that I do know it’s people, and I know them very well. Lately I have had some of the best personal and personable conversations with some of my favorite people and I feel compelled to share my thoughts about them with you all. Along with some appropriate quotes to hammer home my point. Again this is my opinion you don’t have to read it!!!!! But I hope you will ;) .


“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.” ~William James


People are absurd!! I’m absurd, we all are absurd. It comes along with the territory we call life. We live in world full of non-believers, people who dawn themselves as the all-knowing in only what they know. Limited movement means limited thinking and the belief in one’s self is the true virtue of mankind. Yeah I’m a Cynic; I do believe that virtue is the only good, that the essence of virtue is self-control, and thatsurrendering to any external influence is beneath human dignity.I believe the people and circumstances around me do not make me what I am, they reveal who I am.

We are not an observant species, on occasions we produce great leaders and great followers, but what makes us flawed is our inability to nurture those leaders and followers. We suck the freaking life out of them, we make it almost impossible for them to grow and see the greatness in their roles. It’s that lack of self-control I was talking about earlier. Denial mostly, the revealing of yourself leaves you vulnerable something as humans we purposely hide.


“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice, and motivated by pride and vanity” ~ Dale Carnegie


Being an antagonist I see the world like the story of Othello. After being arrested for his treachery toward Othello, Iago famously says, “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word.”

People are cowardly because they don’t speak. They hide behind their own emotional baggage making others secondary to their hurt pride. Iago like most people hurt without motive he is a“motiveless malignity”. We encounter Iago’s every day in our lives, from our bosses to our friends to our very own family. When offered a false sense of security and care we dame others to a time of uncertainty which taints our ability to see past our own shallow environments.


“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.”~ Paulo Coelho


The only path, this is the fuel for this post. When you speak to people who believe they know what’s deemed as normal or act in a manner of vanity followed by judgmental absurdities, it makes me concerned for my future. Concern for pure; normalunbiased communication, the acceptance of similarities and differences. And the ability to accept those differences and let people create what makes them happy. The innocence of neutrality and banter, are not taught or learned anymore, we lost a step in our evolution due to digital communication and every other non-human stimulus you can ask for. It’s an all-out buffet of virtual- reality for society to use as their excuse for its lack of growth and sustained longevity. Ignorance is bliss and it rules the world we surround ourselves with, but like I said before it reveals who you are and you might wanna check yourself because of it!


Peace is Power Y’all!

Work Hard, Live Well!


A New challenge has emerged!

Posted in Kettlebells on April 16, 2012 by CTKettlebells

So now that most of us have had a nice week off from swinging, presuming you all completed the 10,000 swing task. We are on to the next 4 week challenge and boy oh boy I can’t wait for the results from this one produce. Just think how much stronger you’re going to get, how much leaner you will look, that’s if you take the challenge and do it to it full completion. You probably like “get onto the challenge already will ya!” Well here it is for the next 4
Snatches ‘N” Cleans:
Be smart and use the appropriate bell and be smart to use a challenging bell when you know you can!!

500 Snatches and 500 clean Per Week! I really don’t care how you do them but don’t be foolish and try and get them all done at once!
Example routine would be for one day could be
10 sets of 10 snatches 5L/5R rest 15-30 in between sets
10 sets of 10 Cleans 5L/5R rest 15-30 sec between sets.

That’s a grand total of 200 reps, do that 4 more times and you have your 500 reps for each exercise per week. So get it done and I want a check point for all of you that are tanking this challenge meaning, I want and email when you all are done each week. Got to keep you all accountable!

Now, here is a nice write up form Lisa about her Journey with swinging the last few months. Enjoy!!

“Two months ago, Justin presented Wendy, a fellow trainer with a challenge, 8000 KB swings in one month. He then encouraged everyone to Join Wendy.
I decided to join in this quest. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I felt I had a pretty good swing and how hard could it really be. I have done 100 swings before a workout, but the sound of 500 or more in one session was going to be interesting. Well, for the first 8000 swing month. I got a lot of blisters/and that feeling of rawness in the hands (rawness was the worse). My grip was definitely too tight. Arms ached; lower back into my hips had this constant aching. I was tired and had to mentally push myself to complete.
During this month, Justin put out a refresher video on the KB swing and then one Saturday had a KB swing refresher group session. Wow! The video and the Saturday group session made a huge difference for me!! Now it’s not like he hasn’t showed us all these tips before but you forget or at least I didn’t let it sink in.
So when he offered up the 10,000 KB swings in one month, I was in much better condition to do it. All of a sudden my swing improved, my aches and pains were less, a lot less. So what changed for me? I wasn’t folding all the way and I was using more of my arms then my core to swing. Also, my line of site was not consistent. I didn’t focus on one spot. So as I made my adjustments and I could feel my core getting stronger. NO JOKE. I was able to swing the 45 with more reps than I had ever done before. The 45KB felt light as a feather (that’s a bit of exaggeration) but you get the drift. These changes really made a difference for me and the many, many repetitions helped me to focus on form and not just getting it done to get it done.
Almost all of my swings were done at the Company’s fitness center. Day after day people would see me swinging on the floor. Well, another interesting thing happened. People starting asking me what I was doing and why I was doing it? Now Wendy can attest to this, the next thing you know everyone wants to learn how to swing. It was crazy!! Not like those KBs haven’t been sitting there for years. I think it was because people felt like they were missing out on what they perceive as the new craze. That’s just my opinion.
So as I wrap this up this monologue, I am glad I did it and want to thank you Justin, for always pushing us to try and reach that next level of fitness!!”

Good luck!
Work Hard, Live Well!

Primetime Justice

Posted in Kettlebells, Wellness with tags , , , , on April 5, 2012 by CTKettlebells

Yesterday JD and I put together a little something we call “Primetime Justice.” We decided why not put up a podcast/Radio message to all our wonderful clients. It’s our first attempt so don’t Judge LOL! But we will do a lot of that on the show so it sure will keep you entertained at least. So here you go, if you have any topics you ever want us to take about wether it be fitness, wellness or just an exercise send the request to my inbox @ athleticfit@gmail.com. But before you play the link here is your workout for the week. I know I’ve been slacking a bit but hey this job comes first: p!

4 Rounds: 30-45 sec rest between rounds
16 Spinal Rocks
: 30 sec Mt. Climbers
16 Push-ups
: 30 Sec Swoops

3 Rounds: 60-90 Sec rest between rounds
20 KB Swings
20 X-Jumps
20 one-arm Swings on each arm
10 Snatches on each arm
Enjoy!
Work Hard, Live Well

Click Wendy for the SHOW!

PrimeTime Special

Posted in HumpDay, Kettlebells with tags on March 30, 2012 by CTKettlebells

Here is a special guest workout from the man behind workoutglue.com

I would say rest after each A or B block 30-45 sec. Try it out, let me know what you think.
As for the spinal rocks if you can’t get to the stand just to 16 reps!

Work Hard, Live Well!

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I Think I’ll Call It Morning

Posted in Gil Scott, Wellness, wisdom on March 26, 2012 by CTKettlebells

I’m gonna take myself a piece of sunshine
and paint it all over my sky.
Be no rain. Be no rain.
I’m gonna take the song from every bird
and make them sing it just for me.
Be no rain.
And I think I’ll call it morning from now on.
Why should I survive on sadness
convince myself I’ve got to be alone?
Why should I subscribe to this world’s madness
knowing that I’ve got to live on?

I think I’ll call it morning from now on.
I’m gonna take myself a piece of sunshine
and paint it all over my sky.
Be no rain. Be no rain.
I’m gonna take the song from every bird
and make them sing it just for me.
Why should I hang my head?
Why should I let tears fall from my eyes
when I’ve seen everything that there is to see
and I know that there ain’t no sense in crying!
I know that there ain’t no sense in crying!
I think I’ll call it morning from now on.

by Gil Scott Heron

Hump Day workout #6

Posted in Kettlebells, Wellness on March 21, 2012 by CTKettlebells

“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.”~Abraham Lincoln

Ill keep it short and sweet today. Thanks Robin for the contribution to today Hump Day workout!!

Work Hard, Live Well

4 Sets: 30-45 sec rest between sets
Swing Squats 15x
Standing See-Saw Presses 5/5
Push-Ups 12-16x

4 Sets: 30-45 sec rest between sets
Dbl KB Racked Squats 10x
Snatches 5/5
Dbl KB Burpee Deadlift 10x

5 minute Swing
Any type of swing (2 hands, 1 Arm, Alternating) Mix it up however you want!!

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