Archive for off the top of my head
First I want you to watch this video…whether you like pro wrestling or not.
Just think for a second about how I actually relate to this guy. Is it because we both have dark hair? Nope. Is it because we both like Living Colour (the ones who wrote “cult of personality…his theme song). Not really.
It’s because we both speak our minds and try to create change. Even though it’s just a work in pro wrestling and heck it may even work if WWE listens to the fans (though considering what many fans what…cough cough..John Cena cough cough). Much like CM Punk is trying to “change the status quo” by getting on a microphone…I try to change the status quo by typing up what I am thinking about on this here blog you are reading. If you have been reading my stuff for any significant time now, then you probably have a different status quo. You are probably aware that women won’t become bulky and that men don’t need steroids to get great results.
That’s the point of all this. You see I have a bit of an eye for catching bullshit. It wasn’t always that way. I’ve bought those weird ab gadgets that you find late at night including that piece of crap that electrocutes you. I learned from those mistakes and apply it to my writings and my teachings.
When you look at the fitness industry as a whole, you can see that there needs to be change. Marketers are always looking for a hook and throw around lies and misinformation like a monkey throws it’s crap. (They both throw around crap…there’s your connection.) Things only get promoted if they are “sell-able” whether they are legit or not and this is the sort of thing I have to contend with.
Last week sometime my dad was watching TV and he was telling me about an infomercial where they take “High Intensity Intervals and flip them on their head.” Whoa, holy crap! The secret of fat loss is flipping what exercise scientists did upside down?!?! This is monumental!!!! Why didn’t I think of that?
My dad’s response, “That sure is a dishonest industry you are trying to compete with.” (note….hard work is going to be decent at getting results…that’s what causes good before and afters…not some secret interval. also DO NOT where cross trainers with my methods)
But you see what I mean by status quo? That’s actually better then most of the others I have seen. Here are some other offenders.
Not all fitness people who use kettlebells are any good….buyer beware. Also, I will go in depth on this when I get a chance but I have been to mellow to be fair to this one.
But you get what I mean right? This is the status quo you have likely been fed and you deserve better then this nonsense. This is what I am here to do for you. I need you to help me change the status quo by spreading my message to anybody and everybody who will listen. That’s it for today.
Eric Moss over and out.
Are you getting better?
Posted by: | CommentsI was just one someone’s website where they post what they do in their classes and it was a stupid workout that was designed to do little more then make you tired. They preach about getting results but when it comes to call there are none. So I have some questions for you…and I even provide some answers too.
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Are you getting stronger?
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Lift heavy stay fresh. That’s the trick. Don’t do a bunch of crap that makes you tired in an effort to try to get “the total package”. I’ll reiterate it again. Lift heavy and stay fresh and treat your training like practice. Earlier today I was training someone for the very first time and they his parents were asking me about a specific program. I told them don’t bother. Just practicing the things that make you strong on things that require strength is going to be better then any set and reps scheme. If you are doing it..uh…less then optimal you are simply repeating incorrect movements and imprinting crappy form on your brain and nervous system. Practice is how I can get clients stronger quite literally over night.
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Are you burning fat?
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Everybody has the “secret” to fat loss and they are always searching for some gimmick to make you believe that there’s is the one true answer that you have been searching for. Sometimes they do. You buy it but you don’t apply it. You aren’t burning fat. Sorry, that’s the cold hard truth. If you have been receiving my emails for any longer then 3 days you know my favorite fat burning program is Kettlebell Burn. If you want to burn fat but don’t wish to buy it just try out one of my free programs. It won’t work as well as Burn but you’ll still get results. The trick is to get up and do it.
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Are you getting more fit?
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Not that long ago someone asked me about my training for the Tough Mudder and how it’s changed my program. They probably expect me to say that I am running and crawling up nets and crawling under logs or something event specific. At the same time I may be partaking in Tactical Strength Challenge before that but that is unconfirmed. How is it that I might do 2 seemingly related but different tasks? My training is about 80% “general physical preparation” By selecting exercises that have a high transfer and using the best conditioning program I know of I can become good at everything without having a sport specific program. I tell this to athletes…”My job as a strength and conditioning coach isn’t to try to mimick whatever you are doing out there. My job is simply to get you strong and conditioned. No more. Since I train myself to be strong and conditioned…I don’t really have to change anything until it gets closer to the event at which point I’ll run as active recovery after my hard conditioning sessions.
Fitness is task based. Some exercises like Kettlebell Swings are good for many many tasks. We call it the what the heck effect and I love it.
Well that’s it for today.
Eric Moss
p.s. You are awesome for reading my rants 
Hey hey
Did you ever wonder how that rumor got started that I never wear a shirt? Well it was started by this guy Dan Cenidoza. About a year and a half back a bunch of us RKC’s had started gabbing about trying to do a bulk order of Kettlebells to help save on shipping. This was my chance to order the Beast and not pay a butt load in shipping expenses but it also meant I had to drive all the way down to Balitimore Maryland in order to pick it up. If you haven’t seen the video where I attempted to do a Beast Getup right out of the box here it is and Dan Cenidoza was the one holding the camera and is also the one who said “Comrade please do not drop the kettlebell on your head”, in an impersonation of Pavel…that’s something anyone who picks up a kettlebell does btw.
It was also his idea for me to put it overhead and me with a couple drinks in me was very open to bad ideas. Hey his strength is contagious since prior to this video he was actually pulling chains apart with his hands. How could I not attempt to put it overhead? He brought this box of goodies in which included a bunch of different Captain’s of Crush grippers. I picked out the number 3 gripper squeezed it and started laughing because the thing was so impossible.
It wasn’t impossible because he was able to close it. He’s on their wall of fame and he’s also noted for several other things. I didn’t realize just how many until I went to his RKC page to snag his phone number in case I needed to call him about something en route. Here are a couple things he’s noted for.
EDUCATION
2004 : NSCA-Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist
2005 : Towson University – BS, Exercise Science
2006 : RKC Kettlebell Certification
2007 : AKC Kettlebell Certification
2008 : CK-FMS Functional Movement CertificationWORK EXPERIENCE
2003 : Personal Training
2004 : Founded Be-More Training, LLC
2005 : Fitness Instructor; Community Colleges of Baltimore County
2006 : Strength Coach; Baltimore County Public Schools
2006 : Senior Fitness Specialist; Erickson Retirement Communities
2007 : Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach; Baltimore Ravens
2007 : Founded Baltimore Kettlebell Club, LLC
2010 : Assistant Instructor Philadelphia RKCPERFORMANCES, DEMONSTRATIONS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
2005 : Night of Strength II
2006 : Night of Strength III
2006 : Pennsylvania State Strength & Conditioning Clinic
2007 : Association of Oldetime Barbell & Strongman dinner
2007 : Pennsylvania State Strength & Conditioning Clinic
2008 : St. Ursula Health Fair (Boy Scout Troop no 343)
2008 : Pennsylvania State Strength & Conditioning Clinic
2009 : Fox 45 Morning News
2009 : Family Fitness Night
2009 : Pennsylvania State Strength & Conditioning Clinic
2009 : Family Fun Day (C.R.E.A.T.E. Everyday Geniuses)
2009 : ABC 2 News Good Morning Maryland
2010 : Pennsylvania State Strength & Conditioning Clinic
2010 : Family Fun Day (C.R.E.A.T.E. Everyday Geniuses)
2010 : Kettlebells for Warriors (York Barbell)
2010 : Southwest Airlines Employee Expo
2010 : Association of Oldtime Barbell & Strongman dinnerCONTEST HISTORY
2003 : Fall Strongman Challenge (4th)
2004 : Mid-Atlantic Strongman Contest (3rd)
2004 : Maryland’s Strongest Man (2nd)
2004 : Global Grip Challenge (6th)
2005 : Mid-Atlantic Strongman Contest (1st)
2005 : Maryland’s Strongest Man (2st)
2005 : Global Grip Challenge (6th)
2005 : Anne Arundel Highland Games (1st B-class)
2006 : Mid-Atlantic Strongman Contest (2nd)
2006 : Tactical Strength Challenge (6th Men’s open)
2006 : Maryland’s Strongest Man (2nd)
2007 : Mid-Atlantic Strongman Contest (3rd)
2007 : Maryland’s Strongest Man (1st)
2007 : Tactical Strength Challenge (2nd Men’s elite)
2008 : Feats of Strength Contest (1st)
2008 : Mid-Atlantic Strongman Contest (5th)
2008 : Maryland’s Strongest Man (4th)PERSONAL RECORDS
Powerlifts:
585 deadlift
405 squatKettlebells:
Single hand snatch – 24kg x 150
5 min snatch test – 24kg x 132, 32kg x 93
10 min snatch test – 24kg x 203Strongman:
Farmers walk – 660lb x 20yds
Axle C&P – 250lb x 2
Atlas stones – 331 x 50″Bodyweight:
Pull ups – 15 (225)
Push ups – 40 (225)
5k run – 26:30 (225)
10mi run – 2:04:01 (235)Grip Feats:
#3 COC Gripper
IM Red Nail
50lb YORK Blob
Phonebooks & cards
Horseshoes, wrenches & frying pans
Now I cornered Dan and threatened to beat him up if he didn’t answer my questions in an orderly fashion…just kidding I asked him nicely on facebook for this interview and he agreed to it.
How did you get involved with strength training?
Initially I got involved as a teenager. My dad is a life long martial artist and we’ve had weights, punching bags and hand grippers for as long as I can remember. I worked out on and off throughout middle and high school but nothing with any real consistency.
Yeah I actually seem to remember you talking about stopping a fight just by grabbing him and hinting at the power you possess. That’s pretty cool btw. So what made you want to start strength training?
I got tired of being fat. I was about 2 years out of highschool when I got a stretch mark on my stomach. At 6′ 1″ I was an untrained 245lbs and didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. That’s when casual workouts stopped and training started. I made a goal to never stop working out. At first I was about bodybuilding, then powerlifting and weightlifting and then when grip became the weak link in my pulls I got involved in grip training and strongman. Somewhere along the line I simply became an enthusiast of all forms of strength.
From what I can tell you excel in all forms of strength.
Who have been your biggest influences?
Arthur Jones really had an impact on my training early on and got me training harder instead of longer. I think everyone should read his Nautilus Bulletins at least once. Brooks Kubik got me started thinking “outside of the gym” with odd object lifting, thick bars and the like. I think Dinosaur Training is where I learned about the Captians of Crush grippers. Mark Keshishian, Graham Bartholemew and the “Garage Gang” all influenced my training as a competitive strongman. Mark was the judge for my #3 gripper certification and had a “strongman playground” in his yard. Graham was the American Strongman Association state chairman for MD and we had some serious training sessions in his garage over the years. Steve Justa’s “Rock Iron Steel” got me thinking about work and labor as training, and something that could be done day in and day out. Pavel introduced me to kettlebells and the RKC has been very influential shaping me as a trainer. Dennis Rogers taught me how to become a performing strongman, and The Mighty Atom and Slim The Hammerman have both been inspirations to do so.
The things those guys do are incredible. Holding planes back, bending stuff that wasn’t meant to be bent. It’s an unbelievable form of entertainment that I am very happy to witness just because it’s so darn cool. I know for me the study of strongman type stuff started with the kettlebell which I just happened to bump into in a bookstore one day after someone had shown me one. How did you find your way to using kettlebells?
I came across an article by some Russian military guy in a muscle mag. He was talking about kettlebells, one leg squats and rope climbing. Shortly after I met the author at the Arnold in 2003 and got a much more thorough explanation of how and why. I had it in my head to buy a set but hadn’t figured out how to justify another several hundred dollars worth of equipment to my wife. Then we went to the AOBS dinner and saw a demonstration by Max Kettlebells. After the demo, my wife said she wanted a kettlebell for her birthday. We had a complete set by the end of the week.
Am I thinking the same bald Russian guy?
If you are thinking of Pavel, yes
Seems there is a lot of that going around amongst strong dudes. I had read about something called muscle control and for whatever reason you keep popping up whenever I do a bit o research about it. Can you tell us a little bit about muscle control?
http://bemoretraining.blogspot.com/2010/04/muscle-control.html (excerpted from his website)
Muscle Control (MC) is the targeted action of specific muscles that are under your voluntary control. It is a series of isolated contractions usually performed as an isometric. In other words, it is the ability to flex individual muscles while keeping others relaxed.My first introduction to Muscle Control (MC) was when I stumbled across a picture of someone performing “the rope” an abdominal control where a stomach vacuum is held while the rectus abs (6 pack) is contracted. I was amazed that someone could differentiate between abdominal muscles and control them independently from one another. I had never seen any such thing and thought the guy performing it to be some “freak of nature.”That picture led me to a book entitled Muscle Control by a guy named Maxick. The quick and dirty on Maxick is that he was born in 1882 as a sickly child who was so weak he was unable to walk until the age of 5. Under the advice of the doctor and the enforcement of his parents, he spent most of his youth avoiding anything strenuous. In his desire to become stronger he crafted himself a dumbbell, which when his father found, he destroyed, not wanting his son to overexert himself. It was then when Maxick began developing his system of MC. For more information on Maxick or MC visit www.superstrengthbooks.com
I find muscle control to be difficult to really get down. As you saw when we were discussing this down in Baltimore I can contract my shoulder muscle…but not nearly with the intensity that you were recommending and not without it spilling over to other muscle groups. It’s something I still continue to work at. Any ideas where to go from there (I already read Maxick’s book)?
All I can say is to keep practicing. The deltoids are one of the hardest muscles to control in isolation. You might want to try doing muscle control after a shoulder workout. Do a few lateral or front raises and immediately try doing your controls then. Sometimes after working the muscle in a weighted movement it seems easier to contract it isometrically.
Hmmm. It always seemed to be something I only practiced when I was bored. Not normally “with” the training session. Perhaps I can get some cross innervation like Paul Anderson did by slow supersetting squats with good mornings. If you had to recommend one book for strength training what would it be?
That’s a tough one and my answer would probably be different depending on who was asking. I’m going to go with the Nautilus Bulletins though. I am tempted to say why I would recommend them but I’ll let people answer that themselves, after they’ve read them.
http://www.arthurjonesexercise.com/Bulletin1/Bulletin1.html
http://www.arthurjonesexercise.com/Bulletin2/Bulletin2.html
I definitely plan to read up on those if it means I get to break chains with my hands too What is your favorite feat of strength that you have done?
Probably either bending a #4 draft horseshoe or a triple phonebook tear.
That’s insane! Ok just one more…I used to joke about starting a heavy metal band called Steel Garden (well I actually do plan to start that up at some point, but this is what I would plant in the steel garden) but where on Earth did you get the idea for the Iron Bonsais?
John Brookfield. He used to sell them back in the day. I always wanted to get one but never had the money. When I did my first scroll, I knew instantly that I wanted to make them. I thought about other names but nothing sounded as cool Iron Bonsai. Instead of ripping Brookfield off like so many people do, I simply called the man and asked him if I could use the name. He thanked me for the respect and gave me his blessing. I’ve been making Iron Bonsai for a couple years now. I’ve always had an artistic side to me but never really did anything with it. These sculptures not only provide a creative outlet but make me stronger too.
Where art meets strength. Anyways I really appreciate this interview Dan and you gave a lot of high quality advice. I’m sure my readers will appreciate it too.
If you are in the Baltimore area and want to become strong and awesome I highly suggest you check him out at BeMoreTraining.com and IronBonsai.com
Well back to the story about how the rumor got started about me not wearing a shirt it was him and another dude named Joe Sansalone who said “I didn’t recognize you with your shirt on.” I just started laughing and ran with it. It’s funny because it’s true.
What MMA star Fedor taught me, that can improve your “all around fitness”
Posted by: | CommentsNot too long ago I had the rare opportunity to sit in on a seminar with the GREAT MMA star Fedor “the last emperor” Emelienenko. If you don’t know who that is that’s ok…because not a ton of people know mixed martial arts outside of UFC but that is besides the point. First let me give you a little bit of background about him. Up until recently he was essentially undefeated in around 30 something fights which in mixed martial arts is unheard of. He had shown no weakness discernible weaknesses including winning a fight right after being dropped on his head.
Well anyways getting the chance to sit in on a Fedor seminar isn’t something that very many people get to do so I jumped at the opportunity to learn from who I consider the best in the world. I mean mixed martial arts is a sport that demands the total fitness package. And my main take away from learning from him was when he said this…and I am paraphrasing here since it’s been about a year.
если есть то, что вы не очень хорошо нужно потратить много времени там.
Translated from Russian that means “If there is something you aren’t good at you need to spend a lot of time there.” People are often times drawn to things they are good at in the gym. You’ve seen the same people flock to the bench press on Monday (in fact it’s a running joke that Monday is international bench press day) and even though the bench press is a half way decent exercise they still have a ton of gaps in their training programs.
Leave your comfort zone if you want to improve
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As you may have seen me say in a previous blog post about getting all the components of fitness it pays to specialize…but you shouldn’t leave gaps in your training program either. Get really good at a few highly productive exercises and train the others at a low level. By low level I like to include it as sort of either a warm up or an active recovery measure. Low enough where it tells your central nervous system…”Hey don’t build us up at the expense of this other exercise.” but high enough where your central nervous system says “but don’t forget about us either.” And to follow up on Fedor’s advice.
Specialize on your weaknesses to make them equal to your strengths.
So you can either do what you have always done, or you can improve. That part is up to you.
Well that’s it for today. Thank you for reading.
Physical awesomeness to you.
Eric Moss
"The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko and me.
I am a fitness professional residing in Hopatcong, NJ, who is dedicated to making myself and my clients as strong as (or stronger than) they look and to look beyond sexy. I help my clients drop body fat quickly, gain strength quickly and I use kettlebells as my main tool and the RKC system as my main methodology. I am a personal trainer with small group personal training and fitness bootcamps in Morris and Sussex County NJ. This fitness blog is where I have become known as a straight shooter with a unique writing style and I have been known to force companies to take videos down where they teach unsafe and ineffective technique with just a couple written words. It has become an inside joke started by a guy that bends steel bars into bonsai tree shaped decorations with his hands, that I don’t wear shirts but that is mainly because I have built up my physique along the lines of a Greek statue and exhibit it proudly.
Having a beach body, a matter of balance and clever tricks
Posted by: | CommentsSo a couple days ago it was officially the first day of summer. For many this means beaches, bbq’s, swimming at the pool and doing things that lack little clothing and walking around without a shirt (something I tend to do year round). Earlier today I was out with family members eating some food that wasn’t all that good for my midsection when I overheard one of my aunts wondering out loud why I am able to eat the way I do and still look halfway decent.
Well the fact of the matter is I don’t eat like that all the time. It’s especially strange since my scale had run out of batteries a couple weeks ago and I was too damn lazy to go to the store and get some new ones (they are those weird button batteries). Eventually I went to the store and got some new ones, popped it into the scale and found out that while my scale was taking a vacation my belly fat had decided to pick up it’s slack. I’m not saying I gained a ton of body fat…just more then I typically like keeping, especially since the shirtless season is my favorite one. It wasn’t just the scale that told me something was up (like my weight) because I went to my training studio in Pinebrook and grabbed a pair of body fat calipers and pinched my stomach and got a less then stellar review.
So what I did was I decided to lose that bit of body fat and test drive a new program. Thing is life gets in the way…especially in the summer. It might actually appear that I am being a slacker when I have a plate full of ravioli and chicken parmesan followed by dessert. The truth is I had accounted for this to not be a step back in the program…but to actually make it a step forward in my fat loss progress.
Last summer I had a bride in my kettlebell fitness bootcamp class. She had body fat to lose for her wedding and was determined to look damn good. Part of the way through the program she told me “I haven’t lost any weight in the past 2 weeks.”
I asked her “Have you cheated on your diet?”
“I never cheat on my diet.” (I believed her)
“Cheat on it immediately.”
“Huh?”
“Trust me.”
You see what happens when you are on a low calorie program is your metabolic rate figures “Hey I might be in trouble running hot. Maybe I should slow down a bit.” and it compensates by down regulating. It’s one of those laws of physiology and adaptation that can make progress a pain in the ass but there are some tricks to keep your metabolism running hot even on a low calorie diet. Probably the easiest is to bring your leptin back by eating like a normal human being.
When you are on a low calorie diet and eat high calories temporarily, you can replenish your leptin to tell your body that you are in fact not starving to death. This was the basis behind the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet by Joel Marion. Basically cheat (to up your leptin), fast (to take advantage of your metabolic rate running hot), eat healthy but low calorie for a couple days, repeat the process.
You know while I am on the topic of fasting one thing I commonly do following a “cheat day” is I follow the warrior diet for a day. If you are unfamiliar with the warrior diet basically what you do is eat the minimum required food during the day and eat at night (it’s more specific then that but you get the gist). The low calories of the warrior diet day can balance out the high calories of the cheat day and you can lose fat like that. Especially when you have a concentrated fat loss program working for you such as Kettlebell Burn.
Anyways, ordering my clients to cheat on their diet is something I almost never do because so often the diet is violated to the point of unbalance anyways. I once asked my clients to keep nutrition logs to bring in to me to critique and they would either try to remember what they ate 5 mins before handing it to me (memory has a funny way of leaving out that which they did not want me to see).
The other thing that would happen is they would outright tell me that it was too horrible to show me (got to appreciate the honesty here). So you see for most people, cheating is not something that should be purposefully put in because most people accidently put it in to the point of being too much.
Heres a line for you. Optimal is the fine line between “too much” and “not enough”.
Well in case you are wondering what happened to the bride that I ordered to cheat on her diet. That fat that was refusing to go suddenly dropped and she was back to progressing again (Mossman was right yet again!). It violated her intuition and her drive but she trusted me and it worked.
You can only run with your pedal to the metal for so long. The rules of strength and fat loss tend to work the same way. Build up, back off, build up, back off. It works. Try it out.
Eric Moss RKC
I am a fitness professional residing in Hopatcong, NJ, who is dedicated to making myself and my clients as strong as (or stronger than) they look and to look beyond sexy. I help my clients drop body fat quickly, gain strength quickly and I use kettlebells as my main tool and the RKC system as my main methodology. I am a personal trainer with small group personal training and fitness bootcamps in Morris and Sussex County NJ. This fitness blog is where I have become known as a straight shooter with a unique writing style and I have been known to force companies to take videos down where they teach unsafe and ineffective technique with just a couple written words. It has become an inside joke started by a guy that bends steel bars into bonsai tree shaped decorations with his hands, that I don’t wear shirts but that is mainly because I have built up my physique along the lines of a Greek statue and exhibit it proudly.
