Archive for Uncategorized
Judas Priest, Chuck Norris and Melody Schoenfeld RKC
Posted by: | CommentsJust now I asked my facebook following what I should blog about. Fellow metalhead Shawn Torrents (a dude I go back and forth since the days when Myspace was cool) recommended I blog about our favorite band. So I will.
You know I love old school heavy metal of all kinds. When it comes to my taste in music, yeah I love listening to Pink Floyd, and yeah I also love listening to the Rollingstones but the band I find myself drawn to over and over again is a band called Judas Priest.
The vocal power of their frontman Rob Halford is unmatched. I brought my cousin to the last concert entitled Epitaph and he couldn’t believe the power of the dark side. Seriously the man’s voice is f’ing ridiculous. Some might say it’s vocal effects and I claim bs because then everybody would sound that incredible. Singers like him just aren’t around period and at one point I sought to make my voice like his till I found someone who essentially reverse engineered what singers like him do naturally. That’s how I found Jaime Vendera who is to voice what Pavel is to strength. In case you are wondering, yes I can scream high and loud. The karaoke guy dreads it when I am about to hit a high note because his equipment is in danger.
Now another dude Paul Reddick recommended I blog about Chuck Norris. I’m afraid to because we all know what a roundhouse kick to the face would do to this handsome mug. We just can’t have that so don’t tell him.
Now one thing that always proves popular is to blog about sex which is another thing that one of my friends had suggested. Well to be honest I wouldn’t really know what to write about. Techniques? Positions? How to talk to girls? Well the words coming from someone built like a Greek God and the words coming from a fat guy with the upper body strength of a wet noodle would be different. I’m not a fat guy with the upper body strength of a wet noodle so I can’t comment or speculate on that. Besides my Friday nights aren’t spent going out with girls…yet. This is what I did last Friday night right before going out.
one arm kettlebell handstand. What I did last Friday night before going out.
Well Melody Schoenfeld RKC remembered that I had promised to make a blog post dedicated to her awesomeness so I will try to make an abridged version…sort of like a cliffs notes tribute.
Melody was an assistant RKC when I went through back in 09. While there I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to her but she found me on facebook and when I checked out her facebook profile and saw that we had a lot in common, we rock. The fact of the matter is Melody rocks…literally. She’s a kettlebell swinging, hard rock singing princess of pain with a soft spot for all things furry.
She isn’t exactly a big girl but she’s become pretty strong though I’ll be honest I don’t know what kind of numbers she’s putting up these days. She’s proof that both women and vegans can become strong if one wished to do so…and you should wish to do so because being strong is awesome.
Now as you know, one of my goals is to be a beast tamer (do a pistol, a one arm overhead press and a pull up with the 48kg/106lbs kettlebell) I do believe it is her goal to do the Iron Maiden challenge (the same exercises done with a 24kg/53lb kettlebell) so maybe our paths will cross either in hard rock, or hardstyle. Either way it’ll rock regardless.
So if you have the opportunity to watch Judas Priest, do it. If you have the opportunity to work with Melody do it. You’ll either get strong, or you’ll go deaf 
Eric J. Moss
over and out
Thanks for being awesome.
Never Forget 911
Posted by: | CommentsI’ll never forget where I was when it happened. I was in my intro
to security class in a local college when someone told the professor
what had happened. He turned on the television to check it out
and at first I thought that it was a pilot error. When the second
one hit I knew exactly what had happened.
The entire place was in pandemonium. Nobody knew what to do. Several
of my classmates were attempting to call their parents who worked in
the city but since everybody was calling at once nobody got through.
I wasn’t able to even watch anything on the news because at the time
we only had antennae tv (remember those?) and the World Trade Center
was the main thing that would broadcast it. It didn’t even matter
though because word travels fast when this sort of thing happens.
One thing I knew though was that it would never be quite the same
again. Even though most of our daily lives aren’t a whole lot
different it is still in the back of all of our minds…and that is
one way I’ll never forget.
As always thank you for reading.
Eric J. Moss
The REAL “secret” of my strength
Posted by: | CommentsLast night I saw the movie Captain America in the theaters and enjoyed it and just wanted to talk about something I saw in it. No it isn’t the physique that Chris Evans (Captain America) or the strength he possessed as a result of his “Super Soldier Serum”. No it was something the guy who gave him all that stuff said to him in the movie.
and no this shouldn’t spoil it for you.
In one part the scientist who made him strong said this.
“A weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power… “
I can relate to this. I wasn’t always strong. I was a kid that had attention deficit disorder. I was put on ritalin which made me like
a zombie and it made me not want to be active or do anything athletically inclined. Sure I wanted the “glory” that comes with
strength and much like our beloved hero Steve Rogers I was determined to have it. I didn’t take any super soldier formula or anything like that…even though I bought protein like it was going out of style before I learned better. What I did instead was…wait for it.
I started training and never stopped
I got stronger quickly in the beginning because a beginner trainee always adapts quickly to a new stimulus but it also gave me the
sense of accomplishing something. People started to notice and it was great. As progress slowed and as I left the gym where I was
training I needed new ways to train. That’s when I discovered kettlebell training and the RKC system. It was my hunger and determination that led me to acquiring the skills of the system as well as my hunger and determination that led to picking and choosing from other schools of thought and I added this and that to my own personal toolbox. I hung around some very strong people for the crumbs of wisdom that they might drop but I guess the biggest thing and the biggest secret I can share with you is never stop trying.
That’s why I created my fitness blog was partially to pass on what I had been taught and to save you from the mistakes I made (and I
made A LOT). You know those ab belts that shock you? Yeah I got one.
It may not make for a cool story. It’s not like I got bit by a radioactive spider or was born to be an Asguardian king or anything
like that but it’s my story and it allows me to be able to do things like this
and this
and this.
I’m not going to pretend that I am the strongest guy out there on youtube…but I am proud of what I have accomplished because I
remember a time when I wasn’t able to do anything cool like that. Anyways that’s it for today. As always “awesomeness” to you and
thanks for reading!
Eric J. Moss
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 Essex 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.
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 progressing? Why not?
Posted by: | CommentsYou know I was going to write a rather lengthy blog post about how people need to be able to progress but I decided against it. I’ll just show you some of my clients progress so you know that I am not the only one putting up decent numbers. These are some of the people I train in my NJ Fitness Boot Camp where we usually don’t do anything BUT kettlebell training.
Why?
Because it works. The system works. Watch and see.
Notice how much Jill is laughing here. Do you think I run her into the ground? No. Lift heavy, stay fresh. That’s how you can become strong too. Also laughing can decrease the amount of cortisol (belly fat hormone). To put this into perspective Jill started with saying 17lbs and claiming it was heavy but now is able to press 44lbs. This is an increase in absolute strength by more then 200%.
Rob had high blood pressure when he first started training. He also had a hard time keeping up with the class when using a 12kg kettlebell. Now he is off blood pressure medicine and is able to stack press 36kgs (about 80lbs). Wouldn’t you say that’s progress?
Toni couldn’t believe she was able to press 16kgs (36lbs). Not long after that she pressed 44lbs in a stacked press. Soon I believe she will press 24kgs.
This progress isn’t because anyone was exposed to gamma rays, bitten by a radioactive spider or came from the planet Krypton. This is proper use of strength training. I’m not the only one that marches forward. My clients progress too. This is why the system works. One person is not a fluke.
So how do you know if you are progressing? Are you changing the exercises before you adapt to it? We don’t. That’s why they are able to do the things they do. Most people crave variety even at the expense of progress. I realized this training years ago and got a little bit of out of my element watching over others. I realize how spoiled my clients have made me because they don’t beg me to change the exercises. They just say “What are we doing today?’ I show them. They do it. Repeat that process. Enjoy the progress. Sometimes it really is that simple.
They don’t give a $hit that I concentrate on the kettlebell. They don’t give a $hit that I rarely change the exercises. They don’t give a $hit that I don’t call them names like “maggot” and “puke”. They don’t give a $hit that I don’t make them run and do a bunch of crappy looking pushups like many fitness bootcamps tend to do. The only thing they give a $hit about is progress and having a good time doing it. And that’s all they really should give a $hit about.
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.
