20070228

Back from the dead, with a shaved head. . .

Yoga. Oh, yoga. How I have come to love thee, yet you still taunt me. Mocking me from afar in the form of perky, fake-baked sorority girls and well maintained Cougars. How you, the missing link to my fitness quest, have beckoned me yet not welcomed me over the last few weeks. Do you know that I have not touched a kettlebell in 12 days? Do you know that I have dedicated the last three and upcoming four weeks to you? You sweaty, glistening beast.

What up y'all? I have been so, so busy these last few weeks. I have been lurking on the forum , late at night, after tons of good advice has been administered by forum experts, and wanted so badly to get back in the swing of things. And today, it begins.

January 31st, four weeks ago today was the last class I held in the adjacent studio of the Yogalife Institute in Devon, PA. The room I rented for kettlebell classes of 5-10 people was being painted and decorated, turned into a Hands-On Healing studio/meditation room, and Wednesday nights from 1730-1930 were no longer available. Consequently, students of the two classes I held were displaced. Inconveniently, that same week, I cancelled my only AM class I teach (held at Platoon Fitness in Bryn Mawr, PA) due to poor attendance, and things were bummin'. For multiple reasons kettlebells just never caught on at Platoon Fitness, or, at the least, I never caught on. So I have this group of displaced peoples (15 women) who's week was thrown into upheaval because their midweek classes were taken away, calling and emailing me a few times a week asking me if I had another spot for Wed. KB Classes.

I was out pounding pavement trying to find a spot, none of which were appropriate/available, when a PT client and class regular recommended I try a large health facility owned and op'd by the U Penn Health System. After two phone calls and getting the right person on the phone, we were set. They have a conference room that the aforementioned client told me houses weekly Yoga classes (again with the yoga) and was usually empty in the evening. I inquired about this with the Conference room scheduler, and she was more than willing to let us use the room. And what's more, it is FREE! It does not cost a dime to rent this space. I pay 35.00 USD/Hour at the Yogalife Institute and Elite Athletic Club to use their studios (not bad when the trainees pay me 15.00/head) and usually pay about 1000.00 USd/month in rent between PT and Kettlebell Classes (Why don't I get my own gym? Cause my credit is all banged up). So to have replaced a class that was postponed, in a bigger room with better parking, for free, was quite a bonus. I am offering the employees of this U Penn helathcare facility one free class in return for thier kindness.

What else is going on? Glad you asked. The reason I have not been available to blog/forum post is because I have been workin' it. I made it rain the last few weeks. Trip out:
All the groundwork I laid in 06 has begun to pay off. All of the free demonstrations, articles in various publications, brief TV clips, and Guerrilla Classes (taking my advanced swingers to random outdoor locations to get smoked and Be Seen) have given way to solid attendance in every class this year. A woman I met last year brought 4 people to an intro class, and forwarded my information to the owner of the gym she trains at. Last night the owner called me and left a voice mail saying that she wanted KB classes at her gym. Ditto another female trainer who set me up with the GM of the gym she is a member of. This week I meet with him to discuss the possibilities. Beginning in two weeks I will be teaching a class at the fitness center of the Willow Grove Joint Reserve Base (Naval Air Station) to Marines, Sailors and civilians. And one more thing, Rob Lawrence RKC contacted me about getting together for an SST and a UST. He asked if I was interested in counting/motivating and possibly testing with him. I said, of course, F Yeah, and took a reverse engineered training program from him. My PR in the SST is 202, and he says that I could smash it if I want. And yes, I want.

So things are good. hopefully I can blog more often this coming month and keep learning/teaching through the forum. If you don't see my name up on the threads, it doesn't mean I'm gone, it means that y'all have already done an outstanding job, and I'm simply observing.

Three Cheers for the 'Ol Ball and Pain
William Williams

20070210

Understanding what true strength is. . .

. . .has become a part of my life in the last few months. A friend of mine named Jim, who is a client as well, just defeated cancer for the second time in two years. Christmas of 2005 he had testicular cancer (seminoma) and beat that with radiation. This Christmas he battled the same cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes, and he defeated that with Infusion Chemotherapy. This man and his wife have trudged through some serious shite in the last 16 months, and he smiles through it every day. he returned to kettlebell training last week, and has come back strong. Soon, he will be stronger.

A few months ago I received a telephone inquiry from a man who wanted to interview me for the position of Strength Trainer for his 12 year old son Sam. Sam contracted meningitis, which led to encephalitis, which then led to cerebral ataxia, a brain injury that left him, as his parents described, like a victim of a massive stroke. He was curled over, unable to speak or move, being spoon fed, all before puberty. Sam was left with no balance, and no stregnth in his body. To this day, he walks with a stumble and had a very hard time stabilizing his body in any given position. Snatches and Get Ups were out of the question. He got sick when he was ten years old. As far as the doctors can tell, Sam has made a remarkable recovery. From no motor skills at all to living the life of your every-kid, the physical and mental rehabilitation this boy went through was tougher than any workout I could cook up, any 10 minute snatch test, or any teen angst. Sam's father hired me as his son's trainer. The one who would take his baby boy into the arenas his physical therapists and doctors could not. I will admit, I was very nervous about this whole thing. I consulted with two M.D's in regards to whether or not this kid needed me, or a more experienced individual. They both threw it back in my face and said that if the kid's parents trusted me, and if PT just was not enough, was there any question that I was the one to get this kid strong and playing sports again? The Doctors hammered me with encouragement and off I went. Sam and I did nothing but practice the KB dead lift and military press for four weeks. After rapid improvement in his Kb lifting and in his day-to-day, we stepped it up slowly, and diligently. Yesterday, after only ten weeks of weight training, Sam performed his first set of kettlebell swings with an 8kg 'bell. I was jumping all over his parent's living room and high fiving him like he just scored a game winning goal. Because he did. He won. A bacterial infection that entered his body with the intent to kill him had lost. Sam is healthy, strong, and making quantum leaps in his life every time he moves his feet.

For those of you who may not know me very well, I have been manic-depressive my entire life. I will not trump up my personal struggles, because there are people like Sam, and my friend Jim, who have faced much more ferocious adversaries in their lives. My battle is within my head. When my body hurts, so does my brain, and, I think, vice versa. But it is a fight. I have an enemy who lives under my skin and tries to take my legs out every so often. My clients and friends and family tell me that I can beat it, and that if I ask for help I will get it, and that my career may be threatened if I do not. And most recently, I have listened to them. In no horn-tooting fashion do I say this, but I have gift. And it suffers every time I cocoon. Every time I go internal and hang out in dark places, I lose a bit of that gift. But I have been coming back strong and stronger each time. And with the examples given to me by Jim and Sam, I see that no malignancy, no bacterium is any match for the power of the human spirit. That sounds so terribly cliche, and I know that people die from cancer and infection, but for those who go down swinging, there is another who will fight on and show people like me what true strength really is.

Fighting,
Eric "Will" Williams

20070209

What they do. . .

Pavel is a fraud. Steve Cotter is a bitch for apologizing. What will the haters say next? That Will Williams is a teenage girl trapped in a man's body? While that may be true, the Forum is no place for it. I come from the City of Haterly Hate. I know what it is like to Boo people. I haven't watched more than 10 Flyers games this year out of sheer disgust. And now, I'm finding the DD Forum is place where the surly go to stir up trouble. Put the keyboard down, and slowly back away. And go lift weights, stretch, whatver.

Ok, I am psyched about Yoga. I took another class on wednesday eve, and I am way into it. During soem of the poses I could feel my body moving in directions that is has not in awhile. With ahistory of car accidents and neck problems, I NEED this type of stretching. I need to hold these poses for 60 seconds at a clip. I know that it will unwind my twisted and tight posterior chain and allow me to go where I have not gone in awhile. The windmill and bent press have been off limits for amost one full year now, and I can see them on the horizon. Most likely they are 3-6 months away, and I will have to start all over again with light weights and many days rest between, but that is OK. I have a lot of life left in my body and taking it slow is not a problem.

Thinking about putting a full on home gym in my garage. Treadmill, pin-selectorized machines, full cable station, lots of pretty equipment. yeah right. . .
What I want to do is rest my wrist, take soem yoga 2-3 times a week, and then have an O-Lift set in my garage by summer. Also, a flat bench would be nice. That is my new Pet Lift. Getting good at it too. Just widened out my grip by about 1.5 inches yesterday. I was pressing from a close grip, and started to creep my pinkies out towards the rings. Felt ok.

Alright, not the best post, but these thigns were on my mind. Oh yeah,if you are reading this and you have an Olympic Lifting set, let me know if I can get one for less than 1000.00 USD. I priced them online, and a bar/bumpers are not too expensive, but the platform is HUGE. I may just use the ol' tires and plywood idea from BB.

Peace and Presses,
W2

20070207

If what they say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu-tang could be dangerous. . .

Monday morning I took my first ever Yoga class. had to stretch out after the man Maker and sweat out some impurities ( I have since reintroduced said impurities to my body, poo poo). I did not lift Monday or Yesterday, as I needed the recovery time, but today i am back on it.

The Yoga experience is what i am here to talk about. I am not used to practicing something physical and not excelling at it. Sounds cocky I know, but I pick things up quick when it comes to the body, and this was the exception. It was a Bikram Yoga class. Hot Yoga. 106 degrees in the room, but that didn't have much bearing on the situation (save for when I could not hold my feet and I was slipping all over myself. I looked like a one man porno film right in the front of the room, 'twas awful. Anyway, I did not excel at Yoga, therefore I am going back tonight. I have two more clients and my own workout to take care of today, and I am going to make sure that this Yoga thing makes me better at what I do, and that is teach. See, in one of Steve Cotter's posts after he resigned his RKC, he spoke of being a student always, even if you are a teacher. I knew that was an important part of being a good teacher, yet all I have been pursuing in the last 3 years in the discipline of the Russian Kettlebell. I have gotten better at kettlebell lifting gin the last 3 years, and knew that I needed an addition to my training. And despite the stretches I perform, nothing had prepared me for this. So today I bench and swing, and tonight, I hit that Tree Pose with a bit more confidence. We'll see how it goes. I beleive that practicing a new discipline will make me better, and in turn, make my clients better. If what they say is true, the Russian kettlebell and the Locust pose could be dangerous. . .

20070204

You and me and a kettlebell makes three

Friday morning I bailed on a workout because I could FEEL that it was going to lead to an injury. Today, I approached that same workout, a little more than 48 hours after it sent me home weeping, bells dragging on the ground behind me as I slimed my way back home. Today was different. I arose at 0900, late for me on a Sunday but relatively early nonetheless. My thoughts were on a presentation/demonstration I was giving at a local health and fitness club which was intended to produce interest in a kettlebll workshop and class at their little gym (it did). At no point in my morning did I contemplate slaying that nasty beast which had taunted me since a sunny Friday afternoon just this past.

As the presentation drew to a close, I recognized a hunger that was familiar in its frequencey and ferocity: the appetite for destruction. All this talk about swings and get-ups to these Unswung individulas had me fiending for a rematch. So I went for it.

I came home to find the girlfriend and dog had fled for the afternoon. . .bonus! I quickly saddled up in Bad Guy black, grabbed my cold weather gear and I was off.

1318 hours.
General Wayne Elementary School
Malvern, Pennsylvania.

My vehicle inserted into the empty parking lot just as a middle aged man with good form ran northbound on the snow covered sidewalk less than 30 feet away. I'm sure his workout was tough, but the hellish blaze I was about to set in my own shorts was above and beyond. I removed the 53 pound sadist's sphere from it's crate in the rear of my vehicle. It gleamed high in the piercing midday sun. Though colder than a witch's tit there was not a cloud to be seen. Not much could be seen at all, I noticed, as I tread lightly towards the outline of the track. Friday's eve had brought us rain, then snow, then cold. Which means that no sunlight was gonna melt no snow so long as it didn't get above 28 degrees. And it hadn't. the entire track and field area was painted silver as a clear sky shone down on an acre of frosty mirror. This was going to be a fight.

I selected a nice batch of angry music for this excursion, and White Zombie blanketed my ears as I set the bell down, thudding as it did against the frozen tundra. "Welcome to Planet Motherf*#%r" was the name of the song, and no song had ever been more appropriate for any moment of my life. I was an unwanted life form on a patch of unwanted ice trying to slay a beast that had no business taking on enemies as unfit as I, yet I came out to play.

25 Snatches left and right with 24kg kettlebell followed by one lap (jogged it out) around a track (400m). repeat four times. Walked a bit after to shake the limbs out. Came home and ate fried chicken embryos. It was a good lift. I will be back next Sunday with a stopwatch to keep my time as I try to break this workout in under 16:00. I am sure there are harder comrades than I who may have smoked this lift in much slimmer times. I would like to meet such gentlemen. And for me 16:00 seemes like a place to start.

Cheers

20070202

Hot Dog to the Head

That is the name of the song I'm listening to right now. Also known as weiner to the face. It is 1113 on the east Coast of America. I haven't been working very many early morning lately. It has been known to family and friends since I was very young that I am a night owl. I do not know why, nor do i care to look into it, it is plain fact. At night, I come alive. my best ideas are always at night (or in the shower), and I feel more productive in the late hours. here is what trips me out though, there is nothing I love more than getting up at 0500, bangin' out a quick set of something, training from 0600 until about NOON and then having the rest of the afternoon to do whatever I feel I need to do. I teach classes Monday through Thursday evenings, and two on Saturday mornings, so it is not like my day is completed at noon, yet i do LOVE to be up early and done before my fellow humans on the West Coast of America have even showered and shaved. No matter what the circumstances of my morning are, I ALWAYS get pumped up at night. Some days I am straight up pooped and go to bed early, like my girlfriend who beds down every night at 630PM. really. But other days (nights), I sit down at the computer, read the forum, surf for new info, make a play list for the next days workout, etc., and I just feel great, like I can stay up all night. And I am crack free! Kicked coffee about 8 weeks ago, switched to tea in the morning. I only drink Sprite Zero or Caffeine Free Diet Coke if I need carbonated goodness. I'm even off Decaf coffee. And I don't swallow tons of thermogenics like I did when I was a youth. Nonetheless, I am a night beast. I love to go to supermarkets, gas stations, and 24 hour Wal Marts at midnight and just kick around. My girlfriend and dog (our son, practically) are in bed wondering what the hell i'm doing and I'm out buying London Broil with my iPod strapped on and air guitaring my way into the wee hours. Who knows why I do it.

SO, in light of some sleeping problems (read, NOT SLEEPING) which led to me cancelling/rescheduling some early morning clients right around thanksgiving, I have retooled my schedule. I get up early and train starting at 0600 only on mondays and tuesdays. Wednesday, thursday, friday I have no alarm clock. But here's what's great! I get up anyway! I don't sleep until noon like a bud of mine who is a total turd, I get up at 0700 or 0730, which is late by USMC standards but early enough to still have a whole day to do stuff (read, train from 1Pm on). So this morning I get up LATE. 0745! Oh no, the world is ending! So as soon as I could, I went for a short man maker. Took my dog to the track, and tried for snatches and laps in the 25 rep to 1/4 mile ratio. What I got was 25 l,r + one lap, 20 l,r + one lap, 15 l,r + one lap, and then my erectors were screaming. My lower back whipped out a megaphone and was like "Hey A$$hole! Give me a break I'm dyin' over hea'!" And yes, my lower back does have a Jersey Accent. I don't know why, I try hard to stay away from Jersey. So I took a break. And that, my dear, took ALOT of discipline. You see, I cannot take my own advice. When I sense pain, I play through it until it is debilitating, and I have to miss work (not good). So this time, I stopped and went right home. Though I am determined to shed some body fat and make 240lbs. by April 1st, I knew this was the right thing to do. You see, sicne I cannot take my own advice, I took the advice of my clients, friends, Chiropractor, and girlfriend, recited it in my own head in MY voice, and then it was OK. I was taking a suggestion from my brain very seriously. So here I am. Clad in half sweaty workout gear, still itching to lift a bell, with a whole afternoon of training ahead of me. This ain't so bad. Thanks everybody, for helping me get better at my job and my life every single day.

OOH RAH Marine Corps,
W2