July 2014 Challenge Workout

Dan M black band

New FVT black band earner Dan M – nice work!!

 

Another FVT Band Challenge Workout is in the books.

We had a record FIVE new black band earners:

— Laci B
— Mike
— Dan M
— Frankie M
— Brad P

With lots of folks RETAINING their black band status … plus lots MORE earning / retaining the grey FVT band.

So great to see everyone getting stronger, fitter and BETTER every time we do the Band Challenge.

 

More about the FVT Band Challenge – to prepare for next time, or give it a try yourself at home …

The FVT Boot Camp Band Challenge involves various feats and demonstrations of overall physical fitness. Upon completion of each band challenge level, the participant will recieve a special FVT Boot Camp wrist band.

Grey Band Qualification Requirements

— :45 seconds non-stop kettlebell swings with PERFECT HardStyle form (16k for women, 24k for men)

 

* Need help with your kettlebell form? Check out our upcoming KB workshop, July 19th at the FVT Studio:

=> July 19th FVT Kettlebell Workshop

 

— 1:00 plank hold with PERFECT form

— :15 pull up static hold (any grip, chin above bar) for women, one dead hang pull up (any grip, chin above bar) for men

— Complete the FVT Tababta Burpee Challenge – You will do eight consecutive 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest intervals. You must complete at least five burpees in each interval period.

Black Band Qualification Requirements

— :90 seconds non-stop kettlebell swings with PERFECT HardStyle form (16k for women, 24k for men)

 

* Need help with your kettlebell form? Check out our upcoming KB workshop, July 19th at the FVT Studio:

=> July 19th FVT Kettlebell Workshop

 

— 2:00 plank hold with PERFECT form

— One dead hang pull up(any grip, chin above bar) for women, five dead hang pull ups (any grip, chin above bar) for men

— Complete the FVT Tababta Burpee Challenge – You will do eight consecutive 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest intervals. You must complete at least seven burpees in each interval period.

 

Again, great work to all, congrats to our new black and grey band earners, and talk soon –

Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

 

PS – If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our new “Best Personal Trainer in Sacramento” video here:

=> Best Personal Trainer in Sacramento

Two Quick Drills to Fix Your Kettlebell Swing Form

Been working a lot on the plans for our upcoming kettlebell workshop at the FVT Studio. And I’ve been thinking about how to make the event better than ever …

I am realizing, now having worked with thousands of folks on improving their kettlebell training technique … our number one goal is to get you to a place where you can train with kettlebells safely and effectively. We don’t want you to get injured, and we want you to be able to enjoy all the benefits working with kettlebells can offer – like fat loss, improved conditioning, etc.

That’s our baseline. We try to get folks to that point as soon as possible. And for most people it takes maybe 300-500 reps of a given KB exercise, WITH expert supervision and coaching, to get there.

This should be your goal as well.

Then, after that, we are ALWAYS going to be tweaking and refining the exercise. You can always get a little better at swings, cleans, snatches, Turkish get ups, etc. And you should always be trying to.

All this being said, I have two drills for you today that will help you improve your swing form, no matter where you are currently at with it. Give them a go, and be sure to let me know how you do:

 

1 – Face the Wall Squat Drill

Wall squats are the perfect way to teach someone how to squat correctly. The wall squat drill is performed while facing a wall and standing approximately one foot away. You will squat down as far as you can, without any part of your body coming in contact with the wall. The visual reference of the wall forces you to stay tall and upright as you squat down. You will also want to make sure your knees track over your toes and you keep your torso in a neutral or straight position. As you get better, and your hips and upper back become more mobile, you will be able to squat lower and lower.

Check out this video to see how to do the exercise:

 

2 – The Plank => KB Swing Drill

A proper kettlebell swing requires you to brace your abs just like a plank does at the top of the movement.

If you are NOT bracing your abs properly, you can 1) do a plank hold, and then 2) do a few swings immediately afterwards to feel the relationship between the two.

Check out this video to see how to do the drill:

 

To sum up, the kettlebell swing is one of the most efficient exercises ever. You’ll burn an amazing amount of fat with it in a short amount of time, and your conditioning levels will go through the roof. BUT – you can also ALWAYS be improving your KB swing form. The two drills we covered today will help you a lot in doing this.

That’s it for now. Try today’s drills and let me know how they work out for you.

– Forest Vance
Master of Science, Human Movement
Certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor

 

PS – Learn more about our upcoming kettlebell workshop HERE

Wrists Hurt When Working Out? Try This –

When it comes to training with weights, whether you are doing it simply to look great, to help you perform better in sports, or if it is just your way to stay healthy, the wrists are going to play an important role.

The reality is, the wrists are involved in ALMOST ALL of the exercises we do in the gym.

The wrists are a major factor in any kind of exercise where we are pulling, such as Deadlifts, Rows, Pull-ups, Chins, Curls and Pull-downs.

The wrists are involved in exercises where we must push, such as Bench Press, Shoulder Press, and Tricep work.

And even if you don’t use weights, the wrists are important to bodyweight supporting lifts like Dips, Push-ups, Burpees, and Hand Stands.

Even in exercises such as Squats, where the barbell rests on your upper back, the wrists are still important to help keep the bar right where it needs to be.

In any of these lifts, if your wrists are sore, you are going to feel it, BIG TIME.

When your wrists are bothering you the weights you lift will be lower and the number of reps you do will be reduced.

All of these things limit the results you get from your training and keep you from accomplishing your goals.

SO, I asked my friend, Rick Kaselj, who is an injury and pain expert, if he had any exercises that my clients can do to relieve the wrist pain.

Rick shared the simple (but powerful) exercise below. Give the exercise a go, and let me know how it works for you.

– Forest

###

Wrists Hurt When Working Out? Try This –
by Rick Kaselj, author, Fix My Wrist Pain

Hey!

I wanted to show you a really easy exercise that will decrease the stress on your wrist and decrease the pain you have in your wrists when working out.

All you need is a wall.

This is how you do it:

1) Face the wall sideways so the wrist that you have an issue with is closest to the wall. Lets say it is your right wrist, therefore the wall is closest to your right shoulder.

2) Then lift your right arm so it is just below shoulder height and place your hand so it is flat on the wall and your fingers are pointing to the sky.

3) You should feel a light stretch from the palm, wrist, forearm, biceps and shoulder.

4) Hold this light stretch for 30 seconds to 2 two minutes. If you feel any nerve pain, stop the stretch.

5) If this is too easy, you can rotate the arm back so your fingers are pointing behind you and then place the hand flat on the walk and have the arm just below shoulder height. (Remember, you are looking for a light stretch.)

If this exercise helped you, and would like even better results when it comes to your wrist pain, then check out Fix My Wrist Pain.

Rick Kaselj, MS
Creator of Fix My Wrist Pain

###

Thanks again for sharing Rick! This is a simple but powerful drill you can do right now to start helping your wrist pain when working out.

Also – if you found this helpful – Rick, along with grip sport competitor and performing strong man Jedd Johnson, have put together a comprehensive program to help with your wrist pain, called Fix My Wrist Pain:

FMWP goes through:

— rehab techniques for wrist pain
— rehab exercises for wrist pain
— preventive measures for avoiding wrist pain and injuries
— pain free workouts with special exercise work-arounds

And MUCH more. The program is on sale through the end of the weekend, so if you’re interested, click HERE for all the details and to grab a copy now.

BIG Time Kettlebell Workout (burn 1036 calories)

Maybe it’s a holiday, and your plans include eating a big meal, drinking some beers, whatever.

Maybe you just hate dieting and would rather workout more than eat less.

Do the workout I’m about to break down for you here, or one like it – from the 1000 Calorie Accelerator program, for example – and you’ll burn a TON of extra calories.

Now I’m NOT saying that you can out-train a bad diet … but this is probably as close as you can get.

Put another way, there are approx 3500 calories in one pound of fat. Do one of these 1000 calorie workouts three or four times per week, along with some light activity two or three additional days per week, and you’re burning a pound of fat every week – with NO changes to your diet.

Not bad, right?

Okay, let’s get it going –

 

BIG Time Kettlebell Workout (burn 1036 calories)

1 – Do a 15 minute dynamic warm up – joint mobility, self myofascial release, dynamic stretching (90 calories burned)

2 – Do 35 minutes of high-intensity kettlebell/body weight/etc resistance training – something like the workout below, or a workout from the 1000 Calorie Accelerators program (336 calories burned):

*Warm up – Do five Turkish Get Ups on each side. Start easy – with no weight at all or a light weight – and work up to a heavier weight with each rep. Switch sides after each rep.

*Perform the first exercise in each pairing. Immediately move to the next exercise (or exercises) and complete the prescribed number of reps. Rest :30 and repeat each sequence a total of three times.

1a: 8 reverse lunges
1b: pull ups – one rep short of failure

2a: 6 kettlebell presses
2b: 20 body weight squats (explosive tempo)

3a: 25 kettlebell swings (your choice)
3b: 15 push ups

3 – Run 5k – 3.2 miles – at a medium (6 mph) pace (504 calories burned)

If you are not into running, you could also do about 35 minutes of medium-to-high intensity biking, swimming, rowing, etc.

4 – Finish with 15 minutes of simple yoga poses (106 calories burned)

 

Carve out about 90 minutes to do this workout, and it’ll go a LONG way towards battling that extra calorie intake.

Thanks, and talk soon –

Forest

PS – If you like the idea of training harder – instead of dieting – to lose fat, check out my friend Kate’s full 1000 Calorie Accelerators program HERE (on “Friends of Forest” discount this week!)

Kettlebells for Fat Loss Workshop @ FVT July 19th (registration now open)

If you’re trying to lose body fat, and you’re not using kettlebells in your workouts … you’re missing out big time.

Kettlebell training has taken the fitness world by storm. Everyone from stay at home moms to high level athletes are enjoying the benefits of kettlebells for losing fat, gaining lean muscle, improving flexiblity and increasing their cardio conditioning.

Now, the bad thing about kettlebell training is that it’s pretty technical – that is, reading an article or two on the internet and watching a few YouTube videos just isn’t adequate preparation for safe and effective KB workouts. In fact, it’s a good recipe for injury.

Of course, from quality books and videos, and consistent study and practice, you can learn how to train with kettlebells properly.

But without a doubt, the fastest and best way to learn how to use them safely and effectively is through in-person instruction. Having an expert there to give you feedback on your every move just can’t be beat.

That’s why we’re putting on a Kettlebells for Fat Loss Workshop at our training studio in Sacramento, CA on Saturday, July 19th – and you’re invited to attend!

=> Click here to get all the details on the July 19th Kettlebells for Fat Loss Workshop at FVT and to reserve your spot now

 

Just a heads up – we are giving away a cool bonus to the first 10 folks who sign up, so grab a spot quick if you’re wanting to come. And given that 1) the event is VERY reasonably priced, 2) our studio is relatively small, so we have limited capacity, and 3) this message is going out to almost 10,000 people … we are anticipating spots to fill fast!

Hope to see you there!

– Forest Vance, Level 2 Certified Russian Kettlebell Instructor

Burpee Tolerance Test (take this today!)

Did you know that the burpee burns over 12 calories per minute and works 639 different muscles?

Today, I have one very special challenge for you. It consists of, that’s right – the burpee.

This challenge will test your “Burpee Tolerance”, as I call it.

Here’s what you do…

After warming up and turning on your pump up music, I want you to get focused and fired up …

Once you are ready to go you, will complete the following:

*Perform as many burpees in a row as possible without stopping.

Once you stop and can’t go anymore, that number is your “Burpee Tolerance.”

 

Now there are a few rules to this:

1. Once you start, you cannot stop. If you stop, your burpee count stops.

2. You must do all the burpees as quickly as you can. The burpee is a high intensity exercise, so don’t cheat yourself by going slow on this challenge.

3. If you can, include the pushup and squat jump. If that is too hard, eliminate the pushup and keep the squat jump.

(Note: if you cannot do a burpee with a pushup, your goal should be to build up into doing this.)

 

After going through the challenge, make sure you write down the amount of burpees you were able to get in a row.

Your goal now is to beat that score the next time you perform this test.

Now I get asked all the time, “How do I get better at burpees?”

=> Here’s a plan on exactly how to do 50 straight burpees with no rest PLUS 27 other goal programs!

 

The first thing you need to do is look at what the burpee exercise itself consists of. In one single repetition, you hit three main areas:

-Pushups

-Squat Jumps

-Cardiovascular

So aside from doing burpees more often, you can also make burpees easier by hitting the three areas above.

Gaining strength in your legs and upper body will help with the strength portion of the exercise and you can do this through:

— Lower Body: Bodyweight Squats, Prisoner Squats, Dumbbell/Barbell Squats, Squat Jumps,

— Lunges, etc …

— Upper Body: Pushups, DB Chest Press, Bench Press, Overhead Press, etc …

 

Then we have the high intensity portion…

The best way to increase your cardio is by doing sprint intervals or of course more burpees which I know you are pumped for 🙂

See The 28 Fitness Goals For A Strong, Leaner, And More Fit YOU 28 Fitness Goals You MUST Achieve

 

So try this “burpee tolerance” test today, and report back with how you do. That’s all I got for ‘ya for now – keep training hard, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance
ForestVance.com
ForestVanceTraining.com

PS – No matter what you want to accomplish, there is a plan for you created by an expert that has dedicated their life to figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Check out what these 11 experts put together for you:

=> 28 Fitness Goals You MUST Achieve

FVT Nutrition Coaching Group – Now Accepting New Applications

You’ve been working out – hard – two, three, four or more days per week. You feel like you’re getting stronger, you have more energy, and your overall fitness level is without a doubt improving.

BUT, you’re just not getting the fat loss results you know you could be.

I mean, you’re TRYING to watch what you eat. You know it’s better than it was when you started your workout program. So it’s really strange that you’re not losing at least one or two pounds per week.

Alright. Here’s the deal. I’m a nice guy, but at the end of the day, I gotta be real with you – because my job is to get you results.

It’s your nutrition.

You could very well FEEL like you’re eating pretty good – or at least making an effort to – but actually, you are probably making a few simple (but NOT necessarily obvious) mistakes that are keeping you from losing fat like you should be.

It could be eating sweets and snacks during the day. It could be drinking a beer or glass of wine (or two) each night. It could be going way overboard on the weekends with eating out.

Point is, you THINK you are eating good most of the time … but it’s simply not enough to get you where you want to be. You need a plan, some guidance, and accountability in your nutrition planning to help you reach your goals.

Enter the FVT Nutrition Coaching group.

This group will provide you with the specific plan, the accountability, the support, and what one of our members recently called “positive peer pressure” you need to make some serious in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Members of the group get:

— Bi-weekly in-person meeetings – we weigh in, I personally do a 15-20 minute talk on a nutrition-related topic, and then we do our “hot seat” portion of the coaching
– We go around the room and talk about any specific challenges YOU are having that are keeping you from reaching your ultimate goals. And we break it down as a group and try to help you solve it!
— Private Facebook group – so that all members of the group can interact w one another between meetings, share recipes, etc.
— Weekly food log report reviews – I personally review your food log report each week to make sure you are staying on track.
— And more.

Now there IS an application process. Truly, we do not want to accept anyone and everyone in this group. That’s why I have NOT set up an online payment option.

The cost is very reasonable actually (currently $49 per month for new members) – so that’s not the reason we’ve decided to do it this way. The key is that anyone who wants into the group must be ready to get very serious, stop making excuses, and make some amazing changes.

It’s not for everyone. But it is a GREAT solution for the right people. If you are interested, click HERE, fill out the contact form and let me know want in the Nutrition Coaching Group. Tell me why you think you’d be a good fit for the group. And I’ll get back with you ASAP!

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon, and have a great day –

Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training
ForestVanceTraining.com

PS – We have space for only a handful of folks in the current group – so if you’re interested, please fill out an application as soon as you can! Thanks 🙂

PPS – Big shout out to Kristine M, a current member of our nutrition coaching group and long-time FVT client. She posted this message in our Facebook group the other day:

“I do my own weigh in on Saturday mornings and today I passed the 20 pound mark! I’m so proud of myself yet so very thankful to my friends here at the nutrition coaching group! You all are so amazing, thank you for all your support!!”

Congrats to you Kristine and keep up the great work!!

June 2014 Challenge Workout Results

2012-08-06-18.14.29

 

Here’s the June 2014 FVT Challenge Workout again , in case you missed it:

=> June 2014 FVT Challenge Workout

 

And the results:

(Women Non-Modified)

SK 18:14
BC 18:41
SF 18:54
KM 19:30
MG 20:07
JM 20:49
AL 21:25
FY 21:46
MT 21:46
MD 21:57
EZ 23:14
LA 24:52

(Women Modified)

MA 19:11
BR 20:57
MM 21:37
AM 22:00
CL 23:47
CP 24:23
CG 25:00
GK 25:41

(Men Non-Modified)

RM 16:14
BP 17:32
RA 18:02
FM 18:59
JM 19:07
BD 20:02
MP 20:23
PD 22:00
PK 22:43

(Men Modified)

MH 21:54
BR 22:16
CB 22:56
RB 23:09
MM 23:22
ED 24:45

(DNF – great work, you’ll smoke it next time! 🙂

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