Another free ebook – Functional Fitness Defined
I recently posted here about how I took my latest book idea and divided it into two, creating two free ebooks. I introduced the Kemme Fitness User Guide on May 23rd. Now comes Functional Fitness Defined.
In this ebook, I introduce the concepts of Functional Fitness and explain the 4 dimensions in detail. The short and concise ebook is easy to read and will show you how Functional Fitness programs are more effecient and effective for achieving total body overall fitness.
Just click on the image to right on the side menu or click DOWNLOAD HERE for your free copy today. As with all Kemme Fitness resources, please feel free to share them with anybody and everybody.
20, 10, 5 workout
A guest workout by Seth Crooks
NEEDED EQUIPMENT: Clubbell CIRCUIT#1 20 Push-ups10 Box Jumps
x5 CIRCUIT #2 10 – each side – Clubbell Inside Pendulums
10 Clubbell Torch Presses
x5 CIRCUIT #3 10 – each side – Clubbell Swipes
10 Clubbell Barbarian Presses
x5 CIRCUIT #4 20 Mountian Climbers
10 Air Squats
x5
Project Yeti: A huge bump in the road
Randy’s words:
Okay, so I feel like I am letting you down but mostly I am letting Pete down. I had to stop most of my workouts on the advice of my Doc and an old friend who is a sports medicine physical therapist. A little history for you before the current dilemma. Several years ago while I was on patrol I was involved in an incident where I was ran over by car hauler that was being pulled by a truck. It’s part of the job and for the most part it has not bothered me much. I hyperextended both of my knees and did damage to my shoulder.
Fast forward to present day. It seems that the problems I have been having are more related to this then I thought. The Doc and the Physical Therapist think that I need to lose weight before I place this type of strain on my previously injured areas. This makes sense but it does not mean that I have to like it. Pete put in a lot of time in helping me and you all have been so supportive that I fell that I have failed you.
I am not quitting, I just need to take a pause while Weight Watchers for Men steals whatever taste buds I have left. They figure I need to get to sub 400lbs before I can work into this again for the stresses to be tolerable. By my calculations, and yes I gained 3 pounds back, this will be around Thanksgiving 2012. I will do my best and stay the course but for now I have to leave you without completing my promise. I truly hope you will understand.
My words:
I am going to stay in touch with Randy as he continues with Weight Watches and I offered for him to continue sharing his progress on the website, even if the fitness piece is not there. I keep getting emails of people wanting to hear more from him and his journey and I feel that we can all gain from his openess (not to mention his great humor).
Release of the Kemme Fitness User Guide
I decided to take apart my latest book idea and turn it into two easy to read ebooks to place for free on the website. Again, being a business person is not my forte (thank God I have a day job). The first part of the book idea will be turned into an ebook called Functional Fitness Defined, so stay tuned for that.
I then used most of the remainder of the book idea to create the Kemme Fitness User Guide. I added this ebook to the side menu bar earlier this week and weaved it into some other pages in lieu of several explanatory paragraphs.
You can click on the User Guide image on the right side or click DOWNLOAD USER GUIDE HERE. The quick read explains all you need to know about Kemme Fitness and how to get started, no matter what level you are starting at.
Let me know what you think in the comment section of this post.
Like this:
The medical community and Functional Fitness.
My good friend, Jason Robillard, who is one of the leading experts and proponents of barefoot (or bareform) running, is engaging in dialog with his toughest critics in the medical community – podiatrists. See his post here. There is something quite important at the essence of that conversation. Actually there are many things and they apply to what we do here at Kemme Fitness as well.
Point#1 - it is essential and necessary, especially for folks like me who share information, to be open and honest, as well as willing to hear opposing views. Not only do we need to hear opposing views, but we need to value them, re-assess ourselves and opinions, and be willing to change.
Point #2 – We need to realize where members of the medical community are coming from. For example, if I were to recommend Kettlebell Swings as a way to strengthen your body from legs to shoulders. Maybe I even say to do Kettlebell Swings as part of a series of exercises for you to do to improve your back muscles to help with your weak back issues. Then let’s say you swing the kettlebell and it slips out of your hands and hits your mother-in-law in the head, causing serious injury. Really that comes down to your own accountability for not doing the swing right.
On the flip side, your family practice doctor tells you to do Kettlebell Swings to help with your back issues and the same thing happens. Guess who can be sued? Yep, doctors have malpractice insurance for a reason. I realize there could be a better example, but the kettlebell one is more funny.
Point #3 – this is more a point I am looking at with Functional Fitness. It is: What members of the medical community have the appropriate training to weigh in on the discussion of how to exercise? A family practice physician, although somebody who understands body systems, is really not versed enough (in general) to tell somebody what exercise program they should do. However, they are essential in clearing many folks medically (ie good enough heart) to start an exercise program. Before beginning Project Yeti, I insisted that Randy had a green light from a regular doctor.
A sports medicine doctor is more experienced and trained because they deal with athletes and how muscles, tendons, and bones work together. They are great to assist people with injuries in order to ensure that any serious problems are addressed.
This then brings us over to the physical therapists. Here is a description off the American Physical Therapy Association website about their vision: physical therapists provide “the diagnosis of, interventions for, and prevention of impairments, activity limitations, participation restrictions, and environmental barriers related to movement, function, and health.” This sounds like Functional Fitness to me.
Over the years I have been getting feedback from physical therapists. I have even removed some exercises off my website after listening to the pros and cons of the exercise from a physical therapist. Conversely, I’ve added exercises that I have obtained from physical therapists.
I encourage anybody who goes to a physical therapist to bring in some of our exercises, ask for opinions/information, and report back to me. The reason for this, is I feel that physical therapists have an advanced understanding of how the brain works with muscles through movements. They understand what muscles are being used under various conditions and what the benefits and concerns are with the movements.
A person once actually called my program a “mishmash of misapplied yoga, half-assed pilates and some misapplied physical therapy and injury rehab exercises done on an unstable surface.” These bodybuilders were enjoying their stabs at Kemme Fitness. However, being associated with what we learn from physical therapists is a compliment in the Functional Fitness world.
So if you are or know a physical therapist, we would 100% welcome your thoughts on what we do here. And (to keep in line with point #1) if you are a bodybuilder, weight lifter, strongman, yoga instructor, runner, etc, and you disagree with me, I hope you feel comfortable to challenge me. Most likely I will be grateful for the chance to learn from you.
some thoughts from Seth Crooks:
Sometimes things that should be enjoyable feel like work. Sometimes ordinary life with no exceptional problems is inexplicably difficult. At least that is how things are for me. During these ‘funks’ I noticed that my entire workout feels like the middle of an extremely tough workout. Ain’t that a kick in the kettle bells. I’m no therapist, but I have some advice. Trudge along. Forward progress, no matter how slow, is still forward.
If life is a timeline of mental ups and downs, forward progress is the way out of the doldrums. Then one day, you wake up and things like building a giant block house with your small child sounds like fun again. Mowing the lawn is just mowing the lawn, not cleaning the stables of Hercules’ trials. Circuit 1 of your current workout is kind of fun again because your just getting going and are not yet totally spent. I guess this post is more about life’s peaks and valleys, but they apply to exercise as well. So thanks everyone for indulging my need for therapeutic writing. Go fitness!
Who is a Functional Fitness expert?
Let’s just say that you do not want to take my word for it when it comes to Functional Fitness. If that is the case, then you are heading in the right direction. I was flattered once by a friend of mine in the fitness industry when he called me a Functional Fitness expert. Actually I laughed out loud.
Me? An expert? What would make me an expert? Does the amount of research I have done qualify me? How about the programs I have been developing and training others in for years? Maybe my awesome website is the key? Surely the 12 week programs such as K-Fit, K-Challenge, and K-Basic make me an expert?
The answer really to the question of whether I would qualify as an expert is really…well not relevant. This is because we live in a world now where we don’t have to solely rely upon who we perceive as experts for advice. We have access to all the information we want and can advocate for ourselves. Gone are the days of putting your faith into one person and calling it good. Here are the days of Googling, comparing ideas, asking all the “experts” you want in forums, and then making up your own mind. Problem with some plumbing issues? You might be able to figure it out yourself after some internet searching and not have to call a plumber (the expert).
With this said, we still need to know where to turn to obtain information for us to make our decisions. We still need to know where to turn to in order to decide what type of fitness program is best for us. Afterall, fitness is (at least it should be) one of the most important facets of your life.
First, let’s quick mention who the educated folks are in this field. I’ll post more later about the types of degrees of study and professionals in the medical community that are helpful. In general, when it comes to Functional Fitness as I have defined it here, I would lean towards disciplines that involve the study of movement patterns (kinesiology) and how the body works well together in a natural and effective way. If we want to be functional, I dare say that physical therapists (who study kinesiology by the way) are a great resource.
The medical community is not the only resource to turn to. How about practical experience? What about people that understand exercising and fitness programs? These “experts” don’t have college degrees (at least not relevant ones usually). They may have certifications such as mine “Core and Functional Fitness Specialist.”
I will be brutally honest here. My certification did almost nothing to increase my knowledge to help people. My certification is….well is just that: a certification. If you are impressed I have one, you are either naive or easily impressed. In that case, check out the picture below of my left hand and know that I can type 80 words a minute with nine fingers. Oh Yeah!
This is what I suggest. For anybody who is trying to stay fit (insert the word “everybody”) you need to first establish goals. Are you wanting to be stronger? Do you want to run longer races? Do you want to compete in the Crossfit Games? Do you want to buy 12 week programs over and over again? Do you want to just pay for a gym and hire a personal trainer? Do you want a varied exercise program that is well balanced, will help you avoid injuries as you age, and will keep you interested for the rest of your life? Hint: if you answered yes to the last question, you will want to turn to a Functional Fitness program.
Another hint: if you don’t want to pay for any of it, you might consider using Kemme Fitness. We have all the resources you need to have your own Functional Fitness program for life.
Please accept my apologies for touting my own website (couldn’t be helped). The point of this whole post is everybody should be exercising and staying fit. And everybody should find what is right for them. You do this by researching on the internet or library, asking friends, family, people on forums, your doctor, physical therapists, and other trainers. Find what is right for you and continue to reevaluate your progress.
There are no Functional Fitness “experts” truly, but there are plenty of people out there talking about it. There are even TV shows utilizing it (Biggest Loser). If you have any questions of specific research or other aspects of Functional Fitness, just contact me or leave a comment on this post.
We had a recent post about the subtle similarities of various squats here in our Functional Fitness program. Click here to see the post. In the same vein, I wanted to put out a post about some very close elasticity movements that may be so similar that folks get a touch confused.
Here is the list of the exercises and the matching video links: Lateral Bound Slalom Ice Skaters I’ll start with Lateral Bound. A Lateral Bound is one of the more slower of the three exercises. Essentially, you are lifting up the inside leg and pushing off the ground with the outside leg. For example, you lift up your left foot, push off with your right foot and land on your left foot as far to the left as you can. When you land, there is a “stick,” meaning you hold it on that left foot for a split second to absorb the shock that way. Make sure to bend your knees to help with the force absorption. An Ice Skater looks very similar to the Lateral Bound. The difference is more in the upper body. You are swinging your arms and bending over at the waist more to create the illusion you are an actual ice skater (yes it is a mystery why we call these Ice Skaters). Also, as in the example above, when you land on your left foot, your right leg continues past the left leg by sliding across the ground behind your left leg - another motion that creates the ice skating feel. This is usually done faster than the Lateral Bound, especially when you are challenging yourself. In other words, you can speed skate! The Slalom is the fastest of the three, but it stays with the winter theme
. With the Slalom, you are moving both legs at the same time. Basically, you are hoping to the right, then left, with both feet landing at the same time. Feel free to add in the arm swings like you are skiing…and sound effects are always welcome. Swooosh. Swooosh.
Dumbbell 600
NEEDED EQUIPMENT: A dumbbell. I used 20 lbs
NOTE: The video for Barbarian Squats uses a Clubbell. Simply replace that with the dumbbell and hold the dumbbell with both hands in the center.
CIRCUIT #1 50 Hoorays (25 each side) 50 Pistons (25 each side) 50 Barbarian Squats 50 Push-ups 40 Hoorays (25 each side) 40 Pistons (25 each side) 40 Barbarian Squats 40 Push-ups 30 Hoorays (25 each side) 30 Pistons (25 each side) 30 Barbarian Squats 30 Push-ups 20 Hoorays (25 each side) 20 Pistons (25 each side) 20 Barbarian Squats 20 Push-ups 10 Hoorays (25 each side) 10 Pistons (25 each side) 10 Barbarian Squats 10 Push-upsFunctional Fitness is not functional strength
Functional Fitness is not functional strength
The phrase above hits on the third of four dimensions I use to define Functional Fitness. Strength, even functional strength, is only a small part of fitness. Crossfit.com lists ten physical skills as a component of fitness. They are cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, coordination, agility, balance, stamina, power, speed, accuracy, flexibility, and strength. Other fitness certifying bodies define fitness as involving power, agility, reaction time, speed, skill, and strength.
In either case, notice that strength is only one of the physical measures used to describe fitness. Please understand, strength is extremely essential to training, as well as to life. When you build muscle strength, your tendons and ligaments get stronger too, which reduces the risk of injury. Strong muscles are more responsive, adding to a person’s agility. Strength training also builds muscles, increasing the amount of metabolically active tissue in your body so you burn fat and become leaner. An excellent example is the Biggest Loser television show. They are not just on the treadmill. They are strength training.
If you are unfamiliar with the other measures of fitness, do not fret. The only point here is there is a lot more to Functional Fitness than merely strength. So the big question becomes: What do you want?
Do you want to have good looking arms and chest? Then go build your muscles up with benches presses and bicep curls.
Do you want to have good endurance? Then go running.
Do you want Flexibilty? Try Yoga.
Do you simply want to be stronger? Read some Pavel Tsatsouline books.
Or, do you want to be able to function efficiently and effectively at a multitude of life’s tasks—in all levels of life—with ease and confidence? If so, then you need Functional Fitness.
