www.MichaelReid.ca

"Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't."

Image via Wikipedia

-- Jerry Rice, Football Player
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comments:

This flows nicely from my last post about working hard.

Great athletes are NOT great just because of some good genetics.

Regardless of your genes and even though you can not dictate what genes you are born with you do have a profound ability as individuals, as athletes, as people to affect how your genes are expressed.

Your exercise training, nutrition, sleep, ect .... all play a roll and influence what genes are expressed and which ones are suppressed.

Another thing, I have had athletes say this to me on more then one occasion.

"well I would work out every day too if I was getting paid millions of dollars"

When an athlete says and really believes this then they will NEVER "make it".

What they do not understand is these athletes who are making money to play have been busting their butts off way before being a pro was even a thought.  They love to train, love to compete and enjoy the journey of progressing at their sport. 

It is not about the money. 

They are just doing what they love to do. 

Which is another important concept to grasp.

Doing what you love to do also applies to school, especially university.  How many students when looking at what to take in school think first about how much money they can make in the field and what kind of job market is available and so on. 

I think this is completely backwards thinking. 

After finishing grade school the fun really begins, because now you can learn about things you want to learn and things that you really enjoy doing. 

If you do this, then school will be easy, fun and you will never want to miss a class.

Personally for me, I can study physical training, nutrition, health, sport science, ect ... every single day and all day if I could.   I just love this stuff so much and learning more about it is easy.

Enjoy Life and do what you love.

End of Rant.

Be Well,
Mike Reid
www.michaelreid.ca
www.waterpolotraining.net

This is from an earlier post. 

A video about Will Smith talking about what I just ranted about
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMEBBwO6J8

Welcome!

Welcome to michaelreid.ca.

I have written about physical training, rehabilitation, nutrition and health since September, 2007.

My own personal sporting interest lies heavily with Water Polo which is why I have created a new website called WaterPoloTraining.net.

WaterPoloTraining.net is all about the "science and practice of physical training for Water Polo". 

I will discuss published scientific research on Water Polo and also give my own professional insights into strength or weight training for Water Polo.

There will also be some free training programs available so please check back regularly.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

From Boris B.'s blog at http://squatrx.blogspot.com/2009/05/allow-me-parental-moment.html

Chris Doyle's weight room door a sign that read:

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

He has done a whole youtube channel on just perfecting the Squat called Squat Rx. 

You can view it here:  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C03D688F10C4DE1F 

Be Well,
Mike Reid
www.michaelreid.ca
www.waterpolotraining.net

Post Work Out Nutrition

Last month I wrote about the Myth of Sports Nutrition. 

To add some fuel to this fire here is Paul Chek talking about what to eat after you train. 

You may be surprised from what he has to stay.

Be Well,
Mike Reid
www.michaelreid.ca
www.waterpolotraining.net

RKC Victim Training

At the RKC last weekend one of the tasks you must pass in order to graduate from the course is to demonstrate your ability to coach.

Everyone in the class gets a volunteer from the local community or what the RKC calls a victim to train for 1 hour.

During this time you have ~45-50 minutes to evaluate and coach the victim on how to use kettlebells and then you must put them through a short 10 minute training program.

During this entire hour you are constantly being evaluated by several instructors, for some of the RKC candidates this is very stressful. 

The #1 thing to remember is be safe and DO NOT hurt the victim! 

This means sticking to the basics and at the most getting to the "program minimum" from Enter the Kettlebell.

This is what I did with my victim

1. Introduction - name, age, brief medical history, exercise experience, movement limitations, job, ... and a few other things.

• name: Jimmy
• age: 44
• firefighter, distance runner, very little strength training experience
• chronic low back pain caused worse with flexion and long periods of sitting (basic lumbar flexion disorder)
• no medications or other medical issues
• slim build
• estimate he is around 70kg
• total time = ~5 minutes

2. Quick Movement Screen - before I start adding external load I want to make sure he is moving pain free and also to get an idea what I have to work with with respect to flexibility, mobility and general quality of movements.  I do the following movements.

• From standing he bends back with arms overhead and then forward (toe touch) about 3x each way, then does same with side bending.
• Reach both arms overhead and check range of motion (ROM) in lock out position.
• Deep squat
• He is pain free in all movements and has good mobility.  At this stage I feel I have a wide open window for teaching either the Swing and/or Turkish Get Up.  Not sure if I will have time to do both but we will see what happens.
• total time = ~5 minutes

3. Begin coaching squat and deadlift pattern.

• Teach Split Squat and RDL (Romanian Deadlift)
• Goblet Squat: 1st with out load then with 12kg KB, work the bottom position by pushing the knees out and prying side to side, also perform crush curls at bottom of squat to further mobilize the hips.
• Deadlift with 16kg KB
• total time = 15-20 minutes

4. Teach 2 handed Kettlebell Swing

• demonstrate the swing
• have him try it with 12kg KB
• work on body position at start and finish
• use some of the corrective drills taught in the RKC course.
• 1st drill is towel swing (slight improvement)
• Prone Bridge to set and feel whole body tension (2 x ~15s)
• Standing whole body tension in the top position of swing with out load
• Loading the Hamstrings and Glutes with the partner towel drill (bottom position of swing)
• In between each of these corrective drills we try the swing again for 5-10 reps and at some point we move up to a 16kg KB.
• total time = 15-20 minutes

5. 10 minute training program - use common sense here, I have taught him the goblet squat, deadift, prone bridge and the 2 handed swing.  None of the movements are perfect BUT he is doing them safely.  The last thing I want to do is to hurt the victim, that is a big, big, big, no no.

Training program:  The victim is to complete 5 rounds of the following circuit.

1. KB Deadlift 32kg/5 reps
2. 2 Hand KB Swing 16kg/10 reps
3. Crush Curls at bottom of Goblet Squat 12kg/5 reps
4. Rest ~30-60s or as needed

Of course through out this whole training program I am continually coaching the victim on his technique.

At the end of 5 rounds and after he catches his breath, I have the victim lye in the prone position, resting on his forearms.  This is generally good for everyone but really important for the victim because he has a history of low back pain when in flexion so I want to do the opposite and do some passive extension.

Also, as I have written about before (Rehab Tip - do the opposite), when one movement hurts, then in many cases doing the opposite will give a therapeutic effect.

Hope this helps out all the future RKC's.  If you have any questions of what I did please leave a comment.

If you are a RKC, do you remember what you did with your victim?  Please leave a comment.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.waterpolotraining.net

End of a Chapter ...

"Worry often gives a small thing a great shadow."

-- Swedish Proverb

Last week was the end of a significant chapter in my life.

My time in Sweden has come to an end.

It all started back in the summer of 2005 in Winnipeg, Canada.

This was when my girlfriend Katinka was putting the finishing touches on her PhD thesis at the Unversity of Manitoba and finalizing the arrangements for her 1st post-doctoral position with Elzbieta Jankowska in Gothenburg, Sweden.  Katinka's PhD supervisor in Winnipeg also did post-doctoral work with the same person in the same lab in Gothenburg 20-30 years ago!

Katinka left Canada for Sweden in late August of 2005 to start working and I soon followed arriving on November 1, 2005.

I arrived with a youth exchange visa which would allow me to stay in Sweden for up to 1 year and to work.

I came to Sweden with the notion that I would be able to at least get a job in a fitness club coaching or doing personal training.  This is essentially what I was doing back in Canada and I felt I was pretty good at it. 

In the first month being in Sweden, I must of sent out my CV to almost every gym in Gothenburg and the surrounding area.  Not a single gym gave me a call!

This is going to be harder then I thought.  But no worries, I have savings and Katinka is making enough salary to support me for at least a short period of time.

In the first month in Sweden, I did manage to get an invitation, which I accepted, to go down to Halmstad and tour the Eleiko head quarters.  Eleiko is a world famous company that produces top notch weightlifting equipment and it is Swedish owned.  Very nice people by the way, they gave me hope that I may find something.  

Katinka being a former NCAA and pro basketball player started playing with a division 5 co-ed basketball team in Gothenburg.  She landed on this team by way of the owner of the house we were renting.  He plays on this team and when he heard Katinka played he quickly recruited her to his team.  This is team is notorious for losing but when Katinka played they won every game.

I even participated in some of their practices .... inte bra!

Katinka was too good for this team but when she was coming to Sweden she wasn't even expecting to play basketball, she didn't even think it existed in Sweden (this is absolutely true!).

I was determined to find her a team that matched her abilities.  A quick search on the web and I found Högsbo Basketball club.  I sent an email and 2 days later we are at the club and Katinka is practicing with the Dam Laget team who play in the second highest division in Sweden. 

This has all happened within the first few weeks of me being in Sweden and who would of known that one email to a club would be the start of a 3 year relationship.

Fast forward to the spring of 2006 and I start as a volunteer consultant to Högsbo Basketball club.  The men's team has qualified to play in the highest division and the club needs to fill their weight room with some equipment. 

In May, 2006 I begin to work with the men's team on a trial basis.  After a couple of weeks the powers that be are happy with my work and hire me on as a part-time physical trainer (strength coach).  In conjunction with the men's team I also work with the women's team and the basket gymnasiet program which is a high school basketball program.  With these 3 programs, I am working at about 40-50%.

The next season (2006-07) is the premier for Gothia Basketball and we do very well, making it into the second round of the playoffs.  The women's team also does very well finishing in the top 4.  

At the end of this season I negotiate a full-time salary position with the club.  I now work with the top 2 teams on both the men's and women's side and the basket gymnasiet program. 

For my final year I do the same but start to also work with more of the younger teams.  On a weekly basis, I coach 10 different teams.

My last year being the busiest but was also the year my son Istvan was born.

Now a new chapter begins, Katinka, Istvan and I move down to Copenhagen where Katinka will continue her research at Copenhagen University.

As of right now, I am without any formal work but I am not worried knowing that every thing will be just fine. 

Actually I do have a job, it's called stay at home dad!

Thank you Sweden and especially the whole Högsbo Basket Family.  You have been very friendly and have given me such a great learning experience over these past 3 years. 

I hope you learned even half of what I have.

Tack.

Be Well, 

Mike Reid

PS  I would also like to say tack to Freddy at Cafe Kom where I would try to go every Saturday afternoon to play drums in the blues jam.

I am now a RKC

This past weekend I was at a course called the Russian Kettlebell Challenge or RKC for short.

The challenge of RKC should really be stressed here because it was a real physical and mental challenge to get through this course.  Just take a look at my hands after the weekend.

That is raw exposed skin there folks.  Writing this 2 days later and they still really hurt.  It will probably be another 7-10 days before I do any serious training.

I highly recommend the course because you deserve to have hands like this to!

I will write more about this endeavor another time.

Here is a short video of what my weekend was like and yes they did kick and punch us many times throughout the weekend ... it's called tough love!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp9rrvbXJps

Be Well,
Mike Reid, B.HE, RKC