The Hotel Workout

By Steve Baccari, RKC

The following workout is three exercises. They
can be done in a slow circuitwhich Ill explain
lateror you can practice them one at a time.
Exercise 1:
Stationary Handstand
1. Place your palms flat on the floor about a
foot away from the wall.
2. Kick one leg up, then the otheruntil
youre holding yourself in a handstand against the wall. Do not attempt a push-up;
just
maintain a stationary hold.
3. Stay in the position for as long as you can. Count slowly. A 10-count will fe
el like forever.
4. Breathe naturally and focus on the muscles in your shoulders and arms.
5. Come down slowly.
Note: This exercise is not only great for your entire upper body, but it also he
lps with your
internal organs and bloodflow to your brain.
Exercise 2: Box Pistol
This is basically a one-legged squat from a chair.
1. Sit in a regular chair: one foot flat on the floor, knee bent at 90 degrees.
Put your other
leg straight out, and reach forward with your arms. Press all your weight on the
heel of
the foot thats on the floor, and stand up.
2. Slowly sit back down, and alternate legs. Do 3 to 5 reps per leg.
Exercise 3: Wall Walk
1. Stand with your back and heels flat against the wall.
2. Take two steps out, heel to toe, until you are 3 feet away from the wall.
3. Lean back with your hands stretched over your head until they hit the wall.
4. Slowly move your hands down the wall. Continue walking until your head lightly
touches the floor.
5. Turn onto your side, and stand up. Do not try to walk back up the wall.
A couple of tips:
Breathe naturally; do not hold your breath.
Put a couple of pillows on the floor in case you lose it on the way down.
How to Do a Slow Strength Circuit
Perform exercise 1 (stationary handstand), exercise 2 (box pistol), and exercise
3 (wall
walk) once. This is one trip through the circuit. Rest 3 to 5 minuteslonger, if y
ou need to.
Then make another trip through the circuit. Do 3 to 5 trips, and youre done.
Rule of thumb: Limit the amount of fatigue so that you can focus more on generat
ing tension
during each exercise.
Last rule: You can perform the same workout every day; you just have to vary the
intensity.
For instance, on your handstand holds, if you hold for 10 seconds one day, hold
for 2 seconds
the next day. With the pistols, you can do sets of 3 one day and sets of 5 the f
ollowing
day. With the wall walks, you can do more than one. Have a 100% effort day, foll
owed by a
70% effort day, followed by a 50%, and then back to a 100% day.
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Dan has observed that after 10 reps, athletes start compromising intensity or te
chnique, hence his
rule of 10 reps. The coachs favorite set-and-rep schemes are 5 x 2, 2 x 5, 5 x 2, 3
x 3, and 6 x 1. When
singles are used, Dan makes an exception and cuts the volume to 6 x 1. The man h
as coached thousands
of athletes and could not help noticing that six good singles is all you can exp
ect from an athlete before
the quality suffers.
65, 70, 75, 80, 85
Dan John likes the following sequence: 3 x 3 (heavy) 80%, 5 x 2 (heavier) 85%, 2
x 5 (light) 65%, 6 x 1 (work up to
a sort of max) 105%, 5-3-2 (moderate) 70%.
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Deadlift Singles Success Story
David Whitley, SRKC, CK-FMS
January 25, 2010 03:47 PM
In early November 2009 I moved my Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp classes indoors
for the winter, renting a back room at a local gym that looks a lot like the bas
ement from Fight Club. At least, if I could talk about fight club that's what I'
d say.
The actual gym area is quite well equipped and on a whim I decided to do a few d
eadlifts. I was just back from spending a few days in Oklahoma with the Redneck
Ninja, SRKC Jeff O'Connor and after spending the majority of the past year outdo
ors flinging kettlebells around, deadlifting was a fun and exciting idea to me.
I hadn't pulled for some time, so spent most of November playing around with Pow
er to the People-style templates and working on the technique improvements Jeff
had given me. By the end of the month I pulled 500lbs again, bringing me within
15lbs of my best ever.
The week of Thanksgiving I spoke with Pavel and he said " I have a routine that
I think will work well for you, I'll send it to you." The exact routine is liste
d below, pulled from that e-mail.
The history of this program
Pavel assembled this odd WSB/PTP hybrid a few years ago and posted it on Dragon
Door. Recently the routine resurfaced with the post on our forum by former RKC N
ick Fraser:
"Been training with weights since about the age of 13 mainly to compliment marti
al arts and Rugby. Over the years tried many modalities and systems, most to com
plicated for their own good. My training started to evolve and my strength incre
ase after reading an article [by Pavel] entitled "Commando PT" on Charles Staley
's old site. After a little research I ordered PTP, the volume of training decre
ased and my strength increased exponentially. Looking back through my old traini
ng logs, my first deadlifts were well under 200lbs. Subsequent cycles took me to
a 1RM of 450. Two weeks ago I pulled 540 @ 150 bodyweight at age 44 [using the
plan laid out in this article]. I attended the Sept 2002 RKC cert and have since
switched between KB and powerlifting cycles. I have at times attempted to mix t
raining styles but time in the trenches has taught me to concentrate on 1 thing
at a time."
On Nov. 30th I began in earnest with the following program, the primary goal bei
ng to see how good I could get at deadlifting and to see how much weight I could
pull off the floor. My secondary goal was to up my double kettlebell press weig
ht. Pavel's advice was simply "Just push the volume". The details of the presses
are a story for another time.
I began with a 500lb 1 RM in shorts, without a belt, wearing Vibram 5 Fingers. O
n Jan 14th in the same shorts, same shoes and same lack of a belt, I tested my 1
RM and pulled 565lbs, a 65lb gain in 7 weeks and a full 50lbs above my all-time
best ever.
Here is what I did, plug your own numbers into the formula. When in doubt, round
up.
Lifts based on current 1RM, rest 30 - 45 secs between lifts
Week 1
Day 1 65% 15 Singles
Day 2 70% 12 Singles
Day 3 75% 10 Singles
Day 4 80% 8 Singles
Day 5 85% 6 Singles
Day 6 Off
Day 7 Off
Week 2
Add 10 lbs to each day's lift from Week 1
Week 3
Add 10lbs to each day's lift from Week 2
Week 4
Unload with Steve Wilson DL routine from original RKC book
2-3 sets DL 2-3 times/week @ 26-32% 1RM
OR
2-3 sets 20 kb snatches/swings 2-3 times per week.
(I did the Wilson routine twice and did a bunch of swings and snatches with a si
ngle 40kg kettlebell 2 other days that week)
Week 5
Add 5lbs to each day's lift from Week 3
Week 6
Add 5lbs to each day's lift from week 5
Week 7
Day 1 Off
Day 2 Off
Day 3 Off
Day 4 Off
Day 5 Off
Day 6 MAX Day (I actually did my MAX test on Thursday, I had a KB workshop to te
ach on Saturday)
Day 7 Off
Week 8
Unload as Week 4
Other contributing factors-
Pressing 5 days per week, 2 days relatively light weight with medium volume 30-4
0reps total), 2 days medium weight and high volume (50-80 total reps), 1 day hea
vy with moderate volume (20-30reps total).
Movement- I spent 10-20 minutes doing various CKFMS drills and Getups prior to t
he heavy lifting.
Bending Steel- I find this is a great way to ignite my nervous system and prepar
e for the tension to come. It's also an excellent gauge for recovery. If my bend
ing is strong, everything else is too. If my bending is down a little, I know I
need rest.
Eating everything with arms reach. I put on around 20lbs. The timing of the cycl
e with the Christmas and New Year holidays was perfect. "C" is for Cookie, that'
s good enough for me.
That's the story. I highly recommend this routine to anyone who wants to quickly
to a peak deadlift, perhaps even driving it into uncharted territory.
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Week 1
Mon (1)__Tues (2)_____Wed (3)______Fri (4)_______Sat (5)
2x5 2x5 5-3-2 2x5 2x5
Week 2
Mon (6)__ Tues (7)____Wed (8)_____ Fri (9)_____ Sat (10)
2x5 6 singles 1x10 2x5 5-3-2