Here are some powerband workout ideas with Dave Schmitz. You can use bands in a combo with kettlebells, barbells, or just by them selves. Easy to take on the road and you can still get a great workout.

Dave Schmitz is a Physical Therapist, CSCS and PES who has implemented resistance bands into his rehabilitative, fitness and performance hancement programs since 1997.  Known as the ‘Band Man’ by some’¦ Dave is becoming the expert and your #1 resource for REACTIVE – RBT.

Band Training to improve 40 yard dash

Resistance Band Training with Kettlebells

3 ways to stretch the Hamstring…

Upper Body Band Strength training

Going Heavy with Band Training?

Band Training with Barbells

Single Band interval Strength Workout

Check out his DVDs

Australian Kettlebells have upgraded to a new warehouse. This will allow us to hold more stock and provide our customers with better service. Check out the video to see it in action.

To help celebrate we’re having a New Warehouse Sale. If you’d like to get some great deals check this page out.

Here’s some of what’s on special.

Super Torsonator Pack
Zhang Kong Olympic Barbell Competition
Two-Metre Agility Band
5kg Bumper Plates
Micro Bands
Sweat Bands
48kg kettlebell

Plus lots more

Get in now while stocks last.

Yes, I’m interested in getting my hands on some great products during your Warehouse Sale.

10 Tips for Flawless Squattin’

By Mike Robertson

Originally posted at www.t-nation.com

You’ve heard it a thousand times. To get big and strong, ya’ gotta’ squat. But how many of you are doing it right? The squat isn’t as complex as a clean and jerk, but whether you’re a competitive powerlifter or just the basic trainee trying to put some size on your wheels, paying attention to some of the details of the lift can pay huge dividends.

Let’s take a closer look at how to squat properly, then discuss some common problems and how to fix them.

No More Ugly Squats!

The key to the squat, like all exercises, is to perform it consistently with flawless technique. If you really strive to have perfect technique all the time, you’ll not only add pounds to your lifts, you’ll also decrease your chances of injury.

But what is perfect technique? I’m going to give you what I consider to be the ten most important tips to improving your squat technique.

1) Hands In

Bringing the hands in on the bar can really help those who get “caved over” when squatting. When I say caving over, I mean when the shoulders roll forward, the chest is no longer up, the low back rounds, or a combination of all of these. (Obviously we don’t want you to be totally upright, but excessive lean isn’t conducive to squatting big weights, either.)

By bringing your hands in closer to your shoulders, your upper back and traps “bunch up,” so to speak. Not only does this help give you a nice shelf to set the bar on, but it also activates the synergists in the upper back, creating an extension force that helps keep you more upright and your chest from caving in.

Obviously, this is limited by the flexibility in your wrists/forearms, anterior deltoids and pecs. As you work to get your hands in closer, do so gradually over the course of several workouts. Even if it’s just a finger-width closer each workout, it’s going to make a profound difference in your posture.

2) Back Together and Tight!

Once you have your hands in nice and tight, think of pulling your shoulder blades back and together, squeezing as hard as possible. This will again help to “bunch up” your upper back and give you that nice shelf to rest the bar on. If you’re skinny or don’t have a lot of meat on your upper back, this can really make squatting more comfortable. Set the bar on top of this muscle shelf and you’re ready to rock.

If your upper back isn’t very developed, you’d be well-served to put some beef on this area. Exercises to help develop your upper back include Olympic pulls, cable rows to the neck or face, and prone shrugs.

3) Comfortable Stance with Toes Out Slightly

Once you’ve unracked the weight and are getting set-up, you want to set your feet with a comfortable stance. Those with longer legs and shorter torsos (dolicomorphs) will probably prefer a slightly wider stance, while those with shorter legs and longer torsos (brachiomorphs) are usually more comfortable with a narrower stance. Find something that suits you and stick with it.

Toe position is something that can be argued with regards to pointing the toes straight forward or out slightly. Usually those with a closer stance prefer pointing the toes straight forward, while those with a wider stance need to toe out more. When you squat with a very wide stance and point the toes forward, it’ll be very hard to go deep with the weight. Beyond that, you might have some balance issues as well. Toeing out more can usually solve 99% of the depth issues seen with wide-stance squats.

4) Weight Balanced

While you may not realize the importance of having your weight balanced on light warm-up sets, it’s extremely important to develop the right groove from the start. The weight should be balanced over the mid-foot or shifted slightly towards the heel. Again, comfort is most important here. You want to find a technique you’re comfortable with and that will allow you to move the heaviest iron possible.

Keep in mind that if you get the weight too far towards the heel you’ll fall over backwards and lose coolness points. Also, if the weight gets shifted towards your toes you’ll get rounded over. Neither is conducive to moving heavy weights or your general health!

5) Chest Up, Low Back Tight

This is an extremely important point to remember. Not only will it help your squatting form, but it’ll also aid in keeping your low back healthy. I refer to this as the “muscle beach” effect, where you try to stick your chest out and up. If a beautiful member of the opposite sex walked past you on the beach, you’d want to have great posture and exude your astonishingly high levels of self-confidence, right?

Before you squat, really work to “puff” the chest out and elevate the rib cage. Not only will this help you keep your chest up throughout the set, it’ll help you set a nice arch in your lower back.

For the full list of ten go to    http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/articles/10+Tips+for+Flawless+Squattin%27/

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 This article is by Charles Staley from http://www.staleytraining.com/

1) Not training for strength:

Many martial artists feel that strength training is counter-productive, causing one to become too large and slow, despite the fact that in every other sport known to man, it makes athletes faster. Training like a bodybuilder (see mistake number 3) can certainly produce these undesirable effects, but properly designed strength training programs improve strength, speed, agility, endurance, and technical performance. Strength training should be viewed as a tool, the utility of which depends upon the context it’s used in.

2) Training for the wrong kind of strength:

Strength as a bio-motor ability has many expressions. All human movement requires strength, and for this reason, all athletes must concern themselves with developing their strength levels to the utmost. What many don’t know, however, is that there more types of strength than there are bogus ab-training gadgets on late-night info-mercials!

Here’s a partial list:

Maximal Strength: The amount of musculoskeletal force you can generate for one all-out effort. Maximal strength is your athletic “foundation,” but it can only be expressed in the weight room during the performance of a maximal lift. While only powerlifters demonstrate this type of strength in competition, martial artists need to develop high levels of maximal strength in every muscle group.

Relative Strength: This term is used to denote an athlete’s strength per unit of bodyweight. Thus if two athletes of different bodyweights can squat 275 pounds, they have equal maximal strength for that lift, but the lighter athlete has greater relative strength.

Competitive events which have weight classes depend heavily on relative strength, as do sports where the athlete must overcome his or her bodyweight to accomplish a motor task (such as a jump kick). Further, events which have aesthetic requirements (kata competition, for example) rely heavily upon the development of strength without a commensurate gain in bodyweight.

Strength can be developed through two very different means— by applying stress to the muscle cells themselves, or by targeting the nervous system. The former method is accomplished through the use of bodybuilding methods (repetitions between 6 and 12), and results in strength gains through an increase in muscle cross-section. The latter is accomplished through higher intensity loads (repetitions between 1 and 4), and increases in strength are the result of the body’s improved ability to recruit more of its existing motor unit pool.

For martial artists and other athletes who depend upon relative strength, bodybuilding methods should be used sparingly, unless a higher weight class is desired. Most strength training sessions should consist of high intensity, low repetition sets, which improve strength through neural adaptations rather than increases in muscle cross section.

3) Training like a bodybuilder:

My consultations with competitive martial artists reveal that bodybuilding is the predominant paradigm in today’s strength training world, at least in this country. But bodybuilding methods are designed to produce muscle mass, not strength. And while bodybuilders are strong, their relative strength is poor compared to other explosive strength athletes. These methods have some degree of utility for beginning martial artists as a means of attaining basic fitness, but after a year or so, they should be used sparingly, if at all.

4) Using insufficient intensity:

Most martial artists can relate to doing hundreds of pushups, sit-ups, and leg lifts in class, but as soon as you go beyond approximately 12 repetitions, the stimulus is too weak to favorably improve strength values. Think about it: as a martial artist, would you rather have the ability to perform weak techniques for hours on end, or the ability to deliver explosive, powerful techniques when it really counts? In training, you reap what you sow.

5) Lack of variation:

While many people realize that the training load must be progressively increased, few understand that the training stimulus must also be periodically be varied in order to prevent stagnation. Elite sprint coach Charlie Francis recommends changing the training program whenever there is a one week plateau in strength gains. Internationally acclaimed strength coach Charles Poliquin utilizes alternating phases of high volume with phases of high intensity in order to keep his athletes progressing.

Click here for the full list http://www.staleytraining.com/articles/charles-staley/2009/10-strength-mistakes-made-by-martial-artists.htm

His DVD

The following programs are designed to be used on the power station  using some of the additional equipment that you can get with it.

For these circuit you can go for time or reps. If these exercises are easy for you go for time, if they are hard go for reps. In most of these videos I’m using 5-6 reps for each exercise. You can use any of the circuits below to add into your workout, or combine 2 or 3 for your training session.

Perform 2-5 rounds for the circuits with 4 or 5 exercises. Perform 5-10 rounds for the circuits with 2 or 3 exercises. If your going for time you could use 45 work/ 15 rest, 30 work/ 30 rest or do 5 reps of each. Just do whatever is a good challenge when maintaining good form.

power station 

The following is an excellent article by Catherine Imes (America’s first Master of Sports) on how subtle differences in how you move and shift your weight when lifting kettlebells can have quite dramatic effects on lifting efficiency.

Potential Energy

Potential Energy is a term commonly used in physics. It basically means that an object has stored energy as a result of its position. I will illuminate an application of its use in Kettlebell Lifting in what some may find an unlikely place.

Potential Energy is a term commonly used in physics.  It basically means that an object has stored energy as a result of its position.  I will illuminate an application of its use in Kettlebell Lifting in what some may find an unlikely place.

Ideally, our resting positions utilize our skeletal systems.   We rest with the kettlebell on the hip of the hand, the elbow over the hip (iliac crest), and our weight is shifted more towards the heels at rest provided that we have worked on our flexibility.   We do this to take the stress off our muscles so that we may prolong our sets, but we do this for another reason; to maximize our potential energy.

When you are standing with the bells in the rack position, your weight is likely on your heels to support the bells.  This is also potential energy. The potential energy  exists because you will shift towards the balls of the feet to extend the knees.  If you are fluid (without pause) when shifting the weight, your first bump will be more powerful and will require less effort.  In essence, it creates a wave effect with the first bump: the energy doesn’t stop once you start shifting the weight and this potential energy is converted to kinetic energy; the energy of motion.

The same analogy can be drawn with the snatch.  At the back of the swing the weight will be on the heels, and the legs will be straight or close to straight, as the bell moves forward, the weight should shift to the balls of the feet so that you can extend the knees in a similar fashion as you would in the first bump in the jerk.  This “shifting” is energy and it is energy that you can use in conjunction with extending the knees. This will help you create a more powerful and effortless ascension.  Furthermore, it really reduces the chance that you will pull with your hand too early out of the backswing.  Therefore, it will stave off grip fatigue and reduce the chances of hand tears.

The key point is to be aware of this potential energy.  Shifting your weight from the heels to the balls of your feet creates this energy that can be utilized for a powerful first bump in the jerk, and much more effortless ascension in the snatch.

If you start the Jerk with bent knees before the first bump, then you’ve reduced the potential energy of the first bump.  The same thing can be said for the snatch.  If you don’t shift the weight to your heels at the back of the swing, then you won’t shift the weight back towards the balls of the feet as the weight swings forward.  Consequently, the timing with which you extend the knees to engage the legs will be less than optimal because you won’t take full advantage of the swing and the pendulum effect.

Awareness of your position, so that you have potential energy is very crucial to your success as a lifter.  The more I watch Valery Fedorenko and other elite lifters, and the more I practice,  I realize this potential energy concept is a huge piece in the lifting puzzle.   Beginning lifters stand to really benefit from the application of this concept.  It will help them immensely with their timing and execution.  They will become more powerful and athletic and will add reps to their sets.  Experienced folks, who are unaware or haven’t considered this concept,  may find an immediate boost in their power with little or no additional effort.

This “potential energy” concept as I have described in kettlebell lifting is applicable to athletics in general.   Weightlifters use it.  When an athlete like a football or soccer player quickly changes a direction they are using it.  I personally noticed that my speed and power with my kickboxing improved once I became aware of how to shift my weight.  The bottom line is that whether you are using Kettlebells to improve your conditioning and athleticism for your sport, or trying to improve you numbers in Kettlebell sport, paying attention to your potential energy can make a significant difference in your performance.

The following programs are designed to be used on the power station with minimal additional equipment and minimal adjustment of that equipment.

For these circuit you can go for time or reps. If these exercises are easy for you go for time, if they are hard go for reps. You can use any of the circuits below to add into your workout, or combine 2 or 3 for your training session.

Perform 2-5 rounds. Below I have prescribed 45 work/ 15 rest, but you could use 30 work/ 30 rest or do 15 reps of each. Just do whatever is a good challenge for you.

Full body Circuits

• 1a Sled push (on fat bar) 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1b Incline row (on fat bar) 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1c Conan’s walk 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1d dips 45 work/ 15 rest
• Rest 1 min

• 1a step ups (hight of base of knee cap) 45 work/ 15 rest (each side)
• 1b incline push up 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1c chin 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1d box jumps (hight of base of knee cap) 45 work/ 15 rest
• Rest 1 min

Upper body strength endurance circuit

• 1a 1 arm incline row 45 work/ 15 rest (change arms with each rep)
• 1b 1 arm incline push up 45 work/ 15 rest (change arms with each rep)
• 1c Chin ups neutral grip 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1d Dips 45 work/ 15 rest
• Rest 1 min

Lower body strength endurance circuit

• 1a Forward sled walk (rope needed) 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1b Backward sled walk (rope needed) 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1c Yoke walks 45 work/ 15 rest
• 1d Conan’s walk 45 work/ 15 rest
• Rest 1 min

Assess and Correct is a new two dvd set from Eric Cressey, Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson.

It’s a step up from their previous work Magnificent Mobility.  It is a more comprehensive toll than Magnificent Mobility because it creates an individual program for everyone.  It does this by having two parts, not surprisingly the “assess” and “correct” sections.

There are 27 assessments, mainly looking at muscle length and strength defects, which are a great screening tool.  If you fail any of the assessments, the “correct” dvd will help you fix it.  The “correct” dvd has 78 exercises/progressions designed to work specifically on any defects illuminated via the screening process.

There is no BS, just a short clip with two camera angles and a voice over with instructions and cues, then a written description.  This format allows them to pack in lots of good information in the 2 dvds, but there is a baseline knowledge that they assume you have.

Assess and Correct is ideal for a trainer who is looking for a new tool to help their clients feel and perform better.

To get your own copy of Assess and Correct please view this web page.

The following interview was done by Ice Chamber Coach Maya:

Master of Sport, Elena Viktorovna Yurysheva is from the Vologodskaya region in the city of Vytegra, Russia.  She is 25 years old and weighs between 60-61 kilograms.  Elena credits her coach, Vyacheslav Yakovlevich Ogarev, for helping her become one of the first women in the world to snatch the 24kg kettlebell over 120 times in competition.  Here are a few of Elena’s opinions on women’s participation in the sport and about her goal to break a world record this year…

Maya: Please tell us how you became involved in Kettlebell Sport.

Elena: I practiced a variety of sports, but in our small city it was only possible to achieve great success in kettlebell sport, and because of a strong coach!! We don’t have the possibility of doing some other kind of sport (not in gyms or in stadiums). And by nature I’m active and I’m more attracted to active sports.

Maya: What are some of your personal records?

Elena: Snatch 16 kg kettlebell – 220 times. Snatch 24 kg kettlebell 121 times!

Maya: What Championship titles do you hold?

Elena: World Champion and Champion of Europe

Maya: Tell us about your training regimen.

Elena: I try to train everyday for two hours, but it doesn’t always work.  I train alone because I train at home!

Maya: How do you feel about female kettlebell lifters performing jerks and participating in the Biathlon?

Elena: It’s very good that they are competing in the jerk and in the biathlon.  First of all, it’s interesting!  Secondly, there are more opportunities to prove oneself. Thirdly, because of the increase in the number of female athletes.  Whatever each person does better in, that is what they should compete in.

Maya: Do you perform jerks in training for the snatch?

Elena: Yes, I always do jerks in the training process. I jerk one and two 16 kg kettlebells and I also jerk 20kgs, but of course, just for a little bit.

Maya: Do you go to school or are you working?

Elena: I work at the city sports committee as a senior instructor-methodologist.  I don’t have any free time; I work more during my breaks and if it happens that I get free time, then I train!

Maya: What advice do you have for people just starting out?

Elena: Of course they need patience because they won’t get it right away and results don’t happen immediately!

Maya: What are your aspirations for the future?

Elena: To complete the standard for MSWC (Master of Sports World Class) although I have already completed it [in training].  …and to achieve a world record in my weight class!

Bands are not a new thing, but short bands offer a new and alternative way to use resistance bands. The micro resistance bands offer a simple and convenient way to perform warm ups/activation drills, improve form and increase the challenge of traditional exercises.

WARM UPS/ACTIVATION DRILLS

Micro resistance bands can be used for activation drills, which is a great addition to any warm up. Activation drills are an exercise that targets specific muscles to improve their performance or to help prevent injury during the work out. Once a muscle has been stimulated it will be easier to activate.

Common activation drills for the lower body are the supine bridge and the x-bands walks (walking side to side). Supine bridge works the hip extensors, but when you add the micro resistance bands to the movement you work the hip extensors, external rotators and the abductors. For walking drills you can have the short bands around your knees or ankles. If you have any knee issues putting the short bands just above them will reduce the stress on the knees. Having the bands around the ankles increases the resistance the bands create.

Wall walks can be used as an activation drill for the upper body. Have both arms inside the bands, fix one to the wall as the other moves. These movements are the most important: side to side thumb pointing in/ out and diagonally up focusing on squeezing your shoulder blade down and back. Thumb in uses rhomboid a little more, thumb out simulates middle traps more and diagonally works lower traps more.

IMPROVING FORM

Micro resistance bands can be used to create good habits or reinforce proper technique. A common error when beginners are leaning to squat is their knees drop in. You can use the band as a kinaesthetic queue to teach them to fight against the pull of the band to improve their knee alignment. The same error can occur at the bottom of a squat in more experienced squatter when they are using maximal weight. This is more likely to be due to relative weakness in VMO and the glutes. In this case you could use the bands in conjunction with sub maximal weight to reinforce good squatting form and strengthen the appropriate muscle groups.

Micro resistance bands can also be used to improve pressing form. Placing the bands around your wrist is a great kinaesthetic queue to teach someone to press with proper upper body alignment, rather than arms out to the side.

INCREASING THE CHALLENGE

Adding the band to any exercise will stimulate more muscle because it adds another dimension to the resistance. For example the torch press with the power clubs and the bands around the wrist is a great exercise for shoulder strength and stability. At the bottom of the movement your elbows are at 90 degrees, wrists inline with your shoulder resisting the pull of the bands, your rotor cuff muscle are very active in this position, they must work really hard to maintain good alignment as you press up.

Micro resistance bands will also help to work out imbalances, increasing the challenge to your weaker side. This happens because the stronger side will maintain its alignment and the weaker side will be pulled in, forcing the weaker side to work hard to maintain alignment and therefore increasing the challenge.

TRADITIONAL EXERCISES + Micro Resistance Bands

For more information about our full range of resistance bands and accessories please tap this link.