the joy of kettlebells
October 31, 2010
The Best Exercise.
July 9, 2010
This is the Turkish Get Up combined with a straight leg Windmill.
If it is not the absolute best exercise, it is at least in the top 20. This exercise is as timeless as it is effective. it works the whole body (of course), while promoting bulletproof core strength and shoulder stability. It sure beats any machine – based exercise.
Are You Quietly Killing Your Knees?
July 8, 2010
Are you doing knee-friendly exercises? RealAge.com recently asked this all important question.
The artice was entitled: “Are You Killing Your KNees?” What is the age of your knees? Are you guilty of any of the bad habits outlined in this article? To a large extent knee pain is both treatable and avoidable.
KetYoga, the combination of kettlebells and yoga, is an effective way of dealing with and preventing knee pain. The exercises of KetYoga improve posture, strength and flexibility – and strengthen the connective tissue of the joints. The exercises of KetYoga are not only low impact on the knees, they actually serve to build the joint up by efficiently increasing strength, reilience and mobility - unlike activities such as long distance running and other low-intensity aerobics.
Treat your knees well, and they will return the favor.
Want to sleep better? Exercise.
December 3, 2009
Sleep has incredible restorative powers. Here is a short article from the New York Times that highlights a connection between amount of exercise and the quality of sleep.
Powerful Breathing Exercises
November 24, 2009
This is a demontration of some very potent breathing and bodyweight exercises that are part of the KetYoga system. Breathing is the most vital process of the body, but it is frequently overlooked in today’s training protocols.
Do You Really Value Your Body?
September 29, 2009
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What is your body worth? After all, your life depends on your body. Can a monetary value be placed on your flesh and bones? Two years ago a person tried to sell his kidney on e-bay; the starting bid was $25,000. In just eight days, desperate patients drove the price into the millions before the company blocked the sale.
If someone offered you a million dollars to cut off your left hand, would you do it? The majority of people would answer this question in the negative. If the average person’s hand or kidney is worth more than a million dollars, how much would the whole body be worth? The number would easily reach into the billions. On the other hand, if someone offered you a million dollars for your car, or a billion dollars for your house, would you accept? It might be hard to find someone who would not accept these offers. Following this line of thinking, why is it that so many people spend more resources on their houses and cars than they do on their own bodies? Some people are more concerned with the proper functioning of their car than the proper functioning of their body. Isn’t it even more important to maintain your body than to maintain a house or a car? Houses and cars are made for the use and comfort of our bodies, but are lives certainly do not depend on them. Although they are important, they are supremely less important than the health and maintenance of the body itself.
Ancient Yogic philosophy teaches that a human birth is indeed difficult to obtain, and that a human life is extremely valuable. Yet we receive this great gift for free, without asking, and as a result, we may sometimes take our life and body for granted.
Nature nourishes and sustains us, but over the course of a lifetime, nature also wants to break us down. That is why we build houses, to protect us from the elements. It is our job to fight nature. When it is cold, we turn up the heat. When it is hot, we turn on the AC. We have umbrellas to protect us from the rain. Sun Screen to block the sun. Likewise, training the body is like building a house. It is wise to build a strong, resilient house that can weather even the most severe storms.
Many people today are sick and in pain due to the physical conditioning of their body. Some of these people lead sedentary lives, but many of them spend time at the gym and even have personal trainers! The problem is that they are not training earnestly and intelligently. It is easy to become bored with ineffective and inefficient training. Unsurprisingly, their results were not good.
Whether the cause is a sedentary lifestyle or ineffective training, the result is tightness and weakness of our muscular-skeletal systems. This condition gives rise to unnatural body mechanics, poor posture and innumerable orthopedic issues that all too frequently lead to surgeries. Tight muscles, tendons and ligaments prevent our joints from moving thru their full range of motion. This creates physical as well as energetic blockages, which manifest as tension, pain, weakness and a predisposition to injury.
The question naturally becomes, “Which exercises provide the greatest value for promoting the natural health and strength of the human body?” As it turns out, some of the most ”benefit-dense” exercises are also the oldest. Kettlebells and yoga are a distillation of the most comprehensive and effective body movements available, providing the practitioner with the quickest route to a strong, flexible and resilient body.
Show your body you care – try some kettlebell and yoga exercises!
Crane Pose
September 12, 2009
Here is a demonstration of the Crane Pose – an excellent exercise for developing strength and balance. It may seem challenging at first, but it becomes easier with every repetition.
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OBEY Fedor.
September 6, 2009
Fedor Emelianenko
Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko, the world’s best mixed martial arts fighter, trains with kettlebells.
LAZINESS: The Great Enemy of Yoga
August 31, 2009
If Yoga is so great, why isn’t everybody doing it? Well, chances are that a person will be exposed to a very lame version of “yoga.” But wait, there is another reason: Laziness is the great enemy of Yoga.
Patanjali was an Indian physician, sage and scholar. Over 2500 years ago, he collected and systematized all the known knowledge of yoga and organized it into the Yoga Sutras. He is often regarded as the “father of yoga.”
Nearly all distractions and obstacles to Yoga practice listed by Patanjali come under the general heading of sloth or laziness. Laziness is said to be the inspirer of cowardice, self-pitying grief and trivial hair-splitting doubts. According to Yoga philosophy, sloth is the lowest condition of nature and the human mind. Buddha and Patanjali were in agreement; Buddha pointed out that if there is any sin, it is laziness.
The magic of Yoga is in the repetition. The key is regularity and consistency of practice. This means practicing when you do not feel like it – do not give in to laziness. It is better to practice a little and enjoy it than to not practice at all. The effects of Yoga practice are cumulative; achievement typically comes in small increments over long periods of time. Perseverance is very important in connection to a Yoga practice. Remember, there is no failure as long as we continue to make an effort.
“Anyone who practices can obtain success in yoga but not one who is lazy. Constant practice alone is the secret of success.”
-Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika
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The Art of Breathing. pt 1
August 29, 2009
THE ART OF BREATHING
The breath is one of the most powerful training tools that we have. Gaining control over the respiratory system allows for a dramatic increase in physical performance. Breathing is the most vital process of the body. We start breathing when we are born, and when we stop breathing, we die. The air that we breathe travels through 1500 miles of airways before it animates and sustains the life of every cell in the body. Many people give great consideration to what they eat and drink, but think little about their breath. A person can live a month or more without food, a week or more without liquids, but deprived of breath – we die in minutes. In light of this, it is astonishing how little attention we normally pay to the impact of breathing correctly.
On average, human beings breathe 21,600 times per day. Yet most people have forgotten how to breathe correctly. Shallow breathing through the mouth uses only a small portion of the lung capacity and leaves the thoracic and diaphragmatic muscles tight and weak. Typically, this tendency only worsens as we age, and our breath becomes ever-more shallow. (Contrast the deep abdominal breathing of a toddler with the shallow breathing of a typical, untrained adult.) Shallow breathing deprives the body of the oxygen that is essential to good health. This results in a lack of vitality and a compromised immune system. Additionally, shallow breathing deprives our internal organs of the movement that is essential to proper functioning.
Fortunately, our breath can be dramatically improved with proper training. By consciously training, restoring and balancing our breath, we feel full of life. Ket Yoga employs the ground-breaking techniques of Mahaprana Yoga to teach the most effective and efficient ways to strengthen and smooth the flow of our breath. The Prana Sanchalan Kriya develop overall cardiovascular endurance and greatly increase our capacity to breathe through the nose. By forcefully pumping the lungs at a fast pace, these exercises simultaneously strengthen and cleanse the entire respiratory system.
Developing the capacity to take deep, relaxed breaths through the nose is extremely important. Breathing through the nose provides valuable breath-regulating mechanisms such as warming and filtering the air. From the yogic point of view breathing through the nose also maximizes the amount of prana that is absorbed, since prana passes through the olfactory organs at the back of the nose to reach the central nervous system and brain.
The quality of our breath is extremely important because it reflects our mental state. Yogic philosophy has long-recognized the breath to be the intermediary between the mind and body, and the link between the inner and outer body. When the movement of the breath becomes relaxed, the movement of the mind is calmed. This relaxed state allows us to realize our potential in athletic performance.
Western science tells us that although the human brain makes up only 2% of the body’s weight, it consumes 20% of the oxygen that the body uses. Proper breathing enables us to bring more oxygen to the blood and thus to the brain. By increasing the concentration of oxygen in the body, the brains ability to concentrate improves.
By training the breath with effective techniques, it can become stronger, more balanced and in tune with Nature. Learn to make use of these valuable techniques and get the most out of your training and your breath!
