A Very Busy Next 3 Months...

Pops and Hammer pushing one another during a Saturday Pain Clinic

With July coming to a close we are preparing for a month full of activities in August which will only be rivaled by September and October. So get your calendars out and make room on your busy schedule. You won't to miss any of the fun.

Beginning at the end of this week the majority of the staff at the gym will be taking a much needed vacation. So we will have a modified schedule for a few days. The following will be our vacation schedule starting this Friday -
Friday 27JUL - 5:30pm class only (9am class cancelled)
Saturday 28JUL - 9am Pain Clinic only
Monday 30JUL - 5:30pm class only (9am & 630pm classes cancelled)
Tuesday 31JUL - 9am & 5:30pm class only (630pm class cancelled)
Wednesday 1AUG - 9am & 5:30pm class only (630pm class cancelled)
Thursday - back to regular schedule



For the month of August we have two big events we'd like you guys to come participate in;

1) Saturday 19AUG12 - (0900-1200) We will be hosting the local USMC recruiting station for a 1/2 day of physical training and team building for future Marine recruits. We will need as many volunteers as possible to lead these guys through a half day of fun! If you've never helped out in one of these PSKC/USMC events you're missing out

2) Saturday 25AUG12 - 2 Year Anniversary Celebration! We're still finalizing details, but rest assured we'll kick off with a monster workout followed by food and drinks. Then possibly a cookout pool party afterwards.

In September we have the following;

Saturday 15SEP12 - we will be rolling deep over to Troy, Ohio for a great time at the Back at the Ranch competition/event. I think we have 4-5 teams signed up. You can also register as a volunteer or try to round up some more folks to join you on a team. The more the merrier!

Saturday 29SEP12 - the Adams County 1/2 Marathon. This will be my first 1/2 and I'll need all the pushing I can get! Plus our very own Louvina is organizing the event. Click HERE to learn more about it.

And finally for October!

Saturday 13OCT12 - Portsmouth Area Gym Competition at Spartan Stadium. The Scioto County Health Commission is in the process of finalizing details. But there will be both all male and all female teams comprised of individuals from Scioto County gyms. Each team will compete against one another in a series of fun and challenging events. More info to come!

Saturday 21OCT12 - KENTUCKY TOUGH MUDDER! We've got around 10 people already signed up on the PSKC team and always looking for more to take on the Mudder! Click HERE to register.


So as you can see plenty of stuff to keep you busy and to dedicate training time towards. Keep getting stronger, keep getting faster, and keep going longer. If you're interested in taking part in this lil bit of awesomeness happening in the next 90 days, come on down and schedule an intro. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish in the next 3 months. No need to be worried/shy/intimidated, just read what two folks have to say about completing the beginners program;

"I just wanted to say your coaches really make everyone feel welcome and not dumb for not knowing how to work out like most gyms I have tried."

"I was very pleased with my initial PSKC experience. Both staff and members were very polite, helpful, and humble. Really appreciate it!"


Our next beginners program is this Tuesday at 5:30pm. Hope to see you then!

Help With Your Kettlebell Swing

One of the more common faults we see during the kettlebell swing is too much hyperextension in your back. At the top of your swing you should be braced and structurally aligned. In order to achieve this you should be able to draw a straight line from your shoulder through your hip through your knee and end at your ankle.

How you get into trouble with hyperextension is when your shoulder moves past the hip.

The best thing to do is break your body down into 3 major parts:

1) Ankle to knee - this should form a near vertical line with weight grounded into the floor through your heels

2) Knee to Hip - this will right around 45 degrees. Move your hips/butt straight back producing tension in your hamstring (loaded spring)

3) Your spine. This is always be straight, neutral, and braced. Never soft and rounded. In the backswing you'll be inhaling air and exhaling at the top.

So with the video below we wanted to clearly show what a good swing looks like and then contrast that with what hyperextended swing looks like. Remember to always get a good deep backswing and use strong hip snap. But don't leaning back at the top. Hope you guys find it helpful!

Monthly Challenges

"WILL DO TODAY WHAT OTHER'S WON'T, WILL DO TOMORROW WHAT OTHERS CAN'T"
-SMOKE JUMPERS CREED

Starting this Friday we will begin a series of monthly challenges. On the 3rd Friday of every month you'll have the opportunity to complete what appears to be an insane physical task. For example a couple of the coaches yesterday completed 1000 kettlebell swings for time.

Although 1000 swings appears to be physically demanding (and it is), the main purpose of these challenges is harness mental toughness.

Mark Divine, owner of SEALFIT and creator of the Unbeatable Mind Academy, often talks about the 20X factor. In response to a question regarding mental breakthroughs through physical challenges, Mark details; (please read full interview HERE)

"I call this the 20X factor. This is one of the things I learned in Hell Week...you’re dealing with that sleep deprivation and that nonstop training and by the end of it you’re just like, "Wow, how did I do that?" It creates a new sense of what’s possible, and I call that the 20X. You’re literally, all of a sudden, faced with this new person who knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you’re capable of about 20 times or more than you previously thought you were capable of."

But in order to recognize this 20X factor that we all possess, we must continually subject ourselves to ardous physical challenges. A key example of this was when a group of us did the Burpee Mile for Veteran's Day. It's not about the time it took to finish the task, it was a matter of finishing it.

More importantly it was about what you learned along the way. A quarter mile into it, everyone realized this was not going to be easy. Things started to hurts, the seductive music of self doubt started to play louder in your head.
"Why am I doing this?"
"This is the dumbest thing I've ever done"
"I'm just gonna turn around and go back"

It would have been easy to quit, that is the point you will realize you're 20 times more capable than what you previously were led to believe.

Everyone can be full of enthusiasm and energy when they first start. But it's only when we subject ourselves to the fire, that bullshit can be burned away. It's easy to tell stories of accomplishments in your past...it's much more difficult to accomplish new things today.

It is in this spirit of self exploration this Friday we are starting the monthly challenge series. Here are some examples you'll be able to choose from:

1000 swings
1000 double unders
750 air squats
500 pushups
500 situps
300 wall ball
300 burpees
100 Curtis Ps
*Burpee Mile (this isn't officially apart of the challenge series, but if you haven't done it you're missing out)

All of these are manageable and each class you'll be given up to 50 minutes to complete as many reps as possible. It will be up to the individual to determine their pacing/rep plan. For the 1000 swings, we did 40 sets of 30 seconds work/30 seconds rest. Within the 30 seconds of work, our goal was to hit 25 swings each time.

As always, your fitness level will determine your realistic goal. If you're just starting out and haven't mastered the swing technique you have no business attempting 1000 swings in 50 minutes. You might just wanna shoot for you 50 sets of 10 (500). Keep in mind you'll only have 50 minutes to accomplish your goal. For example at the end of 50 minutes if you only completed 475 swings sometime in the future you'll be able to test out again.

Finally, after you've completed a challenge then you'll pick a new one the following month, another new one the month after that, etc..until you've crossed them all off your list.

Of course this series of challenges is completely voluntary and you'll know well in advance of the days we'll be doing them (the 3rd Friday of every month). Feel free to skip. It's not for everyone...the difficult path is always the road less traveled. This Friday we will see how many travelers we will have...hope to see you there.

Beginner Program Starts Friday at 5:30pm

one tough preacher..

This week already has witnessed some awesomeness. Coach Trappy programmed the week and welcomed us all with a nasty variation of the Crossfit staple "Fran". Throw some running mixed in with thrusters and pullups and you've got a spicey bit of goodness.

My best friend (who as much as I hate to admit it, is considerably stronger than me) is in town this week and despises running as much me. So he asked if he could do 21-15-9 of Power Clean to Thruster, than he wouldn't have to do the running the portion. We immediately had a deal.

He did all 45 Power Cleans to Thrusters at 225. Here's footage of the last one:
After rep 3, he admitted he thought it was not a good idea. But he powered through and 35 minutes later he finished. That's a total 10,125lbs lifted from the floor, squatted and then put overhead. Over 5 tons. Well done sir...well done.

You can also tell from the pics and videos we installed some "turf" over the weekend. It keeps the dirt down and opens up the place for a lot more usable square footage. And don't worry the prowler/butchers work just fine. As an added bonus the carpet adds a bit more traction on the sled, so you'll be earning every step you take.

I'd like to thank the crew (Ash, Joe, Pops, Zach, Kayla, B, Craftsman) who stayed over late last Thursday and helped install the carpet. Under the guidance of Kevin aka the Craftsmen we got er done! As awesome as the new turf is, she is a gentle soul. Feel free to use barbells with bumpers on her. But never drop kettlebells from any height on her. She will dent and rip pretty easy when a 50lb hunk of iron is dropped on her. I know you have 2 years worth of being able to drop kettlebells whenever and wherever you want. But don't drop them on the turf. If you are absolutely sure you can set it down perfectly each and every time during a workout you're trying to go as fast as possible, then feel free to use them on the turf. But best bet is to play it safe and use them on the black mats. This is what happens when you don't...

Lastly, we'll be offering a beginners program this Friday at 5:30pm. Drop us a note to let grab a slot. We try to keep the group small, so be sure to get ahold of us so you can get started right away!

Get Up...Chalk Up...Do It Again

You will get knocked down. You will fail. At some point (and several times for that matter) life will squarely kick you in the junk and bring you to your knees. So much so, it will seem like you don't want to get back up...

Inspiring right?

But the important part is that no matter how weary, how desparate things may seem, how fruitless it seems to continue.

Pick yourself up...
Knock off the dirt...
Spit out the blood..

KEEP MOVING FORWARD...get up, chalk up, and do it again.
One of the best and most recent examples of this tenacious attitude and spirit was last week when Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin took a terrible fall on the uneven bars. With that fall her hopes for making the Olympic team also went with it. See below:   In 2008, she won several medals at the Beijing Olympics. But to me, she showed the heart of a champion when she got back up and finished after that horrific faceplant. She stayed on the ground for roughly 5 seconds. In that timeframe, the thought of calling it quits had to cross her mind. She was having a rough trials and must have known that her chances of making the team had all but diminished with the fall. But she didn't, her tough lil ass got back on that bar. She got up... Chalked up... And did it again... Never quit. No one would have blamed her if she just walked away after taking that fall. Everyone would have thought she was too injured to continue. The only one who would have known the truth was Nastia. However, that wasn't an option. She didn't want to have to look in the mirror everyday of her life knowing she quit and walked away. She got up... Chalked up... And finished. Some days you're the hammer, some days you're the nail. Especially on those days you're getting pounding keep fighting...it's what will separate you from the others. In a world full of comfort and mediocrity, we need more people who choose the hard life. Those who feel the stifling heat in the summer and embrace the bitter cold of winter. Never complaining...never quitting. "It ain't about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward...that's how winning is done" I just found a new sports hero. I hope her example shines a magnificently bright light for you all to follow as well.  

Adams County Half Marathon - 29SEP12

This summer and fall our schedule is going to be jam packed full of events. We've got our 2 year anniversary celebration on August 25th. I think we're up to 5 teams now for the Back at the Ranch competition on September 15th. We're also working on a local Portsmouth area "battle of the gyms" in October. And also don't forget about the Tough Mudder in Maysville, Kentucky on October 20th!

But also in the midst of this madness, our very own Louvina is putting on a half marathon in Adams County on Saturday 29SEP12. Click HERE for the details. Some of the proceeds from the race will go to benefit the Amish school fund.

I'm not much of a runner myself. As a matter of fact I abhor running anything longer than a sprint distance. But in the spirit of doing things you suck at. I committed to doing this half marathon. It won't be pretty for me..but for all the runners at PSKC this would be a great course for you.

Get ahold of Louvina at the gym for more details.

Keep pounding the water. This week will be a good one. On the 4th of July, evening classes will be cancelled but we will be having the 9am class and it will be a good one.