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This past summer and fall of 2005 I completed the UNLOCK and the NAKED WARRIOR seminars presented by www.dragondoor.com within a couple of months of each other. My next planned seminar was the www.dragondoor.com RKC program scheduled for the end of September. While training for this one, I encountered my first sign of trouble. It began with left low back pain while doing snatches with a relatively light 20 Kg kettlebell. This persisted for several weeks but gradually improved every day.
Then, the last week in September I was doing Seated Double Overhead Presses with two 16 Kg kettlebells when I noticed a squishy sensation in the right buttocks area just as the bells were being locked overhead. Rather than paying attention, I did another rep. The sensation this time was doubly intense and spread over twice the area. This definitely stopped me, and I decided to 'walk it off.' After a mile on the treadmill everything felt fine and the rest of my workout was completed with no problems.
While standing the next day, I began experiencing intense pain in the right buttock area that progressively worsened until no weight could be tolerated on my right leg. This forced a cancellation of my attendance at the RKC seminar.
After two days off work, things were no better. Being self employed meant I had to work no matter what. The pain was now going to just below my right knee whenever I stood for even a few minutes. This would progressively and rapidly increase to the point where I would have to sit immediately, on the floor or anywhere, and wait for the pain to subside. At its worst, I was reduced to scooting on my butt to get from room to room. My right leg continued to weaken to the point where going up or down stairs required one step at a time with my left leg.
Massage, electrical physiotherapy, stretching, and Chiropractic manipulation helped briefly and temporarily, but I could not sleep in a bed with my legs straight or bent. Muscle relaxers and pain medication helped for a few hours but the pain still returned whenever there was weight on my right leg.
Finally, after four weeks of no significant improvement, I contacted John DuCane. John reminded me of something so obvious it was like being smacked in the head by the proverbial Zen master. Balance, not only for the physical, but also, equally important, for the spiritual, is the key.
I had been training for six to seven days a week for almost a year. During that time my running, which had been a regular part of my exercise program for over thirty years, had declined to one or maybe two days a week. Likewise, my stretching after the UNLOCK seminar was ignored as more time was devoted to body weight exercises in preparation for the NAKED WARRIOR seminar. John's Qigong Recharge exercises and my meditations had been forgotten. And, during all this time, my kettlebell routines had been regularly increasing in intensity.
That weekend I decided that if my condition was not going to improve with inactivity or anything else, I would either 'make it or break it' so something could be done one way or the other. I began walking on the treadmill. The first quarter mile was excruciating. The second was somewhat less. The third was manageable. And, the fourth was definitely bearable.
Several days later I spoke with Pavel and he said I had to 'take the hair of the dog.' This was all the confirmation I needed. I had to beat the problem, caused by improperly balanced exercises and over-exercising, by exercising correctly. Pavel recommended 'greasing the groove' with three exercises: Wall Squats, One-Leg Dead Lifts, and Windmills. 'Greasing the groove' means doing several of each of the exercises as often as possible throughout the day. I began immediately. It was not easy, but there was noticeable relief that day. It lasted about an hour or two. My condition continued to improve every day thereafter.
Within two weeks I was able to begin body weight exercises. Within another week I was in the woods for the opening day of elk season and, with the help of two friends, dragged a 475 pound, 5 X 4 elk over fifty yards out of a swampy, brushy area where I had dropped him with one shot. No, I wasn't one hundred percent. My right leg collapsed several times during the pull, but the other guys needed breaks also.
Now, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, after a thorough warm-up including, among other things, John DuCane's shaking, recharge, and spiraling exercises, I do one to three sets of both kettlebell and body-weight exercises. Each set includes:
- 1. Five Two Kettlebell One Leg Deadlifts (Core)
- 2. Five Two Kettlebell Windmills on each side (Core)
- 3. Five Kettlebell Turkish Get-Ups on each side (Core)
- 4. Five Wall Squats and five Janda Sit-Ups (Active Rest)
- 5. Five Modified (progressively lighter fingertip assistance on the opposite side) One-Arm Push-Ups on each side (Push)
- 6. Twenty Double Arm Kettlebell Swings followed by ten Single Arm Kettlebell Swings on each side (Pull)
- 7. Five Kettlebell Clean & Presses on each side (Push)
- 8. Five Wall Squats and five Janda Sit-Ups (Active Rest)
- 9. Five Pull Ups (Pull)
- 10. Five Iranian Push Ups with feet elevated six inches (Push)
- 11. Ten Kettlebell Snatches on each side (Pull)
- 12. Five Wall Squats and five Janda Sit-Ups (Active Rest)
The weight of the kettlebells, the number of reps, and the number of sets vary throughout each month. For example, the first week in January will be one set, the second week will be two sets, and the third week will be three sets with 16 Kg kettlebells. The fourth week I lighten everything (reps, sets, weights, time, distance, etc.) for one week. In other words, one week of 'active rest' for every three weeks of progression. February will see an increase to the 20 Kg kettlebells. And, if all continues to progress comfortably, I'll be using my 24 Kg kettlebells again in March.
Variety will be incorporated into these workouts by varying the number of reps and sets. Sometimes, heavier bells will be used with fewer reps one day a week. Occasionally, sets of 1-2-3-4-5 reps or 5-4-3-2-1 reps will help get past training plateaus.
The above program is followed by at least ten minutes of cool-down active stretches with the breathing assist techniques taught by Steve Maxwell and Pavel in the UNLOCK and NAKED WARRIOR seminars. Each day's final activity is three to five minutes of inversion traction, never exceeding 45 degrees.
Totally optionally, for me, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings begin with the same warmup and mobility exercises followed by a short, three-quarter speed run on Tuesdays, a slightly longer or slightly faster run on Thursdays, and a slow, longer run on Saturdays. All of these runs include variable speeds and paces with none of the runs exceeding three to five miles. After the runs the same cool-down stretches and inversion traction complete the workout.
Restful Sundays utilize Steve Maxwell's full body warm-up and one leg exercise routines as demonstrated and taught in the UNLOCK and NAKED WARRIOR seminars. The warmup takes about 20 to 30 minutes and covers every muscle, joint, and range of motion in your body. Steve's standing One Leg Exercises require about four to five minutes for each leg. This is followed by the usual cool-down active stretches and inversion traction.
To avoid overtraining injuries in the future, my days begin with a first morning pulse check. This is more accurate when taken for one full minute, at the same time and in the same position, before you sit up or get out of bed. If you take your first morning pulse every day for a week and calculate your average, you will have an instant check for whether you should exercise hard that day or not. If any first morning pulse thereafter exceeds your average first morning pulse by ten or more beats, do not exercise or work hard that day, or any following days, until your first morning pulse is again closer to your average. Remember, as your conditioning improves, your first morning average pulse will naturally become slower, so adjust accordingly.
Besides this convenient test, I at least proceed through my warmup every morning. If my energy level is high, I continue on to the rest of my routine for that day. If not, I don't. Constantly monitoring this energy level throughout the workout dictates how the rest of the program goes. I never force anything now. If it feels good and I am focused, with my technique right-on, I do the exercise(s). If anything feels 'not right,' I change the reps, amount of weight, number of sets, or something, including stopping for the day, until it does.
Besides training smart, remember John DuCane's admonition about balance. John teaches many Qigong techniques during the UNLOCK seminar that are truly invaluable. Besides John's classes and his Recharge CD and manual available at www.dragondoor.com , there is another CD, also available through www.dragondoor.com , entitled the Chinese Shamanic Tiger Qigong. John also recommends books by B. K. Frantzis that describe the very effective Water Method of Taoist Meditation. I found copies at www.amazon.com.
And, as always, our bodies require adequate sleep and proper nutrition to optimally recover from and maximize the benefits of exercise. If you are not waking feeling completely rested and energized, you may need more sleep or a new sleep system. The three sleep systems I have recommended to my patients for years are the air adjustable types like the Select Comfort, the Tempurpedic memory foam beds, and the King Koil, the only mattresses endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association.
Proper nutrition is a topic to which I have devoted over twenty years of study and clinical experience. It is much too large for this article, but I would recommend that anyone who wishes more information visit my website at www.TheNaturalHealthPlace.com . There you can find articles, on General Dietary Recommendations and a One Week Cleansing Fast, that are solid foundations for anyone's nutritional needs. Most important nutritionally, however, is refueling within thirty to forty-five minutes of workouts. The most important nutrient to refuel is protein since your muscles will be optimally replenishing their stores during this time frame.
Years ago, I located Dragon Door on the Internet while searching for an egg-based protein powder for making drinks for refueling. Whey powder is a waste product of the milk industry. Soy has entire texts devoted to why not to use it, except for small amounts of fermented soy products. I am presently working with a nutrition company to produce the ultimate organic, egg-based protein drink. This will provide the perfect refueling, meal-replacement supplement.
Other good sources of nutrition information include books such as Ori Hofmekler's The Warrior Diet and Dr. Al Sears' exceptional The Doctor's Heart Cure. These are both available on www.dragondoor.com.
Avoid the pain and forced time off of injuries. Balance is the key. Use common sense and train smart.
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