Tracy's Group Training Schedule @ NoxcusesFitness and Menlo Pilates

Wow! January 2012 signifies the 4th anniversary of my first "official" Swing Class Schedule". Like the first part of every year, training starts out with such enthusiasm, and as the year goes on.....well, what have you been doing this past year?

"The kettlebell won't swing itself." (Mark Reifkind)

If you want to learn,

if you want to train,

if you want to become the athlete you thought it was too late to become.

You can have a body you're proud of,

and you can be in the best shape of your life....

it's never too late...you just have to show up and swing.

How do I know?

I live it.....I train Russian kettlebells, and I've developed a method of training the kettlebell swing that'll kick your butt, and change your body....for real!

NEW LOCATION starting Saturday January 7th, http://noxcusesfitness.com/, 

Tuesday mornings 6:00-7:00 @ Noxcuses Fitness

Join us every Tuesday morning at the crack o' dawn.....this weekday morning class is a wheel of a deal for $25 you get a full hour of group training. Starting at 6:05am we swing, swing, swing, snatch, squat, and maybe swing a little more until 7:00am....and not a minute less! This class is open in the first 30 minutes to anybody and everybody who has been training the kettlebell swing, but be warned.....you must have the disciple to self scale the workloads as the training intervals are advanced.  You must already know the skills of the snatch, clean/press and squat to train the entire hour.  This is not a "learn" group, although there is always coaching, I do not spend extra time teaching with this group.

It is required for you to reserve your space via email or phone, tracyrif@yahoo.com, (408)421-8293.

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Saturday Group Training taught by Tracy Reifkind RKC @ Noxcuses Fitness, Palo Alto

Learn to Swing Lessons Four semi private 30-45 min. lessons $200 , or $60 per drop-in. Maximum of only three new students at a time.

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Advanced Level 2 One hour, $40 per class. This is open only by invitation. Must have at least 2-3 years experience training high volume kettlebell ballistics, and be able to pass the RKC snatch test.

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Inter/Advanced Level 1 One hour, $40 per class. We will learn and train all 5 kettlebell skills, the swing, the snatch, the clean/press, clean/squat, and Get-up, in addition to Max Vo2 training.

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Inter Swing/Snatch 45 min., $25 per class. (you may learn to snatch, and clean/press, if you already don't know this skill)

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Basic Beginning Swing 30 min. $25 per class. If you have never attended one of my swing classes then you must either complete a "Learn to Swing" lesson. If you know how to swing but have never been to one of my classes you must start here to be evaluated for any other class skill level.

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1-on-1 Private Training. Learn to Swing, Snatch, Clean/Press, Turkish Get Up, and Master Swing Class available upon request and confirmation. $75 per 45 min session.

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Learn to Swing Lessons are for new students that have never swung a Russian kettlebell, or if you feel you need more practice and/or instruction before being allowed to attend a Beginner Class. These lessons are booked with a 3 person maximum! I recommend 4 weeks of learning the swing and it will be instructed as follows,

week 1, 2 hand swing and variations of the 2 hand swing week 2, 1 hand swings and transfers week 3, roundabouts week 4, combinations of all of the above swing movements and practice, practice, practice!

Advanced KB Training 1 hour classes are workouts only for those committed to consistent weekly training. In this workout expect to snatch 100's of reps, and/or train the snatch for 5-10 minute long sets. It also include heavy double bell training and Hardstyle swing training.

Intermediate Swing/Snatch/ Clean Press/ Double bells is a 45 minute class that includes learning all of these kettlebell movements, if you don't know already have these skills, and training these skills in combination with swings. A Student must already have a solid swing practice and a base level of conditioning. (equal work/rest intervals)

Basic Beginning Swing is a 30 minute class will almost always be an "equal work to equal rest ratio", and it is scaleable to your current ability.....your ability can, and will change very quickly, lol! This means at least 600 swings in a 30 minute time frame! For the Basic /Beginning Swing Classes, I offer 4 classes for the price of three, but they all have to be attended consecutively, for the simple reason that I believe in consistency. I'm most interested in people getting results, and to do that you have to train regulary.....I haven't missed a workout in over 4 years, and I expect the same from anyone interested in training with me!

Come 5-10 minutes early to stretch and warm up on your own, or park a few blocks away and use walking as a warm up, but be ready to start swinging, on time!

I encourage you to reserve your space via email or phone, tracyrif@yahoo.com, (408)421-8293.

I hope this group training can work into your schedule because, I promise, you can be truly inspired to take your training to a whole new level!

Finding Balance

In Bikram yoga this pose is called "balancing stick". It may look as if I'm simply bending forward while holding my right leg up, balancing on my left leg. But in fact what I'm really doing is contracting both of my quadriceps, contracting my glutes, while gripping the ground with my toes. I'm also squeezing my ears with my bicep muscles, contracting every muscle in my arms, down to my fingertips, leveling out my right hip, sucking my stomach in, and trying to breathe calmly. All of this while creating so much tension, pulling my body apart in opposite directions from fingertips and toes, like a tug of war......

"I don't know quite what the future holds for me, but I'm all about making my life easier, not harder."

I wrote those words almost 2 years ago when I started this blog. I was constantly being asked to share the exact details of how I lost over 100lbs. and transformed my body. So by journaling the changes in the foods I ate, and the way I developed my own style of training Russian Kettlebells, I did that. I was excited to do that, but what I forgot to do was to make my life easier! Trying to balance is hard work!

This will be my last blog post here, and instead of writing a blogpost about not continuing this blog, I'm going to clean my house first thing in the morning more regulary creating peace of mind to go to yoga class with Mark.......and I'm going to put my fat cat on a diet.

This blog chronicles step by step not only the last 2+ years of my continual physical transformation but the thought processes of my original methods and evolution of my training. The value of my experiences and the time I've taken to share them with readers, I hope, is a gift that will always be recognized.

Trust

Surrender

Forgive

Let go

What Am I Going To Eat Today?

"What am I going to eat?" How many times have you asked yourself that question? If you're like me, then you ask yourself that question before every meal. But why do you ask yourself that question?

If you're like me, then it's because you have so many good choices of fresh foods at home waiting for you in your fridge or freezer, that it hard to choose. Or, like me, you're so fast and efficient at preparing fresh, nutritious foods that you know within, sometimes as little as, 10 minutes for a salad (dressing and all), or 20-30 minutes in a pressure cooker you can have everything your body needs to stay and feel healthy....vegetables, protein, grains, etc. It's because you already know you have the skill and knowledge to cook and prepare anything you could want, and need, with the best quality ingredients you can afford....and that comes from practice.

Or....

Is it that you truly don't know because you have nothing at home waiting for you, either prepared, or within a short time, easy to prepare? Is it because, like most of the people in this country you haven't decided which fast food resturant it's going to be for lunch today? Is it because you don't know if you have the right ingredients to try a new recipe? Is it because making sure you have good, nutritious, fresh, foods isn't anywhere near the top of your priority list, if not, why not?

What am I going to eat today? I know what I'm going to eat, do you?

Breaking Through

Sometimes breakthroughs come from breakdowns.

The definition of insanity.....doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Everything works, but nothing works forever.

Increased carbs

Smaller portions

More exact calorie count

More frequent meals

High volume, lighter bell KB's

Yoga everyday, sometimes twice a day

Relatability

I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary of the day I started my weight loss of over 100lbs, that means for 3 years now I've been able to maintain that loss...have I been perfect? No, but I don't need to be perfect, I just need to be the new person I am.

I was asked the other day (as I am often asked), "Are you afraid of gaining the weight back?", this question drives me freakin' crazy! It drives me crazy because it's so typical that people expect former fat people to get fat again! When a fat person loses a large amount of weight, the common response is always, "I wonder how long it will be before they put the weight back on?", not, "I wonder IF they'll put some weight back on"...I'm guilty of this sort of thinking myself!

I know the odds are not in favor of keeping weight off, especially extreme amounts of weight. So why am I not afraid of gaining the weight back?

I am not afraid of being fat again. I will never be 250lb+ again, never. Why not? Because I am not that person anymore, I'm just not. But that doesn't mean I don't remember that 250lb+ person....I will never forget where I came from. Just because I don't "live" there anymore doesn't mean I forgot what it was like. I understand it, I don't judge it. And I don't care what kind of trainer, dietician, nutritionist you are, if you've never had to lose a large amount of weight, then you can't possibly relate to someone who does, in a way that understands that it's about more than food....it's about eating, and the it's about the disconnection with our bodies.

Sure, a motivated person can find the kind of willpower and discipline it takes to reduce calories and exercise to lose weight, but motivation only lasts so long....and then what? You have to change who you are, you have to change how you think about food and eating, and you have to change how you live, permanently. Someone who's never had to do this can only offer the "calories in, calories out" theory.

Many people that have never had to lose weight aren't even healthy themselves, they're just thin, or of a "normal" weight. They can eat any kinds of foods they want, many times processed foods, they don't feel as if they need to pay attention to the quality of the foods they consume, or they just don't think about it. I've had to become conscious of the foods I choose, and the way I eat....lucky me!

Awareness and consciousness is always a good thing. Once you know the difference, you can never "un-know". I will never un-know what it was like to be extremely overweight, and for that I am grateful!

The old Tracy meets the new Tracy

Part of my new way of eating.....my new way of thinking....



For a long time I've known that my portions were going to have to change. Feeling "full", really full, even stuffed full, is part of the mental crap that got me into trouble in the first place. I felt I was lucky to figure out a way of eating loads and loads of food without many calories, and still lose weight....and it worked for many years. But it didn't change my habit of overeating.

Now having to readjust, and reconfigure the types of calories in my food choices, to give me the fuel, and energy I need to stay strong in my training, and not starve myself, while still losing this extra 5-10 lbs I say I want to lose. I've been holding steady at 132lbs all week, down from an average of 137-138lbs. this past 6-7 months. More details on food and Thought.