I have been an RKC since 2003 and teaching group kettebell classes for over 5 years, but I am very excited to announce that the Nashville Kettlebell has officially been open at the 4th Ave South location for a year!

To celebrate this, we will be having an open house on Saturday, June 18th from 11am until 2pm. EVERYONE is invited. We’ll be having a bonus class at 12:30 and demonstrations throughout the rest of the day as well as drawings for prizes.

Later this month Slim The Hammer Man will be inducted into the York Barbell Hall of Fame along side of his mentor The Mighty Atom, Joe Greenstein. The Hammer Man is a true living legend and a link to the Migty Atom and this is an important moment in strength history. I have confirmation that Dennis Rogers and Jedd Johnson will be there along with a lot of other well known names in the strength world.

The ceremony will take place at the York Barbell Strength Museum on Saturday May 21st, 2011 in York,
PA.

In addition, my friend Dan Cenidoza is doing a strongman performance and there will be martial arts demonstrations, a weightlifting exhibition, workouts, grip games, strongman toys, stuff for the kids and a raffle worth thousands of dollars in products and services. All proceeds benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

I am really looking forward to this once in a lifetime event and hope you can make it too.

One of the key supplements in a healthy diet is fish oil. I get mine locally at Nutrishop Nashville.

There are a LOT of benefits from taking fish oil. The information below is an excerpt from the article “All about Fish Oil” on the Precision Nutrition website.

What is Fish oil?

by Ryan Andrews,

Fish oil is, well, oil from fish.

It’s rich in two specific groups of omega-3 fatty acids known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). DHA and EPA, along with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), found in things like flax and walnuts, fall under the subheading of omega-3 fatty acids.

EPA and DHA are often cited as being the beneficial components of fish oil. EPA and DHA actually originate in algae, which is the base of the food chain for fish. Fish consume these algae and thus concentrate high amounts of the beneficial fats.

Why is fish oil so important?

Overall health

Omega-3s are very important for health, including:

• cardiovascular function
• nervous system function and brain development
• immune health

Research shows that low DHA consumption (and blood levels) is associated with memory loss, difficulty concentrating, Alzheimer’s disease and other mood problems.

Cell membranes

Essential fats have an integral role in promoting cell health.

Cells in the human body have a fatty membrane (known as the lipid bilayer). This membrane is semi-permable: It regulates what gets into the cell and what goes out of it. The fluidity of cell membranes depend on the fatty acid composition of the diet.

• If the fatty membranes surrounding brain cells are relatively fluid, as they are with lots of omega-3s, then messages from neurochemicals such as serotonin can be transmitted more easily.
• On the other hand, if people eat too many saturated fats (which are solid at room temperature), without enough omega-3s, then these membranes become more rigid, and stuff can’t get through.

Cells also require these good fats for repair and regeneration.

With lots of omega-3s, muscle cells become more sensitive to insulin, while fat cells decrease. This may mean that the body can divert more nutrients to muscle tissue.

Metabolic health

Finally, DHA and EPA can increase metabolism by increasing levels of enzymes that boost calorie-burning ability.

What you should know

We can’t make omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in our bodies, so we need to get them from our diets.

Omega-3 to omega-6 ratio

It’s easy for us to get omega-6 fatty acids. These are found in plant oils, for instance, and factory-raised animals (which are fed a lot of corn and soy) will usually have a lot of omega-6 too.

But it’s hard for people in Western countries to get omega-3 fats from dietary sources. We eat a lot more processed foods and a lot less wild game and plants than our ancestors did. And we don’t usually eat things like snails and insects, which are also high in omega-3s, although many folks worldwide still eat these as part of traditional diets. We rely heavily now on omega-6 vegetable oils.

We evolved with a fat intake ratio of about 1:1 omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. Now, it’s closer to 1:20.

Because omega-3s and omega-6s compete with each other for space in cell membranes and the attention of enzymes, the ratio matters more than the absolute amount consumed of either fat.

Fat heads

When it comes to fat intake, you (and your cells) really are what you eat.

Years of research has linked lower fat diets with aggression, depression, and suicidal ideation. Over time, the cells in your brain take on the dietary fat you consume. DHA is the active fat in the brain, and especially important throughout developmental stages.

Recommendations

Aim for 6-12 daily grams of total fish oil (about 3-6 grams of EPA + DHA) per day from a supplement company that doesn’t contribute directly to the depletion of fish (e.g., they use primarily fish discards). We suggest liquid fish oil, because it’s hard to take so many capsules, and because some supplement companies put lower-quality oil into capsules (or secretly cut it with soy oil). Buy from a reputable company. ( Like Nutrishop Nashville!)

I am very proud of the quality of people we have at Nashville Kettlebell.

I am also confident that we have the best program available for movement, strength and fat-loss.

Beginning today and running through the end of June we will be having a 12 week contest in which bodies will be transformed and lives will be changed.

This is not your typical “transformation contest” in the sense of Body for Life or that godawful TV show.

The criteria is not appearance, inches or pounds lost on the scale.

It is very easy to focus on the wrong thing once we have set a goal for ourselves. We feel like we are trying very hard when in fact that energy is very often misplaced. We can become so focused on the idea of the goal that we forget the importance of the steps we must take to get there. Achieving any goal is the result of a lot of small steps in the same direction.

The single most important factor is not the outcome, but the day-to-day compliance to a plan. I refer to this as “creeping incrementalism”, a term I lifted from Marty Gallagher.

The scoring system is designed to give regular feedback on your progress at completing a variety of activities that have a common factor- Compliance.

Compliance, the act of sticking to a plan over time is the key to success. Anyone can go crazy and work out for 90 minutes a day, six days a week and quit after a week and a half. Compliance and consistency over time is where success is born.

The idea of a fitness-based contest is nothing new, but with the wide range of folks we have at Nashville Kettlebell, I wanted to make it fair for everyone to compete. So performance, appearance and weight loss, the things these kind of contests usually measure, are out. What is fair though, is compliance.

We will be measuring compliance to a plan. This way veterans and beginners can compete against each other on compliance rather than bodyweight, body fat percentage or strength levels.

Prepare to have your minds blown.

The confusion about  training, cardio exercise, aerobic training and fat loss still permeates the brains of the general public, especially ladies. 

I want all you ladies to get off the stupid treadmill and start lifting things. Heavy things that will make you stronger.

I ran across THIS ARTICLE  that talks about why ladies should not be afraid to lift heavy stuff in training.  There are 12 reasons, but three of them happen to be the the top three things  that I keep hearing from ladies who contact me to find out if Nashville Kettlebell is the place for them. These are three  goals that are  consistenly being achived by NKB members.

Sure you can try to do it on your own. But if you come to Nashville Kettlebell I promise you three things:

You’ll burn more calories.

You’ll lose more fat.

Your clothes will fit better.

“But I don’t want to get bulky!”

Nikki Snow RKC does a getup with a 70lb kettlebell.

 Kristen McBryde RKC doing swings with an 88lb kettlebell.

You mean you don’t want to bulk up like these ladies?

Get off the stupid treadmill. Lift something heavy. Become more awesome than you ever imagined you could and be the envy of your friends.