I’m liking this show right now, and I’ll tell you why.

In a society where pills, surgery, and other shortcuts seem to be the norm,  the show’s trainers (Bob and Jillian) emphasize a good diet and hard exercise. And they work their victims to the bone too.

On top of that, they use real exercises for strength training. I don’t think I’ve seen them doing concentration curls or tricep extensions.  They do squats, deadlifts, thrusters, etc.

This season I think I’ve seen kettlebells in each episode. They have also used battling ropes, and the other night they had Danny whacking the tractor tire with a sledgehammer – followed by some tire-flipping.

Plus, call me a softie, but I like seeing people who have struggled with their weight their whole lives finally see some success.

So, maybe you’re skinny and don’t need to lose weight. I don’t really think that matters. The point is; be disciplined in your diet and workouts. I haven’t been lately and I can tell.

However, a good diet and regular exercise will turn your body into what it was meant to be. The problems come with eating too much junk and sitting in front of the TV or computer. This is how these contestants ended up where they are.

But, it’s never too late to turn it around. Some of these folks are way past unhealthy. This season, Shay started at almost 480 pounds at 5′ 8″.

Watch some of these folks work their butts off and see if you don’t get inspired. Grab your trusty kettlebell and a patch of grass and get to work.

Once again I have gone too long without adding new content to this site. I’ve also been slacking off in my training as well.

However, I’ve recently decided to make some commitments, and part of that involved getting back into my training, as well as beginning to post here again.

I’ve always had an interest in “old time” stuff, and strength training is no different.  Strength athletes from the late 1800’s up to the 1950’s and 1960’s have interested me almost since I started training.

These guys built crazy strength (and also had the physiques to show it) with remedial equipment, little to no nutritional supplements, and no steroids (until the 1950’s I believe).

So, I’m thinking about maybe starting a new category just for this stuff. I’m not going to turn this into an “old time strength training” site, but do plan on posting more methods, advice, and techniques from the old days.

Functional strength training is basically using exercises in your workouts that transfer to real life in a practical way. Think about your training program – especially if you’re into bodybuilding. Will tricep extensions carry over to real life? What about chest crossovers? Leg extensions? Leg curls? No, they won’t. Even the ever-popular bench press offers very little in the way of practical use. None of these will be much use to you as you carry bags of mulch from the front yard to the back, help a friend move, or play your sport of choice.

Functional strength is where the rubber meets the road. The main problem with bodybuilding is that the focus is mainly on looks, and not on practical usage. A good functional program will offer real-world strength – with the side-effect of looking like you’re in great shape. Focus on health and strength and the looks will follow (with a good diet, of course). The opposite is not necessarily true. Building functional strength is what will help your body stay healthy and strong as you get older.

One of the major reasons this is true is because functional exercises teach your body to operate as one piece. Bodybuilding routines (which often focus on isolation exercises) break the body up into parts: chest, back, arms, legs, abs, etc. This is the opposite of what needs to happen. Training your body to work as a single unit also works your all-important stabilizer muscles. This ties everything together for strength you can actually use.

So, how do we incorporate functional strength into our workouts? Here are a few ways:

• Use unilateral movements. These are exercises where you move each side independently of the other. Dumbbells and kettlebells are great for this.
• Stay on your feet. Exercises where you stay on your feet are great for building functional strength. Add drills like standing overhead presses and deadlifts to your routine. These two examples will carry over directly to picking things up from the ground, all the way through lifting them overhead. Exercises where you sit or lie down don’t carry over much, if at all.
• Use free weights instead of machines. Machines are unnatural and force your body to move in a fixed plane. This completely removes functionality from the movement, and can even be dangerous if the machine’s plane of movement overly kinks your body’s natural groove.
• Use odd objects. You don’t have to go crazy here, but simply adding a sandbag to your routine can work wonders. Rocks, logs, kegs, bags of chains, a slosh pipe – anything that is unwieldy and hard to handle will work wonders on your stabilizers, and force your body to work as one piece. This is a step beyond free weights.
• Use multi-joint movements. This is almost a no-brainer for this type of program, however it warrants mentioning. Large, full-body movements are in order. Drills like deadlifts, squats, bent-over rows, and standing overhead presses are great for this.

Obviously, using odd object lifting will be one of the most effective ways to bring functionality into your training. After all, in real life you’re rarely having to lift nicely balanced objects like barbells. If you want to learn how to create an effective routine for building real-world functional strength, The Underground Strength Manual looks like a good, complete course. Or, if you just want to focus on sandbag training, check out The Caveman’s Fitness Guide, or Sandbag Strength.

It’s around 2 1/2 hours of no-fluff basics of kettlebell training. From the sample clip, it looks like the video/sound quality and editing is similar to the Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD, which I have and recommend.

Right now, he’s got special pricing on it, and you’ll get a free copy of his Kettlebell Workshop Manual. Check it out here.

Let me say that at first, I was a little skeptical about the quality of the video. Since it was shot at a kettlebell workshop, I was expecting poor quality video and sound. However, I have no problem at all. The workshop was held indoors, so there are no outdoor sounds to muck it up. Both the video and audio are professional grade – as is the production. I’ve had no problems with the DVDs themselves, the menus, or anything else.

Now I haven’t read all of the information about it on Mike’s site – I just went ahead and ordered it. But I just gave the description a quick look, and it gives you a lot more details than I’m going to put here. You can get there by clicking here: Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD.

So, I really just wanted to give a quick overview of what’s actually on the DVDs. I own the set and have watched it. Admittedly, I haven’t absorbed it all – I’ve only seen it once. At any rate, here goes.

Here’s a basic overview of what’s in the set, broken down by instructor:

Mike Mahler

Mike has two sections in the DVD set. First up is on kettlebell training. The focus is on power and speed, and the techniques he uses are just about the polar opposite of what I’ve learned. But, different purpose, different technique. It has actually changed the way I’ve been thinking about kettlebell training – and I’m not just saying that. While slow grinds have their place, I’m going to change the way I do things for a while after watching this.

Mike’s second section is on optimizing hormones. To be honest this was the first thing I watched, and that was because it was already almost midnight and I wanted to watch something that I wouldn’t get too wrapped up in because I wanted to get to bed. I must say that I ended up staying up until 1:00 am watching the whole section. It was very interesting stuff, and he gives some practical things you can do to optimize your hormone levels – and why you’d want to.

Steve Maxwell

Steve also has two sections, and both are basically about joint mobility and core strength. The first section is general mobility with bodyweight only. Everything from the basics to advanced mobility drills. If you’ve seen Steve’s Spartan 300 videos, this touches on at least some of that.

The other section starts with joint mobility using the kettlebell. From there he goes into some of the more positionally-awkward kettlebell drills like the windmill, Turkish get-up, overhead squat, bent press, and the Gladiator. He’s also got a few other core-specific drills.

Steve Cotter

Steve Cotter also has two sections, but basically covers four topics. There’s a section on “Effortless Motion”, which goes into some athletic drills for efficiency and speed of movement. It’s really good stuff, especially for athletes (obviously). But who doesn’t want to be a little more spry? The other non-kettlebell teaching is on Chi Gong. He really just covers some basics. I know nothing about Chi Gong, so won’t really try to describe anything. Suffice it to say that he discusses the benefits of Chi Gong, deep breathing exercises, and shows some basics to get you started.

The other two topics involve kettlebells. Basically, he covers the snatch and the clean & jerk. However, his take on it is from a position of Girevoy Sport, after actually going to Russia to learn. There are very specific techniques on efficiency of movement to get the highest numbers possible in these two drills. He discusses body positioning, proper body mechanics, kettlebell positioning, etc. If your goal is to raise your numbers in these two exercises, this is what you’re looking for.

Nate Morrison

Nate also has two sections. One on breathing and one on posture alignment & mobility. There’s quite a bit on breathing techniques and when to use which ones.

In the posture alignment and mobility section, mobility refers to keeping your body mobile as a unit, not joint mobility as Steve Maxwell covers. Nate’s section here is more about finding (and taking advantage of) optimal combinations of stability and mobility. While a lot of the techniques are geared toward martial artists (refers to Systema a few times) and fighters, a lot can be learned by athletes and “regular folks” as well. He also discusses things like joint loading and impact.

The Negatives

I always try to be honest about things and point out the negatives as well. When I look at reviews, the first ones I usually look at are the one-star negative comments. This is where I figure I’ll get the “real story”. However, I really, honestly don’t have much negative to say about this set. Physically, the set comes in one normal DVD case, with all three DVDs stacked on (touching) each other. But, the case was obviously designed to hold them that way. That bugged me at first, but obviously it’s not a huge problem.

As for the content of the DVD, I only have a few, very slightly negative comments. There are a few spots where someone is talking and it fades out to the next bit. It’s obvious that no “meat” was missed, but I’d still like to hear where the comments went. I’d also like to have seen more of the instructors actually with the students, making comments on technique and such. There was some of this, but generally the instructor would call a person up to the front for demonstration. Now, that being said, I also realize that this was taken from a two-day workshop and STILL ended up at over 7-1/2 hours. Clearly, they had to do some serious editing. Overall, these are only minor issues on my part, and would probably just be considered “fluff” to most. As it is, this DVD set is all meat.

So, that’s the gist of what’s in the set – and believe me, I’m not doing it justice. It’s hard to cover everything in a review of a 7-1/2 hour DVD set. I’ll say that it’s a great deal of information. Granted, it’s not cheap, but do you have any idea what it would have cost to attend that workshop? If you are serious about your training, are an athlete, or a coach or personal trainer, you’d do well to pick it up. Also, Mike still has special pricing on this one – so order it quick. The Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD.