Viking Warrior Conditioning: The Scientific Approach to Forging a heart of Elastic Steel
By Kenneth Jay
4/5
()
Related to Viking Warrior Conditioning
Related ebooks
Rough Strength Files: 42 Ideas on Low-Tech Strength Training Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Convict Conditioning 2: Advanced Prison Training Tactics for Muscle Gain, Fat Loss and Bulletproof Joints Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness—Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tactical Barbell Presents: Ageless Athlete Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Body Strong Kettlebell Blitz: Beginner Program Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKettlebell Training For Beginners - The Complete Guide To Get In Shape Fast With Kettlebell Training Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Burn Calories and Build Lean Muscle With Kettlebells Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Juggernaut Method 2.0: Strength, Speed, and Power For Every Athlete Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Military Cross Training: Workouts from Beginner to Ballistic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Power Flex Stretching - Super Flexibility and Strength for peak performance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Super Strength: The Secret to Gaining Strength - Without Moving a Muscle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Fitness: Military Workouts and Fitness Challenges for Maximising Performance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Calisthenics Quest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKettlebell Circuit Training: Hardcore Kettlebell Workouts Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Mustache Workout: Man Up Your Training - Bigger, Stronger, Leaner Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSupermen: Building Maximum Muscle for a Lifetime Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Kettlebell Workbook: The Revolutionary Program to Tone, Sculpt and Strengthen Your Whole Body Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKettlebell For Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow Squats Can Change Your Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Top 50 Kettlebell Cross Training Workouts That Burn Calories & Build Muscle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Athlete's Ultimate Guide to Kettlebell Training: Improve speed, agility, power, balance and performance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSquatStrong: A Revolutionary 6 Week Program to New Prs and Higher Performance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Old School Boxing Fitness: How to Train Like a Champ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings42 Awesome Workout Hacks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBodybuilding: From Heavy Duty to SuperSlow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strong and Lean: 9-Minute Daily Workouts to Build Your Best Body: No Equipment, Anywhere, Anytime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Torch Workout- A Personalized, Non-Traditional HIIT Class for Fat Loss & Strength Training Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Total Kettlebell Workout: Trade Secrets of a Personal Trainer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Exercise & Fitness For You
Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tight Hip Twisted Core: The Key To Unresolved Pain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Muscle for Life: Get Lean, Strong, and Healthy at Any Age! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 12-Minute Athlete: Get Fitter, Faster, and Stronger Using HIIT and Your Bodyweight Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Genius of Flexibility: The Smart Way to Stretch and Strengthen Your Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Calisthenics Codex: Fifty Exercises for Functional Fitness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Calisthenics: Guide for Bodyweight Exercise, Build your Dream Body in 30 Minutes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Resistance Band Workouts: 50 Exercises for Strength Training at Home or On the Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: Built for This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chair Yoga For Dummies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFelon Fitness: How to Get a Hard Body Without Doing Hard Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 30-Minute Celebrity Makeover Miracle: Achieve the Body You've Always Wanted Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yoga Beginner's Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga: The Philosophy and Practice of Yin Yoga Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ultimate BodyWeight Workout: Transform Your Body Using Your Own Body Weight Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Anatomy of Strength and Conditioning: A Trainer's Guide to Building Strength and Stamina Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fit After Forty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Viking Warrior Conditioning
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good hardstyle training for those who favor working hard...not for the majority of people!!
Book preview
Viking Warrior Conditioning - Kenneth Jay
VIKING WARRIOR CONDITIONING
THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO FORGING
A HEART OF ELASTIC STEEL:
AN APPLICATION OF THE THEORY BEHIND
PROPER VO2MAX TRAINING
BY KENNETH JAY
Copyright ©2009 Kenneth Jay
All rights under International and Pan-American Copyright conventions.
Published in the United States by:
Dragon Door Publications, Inc
P.O. Box 4381, St. Paul, MN 55104
Tel: (651) 487-2180 • Fax: (651) 487-3954
Credit card orders: 1-800-899-5111
Email: support@dragondoor.com • Website: www.dragondoor.com
ISBN: 978-0-938045-04-5 0-938045-04-0
This edition first published in March 2009
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the
Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Printed in the United States of America
Book design, Illustrations, logos, photo manipulation and cover by Derek Brigham
Website http//www.dbrigham.com • Tel/Fax: (763) 208-3069 • Email: dbrigham@visi.com
Photographs of Kenneth Jay by Hanne Paludan Kristensen • www.hpkristensen.dk,
Photographs on pages 96-98 by RalphDeHaan.com
DISCLAIMER
The author and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may
occur through following the instructions contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described
herein for informational purposes only, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people and the reader(s)
should consult a physician before engaging in them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
Introduction
1. Viking Warrior Conditioning
2. Cardiovascular Physiology 101
3. Some Words on Force Production
4. Why the Kettlebell?
5. Application
6. Meet Thórólf
7. The Fat-Burning Zone and Why It Is a Joke
8. The Tripod of Conditioning
9. Testaments to the Power of Viking Warrior Conditioning
10. Call to Action
Appendix: Viking Warrior Snatch Mastery
Glossary of Cardiovascular Physiology
Consulted Works
Index
About The Author
FOREWORD
BY MARK REIFKIND
MASTER INSTRUCTOR RKC
It’s not often in the world of physical training that something comes along so special, so unique, and so effective that it causes a paradigm shift in how people train and think about training. Louie Simmons turned the powerlifting world upside down with his inspired reinvention of how to train the powerlift. Pavel did the same thing and more with the Russian Kettlebell Challenge. And now, Kenneth Jay has taken the Tsar of the Kettlebell lifts—the kettlebell snatch—and created a method of training so revolutionary that it causes us to rethink everything we thought we knew about cardiovascular training and how to incorporate it into our strength and conditioning programs.
Kenneth has looked at the true meaning of cardiovascular adaptation and configured a kettlebell-training program to elicit that response for real. As I told him when we were discussing the benefits I had derived from this, The VO2max training delivers what circuit training only promised: real strength and cardiovascular conditioning in the same package. With NO compromises.
I remember sitting in the auditorium at the Level 2 RKC Certification when Kenneth unveiled this new regime and I heard him speak about building a heart of elastic steel
using only the 16 kg kettlebell. I was able to snatch the 24 kg bell quite well at the time but was still suffering from shoulder issues that precluded me from really going all out with it. My powerlifter’s mindset would not allow me to use lighter bells, as that would be too sissy,
to quote a top-level Russian Kettlebell Chief Instructor. But as a volume-training addict, the program intrigued me.
I was even more intrigued when I got to witness the RKC candidates being put through their paces in this new way of using the kettlebell. It looked brutal but quite safe—a great combination for this high-mileage, ex-competitive athlete. I had to try it as soon as I got back home. And what an eye-opener it was!
Having gotten permission to use a lighter bell, I felt quite safe focusing on moving the weight as quickly as I could during the snatches and trying to do the prescribed number of sets and reps. Trying is the operative word. I stopped counting when my heart rate topped 190 and I wasn’t even halfway through the workout.
As an ex-gymnast, I have always reveled in the speed and momentum training that kettlebell work not only allows but encourages. I immediately realized that the magic in the bell was able to really develop speed and, with speed, power. And as we all know, in the world of sport, speed and power are the king and queen. This new VO2max training program maximized both these attributes to the hilt, all the while using weights that were so safe that anyone could do them—anyone who could handle the workload, that is!
Always being one to take a long-term approach and giving my injuries their due, I adapted the program to just one day a week, not really thinking I would be able to garner all the benefits from such a modification. But in just eight weeks of doing the workout religiously once a week, in addition to my other KB training, my resting heart rate dropped from 64 to 48! It hadn’t been that low since I had trained for ultramarathons and triathlons! Kenneth was really, really on to something special.
I also put my clients who were snatching on the system, and they saw results so quickly that it was mind blowing: improved cardiovascular efficiency, loss of fat, and increased speed and power. Also, their snatch training went to a new level in so short a time that it was almost not to be believed.
It may seem impossible, but just two or three sessions of this program produced changes in people’s bodies and systems. Hard to believe, but it was happening right in front of my eyes—and all with kettlebells light enough not to scare away the most timid of clients. When something works, it works! Kenneth truly understands the meaning of force: mass x acceleration. Acceleration is clearly the lynchpin here.
My wife, Tracy, who at the time was in phenomenal shape from high-volume kettlebell training, also took to the program in a heartbeat and saw even more body fat loss and muscular definition than she had thought possible—and from just one session per week. Kenneth had really figured out something very unique.
The training program really forces you to hit on all cylinders at once: speed, power, efficiency of movement (you can’t go fast if you’re inefficient), mental and physical toughness, and, of course, the cardiovascular system of a miler with the muscular power of a gymnast. What a great combination!
One year later, at the next Level 2 RKC Certification, Kenneth unveiled his latest addition to the VO2max program—the BOOST, a peaking protocol—and again, he put the candidates through their paces after the lecture. This was another eye-opener, especially to Tracy, who had been training with the regular program religiously. She knew this would be the ticket to putting her Secret Service Snatch Test (SSST) numbers over the top.
Now with this amazing book, Kenneth has put it all down on paper. All the science, all the protocols, and all the progressions. He has added even more protocols to the original program, and all have real research to back them up. This is not an easy read, just as the protocols are not easy to do. Simple but not easy, as I love to say.
After a year more of doing VO2max workouts every week, everything has changed about my snatch training. All for the good! I can now snatch twice a week with no shoulder issues, and I could do three sessions, if I wanted. The speed and power I got from using the 16 kg bell has transferred to my 24 kg snatch work, and