CHEK Chicks Blast Mud Run + Mike Salemi Kicks Ass!

Happy Monday!

Well, my vacation is officially over and it’s back to work today; time certainly flies when you are having fun ah!

I had an awesome time on my vacation. I enjoyed my painting, rock stacking, weight lifting, making music with my son Paul Jr. and Angie Lustrick, eating lovely food, doing tai-chi, watching movies, meditating, enjoying my Health Mate IR sauna, and much more…

I’m just getting back into the swing of things, have piles of email to go through, lots of clients to catch up with and projects to complete. I’ll be taking a few days off from video blogs this week so I can focus on catching up.

CHEK Chicks Mud Run

Well, Penny and Jennifer (CHEK COO) love getting dirty in nature, so they put together a team of “CHEK Chicks” for this years “World Famous Mud Run” at Camp Pendleton Marine Base in Oceanside.

Here you can see them at the start of the 10K race, which included 13 major obstacles of a wide variety of types. In the photo, you can see Angie Lustrick (HLC Instructor) (www.angiesworld.com) in front. Holli Clepper (CP3, HLC 3) (www.inhealthandhappiness.com) is to your left in the back row. My beautiful wife Penny is next, followed by Jennifer Baker (our COO), and Jules Arriola, HLC 1 (www.alignfitness.com).

The World Famous Mud Run is run put on by the Camp Pendleton marines, and they really put their gusto into the event.

Having competed in more military athletic events and competitions than I could count, it was quite a surprise to see how prestigious the marines have made this competition! It was like being at a major Big Top event that is professionally run, crossed with four days of thousands of muddy people having something akin to a fitness party.

There was live entertainment, shopping, a lot of unhealthy food , and droves of people having a great time pretending to be marines.

Being at the event brought me a lot of flashbacks from my own military career. While I was in the army, I set the post record at Ft. Eustis, Virgina, and Ft. McClellan, Alabama for military obstacle courses very similar in construction to this one.

I used to have a lot of fun training hard for these events and was very excited to see how many people are taking to “natural fitness” so-to-speak.

I’m sure from looking at the competitors that most of them will be recovering from the event for a good month or so! I got the distinct sense this kind of event is now serving as a sort of self-imposed “right of passage”. Such symbolic events are very necessary for healthy psychological development and I’d much rather see young people in the dirt than at the keyboard playing war games…

Here (five ladies on the right) you can see the CHEK Chicks approaching the last couple obstacles; we weren’t allowed on the course to take photos, so I could only get shots of the last two. They all had to “get down and do 10 push-ups” in the mud.

After doing their push-ups, the CHEK Chicks ran to the final obstacle…a giant mud pit big enough to swim across; apparently the day before, people were getting stuck in the mud and had to be pulled out!

Here you can see Angie (left), Jennifer (center) and Jules on the right.

At the end of the race, I thought these girls would be whipped, but they were still full of spunk and mischief!

It was fun to go to the event and support them.

Even with water to shower off, the remnants of mud was still caked on!

I really enjoyed meeting Jules Arriola, HLC 1, and her husband Billy Perkins, who incorporate the CHEK philosophy into their coaching practice. They are both fit and beautiful expressions of life. You can learn more about them and what they offer in their studio here: www.alignfitness.com

Thank you Penny, Jennifer, Holli, Angie and Jules for being such great representatives of the CHEK Institute. Thanks Billy for helping Jennifer and Jules get ready for the event as well!

Mike Salemi Kicks Ass!

Well, Mike Salemi and I have been on a journey that began about a year ago when he came to me suffering from “arm pump” during his lifting and Russian Kettlebell competitions.

Arm pump is a condition that occurs when blood can’t flow properly due to a variety of contributing factors; this condition is common among motto cross racers, bull riders, and those doing repetitive work under load, such as cement finishers and fallers (the men who cut down trees in logging camps).

The medical name for this problem is “compartment syndrome”, and it is common in the lower leg region of endurance athletes as well.

I carefully evaluated Mike’s body-mind, and his lifting technique and found several key areas that were contributing to his arm pump condition.

Mike was trained in, and was using the Russian kettlebell lifting style, which is quite demanding of the body from an orthopedic perspective. The Russian style requires tremendous core strength, without which, orthopedic challenges are very likely to emerge.

Mike, Jonny Suarez, CP3 (absolutehealthperformance.com) and I embarked on a journey to see if we could free Mike of arm pump.

Over the course of the last year, Mike, Jonny and I accomplished the following objectives together:
1. Balanced Mike’s length-tension relationships and correct his posture.

2. Specific neuromuscular and manual therapy protocols for arm pump.

3. Total reconditioning of Mike’s core function from isolation to integration.

4. Four Doctor training and self-management strategy implemented fully.

5. Base conditioning and restructuring of KB lifting technique to balance orthopedics.

6. Sport specific conditioning and testing of lifting model that supports orthopedics.

7. Several cycles of core, endurance, strength-endurance, strength, and power training.

8. Revisit and integrate Russian style to maximize benefits of both and Olympic lifting style and Russian KB lifting style.

9. Perfect technique and fine-tune acute and chronic conditioning variables to suit Mike’s individual skills and abilities over span of three preparatory competitions.

10. Break Russian KB Masters requirement of 32 clean n jerks (without KB’s ever touching the ground) in 5:00 class six times in training before competition. Achieve 36 reps (4 above requirement for Masters) in Chicago competition last Saturday!

Not only did Mike Salemi get awarded as best lifter of the competition, his amazing athlete Ada Wong also achieved her Russian KB Masters in the 10:00 class with 118 clean-n-jerks with a 20 Kg KB!

I don’t care who you are, or what sex you are…doing 118 consecutive clean-n-jerks with a 20 Kg KB and never letting it touch the ground for 10 minutes takes more than balls, it really takes some ovaries!! Awesome job Ada!

Mike has not only mastered living my 4 Doctor athlete self-management system, he’s done a great job of coaching Ada and his other athletes.

Mike and I are now working on the development of a CHEK Institute Kettle Bell Certification program and hope to release it early next year. Just follow the CHEK Institute blog at www.chekinstitute.com/blog and we’ll let you know when it’s available.

I asked Mike if he’d be willing to share some of his “ah ha” moments in the last year with me as his coach, and this is what he shared:

• You can in fact compete at the highest level and still have a balanced approach to training and life as a whole.

• Process goals were entirely missing from my over 10 years of competing in various weightlifting sports, and now, they have become just as much of a part of my dream as the outcome goals themselves.

• No dreams are accomplished alone, they all take a team to realize.

• When you have a clearly defined dream, one that you write down and verbalize each day, energizing it in this way can actually attract matter to it.

• There is an absolute need and place for balancing the prime mover system with the often forgotten and/or overlooked postural/stabilizer system. Within my own experience, this has not only been critical in the avoidance of pain, but also in reaching true physical potential.

• Arm pump and all the signs and symptoms of over-training do NOT have to come with the territory.

• What a difference having a 4 Doctor approach has made in my overall vitality and physical performance. I am not broken. Rather, I am healthier and happier mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually than I’ve been in my entire life to this point!

• The 4 Doctor System has taught me how to balance my life and training in a way that supports health and happiness both during and after achievement. A 4 Doctor approach is one of the single greatest missing elements in high performance athletics today.

(Note: if you’d like to learn about process goals, see PPS Lesson 3. Goal Setting, And for more about my 4 Doctor approach, see my ebook, The Last 4 Doctors You’ll Ever Need – How To Get Healthy Now!

I have had the greatest time coaching Mike Salemi. He is tied with my additionally amazing client, Jason for being the most honest, and disciplined of students I’ve ever had!

It always gives a coach/teacher great joy to see their teachings effectively applied. It takes many athletes years to get past doctor shopping, fad of the day exercising, therapist, doctor and coach shopping, and finally get down to simply following anyone’s directions effectively, and many never do!

Mike (and Ada through Mike), Jason, and my many great instructors and students all keep me motivated each day to continue my legacy. Thank you all!

Vidya’s Amazing Granddaughter Graduates from Primary School!

Vidya’s amazing granddaughter, April graduated from primary school with honors last week. She was chosen to read her wisdom words to her graduation class and received numerous awards. Vidya went to share in the celebration with her. This was another great year in school for April and this year. She will be starting at a middle school here in Vista next year!

Great job April! I’m proud of you, and don’t forget to keep up your work-in’s and to practice belly breathing regularly.

My Newest Painting

I had a great time painting my last piece, called “Inner Union” and began this new one a few days ago. I’ve been busy with various events and activities, and just didn’t seem to find a chunk of time to finish it yet. I’ve left it and some paints at home and will keep working on it this week, so I’ll let you see what happens…?

Well, it’s been a lovely weekend and I’ve enjoyed sharing a little along the way during my much-needed vacation. I will get back to my usual video blogging as soon as I can, and hope you are all enjoying the chance to be creative individuals each day.

Love and chi,
Paul Chek