Hi, my name is Taco Fleur, owner of Cavemantraining.com and the highly popular Cavemantraining Youtube channel. Several people asked me recently what my training consisted of, it took me a long time to truly define and realize what my training is about. It’s not just Kettlebell Training.
My training can sometimes be described as my personality and taste for music, one moment I can listen to classical music and the next I can be listening to heavy metal.
But that still doesn’t tell you much about my training. To truly define my training we need to look at my goals.
Yes, I want to look like I have muscles, I want to look defined, I want people to see I pay attention to my body, but I don’t use it as a trophy and the real goals are:
- Freedom of movement
- Remaining injury-free
- Increasing flexibility
- Mobility
- Variation
- Technique
- Form
- Endurance
- Strength
- Cardio
Above all, I want to enjoy my training, and like in real life I don’t like routine, hence my training is varied and always on a path of discovering. I occasionally attend CrossFit classes, because I do enjoy some competition, I also train in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
I’m not the fastest, nor the strongest, but I am injury-free and able to move freely, which is my priority, being able to pull up, press up, lift up, jump up, duck, carry, crawl, etc.
To meet all my goals I primarily use the kettlebell as it’s such a versatile tool, I love the unilateral qualities of the kettlebell which I believe play a huge part in the ability to remain injury-free. I also use the pull-up bar, I believe that the best training combination is the kettlebell, pull-up bar and bodyweight.
I enjoy strength sessions where I lift heavy but do find that there is more potential for injury and extreme care is required, hence I do not do this regularly, when I do, I like to do 1RM presses and focus on biceps and triceps.
My true passion will always be in movement, moving through all planes of motion for medium to high reps. My current favorite is the World’s Best Kettlebell Combo. If my workout doesn’t have a lot of rotation I will include it in my warm-up or cool-down, especially thoracic rotation.
Exercises/movements which are a staple of my training are:
- Cossack squats
- Reverse lunges
- Squats
- Pull-ups (variations)
- Swings (variations)
- Snatches (variations)
- Cleans (variations)
- Presses (variations)
- Rows (variations)
- Push-ups (variations)
In summary, you could say, my training plan is to not have a plan other than mixing it up and working on everything while focussing on freedom of movement and staying injury-free at age forty-four.
If I had a particular goal of increasing strength, hypertrophy, etc. I know I would have to create a plan. If I had a goal of swinging more, I know I would need to have a plan and focus, like for example joining the 28 Day Kettlebell Swing Challenge. When I participated in the swing challenge the first time I increased my unbroken set from 50 to 200 unbroken with a 28kg bell.
I always want to test myself on different levels and never want to get stale. It’s important to be able to maintain my active lifestyle for my entire life, hence the reason to make my training enjoyable is priority number one.
Doing the occasional crazy stuff like a 11-hour hike up a mountain carrying kettlebells is what keeps me young, entertained and sharp.
Kettlebells are not just my training tool but also my passion.
Of course, training also requires recovery, good recovery requires looking at what goes in your body. I’m not strict when it comes to this, but I do pay attention and focus on eating fresh, as direct from nature as possible without preservatives. I have a varied diet but in general do not eat much red meat, maybe once every two months. I also try to avoid milk as much as possible but do have my coffee with milk, I don’t mind coffee with almond or soya milk either. I snack on carrots, this has always been my thing, at night I grab a carrot and munch on it like a rabbit, I need my carrots each week! I don’t eat sweets at all and try to avoid processed sugar. I know alcohol is bad for my body and feel how it affects my training, recovery and performance, also mood, but this is still one of my bad habits, having said that, I’m certainly not an alcoholic. With that said, I don’t go out partying, my parties are on the mountain lugging a kettlebell, or working out.