Last April my husband and I were surfing the net after dinner planning our professional development and my speaking schedule for the next 6 months.  For those of you who don’t know Jim, he is a Kettlebell coach and has been since his first ‘RKC’ (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) in 2004.  Jim and I met in 2007, at a  fitness facility where we co-lease space to train our clients and I asked him to show me what he knew about Kettlebells.  I was instantly impressed with his attention to detail and meticulous dissection of each movement with the bells.  I soon traded in my Olympic Lifts for more forgiving double-bell cleans and swapped my 5-10km runs for a series of kettlbell drills that conditioned me more adequately for the two sports I love to play:  basketball and flag football. 

Our summer schedule filled up quite quickly with a trip to Hawaii to meet with some coaches and train at the University, which was followed by a whirlwind excursion to Las Vegas, where I spoke, for the second year in a row, at the prestigious N.S.C.A. conference.  I was also finishing up a contract with EA Sports at the end of July and planning to take some much needed down-time in August, so Jim and I thought the RKC Certification Course in San Diego couldn’t be a more perfect time of year for us to finish our summer of learning.

We booked the course right after Jim found out he would be allowed to come with me as an assistant RKC.  This would allow Jim to re-cert and keep his status as a level 1 RKC Instructor (Jim is also a level 2).    However, at this point, I was right in the middle of my flag football season, which often leaves me with sore legs for 2 days after games and practices.  Plus we also found out the rules for the RKC snatch test also had changed, where a woman of my weight class (over 123 lbs) has to snatch a 16kg kettlebell 100 times in under 5 minutes.  I knew I had some work to do! Check out the: Snatch Test requirements

I began my physical preparation for the RKC on June 22nd, giving me just over 8 weeks to polish my technique, prepare my hands for 3 days of heavy abrasion and improve my efficiency on the snatch to make the required time.  I was excited!  I made sure I booked a massage once or twice per week to keep things loose and mobile and speed up my recovery; I finally had a goal for me, which was really fun as I have been training athletes to peak for so many years, that I finally made the time for myself.  I also had a wee bit of pressure – I am Jim’s wife and he was coming as an assistant.  It was a priority for me to stay healthy, fit and strong for the RKC.

We arrived in San Diego on the Wednesday evening before the RKC Cert.  Jim had to go through all of his competency tests on the Thursday afternoon and my testing began on Friday morning.  We had a bit of free time on Thursday morning, so we took a cab into La Jolla by the beach to have a look around and do some shopping.  The weather decided to heat up as soon as we arrived and it was around 90 degrees by midday.  Then, we headed back to the hotel and Jim went to do his testing and I ended up poolside where I met Wendy, a mother of 7, who flew from Connecticut to do her RKC as a personal goal.  I was instantly impressed!  She told me about her training and how she has already lost 4 dress sizes since working with the bells.  Wendy the Warrior…. I thought to myself.

That evening, Jim and I went down to the meet and greet where we received nametags and appys and mingled around with other RKC participants.  Everyone was really friendly and everyone was also really nervous about their snatch test the next morning.  I wasn’t nervous until this point….after all, I prepared myself and tested my 100 reps at 4:10 on the Monday of that week without any trouble and with good technique.  But, all the energy in the room did get to me a bit.  It felt like final exam-time in university where everyone is chatting about what will be on the test at the last minute.  I was never one of those people.  Usually, I got a solid 8 hrs of zzzz’s the night before and was listening to my Jay-Z to get myself pumped up to spit out all my knowledge.  So, I ducked out and off to bed to get some zzzz’s.

Ok, I admit, I did have ’snatch-test dreams’ and woke at 6:30 am with a small flutter in my chest, but I was also excited to put my skills to the test.  I hit the shower, went down for breakfast, then made my way over to the facility where we were to meet with our team leaders.  I was excited when I found out I was in Yoana Snideman’s group.  I had watched her on utube a few times and was astonished how she buried reps at 5 foot ???, and pregnant! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLx0GcWi2-I)   I also had the pleasure of meeting Dustin Rippetoe, Fran Mason & Steve Bellanger, who were Yoana’s assistant instructors.   There were 107 people at this RKC event – the biggest ever I heard, which meant we would be training outside, in the heat for the next three days.  So, I grabbed my test weight bell and outside I went.  Jim neglected to mention to me that the paint on the handles was about as supple as sandpaper…oh well, what could I do at this point? 

I did my snatch test with caution.  I knew I could do the time, so I just paced myself and tried not to overgrip the bell, so my hands wouldn’t rip.  I finished it in 4:25 and breathed a sigh of relief with that being over (little did I know what was in store for the next 3 days!).  The rest of Friday was all about the swing and the turkish get-up, plus making sure people were safe with their techniques and on time.  We were punished for being late, not asking enough questions, for not lying face down when asked and so on.  I loved it.  And for those of you who know me, know how much I love order and the RKC was very orderly.  By the end of the day I think we did over 600 swings and I had drank about 6 litres of fluids.  All in all, a blast and my hands were holding up fine.  Unfortunately, some others were not so fortunate. 

The next day, Saturday, proved to be the most gruelling, where we pounded out several sets of cleans, pressed as much as we could and performed a modified VO2 max protocol for 15 minutes continuously.  The VO2 max protocol was simple and based on the next weight down from your snatch weight, so in my case, 12 kg.  We had to snatch the bell as many times as we could in 15 sec (6-9 reps was the goal), put it down for 15 sec, then go again with the other arm for 10 minutes straight.  At first, I did not find this to be a challenge and I was easily pumping out 8 reps on each set, so after the 10 minutes, I grabbed the 16kg bell and gave that a go.  Now, I found my heart rate to begin to rise.    I will have to try this again at home with the 16kg and aim for 6 reps in 15 sec for 10min+, or do the full 40 minutes with the 12kg bell and see if my heart rate changes.  In my opinion, as an exercise physiologist, this protocol should be called a training method and it needs some work, but from what I have heard, there is standardization, so I will look into that before I make any more comments or give feedback.  VO2 is not the determiner of elite performance in endurance events, work economy is.

Yoana, my team leader also managed to crush most of the crowd with a brutal superset of goblet squats.  I heard a lot of whimpering during this routine.  It was so tough, I cannot recall what she combined it with.  I think it was strict military presses. That was one of the more challenging aspects of the weekend…well until the grad workout Sunday…..I also managed to tear a small hole in my left hand on saturday afternoon, of which I slammed shut with a few drops of crazy glue (until my tape ripped the skin AND the glue off the next day!)

Saturday evening Jim and I went to the dinner for all the RKC participants.  it was nice to chat with some of the instructors outside of the day and great to see everyone with clean faces and hands!  Pavel and Jim chatted briefly and I got to know some of the great women in my group.  I had trouble sleeping that night as I was a bit wound up from all the action the two days prior and my impending technique test to come, plus the infamous grad workout they were planning to put us through to see if we could persevere for one more day in 102F heat….

Sunday morning arrived and we all went down to a marketing lecture put on by John DuCane, the founder of Dragon Door Publications.  I found it to be both enlightening and useful and was glad it was part of the weekend.  Even with an established business, you can still learn more.  Afterwards, we headed outside to practice our technique before we were tested, one by one on all the following skills:  the swing, the clean, the double press, the turkish get-up and the snatch.  The RKC is a pass/fail.  Jim’s group had a substantial failure rate.  I am not sure what mine had, but the instructors were tough and so they should be.  After 15 years in the business of strength coaching, I have seen more bad than good when it comes to practitioners and their ability to teach and ensure correct technique.  I love that the RKC standards are high.  I love what they charge for this certification course.  It separates the Pros from the Joe’s.  Come prepared is the advice I will give.

After the technique testing, we were sent for lunch and to prepare for our coaching test.  This is where ‘civilians’ come to the cert and become potential clients.  We must walk them through the swing and the turkish get-up, or part therof, if the client is not able to perform those exercises.  I wasn’t as worried about this aspect of the RKC as I have been coaching for years and do pride myself in my assessment and teaching skills.  However, it wasn’t and isn’t a cake walk.  The team leaders are looking for very specific elements and your ability to pinpoint key details, versus blurting out everything you know to your poor client.   I will leave it at that.

So, are you wondering if i passed yet?   One more hurdle folks:  The grad workout. Here is a small clip of the tail end : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puij7NWeW_U  Strong ladies were advised to get 8kg bells.  StrongER ladies, 12 kg bells.  I knew Yoana and Dustin would tan my hide if I grabbed the 8’s, plus I also wouldn’t be able to come home to my team and say I made it through the grad workout, if I pressed and cleaned barbie weights, so I opted for the 12’s.  The men had the option of 16’s and 20’s – can you believe some of these dudes, tried to get away with the 12’s??? Well, that didn’t go over well and coach Brett Jones made them go through another workout altogether after the fact.  Hmmmmm, character is revealed, not built right?

Anyways, that is my RKC story, in a nutshell.  I arrived home on the monday and slept quite a bit that week following.  In fact, it has taken me a whole week to sit down and finally write this blog as I am now reflecting more objectively and possibly ready for more in the future!

Today I practiced my arm bar and my turkish get-up, of which I felt was sub-par on my technique test and I will continue to practice, daily, never thinking I have gotten it exactly.  This is the beauty of kettlbells.  The sport, like all others, lies in the process, not the reward.  I have more work to do.

On an aside, I received an email from my team leader today and she informed me I have been recommended as a future RKC Assistant coach.  I am honoured by this as I have so much respect for Pavel and what he has done with his knowledge and resources.

 

Power to you!