My Journey to RKC II- Part 3

2 full days of 8 hours of physical and mental training is now complete! I continue to be amazed at the level of training one receives at an RKC Certification. Hands down Pavel is the absolute best in his field.

Today we tackled more on the pull up. Pavel taught a particular drill that made it all click for me today!! This a huge breakthrough for my future pull up training. I was able to perform a single pull up without leaking power at the bottom. Meaning I was able to start from a hollow position!!! YEA!

Other drills taught today were the Viking Push Press, Clean & Jerk, Windmill and the Bent Press. If you asked my favorite, it would be the windmill. This was an exercise which I felt very comfortable but honing my skill on the minute details was truly beneficial for me. My booty is super sore from the Windmill, who knew! My second favorite would be the Clean & Jerk. Although this is not an exercise to be taught to your typical clients, it’s value is truly beneficial to build athleticism and build mass. Here are two great quotes in the presentation given by Dan John (1) you cannot think through a ballistic movement (2) repetition is the mother of implementation.

Lastly of the instruction today, I learned more about the many benefits and drills to improve thoracic mobility. Bottom line…I don’t practice this enough!!!! Thank You David Whitley!

The workouts today were the more challenging than yesterday. We did a VO2 Viking Push Press workout – 10 minutes of 15:15. Our next workout of the day was to earn our lunch. Long cycle Clean & Jerk… need I say more!

I will end this blog on a quote from Pavel.

“Before building strength and endurance you must first have strength to endure”.

Now time for sleep and to rest up for our final day and level II testing!

be strong & be well

Dragon Door TV — Who is Dan John?

Do you “know” Dan John? Also, a great Episode featuring Jeff and Leslie Branham, RKC Instrucotrs at Equipt Fitness Studio in St. Paul MN.

A story a about Jenni Baker, RKC – and her Deubut on Dragon Door TV!

Congratulations to Nashville’s newest RKC’s: Jenni Baker and Drew Massey

Now official members of the RKC system AND the Iron Tamer Clan, I am so proud of you both! Having personally worked with Jenni on her training and preparation for RKC, I am so proud and excited to now share this experience with her. I have to admit that working with Jenni was not a tough task, she had an unwavering determination and definitely the skill to succeed. A quick story about just how much determination…you see Jenni did not take her training lightly, she was dedicated to continually improving right up to the week before she left. The day before she was going to leave, the students and fabulous trainers (thats us:))
at Tennessee Kettlebell made her a RKC “survival kit”. It had all the right stuff from athletic tape, to sunscreen, towels, even a little chocolate and a massage when she returned. We wanted this to be a suprise and so I sneakingly found out her work schedule and called her the morning that I was going to drop all the goodies off at the gym where she works. To my dismay and utter suprise, via text message, she told me she was on her way to the doctor as she had been up with a FEVER and COLD CHILLS all night. About an hour later she had confirmation that she had STREP! Now, Jenni was definitely ready for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge, she could hit her snatch numbers (NO PROBLEM) and her form was very solid, but did you ever wonder why you should train, train hard and train smart for your RKC Certification? Well, here you go, need I say more…you never know what the final hours hold before you depart for your RKC journey. Jenni left the following morning for a 12 hour drive from Nashville to Orlando for her RKC. She was not going to let this beat her, and that is just the way she is, she fought back and dug deep down to survive. She did everything necessary with proper nutrition, hydration and medication. Well……the rest of the story and RKC experience I will leave to Jenni Baker to tell! I must say I am so proud to call her a fellow RKC. I truly hope this will not be the experience for everyone with last minute trials and obstacles, but I will leave you with these final words. PREPARE and PREPARE TO SUCCEED!

PS – Jenni passed her sntach test – 100 reps in 5 minutes with a 16kg – on day 1 — with strep! Now that’s one Hardstyle Chick!

Check out Jenni Baker and Drew Massey, our representation from Nashville Kettlebell and Tennessee Kettlebell in this Dragon Door TV Episode