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Weekly Practice from the Hardstyle Diva

I tried something new in class this past Saturday with circuit training. I set up a series of kettlebell and bodyweight stations. These stations consited of the following:
Rows
Overhead Reverse Lunges
Hot Potato
Squat-Curl
Mountain Climbers
Russian Twist
Plank / Push up
Seated Ropes
Swings
Squat-Curl-Raise
Push Press
The final station was a Turkish Get up. Here the kicker, the person performing the get up was your timer or “pace car”. The Get-up Station would do one per side while the rest of the class did their stations.

If this all sounds fun, now its time to turn up the heat. Before switching stations, we would perform what I called a speed round. The time on this was 1 minute. We perfomed 3 exercises for 20 seconds each with no rest.

Push up
Jump Squats
Swings

Here’s how the workout went
Station
Rest – 40 seconds
Speed Round
Rest 40 seconds
Station
Rest 40 seconds
Speed Round
Rest 40 seconds
Station
Repeat until each student has compelted all stations.

Weekly Practice from the Hardstyle Diva

What is your favorite Kettlebell exercise? Well, I know this is a hard decision, but just pick one! For example, take this exercise and pair it with bodyweight exercies and do it TABATA Style. Are you ready? Here’s an example of what you can do. Currently I am really enjoying Front Squats. So here is a how my workout would go…

Set the timer for one of the following settings (YOUR CHOICE).
1) 20 sec work 10 sec rest
2) 30 sec work 15 sec rest
3) 40 sec work 20 sec rest
4) 1 min work 30 sec rest
My Sample Workout is 40:20 – 10 rounds = 10 minutes REST & REPEAT
– Front Squats
– Mountain Climbers
– Front Squats
– Plank
– Front Squats
– Burpees
– Front Squats
– Hip Bridge
– Front Squats
– Push up
Rest 2-3 minuts b/w rounds

Here are some more examples of bodyweight exercises:
Burpees, Hip Bridge, Plank, Mountain Climbers, Jump Squats, Alternating Jumping Lunges, Alternating Reverse Lunges, Squat, Push up, V-Up

Here are some examples of Kettlebell Exercies:
Swing (1H, 2H Alt Hand), Goblet squat, TGU, Windmill, Sntach, Figure 8, Clean & Press, Military Press, Push Press, Front Squat, etc, etc, etc.

For proper instruction of Kettlebell exercies go to the RKC Instrucotr page on Dragon Door and find an RKC instructor near you. Before working with Kettlebells, PLEASE do your research and be sure that you are learning from a certified RKC instructor. There are many people out there that are teaching kettlebells, if you are not taught correctly your risk for injury will be high.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!
~ hd

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

Go Viral with this article

In-Your-Face Fitness: Ring the kettle bell. School’s back in

Just an FYI – no further comments from the Hardstyle Diva. Well only one, if you want to learn Kettlebells, find a Certified RKC Instructor in your area, don’t settle for anything less!

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-fitness-jillian-michaels-20101011,0,2339798.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Ffeatures%2Fhealth+%28L.A.+Times+-+Health%29

How do you prove it?

As certified RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) instructors at Tennessee Kettlebell Boot Camp and Nashville Kettlebell Boot Camp we see many clients that have tried many types of fitness instruction from various types of instructors. Our clients find a refreshing change to our style of teaching and actually taking an interest in how they feel, not just trying to pump their vanity. I wanted to share with you a recent blog post from Dave Whitley, Sr. RKC, CK-FMS on how we are different and how we actually take an interest in working with our clients to measure their success, track their progress and teach them how to reach thier fitness and nutrition goals.

How do you prove it?
How do you measure success?

How do you track progress?

Is it by how sore your workout made you? Is it by how much you got your ass kicked during your workout? I am all for hard training, but pushing yourself just to be pushing yourself is not the most productive way to go. It may feel really good, but eventually you have to measure some results to see if it is doing any good.

It takes ZERO teaching talent to make someone exhausted, nauseous or sore. A monkey with a pair of dice can get you there in about 8 minutes, just do 10 burpees for whatever number comes up when he rolls.

Do you trust this guy to teach you how to swing a kettlebell?
If you just want to be sore, let me just hit you with a stick a couple of times and we’ll call it a day.

At the Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp and at Tennessee Kettlebell Bootcamp we have several ways that we track progress, depending on the goals of the individual. My students literally span the gap from be interested in a smaller waistline to professional athletes and everything in between. The great thing about the RKC system is that we use the same principles to address all these seemingly very different goals.

One unique thing we offer as part of our program is the use of Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Screen and the Kettlebell Corrective Movement strategies of the Certified Kettlebell Functional Movement Specialist (CK-FMS).
I never want to put fitness on top of a dysfunctional movement pattern and without a standardized, repeatable method of screening movement patterns, how do I know if you have dysfunction and where it originates? Right, I wouldn’t, I’d just be guessing.

The FMS allows me to see things in your movement that are predictors of potential injury and the CKFMS drills allow me to correct any underlying problems and head them off at the pass, keeping you healthy and making you more resilient as we travel the road of strength and fitness. If (when) your FMS score goes up over the course of 2 or 3 months, then you are improving and I can prove it.

Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better. We will teach you how.
Tennessee Kettlebell
Nashville Kettlebell