RKC - Assistant Instructor

This post is a bit belated, but this last week has been anything but normal. I'll try to do my best to recount the weekend and experience 'cause I'm still coming down from the "high" of it all. If you've ever been to an RKC event, you know what I mean.



Rather than give a minute-by-minute accounting, I'll just piece together things that are on my mind about the experience as I write about them.



You can not put a price tag or come close to estimating the value of being close to the best trainers in the world. If you've ever felt like you don't fit in because of the way you train, eat or live your life, the RKC just reaffirms the fact that there are others out there who "get it." Just being around other instructors and teaching aspiring instructors that feel the same way is priceless.



Dave Whitley's (Senior RKC) grip strength is really taking off. If you get a chance, have him tear something up in front of you and then you try it. It'll humble you in a hurry. He's one strong dude!



I was on Team Ron Morris (RKC - Team Leader) with another assistant instructor, Jason Wood, RKC. Our team came in and started a little rough around the edges, but the transformation that was made, the progress that we witnessed was unbelievable. Congrats and huge thanks goes out to all of Team Morris and I wish you all the best!

This post would not be complete if I didn't say a huge thank you to Pavel, our Chief Instructor, Master RKC, Brett Jones, the Senior RKC's: Dave Whitley and Jeff O'Connor, RKC Team Leader, Ron Morris and all the Assistant Instructors. I'd also like to thank and congratulate the Dragon Door staff for making the cert so seamless and memorable!

I'm becoming more aware that some of the best times of an RKC event are Sunday night after grad workouts where everyone can celebrate their accomplishments. This cert was no different with good food, drinks, conversation and entertainment, courtesy of many "Hold My Beer/Purse And Watch This" moments.



This cert was special because I was invited by Fawn Friday, RKC to check out her gym and talk shop before my plane headed out. Fawn is amazingly strong and can do stuff most of my male students can't do. It was truly an honor and a pleasure to hang out with Fawn and I would encourage those of you in the St Paul/Minneapolis area to do the same.

All in all, assisting at an RKC event can't be explained, just experienced. I would do it again in a heartbeat and hope to have the opportunity to do so in the near future.

Off To St Paul

In the morning I'm off to St Paul, MN to serve as an Assistant Instructor at the coveted, RKC...THE Gold Standard in kettlebell instructor certifications. I'm totally stoked about the upcoming weekend and can't wait to soak up all it has to offer. I'm looking forward to seeing some old and new acquaintances and building new friendships. This is such an exciting experience and I hope there are many more to come in the future.

RKC, here we go!

Hard Style!

The Birthday 300

Okay, so I had a birthday today and I'm off and running into my thirties....31 to be exact. I decided to give myself a little challenge and some of my students decided to follow suit. Here's my sinister Hard Style version of the 300 workout to honor my 31st year of life.

Swings - 24kg - 31 reps
Dead Lifts - 48kg - 31 reps
Push Ups - 31 reps
Box Jump - 32 inch Tire - 31 reps
Snatch Left - 16kg - 31 reps
Clean & Press Right - 20kg - 31 reps
Front Squat - 24kg - 31 reps
Snatch Right - 16kg - 31 reps
Clean & Press Left - 20kg - 31 reps
Burpees - 31 reps

Total reps = 310 in ~ 20 minutes

So it wasn't exactly 300, but that's what made it so exciting! J/K I almost threw up, but I made it through and was glad I did it. Kind of a commemorative workout to celebrate. As Spriggs said, "I hate to see what I come up with when I'm 50." ;-)

My little brother (6'3" 195), Trevor, got me the new Metallica CD and a Ghost Recon game for my PSP. I listened to the first 5 songs on the way home and I'm totally digging the new album. Sounds like they're getting back to their old roots of head bangin', fist-pumpin' beats with oodles of face-melting rifs and solos. Love it! This will be standard fare in the gym beginning immediately! Thanks (little big) Bro!

Friday, I'm off to Frisco, TX with my buddy Kevin and his family to meet up with the Blifferts and Dave Whitley to attend the Iron Tamer's famous Kettlebell Workshop. I'm really stoked about Saturday and can't wait to see how the day goes.

Next week will be a monumental one as I'm off to St Paul, MN to participate in the Level 1 RKC cert as an Assistant Instructor. This is such a huge honor and I'm very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity. Again, this is going to be such a great experience to see how things are done at an RKC from behind the scenes and from an instructor's eyes. I'm expecting to pull more away (if it's possible) from this than I did as a fledgling RKC in training. Starting to get butterflies!