This weekend was one of the longest weekends of my life, but also one of the most rewarding. On Friday, I flew to Denver, Colorado, to attend a kettlebell instructor certification seminar hosted by Nico Rithner, of the Association of Tactical Strength and Conditioning Instructors. Nico has a great hardcore gym in Denver, with kettlebells, barbells, ropes, suspension units, rowers, grippers, hammers, and all kinds of great stuff. When I first arrived on Friday, I just walked around the gym for about an hour, playing with different toys. Then, that evening, we had a training session. I practiced some kettlebell lifts and calisthenics, and met some really nice people. I got to practice my clean and jerk on a real platform with bumper plates without fear of dropping the weights, and that was great. We played around with partial deadlifts, and with an atlas stone trainer. When you walk into Nico's gym, you can feel the atmosphere- it makes you want to lift!
Saturday morning, we gathered for the seminar. There was Nico and his assistant, Jordan, as well as Dave, a training sargeant at the academy; Justin, a local triathlete and personal trainer; Elizabeth, a massage therapist from Virginia; Kindle, an exercise physiologist from Pittsburgh; and Charlee, a police officer. Did I mention that Charlee is a world-class Judoka who won the Pan-American Games and competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics? Yeah. It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke: a drill sargeant, an olympian, a triathlete, two personal trainers and a theologian walk into a gym.... It was a little intimidating to be training in a room full of people who are among the very best in their fields, trained, educated, and proven among their peers. However, I knew that this would simply raise the bar in the standard of training, and make the seminar even better.
After introductions, we got down to business. The seminar was held at the Colorado State Patrol Academy. We started with a lecture by an exercise physiologist about injury prevention, and learned about self-myofascial release with foam rollers. Peter Van Doren gave a great lecture with PowerPoint slides, and as I listened to him and furiously took notes, a lot of things came together for me- I learned why I have pain in certain places, and how to correct it. That lecture alone would have been worth the trip to Colorado, but there was more!
After the injury prevention session, we got down to the business of lifting kettlebells, and did not stop until lunch time on Sunday. It rained and snowed on Saturday, so we lifted indoors, working on the basics, the sport lifts (snatch and jerk), all varieties of planks, pulls, explosive lifts, balance exercises, bridges, presses- you name it. The instruction was detailed, but it was organized in a way that the material flowed from one concept to another. No one got lost in a sea of information, because the applicability of one concept to another was immediately evident.
Saturday consisted of a full seven hours of lifting, and I wanted nothing more than to eat and rest. So, Nico and I picked up a movie and some Mediteranean food, and headed back, to his place. I got to meet his girlfriend, Anna, who is a really nice lady. We ate and chilled, then got a night of sleep.
Sunday started with the instructional test. Each candidate had to instruct Nico or his assistant, Jordan, on the basics of kettlebell lifting, including technique, safety, terminology, etc. It's not enough to be able to lift a kettlebell- this weekend was about teaching others to lift. After the instructional test, we took the fitness portion of the test. This test was deceptively simple: choose a lift, choose a kettlebell, and try to complete a ten minute set, with one hand switch, just like the sport of American Rules kettlebell lifting.
I'm already ranked in the snatch, so I have already hit the necessary numbers with the 20k/44lb. kettlebell. I've been training with the 24k/53lb. kettlebell, and have hit 95 reps. To rank, I needed 106. So, when my time came, I tightened my shoes, snugged up my wrist wraps, and began to lift. Today would be my day. Today, 106 reps would fall. Everyone would see it. After I made rank, they would pick me up on their shoulders and carry me through the State Patrol Academy. Confetti would fall from the ceiling, and adoring crowds would gather around. Or not.
After Saturday's lifting schedule, my grip was not recovered enough to snatch, so my left hand gave out just 32 reps into my set. My right hand was good for 44 more, for a total of 76 reps. In terms of making rank, it was an epic fail, but all things considered, it was a decent set. Everyone else did really great on the fitness test, and most other candidates earned a new rank, so there was a lot of energy in the room. Everyone affirmed and encouraged everyone else, just as we should.
After these tests, we took the kettlebells outside and trained windmills, get ups, and juggling in the grass and rabbit poop (a little rabbit poop never hurt anyone!). Then off to lunch at Whole Foods Market, then back for the final afternoon session. This session was about programming- designing workouts to reach our goals not simply for the short term, but for the long haul. I took a lot of notes, and brought home a lot to think about. This was one of my weakest areas, and is probably the reason I don't hold a higher rank than I do now. I need to learn to formulate the right plan, stick to it, and know when and how to deviate from it to take me where I want to go. Sunday afternoon's sessions gave me a lot to chew on in this regard.
Sunday night, Nico took us all to a great Argentinian restaurant for pizza and gelato, then off to the airport. I was wheels up at 1:00 a.m. Denver time, which my body thought was really 3:00 a.m., North Carolina time (did I mention I go to bed at 9:00, usually?). When I arrived home, my family was waiting for me at the airport. Lots of hugs and kisses from my favorite people, then off to the IHOP for a well-deserved breakfast. We came home, and Dawn quited the house for me so that I could get a little sleep before getting to work.
In a day or so,when I've had time to process the training and information to a greater extent, I'll prepare another post, discussing how I think that this certification will help me as an athlete and as a teacher. In the mean time, I'm just trying to recover from it!
I have a whole new respect for the guys who take these nails down in seconds. This requires not only grip strength, but whole-body tension! I'll keep working, and maybe you will see a video of an unassisted bend soon!
