Kettlebell Training

How to Most Effectively Use Kettlebells to Meet Your New Year Goals

January 3, 2023 By William Sturgeon 1 Comment

It’s that time of year again when most people are wanting to focus on getting back on track with their health and fitness goals. This includes people starting up new gym memberships and starting a workout plan that will help them accomplish the goals they’re setting.

The goals are typically going to be the similar. Some will work towards goals that change their body composition to either increase muscle mass or decrease body fat, while others will be focused on increasing strength or decreasing pain.

Either way your goals are going to need a tool to help you accomplish these tasks. That’s where kettlebell training can come in. The best part about kettlebell training is that you can either train with a coach in person or hire a coach online and train in the comfort of your own home. A professional will almost certainly help you be more successful in accomplishing your goals as a result of the wise guidance and the ongoing accountability.

Here are a few workouts that you can do using kettlebells to help you accomplish some of your goals for 2023!!

Decreasing Body Fat

If you have a goal to decrease body fat the first thing you need to do is find a variety of ways to measure your progress. Your body is not a machine and it will have days and weeks where things will fluctuate. Having a variety of different tools will help you maintain your mental health and keep you on track. My favorite ways of tracking this goal is seeing how clothes fit, taking monthly waist measurements, measuring body fat percentages, and seeing how consistent I am with my nutrition.

Your priority with this goal is to monitor your intake with habits that will help support your goal — the workouts will only help supplement the goal. Slightly decreasing your caloric intake will help you with decreasing your bodyfat because your body will be using your stored body fat as means of a fuel to help keep you energized throughout the day.

Decreased Body Composition Workout

Circuit Training 20-30 minutes

A1. Kettlebell Carries x:30 sec work/:30 sec rest

A2. Kettlebell Swings x:30 sec work/:30 sec rest

A3. Kettlebell Goblet Squats x:30 sec work/:30 sec rest

A4. Kettlebell Bent Rows x:30 sec work/:30 sec rest

A5. Kettlebell Thrusters x:30 sec work/:30 sec rest

Increasing Muscle Mass

If you have a goal of increasing your body composition by adding more muscle mass to your body then the goal will be to go into a caloric surplus. Increase the amount of meals you’re eating in the day or increase the amount of food you are eating in the day. Either way, as long as you are increasing the calories to supplement your goals this will help you achieve them. Aside from increasing your caloric intake, your training will need more volume and time under tension to increase the size of your muscles. This means more sets and using eccentric tempos or other variations to challenge the body.

Increased Body Composition Workout

Density Training 30-40 minutes

A1. Turkish Get Up x1 rep on each side

A2. Ratchet Set Kettlebell Front Squat x5 reps (down all the way, ¼ way up then back down, then ½ way up back down, then all the way up)

A3. Eccentric Kettlebell Deadlift x6 reps (4 seconds down)

A4. Isometric Single Arm Rows x8 reps (2 second pause at top)

A5. 1.5 rep Double Arm Kettlebell Press x6 reps (half way up, back down, all the way up

Increasing Strength

Similar to increasing your body composition, building strength requires the body to increase its caloric intake to supplement the training you will be doing. Strength training requires a greater intensity with the loads you are using and needs lower repetitions. This allows for the body to use sub-max weight in lower rep volumes. Using more sets with lower reps and variations such as ladder sets or plus sets help accomplish this goal.

Increased Strength Workout

Strength Training

A1. KB Split Squat 5 sets of 5 reps

A2. KB Bent Row 5 sets of 8 reps

A3. KB Halos 5 sets of 3 reps each direction

B1. Double Arm Single Leg Kettlebell Deadlift 5 sets of 5 reps each side

B2. Kettlebell Bottom Up Press 5 sets of 5 reps each side

B3. Half Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch 5 sets of 3 breathes each side

C1. Kettlebell Swings 5 sets of 10 reps

Decreasing Pain

Most of us are going to be dealing with some sort of current or past injury that has limited daily tasks such as going up and down stairs, carrying groceries into the house, getting up and off the floor, tight low back or shoulders limiting us from other activities in the day.

When it comes to anything that is causing sharp pain speak with a medical professional to get their expert advice to see what is causing the pain. If it’s dull and achy, proceed with caution and make recommendations to see manual therapy or other modalities that will give your client relief. At my gym, Restored Strength, we primarily work with people who are overcoming or needing help overcoming old or current injuries. Here’s how we work with those clients to help them move and feel better while increasing their strength and endurance.

Restorative Strength Training

A1. Half Kneeling Kettlebell Halo 3 sets of 3 reps each direction

A2. Kettlebell Goblet Squat/Elevated KB Goblet Squat 3-4 sets of 4-8 reps

A3. Single Arm Kettlebell Row/Assisted Single Arm Kettlebell Row 3-4 sets of 4-8 reps each side

B1. Kettlebell Hip roll 3 sets of 3 reps each direction

B2. Kettlebell Deadlift/RDL 3 sets of 6-10 reps

B3. Half Kneeling Kettlebell Press/Half Press 3 sets of 4-8 reps each side

There are a wide variety of tools and exercises you can use to help you accomplish your goals for this year. The biggest thing to remember is that you have plenty of options — but take into consideration that one of the most effective options to use is a kettlebell, because of its extreme versatility.

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William Sturgeon, RKC Team Leader, RKC II trains clients at his gym, Restored Strength. Contact him through his website at RestoredStrength.com or follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/restoredstrength

1 Exercise That Checks All The Boxes

November 18, 2022 By Nick Lynch 1 Comment

The Turkish Get Up is an exercise that checks all the boxes. This exercise is still a mystery to me after all these years of teaching it. Every time I teach it, do it, and watch others do it, I learn something new. It checks every box I can think of as a strength coach.

The boxes I’m talking about are:

Power
Balance
Mobility
Flexibility
Explosivity
Posture
Core
All planes of motion
Therapeutic
Meditative
Mentally challenging

10-minutes of practicing this exercise in a way that’s right for your body is a powerful experience and it pairs well with others too, meaning it’s an easy exercise to superset. My favorite combination is TGUs and single arm swings.

Here’s a video illustrating all the most important elements to take into account when performing the Turkish Get Up:

I’m a busy person, I live a blessed life. My days are full — as I foster children, I have children, I’m married, I run a couple of businesses, I’m an active parishioner at my church and participant at my men’s group. I’ve got a lot going on! This means what I don’t have is a lot of time to workout. So for me, finding exercises that maximize potential and results are important.

It’s already known that when kettlebells are properly trained and programmed, they are the highest caloric output form of conditioning and they have little to no impact. They’re very safe and effective.

This way I don’t need to spend too much time foam rolling, stretching, meditating etc. I can just set a timer for 20 minutes, do 1 TGU per side, stand up and do 10 swings per arm and repeat. After the 20 minutes, I’m smoked in all the right ways yet energized to move forward into the day and serve.

Have you tried spending the time to learn how to do a proper TGU? And from there how to program it into your routine? And from there stick to it for a few years on a daily basis? I highly recommend it!

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Nick Lynch, Founder Superb Health and Performance www.superbhealthmke.com

Kettlebells in the Clinic

October 25, 2022 By Paul Britt, DC 1 Comment

If it wasn’t for kettlebells, I would not be a chiropractor today. I started out with the RKC in 2006 and attended the CK-FMS in 2010. The CK-FMS was the movement program that was based off of the FMS and was taught by Gray Cook and Brett Jones of FMS. It introduced me to movement screening and how to help clients move better, feel better and live better pain free.

I ran my gym based on what the FMS taught. We used the Functional Movement Screen as part of our onboarding program. I loved the results we were getting in members that could not/did not move as well as they should. It started my journey from Law Enforcement/Gym Owner to attending Chiro school. I knew that there was more that I could do to help people with the right credentials, and being a Chiropractor was something that I knew would allow me to help more people achieve even better outcomes.

The ability to look at and screen movement helped tremendously in Chiro school. It allowed me to look at everyone through a movement lens versus just looking at the injury that brought them in. I attended the Selective Functional Movement Assessment certification while in school. That is the clinical variation of the Functional Movement Screen. It allowed me to narrow in on the root cause of the patient’s dysfunction. The RKC/FMS gave me a leg up in the Rehab and improving outcomes.

Fast forward a few years and I am still helping people with better movement and decreased pain with kettlebells. Kettlebells are a significant part of our rehab program. They take up little space and can be used by everyone. The allow us to engage our patients in their rehab due to the challenge and the fun of using the kettlebell. Everyone that walks in wants to try and pick up the 106lb…

We use the skills taught at the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) as our base for rehabilitation and strengthening. You will often hear that the swing, Get Up and squat pretty much fix what ails you. Guess what? It is true. We find that if our patients have those three exercises down, their activities of daily living as well as any extracurricular activity can be performed with little to no dysfunction. Can we fix everything? No, but we can help them improve their lives and make them more injury resistant.

One of our patients, a CrossFit competitor, had to undergo shoulder surgery for a tear. Once we were able to load and stress the shoulder, we started out with the unweighted get up. We started out with rolling to the press. This allowed us to help connect her core to the rest of her body core after six weeks of being sedentary. We performed the movement of rolling to the press without weight. She would lay on her side in the fetal position, roll to supine and press from the floor.

Once she owned the movement, we move to shoulder packing. We use the supine press position and showed her how to pack the shoulder. We accomplished this by lightly pushing and pulling the arm up and down int the press position. This allowed her to feel the movement and perceive what it should feel like when doing correctly. We also showed her to rotate her fist in the press position for movement in the joint. This was for getting fluid moving as well as allowing the body to feel what the shoulder should be doing when functioning correctly.

We like to work the standing to half kneeling after teaching the shoulder packing to get to half kneeling and help with stability. I find that this is often easier to teach than having patients work into the post and to the heist and windmill before they can safely move through the mid-range movements. There is no set number or time frame. We have had one patient work through the parts of the get up unloaded for 6 months before they were allowed to use any weight. Time practicing the get up is never wasted time.

The athlete worked through the rest of the get up without weight and then started with low loads. We moved from 25% internal rotation and 50% abduction to 100% pain free in both ranges of motion in 12 weeks after surgery. She is back to competition weights without pain or dysfunction.

The swing can be used in the same manner. We find the parts of the swing that will benefit patients and work from there. The power of the teaching process and the techniques are often greater than the sum of the swing. For back pain, posterior chain strengthening has been shown to be superior to general exercise and walking programs for treating chronic low back pain. (1)

The swing is a great tool for working with patients with issues in the back. For back pain we start with the basics, breathing. We start with crocodile breathing as taught in the HKC and RKC. A large problem that we find with low back pain and other injuries are breathing dysfunctions. A large portion of our patient base breathe in the upper chest, using traps and accessory muscles to breathe versus the diaphragm. Breathing has been shown to help inhibit the paraspinal muscles and help with spasms. Proper breathing patterns help with balance, pain and the ability to access full strength in a patient. (2)

Proper breathing is essential for being able to develop the ability to use tension and relaxation to get the most out of swings. What do we do, we work on teaching them how to breathe properly. Once they understand how to breathe, it becomes an alert system for us. If they lose the ability to breathe well during an exercise, we have either fatigued them or selected the wrong exercise to use.

The deadlift, the deadlift drag, and the pendulum swing are three of the swing teaching tools that we use a lot. “Deadlifts have been shown to improve low back pain as effectively as low load motor control drills.”(3) That basically says that if the patient is ready, deadlifts are at least as effective as bands, stick drills and similar movements that do not require loads.

Why not make them stronger if it is clinically available to the patient. There is a lot more buy in from the patient when they have that visceral response from lifting real weight and getting stronger each session.

The deadlift drag is a great tool for strengthening the posterior chain and connection it with movement. The set up is deadlift hinge with the bell in front. The kettlebell is moved along the ground in a drag utilizing the lats, rhomboids and other muscle of scapular control as well as erectors and glutes. It has helped us to improve scapular control and function in patients that have scapular dyskinesia.

I have personally used the pendulum swing in my own rehab journey. I suffered a disc injury several years ago that kept me from performing standard exercises. I was able to move into a hip hinge but could not move through the full deadlift pattern with weight. I found that the low position was pain free and I was able to swing a kettlebell in that position. I would get into the hip hinge at a position that did not hurt or worsen my symptoms and perform pendulum swings.

Our end goal with swings is to move through two handed to one-handed swings. Research has shown that this is a great way to help mitigate current back pain as well as help decrease future problems. The one hand swing engages the opposite side spinal erectors and same side external obliques leading to greater stabilization in the back and core.(4)

A specific end user for the Kettlebell Swing as a rehab tool is our Post ACL reconstruction patients.(5) The research has shown that kettlebell swings help decrease the risk of non-contact injuries from high risk to a lower risk profile after 6 weeks of training. We teach them the Get Up, before we allow them to swing. The Get Up is used as a strengthening and screening tool to ensure the patient can load the knee safely before transitioning to the swing. The improvements are due to posterior chain strengthening, the semitendinosus and hamstrings.

The squat as taught in the HKC/RKC are useful in several ways. We like the squat as the end game for connecting the dots of the rehab program. It requires mobility and stability to perform and control of the breathing and tension. We use Bottoms Up Squats to test for connectivity of the core with the movement pattern. If the Bottoms Up Squat cannot be performed, there is a leak in the pattern.

We want to make sure that our elderly patients can get off the floor and the toilet. If they can do that, we have increased their quality of life and survivability. We have found that patients that have gone through the program have reached those goals.

This is a quick look at how you can implement kettlebells in the clinic to help your patients move better, feel better, live better pain free. It does not have to be complicated to work.

***

Paul Britt DC is a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician and Senior RKC based in Gulf Breeze Florida. His practice, Integrative Chiropractic Solutions utilizes kettlebells as rehabilitations tools to help his patients achieve their goals.

Tataryn N, Simas V, Catterall T, Furness J, Keogh JWL. Posterior-Chain Resistance Training Compared to General Exercise and Walking Programmes for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain in the General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med Open. 2021 Mar 8;7(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s40798-021-00306-w. PMID: 33683497; PMCID: PMC7940464.
Stephens RJ, Haas M, Moore WL 3rd, Emmil JR, Sipress JA, Williams A. Effects of Diaphragmatic Breathing Patterns on Balance: A Preliminary Clinical Trial. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2017 Mar-Apr;40(3):169-175. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2017.01.005. Epub 2017 Mar 1. PMID: 28259495.
Aasa B, Berglund L, Michaelson P, Aasa U. Individualized low-load motor control exercises and education versus a high-load lifting exercise and education to improve activity, pain intensity, and physical performance in patients with low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2015 Feb;45(2):77-85, B1-4. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2015.5021. PMID: 25641309.
Andersen V, Fimland MS, Gunnarskog A, Jungård GA, Slåttland RA, Vraalsen ØF, Saeterbakken AH. Core Muscle Activation in One-Armed and Two-Armed Kettlebell Swing. J Strength Cond Res. 2016 May;30(5):1196-204. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001240. PMID: 26473519.
Zebis MK, Andersen CH, Bencke J, Ørntoft C, Linnebjerg C, Hölmich P, Thorborg K, Aagaard P, Andersen LL. Neuromuscular Coordination Deficit Persists 12 Months after ACL Reconstruction But Can Be Modulated by 6 Weeks of Kettlebell Training: A Case Study in Women’s Elite Soccer. Case Rep Orthop. 2017;2017:4269575. doi: 10.1155/2017/4269575. Epub 2017 Jan 18. PMID: 28197354; PMCID: PMC5286491.

How Breathing Can Improve Your Kettlebell Training

September 30, 2022 By William Sturgeon 1 Comment

If you’re an RKC candidate or someone who enjoys kettlebell training you know that training for your RKC or doing a high volume of repetitions can be both physically and mentally exhausting. Typically, the first thing that gives out when working high levels of intensity is your ability to breathe properly.

Once you’ve lost your breath everything gets harder, technique becomes less than ideal and your body begins to shut down. This is to be expected because of the biology of our body and how our nervous system works. But what if we could prolong this exhausted state by managing early onset of fatigue, reduce exposure of injuries, and maintain mindful awareness?

This is where breath-work can help you reduce these symptoms of inhibited breathing by increasing your endurance, enhancing core strength, and regulating your cognitive function. Breathing is one of the most underrated exercises, but it’s the most critical to your foundation for life. There are 1,000 ways you can breathe. I’ll only cover a couple in this article to get you started with increasing your performance, reducing your stress, and improving your strength.

I’ve always been fascinated with learning more about how to breathe and regulate your nervous system to improve your mental and physical health. Last month I attended a Wim Hof Method workshop taught by Breathe & Believe where we did some extraordinary things such as cold therapy.

They taught us a combination of breathing, mindset, and cold therapy to help keep the body and mind in its optimal natural state. In this workshop they went into the physiology and neurology of how this methodology works. We learned the skills and then put them into practice right away, very similar to what we do at HKC and RKC workshops.

Here’s how breathing can improve your kettlebell training

Increases Endurance

Most of us have a tendency to breathe improperly, where the breath stays stuck in the upper chest due to high levels of stress and prolonged seated positions limiting full expansion of the ribs and under-utilization of the diaphragm.

When you breathe improperly the ribs begin to become inhibited meaning that they are going to be tightened up and restricted. When your body is in a prolonged flexed position for too long your upper back becomes more kyphotic (rounded) which leads to a more forward head posture (text neck) also known as upper cross syndrome. This will lead to tight muscles in the neck, chest, and upper back which will limit your ability to breathe properly.

In order to increase your endurance, you must learn how to first properly take in oxygen. Oxygen is a source of energy, it helps provide nutrients to the muscles, and helps promote blood flow throughout the body. When you are able to breathe properly you’re then able to increase your endurance which will reduce early onset of fatigue.

Think about when you’re training for your snatch test; most candidates will fail this test due to their lack of physical strength or endurance. If you can train the body to be better at utilizing oxygen then your ability to sustain greater work capacity will increase.

Here are a few different ways of breathing to start your practice:

Crocodile breathing – This is a great entry into breathing because it helps you or your client learn how to breathe through your core by getting feedback from the ground. The ground is a hard surface which acts like a focal point for you to push your core into as you’re breathing in through the diaphragm.

Feet elevated breathing – This puts the pelvis in a more posterior tilted position which allows the pelvis floor and diaphragm to be in proper alignment for breathing. Having a light pull into the heels will activate the hamstrings which will assist in pulling the pelvis into a posterior tilt. Having the arms raised will assist with widening the scapula by activating the serratus anterior which is another muscle associated with breathing because it elevates the ribs.

Side lying position – The side lying position is great for thoracic rotation and also widening the ribs and opening the upper chest muscles. When you are in the side lying position you are using the floor as a tool to give you feedback into your bottom side ribs in order to help with full expansion.

Power Breathing (Wim Hof Breathing) – This is a more advanced variation of breathing that has some pretty tremendous benefits. Using the Wim Hof Method will help you by teaching your body how to optimally utilize the oxygen.How this works is you take 30 deep breaths through the nose and out the mouth and on your last breath you fully exhale and hold for as long as you can. What is happening here is that you are flooding your body with oxygen and the nutrients you are taking in with it.
From there when you fully exhale your body begins to be filled with carbon dioxide. This is an uncomfortable feeling for many at first because they are not used to their body being without oxygen, but if we can begin to learn how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable it lessens its intensity. The reason you would want to train this style of breathing is because it’s teaching the body how to regulate itself under a controlled stressor.

Strengthens core

Breathing can strengthen your core by teaching the deep core muscles how to work together to provide spinal stability. These muscles are your diaphragm, intercostals, serratus anterior, psoas, transverse abdominis, internal/external obliques, rectus abdominis, quadratus lumborum, erectors, and your pelvic floor. When you look at a diagram of the human anatomy you will see a lot of deep red muscles in these areas. What that signifies is that they are slow twitch fibers which means that they need oxygen as a main energy source to do their jobs.

When you learn to breathe properly you will begin to feel your stomach, ribs, and chest raise up and widen as you inhale, then begin to create tension and pull together as you exhale. The better you become at feeling your breath and intra-abdominal muscles, the greater your pelvis and spinal stability will be because you have trained the muscles to properly do their job as stabilizers in which you will create greater strength.

How this relates to your kettlebell training is having a greater base of support aka your trunk, you will have a lower likelihood of injuring your low back or shoulders. The Hard Style Plank does a great job at teaching us how to create tension and how to breathe behind the shield which means how you are able to maintain stability under load.

When you think of kettlebell swings, there is a great amount of hip flexion and extension that is created in which the core should be strong enough to stabilize the lumbar spine to reduce hyper extension at the top of your swing or flexion at the bottom of the swing.

Another example would be to look at the Turkish Get-Up one of the best exercises that trains the body and core in a variety of different planes of motions in which the core must be able to work together with the moving limbs to move properly.

Regulates cognitive function

Cognitive function means your ability to learn, think, reason, remember, problem solve, make decisions, and center attention. When you’re unable to breathe properly all of these functions begin to slow down because of the lack of regulation in your autonomic nervous system, specifically an out of controlled sympathetic nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that controls involuntary actions like heart rate and blood vessels widening or narrowing. Within your ANS you have your sympathetic nervous system which is responsible for your fight, flight, freeze or fawn response in your body.

You also have a parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for your rest and digest system. Think of this as stress from sympathetic and passive from parasympathetic; one means to cause stress and alertness while the other is for relaxation and calmness. Both are greatly needed for different activities in your day, but mainly we should be placing greater focus on our parasympathetic nervous system.

The reason you should be placing greater focus on your PNS is because that’s where your cognitive function can be greatly improved upon. When your nervous system isn’t always hijacked by stress you’re able to be calmer and more relaxed which helps improve your cognitive functions. You do this by practicing the breathing skills above to learn how to lower your heart rate and reduce your physical symptoms of stress.

When you’re able to regulate your breathing, it improves your cognitive function meaning that you are going to able to retain more and understand movement better when it comes to learning some of the complexities to exercises like the kettlebell swing or the Turkish Get-Up.

In summary, your kettlebell training can improve tenfold by simply improving your breathing because it can increase your endurance, strengthen your core, and helps you learn.

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Thoughts on the RKC Kettlebell Snatch Test

April 5, 2022 By Mike Krivka 1 Comment

Master RKC Michael Krivka Demonstrating Kettlebell Snatches

The following are my thoughts and observations regarding the RKC Snatch Test. This post is based on over twenty years of experience training with and teaching kettlebells to the public, military, and law enforcement personnel. Some of what you are about to read is contrary to what you find being recommended by other trainers and coaches. That’s fine and should be expected. What you need to do is find the program that works best for you and your clients.

Test ≠ Race

The test is not a race. You have five minutes to complete the Snatch Test and I strongly recommend that you use all of it. Someone who completes the test in 3:50, and someone who completes it in 4:59, will both pass. But I will guarantee you that the person who used as much time as possible had an easier time and exhibited much, much better technique.

You Must Exhibit Positional and Transitional Management

You don’t pass the Snatch Test by just doing 100 kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes. You must demonstrate positional and transitional management coming out of the backswing, overhead, from the drop, and back into the backswing. Loss of control in any of those positions not only makes the Snatch Test more difficult but can also cause or lead to injuries.

Train Grind Strength Before Ballistic Strength

To execute the Snatch Test safely, you will need to develop several skills and attributes. First, you will need strength and stability in the overhead lockout position. This can be done easily by spending a good portion of your time working on the kettlebell press, push press, and/or kettlebell jerk. Strength in this position protects the shoulder itself from the rigors of ballistic snatches, as well helping to maintain mobility in the shoulder and upper quadrant of the torso.

Master RKC Michael Krivka Demonstrates the overhead lockout position of the kettlebell snatch

Second, you will need to develop an efficient and powerful backswing. The backswing is sometimes overlooked or minimized. But the more you work on it, the easier the swing, clean, and snatch will be. You will develop a highly efficient system for transferring energy from the ground, through the hips, and into the overhead position. Ignore this aspect of training to your own detriment.

Finally, train to develop a smooth and soft overhead lockout. When you watch most people snatch the kettlebell, it looks like a big swing with the kettlebell going over the top of their hand on the way up before slamming onto the forearm. This is very inefficient and does not demonstrate a viable understanding of how to translate and transition energy from the body into the kettlebell. The kettlebell should explode from the backswing and then float to the overhead position, where the hand is gently punched through the handle while all the joints, bottom to top, lock softly.

Before Attempting the Snatch Test

As you start preparing for the Snatch Test, here’s a key piece of information that will make the test easier–as well as save wear and tear on your shoulders. Before you start doing high rep snatch practice sessions, you should be able to press your Snatch Test weight kettlebell ten times right and left. Work on grinding out of the rack and into a solid lockout overhead, then a slow and strict transition back to the rack. Once this becomes easy (and it will after a while) you are reasonably safe to start practicing high rep snatches.

Let me put it this way: until you have the strength to strictly press 20% of what you are going to snatch during the test, you have no business practicing for 100% of the ballistics you will be doing.

Build grinding strength before ballistic intensity and numbers.

Training for the Snatch Test

Training for the Snatch Test should consist of two very different types of training sessions: Grinds and Ballistics.

Your grind sessions should be oriented so that you can get to the 10×10 strict press on both sides with your Snatch Test weight kettlebell. These sessions can be done at lower weights to practice getting the reps. They can also be done heavier to build extra strength and stability for transitioning from the rack to lockout and from lockout back into the rack.

Your Ballistics sessions should be comprised of:

40% Swings; with both snatch weight and heavier
40% Cleans; with both snatch weight and heavier
20% Snatches; with lighter than snatch weight, snatch weight, and heavier

Training sessions should be relatively brief and slowly progress in load and volume to Snatch Test numbers. Properly planned and executed, you can go from 10×10 snatches right and left to 50×50 snatches right and left in 8-10 weeks of moderate training.

When to Take the Snatch Test

The only time you should take the Snatch Test is when you are both physically, mentally, and technically dialed in. The RKC experience will make major changes to the technique you have been using to prepare for the Snatch Test. If you feel that you need more time to prepare for the Snatch Test, you have 90 days after your RKC Workshop to submit a video. I would strongly recommend this option for most people attending the RKC. Once you have your technique dialed in at the RKC, you can go home and work in a more efficient and safe manner. If you just jumping into the Snatch Test after learning how to execute the snatch safely and effectively, you will likely just revert to old habits and accommodations while under the stress of the test. It takes time to develop a new foundation for your snatch technique and you can easily do that within the 90-day window.

If you are interested in seeing what I think the “perfect” Snatch Test looks like, watch the video below:

I hope this helps you prepare for the RKC Snatch Test. Please reach out to me if you have any additional questions or concerns.

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Master RKC Michael A. Krivka, Sr. is a Washington, DC native who has been involved in Kettlebell training for over a decade and is currently a Master RKC and member of the RKC Board of Advisors under Dragon Door (where he has been listed as one of the top reviewed RKC’s in the world for the last five years). Mike has traveled extensively throughout the United States teaching Kettlebells to military (USMC, USN, USA and USAF) and law enforcement personnel (FBI, DEA, USSS and CIA) as well hard-living civilians from Soccer Moms to CEOs. In addition to teaching workshops and clinics he logs several hundred hours a year teaching and training with Kettlebells at his own gym and martial arts studio. He is also a Level I CrossFit Trainer, and Olympic Lifting Coach.

The Getup: Trendy or Essential?

March 26, 2022 By Rebecca Codi 1 Comment

Rebecca Cody leading a kettlebell get-up class

Recently, Men’s Health published an article about the Turkish getup. The article started by saying that the Turkish getup may be “trendy and stylish,” but that’s it’s overrated and not the best use of training time. And that “it’s nearly impossible to establish a mind-muscle connection with this move.” Here are some of my thoughts.

I looked into the origin of the Turkish getup. There are a few theories, but all of them reveal that the Turkish getup is centuries old. Hardly trendy.

Also, I have a little bit of an issue with criticizing exercises for being cool and trendy. Who made movement exploration illegal?

Then there’s the issue of mind-muscle connection. When you’ve got a ball of iron over you face, it’s ALL mind muscle connection. Yet, the Men’s Health author compared it to the mind muscle connection only required to perform biceps curls. Hmmm. Ok.

Here’s a funny thing: I taught a workshop on the Turkish getup to 16 adults a few weeks ago, and not one of the participants mentioned that they felt a lack of mind-muscle connection. But, every single one of them left the workshop moving better, and with a new tool for their training toolbox.

RKC-II Rebecca Codi leading group through learning the kettlebell get-up

It crossed my mind that there were so many steps that maybe getups weren’t the best choice for a group setting. That’s why we BREAK IT DOWN. Oddly enough, everyone was able to perform a get-up by the end of the workshop…and really well too. Some people used weights, some not. A few participants needed extra time, but with enough patience, we got to where we needed to be.

We really need to stop treating people like they’re frail and inept.

I can tell you that when I use getups in my own programming, my press gets heavier. It probably has something to do with having a heavy weight in the locked out position over my head for a good amount of time. And the fact I don’t bang up my shoulders with a lot of pressing volume. Just my guess. Either way, I get a kick out of pressing heavy weights and it makes me feel empowered.

I can tell you that simply performing a getup with a heavy kettlebell is exciting. Getups give me and my clients a ton of confidence which spills over into other areas of our lives.

I can also tell you that when I give my gen pop clients a bunch of getups in the beginning of their workouts, they move better and have more access to certain ranges of motion throughout the session. Not a bad thing.

Look, I’m not going to say that the movement is for everyone. And I’m also not going to criticize using the individual components of the getup on their own, there’s gold in those movements. And I’m also not throwing shade at biceps curls. I love a curl.

But in a world where most people don’t move enough, I wish we could change the conversation to include more movement opportunities, rather than continuously taking things away with “do this, don’t do that” kind of articles.

Rebecca Codi leading a group with kettlebell get-ups

Programming towards a goal is important. Being really intentional with your time makes sense. But there’s always room for a little bit of movement exploration. Maybe not for professional athletes, but that’s the minority.

Most of my adult clients aren’t even looking to “max out” if I’m being honest. Most want to move well and feel great. That said, I will continue to teach the get-up any chance I get.

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Rebecca Codi, MA, RKCII, CFSC

How I Set A Guinness World Record For Turkish Get-ups… And Then Beat It!

December 25, 2021 By Colleen Conlon 2 Comments

On July 17, 2021, I set the Guinness World Record for “Heaviest Weight Lifted by Turkish Get Up in One Hour (female).” I completed 133 Turkish get-ups in sixty minutes using a 16kg kettlebell. I finished lifting a total of 2,182 kilograms.

On December 4, I beat the record by completing 188 reps in the same time with the same bell. I finished lifting 3,008 kilograms.

The Journey Begins

During the 2020 lockdown, after transitioning my personal training business online, I decided it was time to step up my own kettlebell practice. I was already dead serious about my training, so I started thinking about what bigger goals I might have. At the time, I was doing a lot of kettlebell swings every-minute-on-the-minute (or “EMOM”), and thought to myself, “Is there a challenge for this?”

After some time passed, I went to the Guinness World Record website. I discovered a record listed as, “Heaviest Weight Lifted by Kettlebell Swing in One Hour.” I wondered if there was a record for the Turkish get-up. I searched further and found that there was—but not in the female category. All too often, we impose limitations on ourselves. I was determined to explore my true potential. I thought: “Why not me?”

After brooding in doubt for a few months, I sent in my application. In March of 2021, I began training for the Guinness World Record.

I worked with Senior RKC Annie Vo as my coach. Annie had beaten world records herself, and I knew she would be the perfect fit. In accordance with her programming, I did a lot of Turkish get-up EMOMs—some heavy and short, others long and light. My workouts lasted anywhere between 10-90 minutes. In approaching my goal, my initial game plan was to aim for 2-3 reps per minute with a 20kg bell and I trained as such, but my plan would have to change. It seems I failed to read the fine print.

Expect the Unexpected

The week before I was prepared to set the record, I discovered that in order for a Turkish get-up to qualify for Guinness, the bell MUST be pressed up and brought down using only one arm. I was not prepared for this. Prior to this discovery, I had been using both arms to press. At the time, I couldn’t single arm press the 20kg. It was even a struggle to press the 16kg! I had only one week to prepare under my newly found circumstances. (Lesson learned: read the fine print!)

The day came. Annie flew out and I had no choice but to follow through. I kept my eyes on the prize and stuck with the plan, using only one arm to press. On July 17, 2021 I performed 133 Turkish get-ups, just over two per minute and set the Guinness World Record! While this first attempt was very exciting, I knew it wasn’t the best I could do. Had I known all the details up front, and trained accordingly, I could do better. The next several weeks were dedicated to push patterns.

Losing Myself

On December 4th, I did 188 Turkish get-ups, just over three per minute and smashed the current Guinness World Record, previously set by me! Breaking this record was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, both physically and mentally. The first time, back in July, I knew I had more to give. This time, nothing remained inside me. I died and was reborn.

Although I never got to a point where I felt like I couldn’t do one more rep, I was maintaining 85% of my max effort for the entire hour. It felt as if I was crying on the inside. I took five mini-breaks and in those moments I saw darkness. It took everything in me to get out of my head and tell myself out loud, “YOU CAN DO THIS!” I never had an out of body experience before, but I did during this hour. I was told afterward that I was grunting and screaming at times, but I don’t remember.

One of the biggest things that helped was having my support team with me. My husband Tim, Annie, and Danny Kavadlo were all there to assist and cheer me on. If I were alone, I would’ve quit, but having Coach Vo by my side helped keep me in line. (Not to mention the fact that she flew across the country to be with me. I couldn’t let her down!)

What I Learned

I am capable of doing hard things. Back when Annie and I were coming up with our game plan, we knew based on studying the male record, that three reps average per minute with the 16kg would give me the greatest number. On one of my first sessions in preparing for this record, I tried to do three per minute for 10 minutes with the 12kg and I failed. The thought of doing that with 16kg for an hour terrified me. But it’s from failure that we grow. Had I not been met with obstacles, I may not have grown as fierce. In the beginning, it was too hard for me, but with the right training plan, consist hard work, and the right coach, I was able to do it in the end.

Willpower is a muscle that you need to train. Every session on my own, I had to remind myself of my “why”. There were many moments I wanted to give up, especially during the last attempt, but because I spent so much time in the longer EMOMs, many of which were 90 minutes, my willpower muscle was well conditioned.

Find Your Fierce

We all have the ability to create our own reality. I wasn’t an athletic kid and I did not grow up playing sports. I never had a “Big Game” moment. Not even close. I realized that if I ever wanted that opportunity in adulthood, I had to create it for myself, so that is what I did.

If there is something you want, it’s probably not going to magically come to you. You have to go out there and make it happen, and you can. I know this because if I did it, so can you.

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Follow Colleen Conlon, RKC-II, PCC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamcolleenconlon/

How and Why to Fix the “Drinking Bird” Kettlebell Swing Mistake

December 2, 2021 By Andrea Du Cane 1 Comment

When the kettlebell swing was first introduced, the idea of ballistically moving weight was a novelty. Other than Olympic Lifting, heavy weights were not lifted explosively. And the ability of moving the load behind the hips was unthinkable.

We take this for granted now after 20 years or more of kettlebell training. We all know the advantages of this type of ballistic training and the unique way it trains our posterior chain, a godsend for all athletes.

Teaching the Swing for Optimal Performance

Because it was so new and unique, we ran into problems with how to teach and perform the swing for optimal performance and effect. With many people quad dominant, it naturally turned into more of a squat style swing.

We worked hard to change that pattern and bring the swing into the hip-hinge dominant pattern it is today. There was lots of experimentation and drills used to find the right movement pattern. And I think for the most part we have succeeded. Today nearly everyone walking into an HKC or RKC Workshop knows the swing is a deadlift/hinge style pattern. Please note that I am not talking about the American (CrossFit) swing, which is meant to be an anterior and quad dominate movement pattern. That swing was developed to specifically mimic the Olympic lifting movement of a barbell snatch.

The “Drinking Bird” Kettlebell Swing Problem

The problem with something being “too good to be true”, is also that “too much of a good thing is no longer so good.” The swing has swung (pun intended) from a too squatty swing to a straight-legged swing, or as I call it the “Drinking Bird Swing”.

It seems that in every video I see, in every workshop I teach, my clients, even myself, people have been overcompensating for the squatty swing, by swinging with nearly straight legs. You could say we have taken the easy road to loading. Let’s face it, it’s more work to sit back deeper, I call it the “lazy butt syndrome”. And if you have flexible hamstrings like some of us, it is way easier.

Swinging with nearly straight legs puts all the power and loading into the hamstrings. It takes away from the quads, but it also takes away from deep glute engagement at the backswing, right where we need the most power. In other words, a “drinking bird” swing will have much less power.

If the hamstrings are on stretch at the backswing, the glutes are not back and down enough to fully engage, so the power in the upswing is diminished.

Imagine doing a lot of snatches only using your hamstrings? No wonder, the arms and back are doing so much of the work, they must make up for loss of power from the hips.

Troubleshooting the Kettlebell Backswing

Look at the photos below, in which position do I look the most loaded? I call this the “Goldilocks” of the backswing position.

1) My knees are very bent, and my hips and knees are nearly level.

An incorrect squatty kettlebell swing mistake — A “too squatty” kettlebell backswing

2) My knees are nearly straight, my chest down, my hips and shoulders are level.

A legs too straight "drinking bird" kettlebell swing mistake — A “drinking bird” kettlebell backswing

3) My knees are bent, my hips back and down, my chest and shoulders lifted slightly.

Andrea Du Cane, Master RKC Performs a correct RKC Hardstyle Kettlebell Swing Backswing — A correct RKC Hardstyle kettlebell backswing

Stand up and try each of these positions:

1) Stand feet shoulder distance, both arms in a back swing position, knees very bent, and hips in line with knees. What does it feel like? Where do you feel the most loading?

2) Same stance, this time hinge and keep the knees nearly straight, push the hips back, let the chest/head/shoulders face the ground- shoulders and hips level. What does it feel like? Where do you feel the most loading?

3) Same stance, this time sit back with hips, let the knees bend like you’re sitting back on a medium height chair, keep the chest/shoulders lifted. What does it feel like? Where do you feel the most loading?

My guess is that when you followed #1 you felt the most in your quads; #2 most of the loading is in the hamstrings; #3 you felt a little in the quads, a lot in the hips/glutes and some hamstrings. Picture #3 is the classic back swing position we teach at the RKC: Shoulders above hips and hips above knees.

How to Produce the Most Strength and Power with Your Kettlebell Swings

One of the key principles of Hardstyle kettlebell training is full body tension when we want to produce strength and power. If you don’t engage your glutes and quads and rely primarily on the hamstrings, are you not breaking that Hardstyle principle and losing power?

Yes indeed.

That’s Goldilocks for you. She lets us find the best position to get the most power. Try sitting back deeper into your backswing, I guarantee you’ll have more power, the kettlebell will fly, and you’ll feel your glutes more than you have in a long time.

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Andrea Du Cane is a Master RKC Kettlebell Instructor, CK-FMS, CICS, and RIST, ZHealth certified, she has a BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and is also a Pilates instructor. She is the author of several books and dvds including The Ageless Body, The Kettlebell Boomer, and The Kettlebell Goddess Workout. She has over twenty years of aerobics, weight training and fitness experience, with an additional background in… Read more here.

The Turkish Get Down Press and the Road to Windmills and Bent Presses

November 12, 2021 By Dan John 1 Comment

Let me cut straight to the point, something I rarely do: the Turkish Get Down Press (TGDP) has allowed me to speed up the teaching process of three of the most difficult kettlebell exercises to teach and master:

The Turkish Get Up
The Windmill “Family”
The Bent Press

Actually, the TGDP has helped me speed up the teaching of the entire pressing family, too, but I like my world to fit neatly in threes. Certainly, you may know the exercise, but like The Rock’s world in Jungle Cruise, there seems a whole lot more to discover

I liked the movie. Just saying.

Committing to a few rounds of this lift might save you a lot of time and energy later trying to explain the hows and whys of doing the movement.

If you know how my brain works, you also know that this “all starts with a story.” We, my morning training corps (my Intentional Community), were having a typical gym discussion about what to do next in the workout. For the record, not EVERY thing we do in training is computer generated perfection.

Actually, the BEST things we do are usually cobbled together. Not every group can handle a Jazz Improv training program but it seems to work with us as we are a mix of ages, occupations and experience.

I had just returned from a workshop. At said workshop, someone asked about having a workout with just a single kettlebell and a basic knowledge of Tim Anderson’s Original Strength. (I include an example at the end) and we talked about how much I love, love I tell you, doing the Half-Kneeling Press for home trainees. Including me.

Done correctly, with the 90-degree angles at the knees and a tall position of the body, the Half-Kneeling Press stretches, mobilizes, and strengthens a host of bodyparts and “just feels good.”

And, of course, the question came up.

“Which hand with which knee?”

You see, with this press varietal, you have some options. You can press with one arm…or two. You can have your left knee down or your right knee. As you know, in lifting there are three knees:

The Left Knee
The Right Knee
The Hiney

I crack myself up. By the way, spellcheck does NOT like my spelling of “hiney.” For your illumination, I give you the dictionary explanation of my awful joke:

The first records of hiney come from the first half of the 1900s. It is derived from words based on the root word hind, meaning “the back,” as in behind (another euphemism for the buttocks) and hindquarters. The suffix -y or -ie is used to add an endearing or euphemistic quality to words—to make them cuter or more familiar, as in granny and doggie.

We came to a decision as a group that the left knee should be down if pressing with the right hand and the right knee should be down if pressing with the left hand.

Why?

The Turkish Get Up!!!

Actually, one would learn this doing a correct Turkish Get Down. And, for total candor, it is the Turkish Get Down Press that got us thinking of this reason.

You don’t know the Turkish Get Down Press? Let me say this: for speeding up the teaching of the TGU, I have yet to find anything better than the TGD Press. It’s very simple:

At each step of the TG Down, add a press. I am telling you this now also: go lighter than you think.

Simply, here you go:

I suggest snatching the bell up to the top. You can certainly clean and press but that adds an additional press to a lot of presses.
Standing tall, press the bell.
Step back with the foot opposite the bell into what I call the Cross Country Ski Position. For the record, the “key” to the TGD is a longish step back as it gives you space to move later. The knee will get close to touching the ground, but don’t let it touch. Press the kettlebell.
Bring the knee down to the Half-Kneeling position. Press the bell.
Windshield Wiper the front foot. I recommend pressing the bell here, too.
Hinge back and bring the free hand to the floor. The hand, knee and foot should all be in a line. The knee should bisect that line. Press the bell.

(It should feel like a warmup for the Bent Press because it is a warmup for the Bent Press) Look, an asterisk: * (See Below)

Sweep the butt through to the Tall Sit Position. Press the bell.
Roll to the elbow. Press the bell.
Roll to the floor. Press the bell.
With BOTH hands, bring the bell down, cuddle it, roll to the side and release the bell safely to the floor.

*Position Six is called the Kneeling Windmill and will be the focus of the next article in this series.

Let’s watch someone demonstrate it. The model seems to know what to do.

That’s eight presses. That’s a lot of presses. Moreover, as you will discover, the press grooves were different almost every press. I find that my shoulders feel better after this exercise. This movement can be done for mobility work and this is what I use the move for in my own training.

The TGDP can also be done for hypertrophy. If you did three rounds of both sides for eight total reps per round (24 total presses per hand), I’m just guessing something good would happen. Perhaps you would get those “shoulders that are the envy of your friends” that I used to read about in the muscle magazines. My friends envy my naturally curly hair (with a nod to Peanuts).

So, yes, this exercise is a great exercise. For my work with kettlebells, there are other values to this movement.

First, I’m not sure there is a better way to teach the Turkish Get UP. The Turkish Get DOWN with presses stops the participant at several key points and holds these positions in place. If you can’t get the press groove, there is a good chance the bell is in the wrong place. Most of the little troubling positions and points of the TGU are cleaned up with this simple drill.

Second, and it was only at the most recent RKC II that I realized this as clearly as I do now, this drill is gateway to the Windmill and Bent Press family.

Next time, we will dissect the Kneeling Windmill and show you how this single position can teach so much, so fast to so many.

The simple program I promised you.

One KB only mixed with Original Strength.

A1. Left Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
A2. Prone Neck Nod

B1. Right Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
B2. Prone Find Your Shoes

C1. Goblet Squat
C2. Six Point Rock

D1. March in Place with Load in Left Hand (Suitcase Carry)
D2. Six Point Rock with Left Leg in wide position (Kickstand)

E1. March in Place with Load in Right Hand (Suitcase Carry)
E2. Six Point Rock with Right Leg in wide position (Kickstand)

F1. Swings
F2. Egg Rolls

“Maybe” Day One:

Super set with Sets of Eight (Three Rounds)
A1. Left Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
A2. Prone Neck Nod

B1. Right Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
B2. Prone Find Your Shoes

Superset with Sets of Eight (Three Rounds)
C1. Goblet Squat
C2. Six Point Rock

Superset for maybe Thirty Seconds each
D1. March in Place with Load in Left Hand (Suitcase Carry)
D2. Six Point Rock with Left Leg in wide position (Kickstand)
E1. March in Place with Load in Right Hand (Suitcase Carry)
E2. Six Point Rock with Right Leg in wide position (Kickstand)

Five Rounds of 15 Swings and appropriate Egg Rolls
F1. Swings
F2. Egg Rolls

“Maybe” Day Two

Three Sets of Eight
A1. Left Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
A2. Prone Neck Nod

Three Sets of Eight
B1. Right Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
B2. Prone Find Your Shoes

Three Sets of Eight
C1. Goblet Squat
C2. Six Point Rock

Three Rounds of Thirty Seconds Each
D1. March in Place with Load in Left Hand (Suitcase Carry)
D2. Six Point Rock with Left Leg in wide position (Kickstand)
E1. March in Place with Load in Right Hand (Suitcase Carry)
E2. Six Point Rock with Right Leg in wide position (Kickstand)

“Up to 100 Swings”
F1. Swings
F2. Egg Rolls

“Maybe” Day Three

The entire circuit for three rounds of eights and thirty seconds as appropriate.

Left Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
Prone Neck Nod
Right Hand Press (Stand or Half-Kneeling)
Prone Find Your Shoes
Goblet Squat
Six Point Rock
March in Place with Load in Left Hand (Suitcase Carry)
Six Point Rock with Left Leg in wide position (Kickstand)
March in Place with Load in Right Hand (Suitcase Carry)
Six Point Rock with Right Leg in wide position (Kickstand)
Swings
Egg Rolls

There you go…off the top of the head but pretty good.

***

Master RKC, Dan John is the author of numerous fitness titles including The Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge: A Fundamental Guide To Training For Strength And Power, the best selling Never Let Go and Easy Strength. Dan has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.

Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. For more information visit DanJohn.net

5 Reasons Manual Therapists Should Get Their HKC

November 1, 2021 By William Sturgeon Leave a Comment

In August of 2020 I started school for massage therapy. My goal was to widen my scope of practice as a coach, so that I could better serve my clients. I will be graduating next month and will be entering the world of manual therapy. This has been something I have been wanting to do for many years. I truly believe that manual therapy and corrective exercise can benefit a lot of people and help them improve their quality of life.

In the world of manual therapy, we often see people who are dealing with neck, shoulder, and low back pain. We treat these symptoms with therapeutic protocols and then move our client into a wellness or as-needed-based plan. Our goal as therapists is to help find the solution to their problem and get them back to active daily living activities.

But, what if we were able to better help our clients gain results by helping them strengthen the areas they are struggling with? This is where kettlebell training can be best tool for the therapist to use to answer this question. Kettlebells have been around for a long time and have been proven to be an effective tool.

As I enter this new industry, there is one thing that I strongly believe in, and that is, massage therapists can enhance their practice by getting their HKC. This post will outline the reasons.

Extra Income

Most massage therapists work an average 20-30 hours per week doing bodywork. In time this does become taxing on the body and will not always be sustainable for long-term. This is where getting your HKC can help you with making more income. You can do this by offering one on one training or by doing this in a group setting. You can make more money in a group setting and also save your energy. But, if you would rather work in a one on one setting, you are able to do so as well. Adding kettlebell training to your list of services takes time away from the table with the clients you already have by helping them in a new way.

Create a Niche

Adding the HKC certification to your practice will help you widen your scope of practice as a therapist and also allow you to specialize in a specific area. If you live in an area where someone is not teaching kettlebell training this is an opportunity for you to bring in a new service and be the leading go to person. I found this to be a very profitable way to become a coach. I’m the only person certified to teach kettlebells in my local area, the next person is 90 minutes away. Since this is the case for me, I am known for being the kettlebell expert in my area. Creating a niche is a powerful tool to have to help separate yourself from your competition.

Help Your Clients Train Safely

Did I mention safety? The RKC is the School of Strength, meaning we place a HIGH priority in educating our students how to train safely with kettlebells. There are many regressions and progressions in the curriculum to help teach your clients the proper technique. When it comes to teaching your clients movement, you always want to place them in the best position to be successful, and the HKC does that well. The best example of how we teach safety is by looking at how much time we spend preparing and teaching students the proper way to perform a hip hinge. The hip hinge is the key to keeping your back safe when using kettlebells. Teaching the hip hinge properly can help clients with low back pain by showing them how to move better.

Kettlebell Are Great For Corrective Exercise

Kettlebells are known for their ability to help correct movement dysfunction. The reason that the kettlebell does such a good job at this is because of the way it’s shaped. The offset weight and handle challenge the body more because of the amount of stability required to use a kettlebell. As we know as therapists, stability is the foundation for injury free movement. A majority of our clients work office jobs that have them in seated positions for long periods at a time. This can lead to neck, shoulder, and hip dysfunction and tightness. Using some of the exercises taught in the HKC can help your clients with these problems. Take for example someone who is dealing with rotator cuff issues, the kettlebell arm-bar is a great exercise for this.

Learn New Skills

There are many levels to uncover after the HKC, next step is your RKC Level One & then Level Two. Each certification will show you a whole new set of skills to teach yourself and your clients. This will allow for you to expand and widen your skill set as a kettlebell instructor. When we teach people how to use kettlebells we always inform them that strength is a skill. Teaching your clients how to be strong through the skills of the swing, get-up, and squat will be a great base level to a variety of new movements.

Investing in yourself as a kettlebell coach will open new doors for you as a manual therapist. Not only will you be able to help your clients get out of pain with manual work, but you can also help them get stronger and move better. If you are ready to expand your skills and knowledge as a manual therapist, then register for the next HKC!

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