Original Strength and Kettlebells

Categories: Blog Aug 20, 2017

How I Trained for the RKC without Using Kettlebells

I recently attended an RKC kettlebell certification. It was a recertification for me. To be honest, the reason I really wanted to attend was because it was being taught by Master Instructor, Dan John. Dan is a wealth of coaching wisdom and I wanted to see what I could glean from him. Anyway, the RKC certification is a three day kettlebell cert that includes various skill and technique tests with the kettlebell as well as the infamous 100 snatches in five minutes test and the “graduation” workout. These last two things alone, are enough to make you dig deep into your soul and ponder if you’re making the right life decisions.

To survive such a weekend filled with some intense challenges is an accomplishment. The first time I “survived” the RKC certification was in 2006. I remember it very vividly still today. I trained for several months to be able to endure the certification. Thankfully, my training paid off. I did indeed survive.

Coming into this cert was different though, and it had some new challenges of it’s own. One, I really really wanted to learn from Dan John, to understand how he thinks and teaches. Two, I don’t want to survive my way through a cert. I want to thrive and I want to learn. Surviving usually puts learning in the back seat. And three, I don’t really train with kettlebells or weights anymore and I’m 11 years older than the first time I survived the RKC.

I know what you’re thinking. Points two and three are greatly at odds with each other. How can I expect to thrive through an intense three day kettlebell certification and not ready myself by planning/practicing/training with kettlebells? Well, it’s simple. I have my Original Strength.

I currently have two driving principles in my life. These two principles help guide my training and movement choices.

1) It feels good to feel good. I believe this with all my heart. If I do something that doesn’t feel good, or doesn’t allow me to feel good, I probably don’t need to do it. Conversely, if I find something that feels good and enables me to feel good and enjoy my life, I should probably hold on to it.

2) I want to make the hard things easy. If I can train in such a way that hard things become easy, then nothing is hard. And then, on that day when I really come across something that truly is hard, I should have extra reserves in my mind and body to step up to the task.

These two principles, along with the influence of my friends, Dan John and John Brookfield, also shape the way I train. Before I tell you how I train, I should tell you that I did indeed thrive through the RKC weekend. In fact, every morning before the day would begin, I would engage in my own “exercise” routine. I use that word loosely, but you would call it exercise or a workout. Yes, I worked out each day of the RKC before the day actually began…

Anyway, I enjoyed my RKC experience and I soared through it’s challenges, effortlessly. Without training with kettlebells, or weight lifting. Here is what I did.

EVERY DAY, because it is important to my number one guiding principle, I Press RESET. I breathe, I nod my head, I rock, I roll, and I crawl or march or walk. Every day. AND, every day, I perform some type of carry or loaded gait pattern. I may go for a 30 minute walk with my heavy backpack, or I may crawl backwards while I pull a sled. But the point is, I load my gait pattern every single day, if only for a few minutes. Well, Sunday is an exception. Sunday’s I typically just roll around on the floor for 10 minutes or take a walk. But every day, other than Sunday, I do these things. By the way, loading my gait pattern is where I learned to make the hard things easy. Carrying a heavy load for time and distance, or crawling across a football field dragging 100 pounds, hardens your mind and body. It quickly takes the breaks off your ability to perform difficult things – while it makes you ridiculously strong…

And to be completely transparent, I also currently perform 100 hindu pushups (they are a RESET) and 100 hindu squats every day.

And that, that is my secret sauce (along with another factor – my beliefs) for being able to thrive through the RKC certification without training with kettlebells. The RESETs allow me to move effortlessly and efficiently, giving me the ability to guide the kettlebell where it needed to be to perform the swings, snatches, cleans, getups and squats. The carries gave me the strength, stamina, and mental advantage to crush the reps, sets, tests and workouts – with my lips closed, breathing in and out through my nose.

Again, I had my Original Strength. It gave me the ability to thrive physically. This gave me the ability to focus on the instruction and learn from the kettlebells. I was never in mental distress because my body wasn’t trying to survive. I was attacking physical challenges with joy and learning inside the movements, constantly evaluating the path of the bell and the sensations of my body. I was actually able to dance with the kettlebells and flow with them, making the movements look effortless. This is what movement and training is all about, being able to live life better because you can enjoy it, because you can move and think your way through it.

Please understand, my point is not to say you don’t need to train with weights or kettlebells. My point is to say if you have your Original Strength, you can train with anything you want, and you can enjoy it. Having Original Strength allows you to live life better. It allows you to feel good, which feels good. It allows you to make the hard things easy and even enjoyable. It enables you to enter challenging environments that will test you without breaking your body or panicking your mind.

So, Press RESET, carry heavy things, then do what you want to do!

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