April RKC in Minnesota was epic!!

I just got back from another amazing weekend at the Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC). I assisted Senior Instructor Brad Nelson. Every Cert that I go to is different. The content, the ques, and the workouts are always evolving and getting better. This is my 2nd assisting position and I have to tell you, I learn something new every time I go back. It's really all about the basics. This is what separates the pro's from the armatures, they are just better at the basics.

I had a PR this weekend and I credit it to a couple things. First, I have improved my grip strength by ripping cards and bending nails. I finally had the privilege to meet Adam Glass who really helped me fine tune my card ripping technique. The bottom line is Total Body Tension. The second is the ques that Pavel mentioned during the Cert. I have forgotten about really activating the lat in the press, swing, TGU, etc. You really don't realize how much you need to activate the lat in a lot of these movements. I practiced these drills and pressed the 40k (Bulldog) without any problems at all. Shooting for the beast in June.

I want thank everyone for an amazing weekend and I want to congratulate Team Nelson for working very hard this weekend. Each and everyone of you did a great job. Enjoy and respect the title, RKC forever!

Power to you all.

Phil

Heading to another RKC tomorrow

How lucky am I? I get to assist once again at another RKC weekend. I guess I must have did something right at the last one. Pavel asked me to come back, how can I say no to him. This time around I get to assist Team Leader Brad Nelson. I have heard many good things about Brad and I am looking forward to working with him.

As I said before, every RKC weekend I go to whether I am a student or a teacher I learn something new. Remember, you can never get enough of the basics. Knowing the basics are what defines a great Kettlebell instructor. I believe there are about 80 participants at this cert, so almost a full house. This certification will be the last of the old Snatch test rules, which are taking your body weight and dividing by 2.2 which tells you how many snatches you need to do in 5min. Starting in June and going forward, it is 100 snatches across the board, for women and men. Women use a 16k and men a 24k.

I will be taking some video of course throughout my weekend, hopefully I will be able to tear a full deck of cards for Brett Jones without taking the entire night. I will certaintly get that on video.

It should be an awesome weekend as far as weather in concerned, so please don't sit on your ass, get outside and move around.

See you next week.

Phil.

IronTamer visits Philly

Comrades,

Thursday night's Kettlebell class was epic. 65 degree weather at the Philadelphia Art Museum, a bunch of RKC's, 2 SRKC's and over a dozen hungry Kettlebellers ready to work. David Whitley and Will Williams put together a great workout that required presses, swings and lots of steps, simple but very effective.

Of course the night started out with some card tearing and David ripping a phone book. I finally ripped an entire deck, took about a minute and the tear was not perfect, but the fact that I did it that night-awesome. I think we went through about 10 decks before our workout started. That is what I call a warm up.

I want to thank all my clients for coming down and kicking some serious ass. I also want to thank all the RKC's who came down to teach, Gary, Jen, Will and David. Excellent job. I look forward to many more workouts on the steps.

Check out my Utube channel for more DV8Fitness videos that I have posted. Slow motion video is coming soon.

Quote from Kenneth Jay's new book, "Viking Warrior Conditioning."

The following quote is in Kenneth's new book. I love this quote and had to share it with everyone.

"Pain is temporary,
It may last a minute,
or an hour,
or a day, or a year,
but eventually it will
subside and something
else will take its place.

If I quit, however,
it lasts forever."

--Lance Armstrong