So, it’s now mid February, the RKC is still nine months away and you are starting to think whether or not you should start preparing now.
The thing with longer term goals is that it always seems like you have so much time to get things done. Plenty of time to get in for some personal kettlebell training sessions with an RKC. But do you really?
Nine months is less than one hundred workouts away. That’s not so many. In my eyes, as someone who has prepared for events as much as two years in advance, that is like tomorrow.
Here’s a quick checklist for you to see if you’re up to speed –
- Have attended HKC. (If yes, go to 3).
- If haven’t attended HKC have spent at least six hours with an RKC working on Swing, Get Up and Squat.
- After passing all criteria for the HKC, have spent an additional three hours learning Clean, Press, Snatch from an RKC.
- Having spent time to get technically proficient with an RKC you should be at the point where you are now working on technique and building strength. This is best done via Rites of Passage from Enter the Kettlebell. For men, you need to be able to complete ROP with your snatch weight bell, doing 5 x 1,2,3,4,5 presses/ pull ups in under an hour and be starting to snatch the 24kg for fun. Girls, you should be able to complete the ROP with a 12kg plus either single pull ups, or with chin up ladders and have started snatching a 16kg bell.
If you haven’t done that, read no further. Go outside and start doing ROP religiously, as written. Do not think you know better and do not think you will modify the program. Just do as it says.
Once you can complete the 5 x 1,2,3,4,5 ROP sessions in under an hour you’re ready to get more serious. This is where double bell training starts. I’ll talk more about this next time, but the goal for now is get those ladders in with 24kg/ 12kg and gain some strength and work capacity. Don’t skip the swings just because your hands are tired or it’s taken a long time to finish – they are every bit as vital as the Clean and Press ladders are for your RKCsuccess.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is unlikely you will do “too many” swings in training. Keep in mind that at my RKC my diary shows roughly 2,400 done over three days, mostly with double 24kgs. I have heard as high as 1,000 being done on the first day, although the first day does seem a bit easier now than in years past. Whatever the number of swings you end up doing will be, rest assured there will be a lot of them, so don’t skip the swing portion of the workout – the longest it will take is twelve minutes. The entire workout, with presses/ pull ups will be done in under an hour.
At any point if your shoulders start to flare up please do two things –
Firstly, see an RKC. It may be a flaw in your press technique. Most people don’t press well, using their shoulder and not getting their whole body correctly behind the bell. A few minutes spent with an RKC could save you a lot of pain, or surgery, in the long run.
If pain persists for longer than two weeks, go see a physiotherapist or an orthopedic surgeon or sports doctor. In Melbourne we send all of our clients to Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre. We can be assured of only the very best treatment there and several of the staff know and understand kettlebell training. Don’t choose your treatment based on convenience or cost.
Your homework –
Rites of Passage from Enter the Kettlebell, until you can hit the entire workout plus pull ups in under an hour. Get to it! Nine months will be over before you know it!