Hey, it's August already!!

Looking back at a May's blog post I see that Sunday was my only dedicated training day during the late winter and early spring. That meant that the other days I was teaching and demo-ing lifts rather than practicing. If you teach a fitness physical skill,you know the deal. If you practiced with every class you taught, you'd be exhausted. Sunday practices consisted of all the pieces of the Turkish Get-Up without a kb. Visualization was a big part of this strategy before I entered the gym or even put a kb in my hand. I took this very,very slowly. I added 1/2 kneeling presses, worked Lunge and Hurdle Step correctives. Single Leg Deads and other grinds like Military presses were tackled in all their varieties. I held off on ballistics. When I added them, I went light, as in 8kgs, just like my TGU progressions. I did use a 14 pounder as I progressed through all phases of the TGU-VERY light for me! I chose my least favorite yoga asana, Ardha Chandrasana (1/2 moon) to work on single leg stance,balance,timing,confidence, and lack of it, and the awful hip rotation in the standing and extended leg. Moving from Trikonasana (Triangle) to 1/2 Moon was not pretty. I could see my foot collapsing and my knee spinning in as I moved my body weight onto the standing leg. My hips,glutes and hammies were not in good condition in terms of mobility and endurance. My toes and ankles always felt sore. I wondered if I would regain my former condition or at least get to a point where I felt good? I used the wall as a prop and Hugger Mugger's Big Blue Blocks.

I received an invitation to assistant instruct at July's Level 2 RKC and I began to work in earnest. A goal!! I walked more,added hills and started to swing a little heavier. Just 12ks. The 100 rep snatch test....overhead holds for shoulder stability. Eventually snatching the 8kg and then snatching the 12 kg. Rep scheme 5/4/3/2/1 and repeat. I wanted to hold onto the bell for 5 minutes. My reps felt sloppy. I plugged away. I noted improvement. I prepared the Level 1 and 2 skills. I started to like the Bent Press. I never thought that would happen! I did a pull-up here and there. I never remember NOT being able to do one, it's just a matter of GTG on it.No prob on that one. Pistol prep was pretty straight-forward as I had prepped ankles and hips previously and core was sewn up tight from tgus.

Level 2 skills involve a lot of timing for correct execution. As you would expect,time spent practicing those skills at the Cert was HUGE. I was a little bummed not to participate and get the motor upload of all the juicy teaching presented. On the other hand I was able to watch highly skilled KB athletes hone their skills under the guidance of other dedicated instructors. Everyone there was SO STRONG!! The pull ups that the ladies performed were solid. They floated up to the bar. Up to the sternum. Inspiring. The women in my team used 2 16 kg bells despite the fact that they are small ladies. They used 20's also.

The structure for the L2 was a little different than when I attended. There were formal teams each with instructors and assistants instead of one mass of people. This was good for participants. The candidates were also better prepared with their fundamental skills. Most difficult moments were for the men who had to press 1/2 body weight and complete a pull-up with a 24kg (or 16kg if weight over 220 lbs) hanging off one foot. Level 2 also involves shoulder mobility overhead as well as T-spine and hamstrings, so the challenge was lined up from the get go.