Recently on Facebook, Dragon Door and John DuCane asked what everyone thought was “the most influential fitness book of all time?” Of course, questions like that give me brain freeze because I think back to the dawn of civilization and consider all the books in other languages I haven’t read, etc. in short – total overthinking. I should have just looked over to one of the many stacks of books in this room – because the answer was right there, on the top of the stack to the immediate right of my desk.
While I have brain freeze picking a book for the whole world for all time, I can definately pick the book for all of MY time. And that would be without a doubt The Russian Kettlebell Challenge:
Go ahead, chuckle at my 1970s Nomadic Furniture books and the copy of Mondo 2000… its really just the tip of the iceberg and I’m not about to photograph the rest of my book collection – that would be far too incriminating. But back to the question – and more importantly, why was The Russian Kettlebell Challenge so influential for me? Quite honestly – because it changed EVERYTHING.
Up until the point I stumbled onto kettlebells nearly accidentally (that sounds painful) I had been relying on the only info I was able to find – mainstream health and fitness books. The full range – everything from my amusing collection of 1980s era women’s bodybuilding glossy picturebooks (more on that later – what these ladies thought of as appropriate gym-wear is down right HILARIOUS) to hippy-love-fest yoga manuals, macho-man weightlifting guides, multiple encyclopedic volumes with every known variation of freeweight exercise known to humanity, guides on shrinking “trouble zones”, bodyshaping, bodysculpting, getting that ‘bikini body’, to almost spooky Chinese texts I onced used to clear up a twitch in my left eye. I mean – for heavens sake, I originally decided to get my ACE personal training certification to make sure I COULD FIX MYSELF once and for all. But what I kept finding were things that worked up to a point – everything was just too… soft, or cute, or somehow politically correct. I wanted to be a bad ass, and the next person who told me to do “more cardio” was going to get a Buns of Steel vhs tape thrown squarely at their nose.
So here I was – having just turned 30 – and not happy with my physical (or mental) situation. I was well within what “society” thought of as being acceptable (LOL except for my hair) – but here I was still unable to make the changes that I had been wanting to make literally since college. Cutesy-girl fitness booklets with generic stock photos of slim smiling models telling me to do more cardio, less calories just wasn’t going to cut it. So somewhere along the line I started thinking a couple of bad things:
- Maybe the fitness industry had been LYING TO ME all along!
- Maybe it just wasn’t going to happen for me and I should give up and just “accept” that I’d never be able to change some of these things that I had hated about my own body for years.
- Maybe as woman, I simply wasn’t capable of being any stronger without some kind of unnatural and possibly illegal help.
Thankfully I was poking around on the internet one day looking for a workout I could try at home. The local gym that I previously enjoyed was now overrun with really creepy people. Likewise the traffic getting to and from this gym took what should have been an enjoyable hour at the gym into eating an entire evening. I just didn’t have the time or patience anymore – and that was before facing the fact that I had plateaued yet again, couldn’t lift heavier and was still hating on my body. It was burning me up. Somehow I ended up on the Dragon Door website – and who was this Pavel guy who seemed to have something against wearing shirts? Wait a sec… what’s all this about??
“…without the dishonor of aerobics…”
OKAY, Pavel Tsatsouline, you have my attention. I hate aerobics… loathe running… can’t stand jogging, stepping, spinning, and I especially despise any form of dancing around to that generic upbeat ‘fitness music.’ Finally, someone seemed to understand that some of us felt VERY undignified doing such activities… (Nothing against those of you who do enjoy these activities, unless you try and talk me into participating… ) I started poking around this admittedly somewhat “over the top” website – these weren’t your usual jock-bro fitness types on here either… the majority were martial artists, military and special forces, titled athletes… WAY more interesting than the “get your body back omg in time for summer by starving yourself and doing 9,000 donkey kicks” crowd. And definitely a big improvement over the “BUY MY VITAMINS OR YOU WILL DIE!” crowd. Some of the people on the Dragon Door site literally could not afford to use bs training methods, or they might not live to see the next day. I decided to give this kettlebell thing it a try – I could even do this at home. Why not… I had tried EVERYTHING else out there.
I ordered the original The Russian Kettlebell Challenge and while completely fascinated with these new-to-me fitness ideas and ideals, quickly realized I was in over my head. Thus began my search for a coach, a total change in how I move every day in every moment, and eventually, a brand new career. I MADE the changes I wanted to – I got stronger and continue to grow in strength. RKC and hardstyle have taught me that I was stronger physically and mentally than I had ever imagined. At that point I knew that becoming RKC certified was no long just an option for me, I had to do it – I had to get to where I could teach others. Because once you start learning about the RKC style of kettlebell training, everything really does change, and you just can’t help but share it.
NOW… that being said – if you are looking for a book to get you started, you may wish to check out Enter the Kettlebell first – and of course ALWAYS seek out a local a RKC or HKC Instructor!
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