Really great experiences all around at the Orlando HKC this past Sunday, and so much valuable info. We had 12 participants, with Senior RKC and all around awesome guy, Franz Snideman leading and teaching. Chris Davis organized the event, Tim Shuman and I showed up to help, and Ryan Blackburn and Super Strong Nana, Laurel Blackburn stopped in for the first half.
Some very strong and promising people worked hard for their HKC certifications. As I am sure you know, these aren’t just handed out, they must be earned. Anyway before I get going too far into the recap, I know you want to check out the workout. I’m working on a full article about the HKC experience for tomorrow.
Begin with Joint Mobility – there’s a great mobility complex they teach to HKCs and I was so pleased with it I made sure to get a written copy. More on that later.
The following workout is for your “moderate” sized kettlebell or if you are RKC-bound, the kettlebell you would use for the snatching portion of the test. Always remember, there’s no harm in starting a little light and moving up, likewise if you’re in over your head, switch down a size. The quality of the movement is what matters most.
Warm up with 10 kettlebell deadlifts and 10 2 hand swings.
It’s “I Go, You Go*” time. If you have a partner or group split into “A” and “B” groups. While you are swinging your kettlebell, your partner is resting (but moving around, Fast and Loose style!) I’ll denote that below with “A” and “B” as this is great with small groups too! Always remember to be safe though – and rest extra if necessary – but always keep moving.
Set your gymboss timer for 10 minutes – and repeat the following until the victory beeps sound:
- A: 5 swings, B: Resting
- B: 5 swings, A: Resting
- A: 10 swings, B: Resting
- B: 10 swings, A: Resting
- A: 15 swings, B: Resting
- B: 15 swings, A: Resting
- A: 20 swings, B: Resting
- B: 20 swings, A: Resting
- REPEAT from Beginning!
After that 10 minutes – we did a few pump stretches, reviewed a few of the main points of the goblet squat (PULL yourself down, don’t just fall down) before beginning the NEXT “I go you go” segment. When you see the low rep range, realize once again – looking for quality of movement, and it’s not a limbo contest to see “how low can you go.” You want to challenge yourself, but if squat depth comes at a cost of form, safety etc. then stop higher up.
Set your gymboss timer to chime after 5 minutes, and by chime I mean beep in that annoying way.
- A: 2 goblet squats, B: resting
- B: 2 goblet squats, A: resting
- A: 3 goblet squats, B: resting
- B: 3 goblet squats, A: resting
- A: 5 goblet squats, B: resting
- B 5 goblet squats, A: resting
- REPEAT until time is up.
During a brief rest, we reviewed a few parts of the get up – there are a couple of very new people in class who haven’t learned the full get up yet, so it was fun for everyone to break it down and really focus while keeping elbows straight, wrist straight, kettlebell location etc. Between doing 30-45 seconds (I lied to you guys in small group a couple times, you went longer than 30 seconds, but I made it equal for both right and left sides – saw some learning happening and wasn’t about to interrupt it). Choose a light kettlebell, balance your shoe on your knuckles, or my old favorite “Invisibell”(Adrienne-speak for no kettlebell at all)
- Standing to half kneeling, kettlebell in right hand
- Standing to half kneeling, kettlebell in left hand
- Rest and discussion q+a**
- kneeling windmill, kettlebell in right hand
- kneeling windmill, kettlebell in left hand
- Rest and discussion q+a
- get up to elbow, kettlebell in right hand
- get up to elbow, kettlebell in left hand
- Repeat if you have time.
Finally last little bit of fun, be sure to switch hands!:
- 20 seconds 1 hand kettlebell swings, 10 seconds rest/switch hands
Go for 8 total rounds! 🙂
Cool down and do your favorite joint mobility exercises. We added in some extra wrist/finger mobility stuff at the end – or as I like to say “OK it’s ‘Karate Kid’ time!”
*If you are practicing alone, just keep the rests as short as you safely can
**Again, if practicing alone, bring out your books/notes/etc and review the standard of the mov
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