A fellow forum user on the Dragon Door website messaged several questions about preparation for the RKC certification weekend – here are some of her questions with my answers, maybe some of them will be useful to you too!
K:
Would you say that the volume was the most challenging aspect of the weekend? What else should I know?
Adrienne:
The volume was definitely way way up there, though not impossible – if you have been training with this in mind for a few months beforehand then it shouldn’t be a problem at all. Be sure to make sure that you really know and study the material on the webste BEFORE you go – which means training with an RKC certified instructor a lot, getting those basic 6 down so that when you are there you are just fine tuning your form and really learning how to teach others, spot problems and learn the corrective drills. The corrective drills are worth the cost of admission alone!
Keep your spirits up, take lots of notes, keep your eyes and ears open, come back from breaks on time, do what they say when they say it and you should be golden!
…and don’t be late… seriously, set several alarm clocks do whatever you need to do. You had mentioned that you would be attending the RKC in a different time zone, go ahead and start adjusting to that now.
K:
There’s a lot of double kettlebell work? Do I have to use the snatch test kettlebell for that? I am not sure I can do double 16K kettlebells all weekend?
Adrienne:
If you are struggling, they will most likely let you drop down to 12K or smaller for double kettlebell work – The main thing is that you learn and demonstrate the form and can TEACH it to others.
K:
…And everything about the flex arm hang keeps me up at night. I’ve never been able to hold myself on a bar, not even a dead hang. In elementary school, I was the kid that could never get across the monkey bars. In fact, I was that kid that fell off on the first rung. I’m also too heavy right now (working on this, but not enough time). Holding full tension, and breathing under that tension complicate the problem. Need to practice hardcore!
Adrienne:
YES, practice – even just straight arm hangs for time, sounds like grip strength may be a factor and… consider dropping some pounds if you can. I’ve had some amazing success with Primal Blueprint
and LOOOOVE the food. Try to pinpoint your “weak link” in terms of the flex arm hang and really work at it- chances are its something you have been avoiding consciously or subconsciously. Also, there’s an article on the Dragon Door website about “breathing behind the shield” talking about working around the tension while breathing, etc. might be a good read for you! Please let us know how you do!
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