PHYZYKS 230 Birmingham Cardiff, Ca.

What does it mean to be trained with someone who is Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) certified? How does training with kettlebells the way a RKC trains differ from those who are not certified RKC? What are the benifits and how will this style of training make you better at whatever you do?

These questions are easily answered by a RKC:

We are trained under the tutelage of Pavel Tsatsouline. In 2004 Dr. Randall Strossen, one of the most respected names in the strength world, stated, “In our eyes, Pavel Tsatsouline will always reign as the modern king of kettlebells since it was he who poplarized them to the point where you could almost find a country filled with his converts…” The masses dont lie. To be trained by someone like this and with the people he trusts to teach for him is invaluable. The knowledge that is required of a RKC to become certified and to remain certified is above and beyond typical Personal Training Certifications.

This is taken from the RKC Certified Instructor Manual, 22nd Edition (2010)

RKC is a “hard style” of kettlebell training born in the spec ops of the Soviet Union. In the 1970s select units adopted a karate-based style of hand-to-hand combat. The hard style of kettlebell training elvolved in the 1980s to support the hard style of fighting.
As in martial arts, the kettlebell hard style chooses “power production over power conservation.” (Randy Hauer, RKC Team Leader)
“The essence of karate techniques is kime”, explained karate great Massatoshi Nakayama. Kime is usually translated as “focus.” ‘The meaning of kime is an explosive attack to the target using the appropriate technique and maximum power in the shortest time possible.’ The master reminds of karate’s “kill with one blow” history to stress the importance of an all-out effort. To freeze the kettlebell momentarily on top of each swing to work on focusing the power is what is know as Kime. This is exactly how we do swings in our hard style RKC system.
Our “grinds” are performed like the Sanchin kata- with maximal dynamic tension. Because muscles generate force by tensing. Tension=force. The tenser your muscles are, the more strength you display and build. We teach how to get stronger by contracting your muscles harder.
Relaxation is the flip side to this performance coin. Relaxation is speed, endurance, and flexibility. Tension is strength and power. Master of relaxation is a hallmark of an elite athlete. Prof. Leonid Matveyev observed that the higher is the athlete’s level, the quicker he can relax his muscles. “The ballistic loading of the swing also created an alternating cycle of muscular tension and relaxtion,” Mark Reifkink, Master RKC. “The inability to relax the muscles creates too much tension for high speed movement. KB ballistics train this cycle into the muscles in a way no other weight tool does. THis also teaches trainees to learn to create very big forces and then really relax immediately after.” Tense-loose-tense-loose.
The RKC uses the most sophisticated “muscle software” by taking advantage of a multitude of strength increasing reflexes and neurological phenomena (aka, power breathing).
In summary, RKC is a reverse evgineered body language of the strongest athletes.

Warm up with:
60ft of bear crawls, inch worms and Charlie Angels lunges
5 min of hand to hand sling shot drill, Jeff Martone style!
Workout:
AMRAP 25 min
30 swings
30 v ups
20 snatches each side
20 burpees
10 goblet squat with a 2 count pause at the bottom
10 deck squat to elbow recovery to a star jump

Enjoy!!

This is a ton of “Fun”!!

Warm up for this workout with 5 turkish get ups on each side, alternating sides after each one.

50 of each exercise. You dont have to complete each exercise before you go on to the next but it does make it more “fun” if you do.

pushups

over head swings

windshield wipers

tactical lunge

pullups or ring rows

donkey kicks

Enjoy!!

The strength portion is to simulate heavy labor work and the fitness portion is to simulate hard work at a much more intense level, as in a Search and Rescue mission. Tough work at a emergency site and getting the injured objective out of the area in a hurry. Enjoy!

Deadlift 10,000lbs (8,000 lbs)
Clean 7,500 lbs (6,000)
Push Press 5,000 lbs (2,500)
Example: Deadlifting (2) two 24kg KBs 10 times = 1,000lbs
Clean (2) two 24kg KBs 75 times = 7,500 lbs
Fitness:
1 min swings
1 min jump rope
1 min swings
1min kriss cross abs
3 rounds

Bottom Up Clean practice. Progressive weight: 5 reps each side for 3 rounds

Light, Medium and Heavy weight:
2 hand swings all weights x10
Hindu pushups X10
2 hand swings (AW) x10
Deck squat X10
2 hand swings x10
V ups x10

Same weight:
Goblet squat in place of swings

12 rounds of VO2 max 15/15 snatches

Enjoy!!

This was a ton of fun and a great team builder too. To warm up for this workout do three rounds of a swing complex:
30sec two hand swing
30sec right hand swing
30sec left hand swing
30sec alternating swing

Buddy Carries: AMRAP in 20min. The Buddy Carry is 200m
Buddy carry
25 pushups for both people
buddy carry
25 pushup for both
buddy carry
25 kb squats with kb (hold the bell differently every 5-10 rep, ex. rack hold and goblet)
buddy carry
25 squats with kb
buddy carry
25 situps
buddy carry
25 situps

Find a buddy that weights about the same weight as you do. This workout was inspired by Rob Ord of Brass Ring Training
Enjoy!!

This workout came from Mark Divine of US Crossfit in Encinitas. It was designed to be done with an Olympic Bar but Kettlebells is my game so we did it with a pair of KBs. Just as fun and just as tough!

Warmup by doing heavy swings for 10reps and the punch through drill, which is the remedial drill for snatches. When the bell reaches navel height contract your shoulder blade back and punch your hand through the handle of the bell so the bell lays on your wrist like in the snatch. The natural progression to this drill is going all the way up to a snatch. Practice with one and two bells at a time.

Chief:
5 rounds of 3 min with 1 min rest in between rounds:

3 Double KB cleans from the floor
6 pushups
9 body weight squats
AMRAP

Enjoy!!

Practice for Presses on one leg. Start the practice by pressing 10 reps with one arm, 5 reps on each leg. Switch arms and continue for 3 rounds.

Warm up
2 min swings
1 min high/low planks
1 min donkey kicks
1 min jumping lunge

Workout: AMRAP in 20 min
double kb stiff leg dead lifts 5 each side
snatches from the ground. alternating sides. 5 each side
overhead squats 5 each side
5 double press

Enjoy!!

As you connect with the diversity within you,

a path emerges to balance your shadow and your light,

aligning your powerful potential to create the life of your dreams

Bottom up’s pressing today. We spent 20 min practicing pressing this morning, progressively getting heavier and stronger! Spend some time with these. They will really help your pressing power and tighten up your cleans. Doing bottom’s up cleans made it so that regular cleans stopped banging my wrist and I started using my lats to clean.
The Workout: AMRAP 20min
Cross-body snatches 10 each side
Heartbeat squats to a box jump 10
Handstand pushups 10
Knees to Elbows 10

Enjoy!!