Sunday 8/29/10 - RKC Day 3

We got a bit of a break in the morning due to John DuCane's marketing lecture which was held in a conference room in the hotel I was staying at. Very interesting and informative, but incomplete as John was not able to finish his presentation.

We met back up at the facility and Jeff O'Conner led us through a mobility complex.

We went out to the field and I (and one other guy) had to retake my snatch test. I was cooked at this point and could only manage 92 reps. It would have been preferable to have taken the test yesterday morning when I had more steam.

Our team went over the various exercises we had learned and worked with each other while we practiced.

Then it was filling out course evaluations and instruction on what to do with the victims when they showed up for our teaching assessments.

After lunch we met up in our groups and the victims were organized and assigned. I had to share a victim with another guy in my group due to the number of people that showed up to volunteer for their free lesson.

Then it was time for the infamous grad workout. Our workout consisted of 5 one arm swings, straight to clean and then 5 squats with the bell racked using our snatch test weight (24kg for me) - after the last squat we took 10 steps forward and got to put the bell down for about 15 - 20 seconds of rest. Then repeat with the other side.

No two ways about it...the grad workout was pretty hard work. At the end I had tunnel vision and just tried to take things one step at a time and not let my breath get out of control. When I finally crossed the line and knew that was it as far as exercises went it was pretty incredible. Everyone was high fiving and cheering on the people that were still making their way to the finish line.

We did our evaluations with our team. I passed everything except for my snatch test. My team leader Paul Daniels told me I had 90 days to do my snatch test and get confirmation to him whether it was in front of an RKC team leader or by sending him a video. He also told me that even though I had 90 days he expected it in 45 days.

That was the end of an incredible weekend. The most incredible weekend of my life. I was pretty happy even though I didn't walk away with my training certificate as I knew my conditioning was already there for the snatch test and that doing it in Jordan's studio would not be a problem.

Saturday 8/28/10 - RKC Day 2

I spent time in my room loosening up and eating to get ready for the day. I had some pretty crazy DOMS going on but I was feeling tired but ready for more by the time I headed out to the facility that the event was being held.

I decided not to do my snatch test on this morning and that I would re-take it on Sunday. In hindsight this was a mistake.

We got together with out teams and went through joint mobility and then practice with swings, goblet squats and getups.

We received instruction this morning on the clean and then the press. This of course involved lots of cleans and pressing. Oh yeah...and lots of swings. In addition to that we had to "earn" our lunch with 150 swings with a bell heavier than your snatch weight (32kg for me). I was feeling fairly fatigued this morning to say the least.

After lunch we worked on the goblet squat and then moved onto the double kettlebell front squat. We practiced squats for a while and after a short break had a double kettlebell complex using cleans, presses and swings.

We then started working on the snatch. Lots of instruction and practice including overhead walks back and forth across the field.

We got a bit of a break when Master RKC Jeff O'Conner gave a speech on what the RKC means to him. Very cool and inspirational speech.

We finished up the day with a Max VO2 snatch workout. 20 minutes using the 15:15 protocol.

I thought Friday had been hard. The second day of the RKC was definitely harder and took a lot out of me.

Friday 8/27/10 - RKC Day 1

I couldn't sleep at all last night because I was so jacked up for today. I kept going over the snatch test in my head and thinking that the day I was waiting for for almost two years had finally arrived.

I showed up a little early at the cert area so I could acclimatize a bit and meet some people. After the instructors meeting and the team leaders meetings we got to meet our team. We did the greeting and Pavel went over his expectations. Yoana Snideman ran us through a mobility complex to get us warmed up. The snatch test rules were explained, then we got in our groups and carried our snatch test bells out to the field.

For my snatch test I had 99 reps counted and on bringing the bell down to get my final rep (I had about 10 seconds on the clock) I dropped the bell! It was just a really surreal moment as I don't remember EVER having dropped a bell before. No excuses, but a night of no sleep and the farmers carry out to the field probably conspired to weaken my grip enough to cause that to happend. Even though it was pretty devastating at the moment I had to shake it off quickly as I had a whole weekend in front of me still.

We brought out the rest of the bells we would use for the day which for me was a 16kg and a 32kg in addition to the snatch (24kg) bell. We went over the goblet squat, the get up and (just before lunch) the swing.

The rest of the day involved lots of instruction for the swing and getup. This also meant we did a lot of swings and very slow getups with a workout at the end of the day.

This (at this point) felt like it had been the hardest day of physical exertion that I've had before. I ate a lot, chilled out and crashed early.

Thursday 8/26/10

I'm getting ready for my flight to San Diego for the RKC. I can't wait to experience this weekend.

Tuesday 8/24/10

Afternoon:

Two handed swings 32kg - 10x10

Goblet squat 32kg - 3x10

C&P press 24kg - 10x1/1

I wanted a bit of a workout today without it being too much. I'm pretty much going to take the next two days off before the RKC. I have a bunch of nervous energy that I need to expend!

Monday 8/23/10

Afternoon:

TGU 24kg - 5 x 1/1

Snatch 16kg - 1x10/10

Snatch 16kg - 1x5/5

Snatch 20kg - 2x5/5

Snatch 24kg - 1x3/3

Snatch test 24kg 3 min. - 62 reps

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 20 sets of 7 reps

I was hoping for more reps but it was pretty hot today and I did do a little work before the test. I wanted to get one more day snatching the 24kg bell before the RKC. I can see how important it is to snatch the heavier bells regularly. I could have done more of this but I feel like I'm ready.

Saturday 8/21/10

Afternoon:

TGU 24kg - 5 x 3/3

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 64 sets of 7 reps

Thursday 8/19/10

Afternoon:

Goblet squat 32kg - 3x10 (10 swings before each squat)

C&P BU press 20kg - 8x1/1

Wednesday 8/18/10

Afternoon:

Two handed swings 24kg - 5x10 (not timed)

Two handed swings 32kg - 5x20 (on the minute) 100 in 5 min.

Double kettlebell swings 2x 20kg - 5x10 (not timed)

Short and sweet. The 100 32kg swings in 5 minutes is a pr. The last 10 reps or so of the last set weren't all the way up to sternum height...more like navel height, but still. It was a brutal, short blast.

The double 20kg swings weren't hard feeling. I could have used 24's on these, but I am sort of winding down for the RKC.

Tuesday 8/17/10

Afternoon:

Two handed swings 32kg - 3x10

Double bell clean to front squat 2x 24kg - 5x5

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5x1,2

Farmers walk 32kg+28kg bell alternating hands - 2x 100 yards, 2x 66 yards

This day used to be pretty tough. Not that it isn't hard, but the squats feel much easier and while my forearms start burning at the end of the farmers walks they feel easier as well.

My pressing feels a bit stronger again also. Having that splint on my finger for 8 weeks definitely got in the way of getting my press up there.

Monday 8/16/10

Afternoon:

TGU 20kg - 5 x 1/1

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 66 sets of 7 reps

This week I'm going to bring everything down just a bit and next week will be very light to not much work as I count the days down to the RKC.

Friday 8/13/10

Afternoon:

C&P BU press 20kg - 8x1/1

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 50 sets of 7 reps

I wanted to get some VWC in but I wanted it to be an easy day.

The BU presses feel stronger already.

Thursday 8/12/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

Afternoon:

Two handed swings 32kg - 4x10 (not timed)

Two handed swings 32kg - 20x13 (on the minute) 260 in 20 min.

That's a PR for me with the 32kg bell in 20 minutes. It's pretty brutal and some of the last reps in the later sets were not fully driven up to sternum height, but I was happy with how it went.

Honestly it is much easier to mentally get up for 80 sets of 7 in VWC than it is to do a full 20 minutes of heavier swings. I feel that my conditioning is not what's the weakness in adding reps right now...it's my strength. I'll be working on that this fall after the RKC and get some heavy (for me :) ) barbell work back into my routine regularly.

Wednesday 8/11/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

Afternoon:

Two handed swings 24kg - 3x20

Double bell clean to front squat 2x 24kg - 5x5

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5x1,2

Tuesday 8/10/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

I had a session with Jordan in the afternoon.

We started with some TGU and then moved into some double bell movements. Double swings, double c&p and see saw presses. He also had me do a very small portion of what is a fairly common grad workout for the RKC - double swings and then walking see saw presses. I only used double 20kg bells for this but it really showed me that this grad workout is absolutely no joke.

My weight right now is about 196 lbs which is roughly the weight I've been shooting for. I'm pretty strong at this weight. It is a possibility that at my bodyweight I may be asked to use double 24kg bells for the grad workout. That would be...brutal...and difficult. lol...I was more worried about the victim training on the last day, but now I'm a little apprehensive about the grad workout :).

Monday 8/9/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

Afternoon:

TGU 24kg - 5 x 1/1

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 80 sets of 7 reps

I felt good today. I had good speed on all of my reps pretty much all the way through. I might have slowed down a bit around 70 sets or so, but I was still setting the bell down on the floor just at the beep. The previous sets I usually had the bell on the floor when the beep went off.

Saturday 8/7/10

Morning:

Snatch 16kg - 2x5/5

Snatch 24kg - 2x5/5

Snatch test 24kg 3 min. - 62 reps

I was experimenting with a new rep scheme. I've always done sets of 10 on my snatch tests. This time I'm thinking my first two sets for each arm will be 15 and that's what I did today. I started out a bit quick with 23 reps in the first minute and went a tad slow in the next set so my breath wouldn't get out of control. At the end when the beep went off I was ready to sprint and felt strong but I just timed it wrong.

I'm happy though. The two sets of 15 reps will eliminate a couple of hand switches and when I get the timing down it should work out real nicely. The way I feel right now the snatch test should be a slam dunk for me.

Friday 8/6/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

Goblet squat 32kg - 3x10

Afternoon:

C&P BU press 20kg - 5x2

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 74 sets of 7 reps

Wednesday 8/4/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

Afternoon:

Two handed swings 32kg - 20x12 (on the minute) 240 in 20 min.

Tuesday 8/3/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

Afternoon:

Two handed swings 24kg - 3x20

Double bell clean to front squat 2x 24kg - 5x5

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5x1,2,3,4

Farmers walk 32kg+28kg bell alternating hands - 2x 100 yards, 2x 66 yards

Monday 8/2/10

Morning:

Air squats - 3x20

Pushups - 3x10

Afternoon:

TGU 20kg - 5 x 1/1

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 72 sets of 7 reps