Fitness Goal: Certified Kettlebell Instructor

Big news! I officially passed the Level 1 Agatsu Kettlebell Instructor Certification!

It was a grueling 17 hours of training – but I learned so much in that short period of time, it was incredibly useful.

Day one:

The first day consisted of Shawn going through the two-handed swing, the one-handed swing, the clean, the clean and press, the snatch, the windmill and a bit of the turkish getup. It all ended with an insane workout… if you’ve been introduced to any extreme kettlebell circuits before… you’ve probably experienced it.

I won’t give it away if you are going to do it because its better if you don’t know ahead of time. It sucks. Big time.

Day two:

We started with the jerk (not in the final test), more of the Turkish getup and proceeded to refine all the other skills that were touched upon the day before.

Even though I worked my butt off, ripped my hands open and focused on nothing else but perfect form and giving it all I had – I know now there’s still so much more for me to learn than I imagined before.

I’ve obtained the skills to help teach others how to effectively use the kettlebell as a training tool.. but more importantly I’ve learned that the level of fitness I aspire to – requires much more than the ability to swing a kettlebell properly.

I realize it’s only a tool in the toolbox and there are so many others I have yet to perfect. This certification was “the end goal” when I was working toward it. I now realize it’s only the beginning.

What’s life if you don’t constantly set, achieve and then set new goals?

I’m ready to start teaching others the power and effectiveness of incorporating kettlebells into their fitness regimen – send me an email, tweet or comment if you’re interested in learning more and aren’t sure where to start!

Work-it-out: Lower-body kettlebell intervals

I had originally planned for this to be my Monday morning workout – which involved getting up at 4:30am, heading to the gym and doing some running HIIT intervals and a lower body weight set – but I hit snooze and slept until 6am, missing the gym opportunity all together!

I know my body needed the sleep (I couldn’t get to sleep last night until really late) – so it was probably good that I slept in. Now, I’ have lots of time to workout and instead of going to the gym where I know it’ll be packedddd (let’s face it, it’s the second week of January, the gym is always packed with people feeling guilty for over indulging over the holiday break!) – I’m going to work out in my garage gym.

I know you’re probably thinking wow, you have your own space to work out – why would you ever go to a crowded gym?! Answer: Because it’s COLD out there and I’m a whimp!

To counter the freezing cold I’m going to start my workout with:

• (1 minute of skipping + 12 heavy kettlebell swings) x 6 rounds
• Typical kettlebell warmup of: 15 windmills each side + (10 push presses right then left + 10 snatches right then left) x 2

Main workout: 6 exercises x 3 rounds

Set your interval timer for 20 seconds rest/40 seconds work for a total of 18 consecutive intervals. I wanted to focus on lower body so I chose the follow exercises:

• Heavy kettlebell squats (2 x 14kgs)
• Alternating reverse lunges (14kg)
• Alternating kettlebell swings (14kg)
• Single-legged deadlift right (2 x 14kgs)
• Single-legged deadlift left (2 x 14kgs)
• Burpees (with high jump)

I’m also not afraid to sweat – that’s how I know it’s working :)

As my muscles were shaking I came in the warm house and made myself a protein shake to recover: protein, spinach, blueberry, banana + almond milk! Delicious!

What did you do to sweat today?