Sunday, April 30, 2017. Week 9 complete, 0 days to go.
Final few days before the cert. I’m not ready.
I worked on the getup, swing and snatch every day for good technique and form but I couldn’t catch up. Started too late. Monday was my last hard session for the week. Did some technique work on Tuesday and took off Wed, just mobility and a few sets of 5 for all the exercises.
Wednesday evening went for a wonderful massage with Ila. She did the normal, deep tissue and then finished with a long session of cranial-sacral massage. So relaxing and mind altering. This is exactly what my body needed before heading out for kettlebell overload.
Thursday woke up and realized today is the day to head out to Chicago. Friday is day 1 of the Cert. Flight was noneventful, the way I like it. I checked the weather and windy and rain every day. Perfect, No distractions. As I got on the shuttle to the hotel the other passenger looked vaguely familiar. I asked him what he was doing in Chicago. Teaching, he said. “What kind of teaching?” Kettlebells. Holy shit. It was Brett Jones from StrongFirst. He is right at the top of SF and developed the curriculum for SF. He was very easy going and we chatted for the way into the hotel. He headed into the restaurant and I joined him for breakfast. We were soon followed by Jon Engum, the sponsor of the whole cert. Both of them were friendly and down to earth. We talked about Pittsburgh and old houses. Brett had just put a special kind of metal roof on his 1800’s house that were interlocking. Replaced the 120 year old slate roof. Cool.
I can’t divulge all the information about the cert but it was awesome. The instructors were better than I could have imagined. We were part of Team Summers, Cole Summers. The instructors were from all over the globe – Dunte from Austin, Tiago from Brazil and Andzelika from Poland. Dunte was a decathlete, Tiago was extremely diligent making sure to correct all my errors. Andzelika exhibited the perfect combination of strength and form. When she swung the kettlebell, it flew up and then floated as though she was relaxing, waiting for it to return. All three, very inspiring.
Dunte has just a love of life that oozed out his pores. I listented to every word. He had perfect posture, a lean but strong physique built from Kettlebells and track work.
Tiago had an intensity about him. Every breath was important to him. He did his best to instill the philosophy and methods of Strong First. He was like a big brother, even though he was 20 years younger than me. You could tell he wanted everyone to succeed. I would continually break my wrist and he would consistently emphasize straight wrists. Eventually it sank it. I improved but there was so much to learn and so little time to absorb it all.
Andzelika was from Poland and the first day I didn’t hear much from her and on day two she started paying attention to me. Probably because I needed so much help. She emphasized the “pop” of the hip hinge. When she demonstrated she had a magical way of making the swing and the snatch look so easy. The bell just floated but you knew it was backed up with power.
You’re probably wondering how I did? I did not prepare properly. In hindsight, I would work with a SF instructor at least 3 months prior working on the skills test – Swings, Snatch, Press, Dbl Front Squat, Dbl Clean, Getup. Drill those, with an emphasis on the snatch and getup. DON”T just do swings and presses. Make sure you are thoroughly familiar with all the movements. At the cert they will fine tune them but if you don’t come in really knowing them, you are screwed. That was my situation.
I didn’t pass the Clean and Snatch skill tests. Therefore, I couldn’t participate in the Snatch Strength test. I’ll work on my technique for the next 3 weeks and submit a video. After that I’ll ramp up the snatch volume so I can complete the snatch test in early July. I will do my best to pass the cert. It is so important to me and I want to prove to my instructors that their time with me was time well spent. I owe it to them and to me.
Honestly, this was the best weekend of my life. I haeven’t even talked about Rhodes or the other team leads. Or Fabio. I could write a book about Fabio. He is one of a kind. A kid at heart but a true passionate professional with arms as big as his heart. Bought Flexible Steel by Jon Engum. Awesome.
Back home now. I’ll take off Tuesday, then back to training on Wednesday so I can earn my Level 1 Cert as soon as possible.
Stay Strong! Who are we? Strong First!! The best strength community in the world. I’m hooked.