Lively day today. First I taught a free intro to strength training. Had it all planned out in detail, but the people who showed up were all my advanced students, so no need for any kind of intro. We decided to do advanced strength training. I got a brief description of what each student felt they needed to work on, and then we got to work. We did squats, goblet and double kettlebell front , looking for power leakages. We did 2 second pauses at the bottom of the squats. I guided one student to reach back more with the hips and shift weight toward the heels, to get more hip power into the squat.
Next we practiced Turkish get-ups, everyone looked great. One person felt slightly unstable lunging up, so we practiced various overhead lunges and walking lunges. I gave tips on breathing and focus, with help from John B.
Last we worked on John B’s request. He wanted to work on “flexibility, in order to read my strength.” Deep. I did not fully understand it, but the idea was fascinating, and I felt at a gut level this was very much worth exploring. We did primitive rolling patterns first. Then we did a thorough investigation of the Cossack. This is a very challenging bodyweight exercise that is split right down the middle, challenging strength and flexibility. We did beginner and advanced versions, partner assisted, self assisted and with kettlebells. We focused on breathing, and spreading the load. That means spreading the stress to the whole body rather than letting forces concentrate at the knees, lumbar spine, or some other relatively fragile part. John is a very high level martial arts instructor and I really dig brainstorming with him. He was pleased with the result of our work, and so was I.
Two minutes later people starting showing up, 13 minutes early for the regular kettlebell class. They started doing movement prep, spinal decompression and the like. A lot of acro-yoga people getting themselves ready. It makes me happy when students are eager to work. Some people from the “intro” class stayed for the kettlebell session. My assistant Jeff showed up unable to swallow because he got kicked in the neck doing acrobatics. John B is a very talented body worker and healer, and fixed him up with a quickness. I saw John repairing a few other folks as well.
We started with a few goblet squats just to make sure people were moving right. Then we went right into a long session of Turkish get-ups. We did the strongman version and the official, martial arts oriented, RKC style. We also paused and did multiple repetitions of the high-hip portion of the TGU. This is the part martlal artists really like. Lindsey did solid, confident TGU’s with the 44 pound kettlebell.
Next we did kettlebell thrusters. These are like push-presses but they start wtih a low, slow squat rather than a short, quick snap of leg power. In normal circumstances the thruster is less advanced, less natural, less powerful, and less functional than the push-press. But I had a discussion with Britt before we started, and I decided the thruster would be very functional for the acro-yoga people. We did a long skill session which was well received.
Next up was kettlebell cleans. I picked this lift because all previous drills involved producing force straight up. The force of a clean goes horizontal, straight forward. I knew this would have a refreshing and restorative effect on the students, plus fill in the remaining component of a complete power training session. The important stabilization and force absorption element of the clean also guided my choice. Jeff demonstrated the double kettlebell clean with a 70 and a 53 pound ‘bell. He did the style of clean that shoots the ‘bell full speed into the rack positon. Jeff used a pulse of powerful, full body tension to stop the iron dead. You could hear the ‘bells smack against his shoulders and chest. The mismatched kettlebells also provide an extreme challenge to rotational stability. This style of clean is only for the extremely strong and skilled. We did a long session of skill work with singles and doubles, then a short session of the intensely cardiovascular 30/30 interval.