A Shift in My Kettlebell Training
I’m shifting gears with my training. I have followed the Beginner Kettlebell program that Elise designed for about the last 2 and 1/2 months. It’s what she gives all of her new kettlebell students. I think doing them helped me in many ways, and I feel that the time doing those workouts was well spent.
However, I’ve decided to follow the program designed by Pavel in Enter the Kettlebell. It seems to be the most trusted method for developing the kind of pressing ability and conditioning that is necessary for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge. Given that I’m jumping into this game a little bit later in life than most, I want to follow the program that I feel will give me the greatest chance of success at RKC, in the shortest period of time.
That is not to say I’m in a hurry to get to RKC. In fact, having started Enter the Kettlebell this week, I see now that it is probably going to take me even longer to get ready than I thought before. That’s okay. As long as I’m moving forward at a steady pace and seeing regular gains, I know I’ll make it when the time is right.
I am cheating a little and I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt me. I am skipping the Program Minimum section of ETK. I feel that my workouts from Elise have earned me the right to start at the beginning of the second part of the training, the ”Rite of Passage.” If I can’t handle it after I’ve tried it for a few weeks, I will reevaluate.
For anyone unfamiliar with Enter the Kettlebell, the idea is that you begin the program with the kettlebell that you can press 5-8 times. You follow the program, repeating it as many times as necessary, until you are doing presses, swings and snatches with the size kettlebell that is appropriate for your tests at RKC. Or until you can one-arm press half your bodyweight and snatch a 53 pound kettlebell 200 times in 10 minutes (men.) The similar goal for women is to be able to perform the 10 minute snatch test of 200 reps with a 12kg kettlebell and clean and press the kettlebell closest to a quarter of their bodyweight once with each arm. I will be following this program a long time.
My ETK training actually started several days ago. I’ll finish Week 5 on Saturday. (It’s week number 5 because I skipped those 4 weeks called “Program Minimum” this time and went straight to “Rite of Passage.”) So far it is going well, and I’m finding I have a bit of DOMS from the pressing, a very good sign in my opinion.
“Rite of Passage” in Enter the Kettlebell calls for 3 structured practice days, 2 variety days in which you pretty much do whatever exercise you want, and 2 days off. One of my variety days will be spent doing sprint intervals. I’m doing this for extra HIIT benefits and for the extra lower body work. You may know that lower body is the part of me that I love to hate. My other variety day will probably be spent doing Turkish Get Ups and/or trying out the workouts I’ll be using in my coming-soon fitness classes for women.
I’m also hoping to continue Eat Stop Eat, the intermittent fasting that I’ve tried recently. I completed a second fast this week. It was more difficult this time, quite different from the first. But I’m starting to see some results. (I’m after a bit of body fat loss.) I’ll be closely monitoring my strength as I go along, as I know it is difficult to see fat loss and strength gain at once. Since strength is primary for me, I’ll stop the fasting if things don’t go well.
Probably I won’t post my ETK workouts. They are quite repetitive. I’ll likely only write about whatever is new or what my variety days are like. Or maybe I’ll find other things to drone on blog about. 
That’s my plan. Unless I change it. 
I wish I could be this disciplined in organising my workouts. You go, Sarah! BTW, I bet you’re not coming to this as “late in life” as I am
dave
I liked the book, never saw the dvd… but for structure, I really like the Art Of Strength Enter the Kettlebell Workbook.
Good luck starting at week 5… The program minimum (done work book style) always makes me feel like less of a man when I do it. Granted I never did it at 16kg, I started at 24kg… (The beloved Russian military standard of 53lbs).
Dave — Do you have a goal you are working toward? Define a goal and then the organization of the path to get to it will be much easier!
Chris — I do feel a bit “wrong” about starting at week 5, although I did work through a few weeks of ETK before I ever started training with Elise. That kind of counts!! And yes, I am also using the ETK workbook. I don’t have the dvd either.
Thanks for the comments, Gentlemen!
Good job, Sarah! You will be amazed at how quickly you will gain strength and stamina by doing ETK!! The simplicity of it makes it easy to follow but builds a great foundation. I started in this game a little late too but we’re here! You may be going to the RKC sooner than you think!! Stay Strong!!
Sarah, I can’t wait to see how you get on with ETK! It’s on my list of programs I want to follow so I’m really excited to see how you get on. I’d also love to hear more about your fasts. If it turns out to be an efficient way to reduce body fat without sacrificing strength – interesting stuff!
You go Sarah!!
Smart choice on the program. I agree on the way you chose to being it. I myself did it the same way. I started doing AOS ETK first and then move to Pavel’s ETK.
Keep on with your RKC goal.
Hey, you can always go back and start it all over again from the begining(I have).
Good luck following ETK. I can’t wait to hear how the pullups treat you. The pullups and the fact that I frayed my rotator cuff in December have kept me from starting this program. Here’s to progress!
Best of luck with ETK! I am working on getting ready for the AOS test and it continues to amaze me how quickly my strength can improve with regular practice. For example, 3 weeks ago I was only able to do 3 overhead presses of 16kg and two days ago I did 5 sets of 5 on each side. I think you will find the same thing…once you put your mind to it, the improvements will come fast!
Just my opinion, Sarah: skipping the program minimum is nearly always a mistake. At the RKC you spend about 10 hours learning the swing and the get up. I thought I was doing them correctly–I wasn’t.
You may be doing them perfectly and can tell me to butt out:) I can’t encourage you too much, though–if you’re jumping ahead to the ROP, make sure you do swings and Get ups on some of your variety days.
Just to give you an idea of why I say this: I was doing TGUs with 40kg before the RKC. Now I’m starting over with the 16kg because my form was so bad. Nothing to feel bad about. This is all worth doing right. Otherwise, you wind up reinforcing imperfect movement.
Just my two cents as someone who jumped way too far, way too fast.
Lillian & Nancy — Thanks for the encouragement! You guys rock!!
JC — I will check on adding an option to be notified when there are follow ups to your comment. Thanks. And please do let me know when you blog about your fast. Twitter is an easy place to find me: @strongsarah
Juan — Thanks. I appreciate the kind words. You and Christine inspire me!
Tonya — Yeah, don’t we love the pullups! I have the Iron Gym at home, and some bands to help when I can’t do any more “real” ones. (Happens pretty quickly!) But there is always the option of doing rows. Still a pull!
Cath — Thanks, Girl!! Planning is the easy part – execution can be pretty tough! Thanks for the encouragement. I am sure I will need it as I go along!
Jessica — That’s a very impressive gain in a short amount of time!! Congrats. And good luck with the AOS test!! Let me know how that goes!
Josh — I do appreciate your input, even if it’s not what I want to hear!! You are making me rethink things. As I ponder, let me say CONGRATULATIONS on your great accomplishment of becoming a RKC Instructor!!!!! Terrific work, Josh!! Thanks for
ruining my afternoonmaking me think about this some more.Sarah, have you asked Elise for her input? I would say, if she’s happy with how your form looks on TGUs and swings you’re probably okay with skipping the program minimum. Otherwise I think I might follow Josh’s advice. I read somewhere recently that for every faulty rep it’s necessary to do ten perfect ones in order to reprogram the body. If your swings and TGUs are already up to par you don’t need the reprogramming, but in case they aren’t the RKC Program Minimum seems like it’d be a great way to get perfect form into your muscle memory.
(I think this underscores the importance of working with a good trainer. It’s the only way to get feedback on your technique!)
Laura — Elise hasn’t looked at my Turkish Get Up in a few visits. Definitely I could use some feedback on that. Good call! She does look at my swing every time — A LOT! However, I have this fear that as soon as I leave, my good technique stays in her studio, LOL!
We have discussed the best way to prepare for the RKC several times (probably every time I see her.) That’s one reason I have been on the fence about the right way to do this. She’s not that into ETK.
Your last para says it all!
Train simple. Train to get strong. Don’t worry about the RKC or you aint gonna have fun.
Keep your variety days separate. And swing a big kettlebell
oh and regarding coming to this ‘late’. I think you’ll find this IS the exact right time ;D
…. ps. I used etk as reference, but didn’t follow it.
Sarah – Train simple – check! Train to get strong – check! ETK works for both. Finding fun in ETK may be the tough part, but as Josh pointed out in a blog post, fun can be found in the success realized through good training, even though the day-to-day practice may not be a barrel of monkeys.
Thanks for your point of view. It’s good to have confirmation that there isn’t just one path to success at RKC. My path will not be strictly by the book either.