With RKC Vienna only 5 months away (my God, it’s almost 2013. Which means RKC Vienna is really happening. OH MAN!), I took it upon myself to train smarter with using Geoff Neuperts “Kettlebell Burn 2.0” to training for the certification. I chose the program because it focuses on the basic kettlebell moves that I’ll be tested on during the RKC certification (the clean, press, goblet squat, turkish get up, swing, and snatch). In the program Neupert talks about using a weight that is heavy enough to do a maximum of 5 reps per set of an exercises. Specifically in the program, this 5 rep max weight should be heavy enough to tax your body and be difficult, but not too heavy for your form fails.
So..with that in mind, I learned this week that my 5 rep max is actually NOT as heavy as I thought it would be. Check this out.
During my HKC training my instructor, RKC II Kerry Swick had be doing drills such as get ups cleans, and double kettlebell clean and presses with a 12kg kettlbell. Geoff Neupert’s program suggests increasing the weight used for get ups, cleans and presses in to a weight heavy enough to just do 5 repetitions at a time. Now, I’m a fairly strong female so my first week of training under phase one of ketltbeell burn was spent using the 16kg (36 pound) kettlebell for a majority of the strength drills.Unfortunately, I quickly learned that 16g for cleans, presses, and get ups is still a bit too much for me to do with proper form.
Rather than sacrifice my strength gains like I did last month from over training, I have decided to actually keep my training logs down at the 12kg weight. Given the fact that the RKC is all about proper form of your movements, increasing my overall strength is really unnecessary at this time. When you are going for your certification, you have to be sure that each exercise rep is precise, and executed with proper form. If you find yourself too taxed to execute good form in succession with a heavier weight, step down to a better one, and don’t think twice about it. Better to save your body the hassle and threat of injury than risk said injury or teaching your body to complete a move improperly.
Now, I had originally intended to get another 20kg kettlebell as I could not snag one when I volunteered at RKC Philly. I had kept a 20kg in my online shopping cart form dragondoor.com and had intended to purchase. Since I decided to forget about hardcore strength training, I have decided to get a 14kg kettlebell now that I found out they are available. While the 12kg weight is still good for me, I could probably benefit from the increase in 5 pounds for the 14kg to add some additional taxing loads to my workout. Again, nothing to be ashamed of with the 16kg, but hey! At least I can bust some solid reps with the 12kg and then I can work on my form with the 14kg.
Case in point people. If your form fails form a heavy weight, don’t push yourself to do more work with it. Back down and SLOWLY increase your workload with a mid-size kettlebell before tackling something greater!
That’s all I have for yinz today. Remember to eat smart, train hard and enjoy your life!
Love Always,
Janelle
