StrongFirst Kettlebell Certification

[Cast Iron Ken]

It is my goal to go for the StrongFirst Kettlebell Certification on November 11th in New York City. After being a little wayward and putting on some pounds I have just finished my first Girevoy training program, and am now training for the certification. On top of this I am currently on the Autoimmune Protocol for diet as I fear my hypothyroidism has flared up(also have celiac's but that is under control), as well as a competitor in the Scottish Highland Games and have four competitions between now and then which will require some skills training as well as my kettlebell training. What is required for my certification is to demonstrate ability in the kettlebell swing, Turkish get-up, kettlebell press, two-bell clean, two-bell squat, and the snatch. I will do all these with a 24kg kettlebell as well as complete 100 kb snatches with the 24 kg kb in 5 minutes. I'm choosing to do a combination of HIIT and complexes with a simple linear progression to get to my goals. 

 

Vitals, I am currently 223lbs, 19.42% body fat at 6'1".

[Cast Iron Ken]

Week 1 Training:

 

Day 1:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 3+3 20kg

Get-up

 

EMOM 20kg

5+5 Snatch

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle 

 

Day 2:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 3+3 20kg

Get-up

 

Complex 20kg, 3 rounds(10 sec rest between exercises, 2 min rest between rounds);

Swing 10+10

Clean 5+5

Swing 10+10

Press 5+5

Swing 10+10

Squat 10

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle

 

Day 3:

Rest/throwing practice

 

Day 4:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 3+3 20kg

Get-up

 

EMOM 20kg

5+5 Snatch

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle 

 

Day 5:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 3+3 20kg

Get-up

 

Complex 20kg, 3 rounds(10 sec rest between exercises, 2 min rest between rounds);

Swing 10+10

Clean 5+5

Swing 10+10

Press 5+5

Swing 10+10

Squat 10

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle

 

Day 6:

Rest/throwing practice

 

Day 7:

Rest/throwing practice

 

[Machete]

Outstanding. I just completed my SFG II last week. It is a fantastic course and community. How are you programming for your course?

[Cast Iron Ken]

I just finished a Girevoy program, http://www.girevik.info/gsprogram/eng/index/index

 

And now I'm doing what I listed above, adding a rep every week until I get to 10 and then rest with a 24kg.

[Machete]

Cool. Good luck. Watch out if you've ever trained in Girevoy Sport--StrongFirst follows a Hardstyle approach, which is very different, and having a foot in both can be rather confusing. (One guy in my course had quite a bit of trouble adjusting his technique, since he was competing in GS).

 

In case you were interested, I had around a year to prep for mine and I pretty much used Dan John's systematic approach (that blurry guy in the background on the left side of the first picture is actually me) up to ROP, then I followed the Chief's Prep Guide three months out. I was very happy with the results.

[Cast Iron Ken]

I started snatching hardstyle, but have switched to sport style only recently and have seen that I am using less energy that way. Am I correct in seeing that the snatch test for StrongFirst is strictly hardstyle?

[Cast Iron Ken]

http://www.strongfirst.com/kettlebell-instructor-certification-sfgi/

 

According to this one can use the knee dip for the snatch test so I am assuming sport style is good. I know the swing needs to be hardstyle.

[Cast Iron Ken]

Week 1 complete. Starting week 2;

 

Week 2 Training:

 

Day 1:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 4+4 20kg

Get-up

 

EMOM 20kg

6+6 Snatch

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle 

 

Day 2:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 4+4 20kg

Get-up

 

Complex 20kg, 3 rounds(10 sec rest between exercises, 2 min rest between rounds);

Swing 11+11

Clean 6+6

Swing 11+11

Press 6+6

Swing 11+11

Squat 11

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle

 

Day 3:

Rest/throwing practice

 

Day 4:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 4+4 20kg

Get-up

 

EMOM 20kg

6+6 Snatch

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle 

 

Day 5:

Warm-up;

3x5 12kg 

Prying Goblet Squat

Hip Bridge

Haloes

 

Activation;

1x 4+4 20kg

Get-up

 

Complex 20kg, 3 rounds(10 sec rest between exercises, 2 min rest between rounds);

Swing 11+11

Clean 6+6

Swing 11+11

Press 6+6

Swing 11+11

Squat 11

 

Stretch;

90/90 Stretch

QL Straddle

 

Day 6:

Rest/throwing practice

 

Day 7:

Rest/throwing practice

[Machete]

On 6/19/2016 at 4:23 PM, Cast Iron Ken said:

I started snatching hardstyle, but have switched to sport style only recently and have seen that I am using less energy that way. Am I correct in seeing that the snatch test for StrongFirst is strictly hardstyle?

 

On 6/19/2016 at 4:26 PM, Cast Iron Ken said:

http://www.strongfirst.com/kettlebell-instructor-certification-sfgi/

 

According to this one can use the knee dip for the snatch test so I am assuming sport style is good. I know the swing needs to be hardstyle.

 

Knee dip at overhead lockout, but I don't think you'll get no-repped for scooping during the Snatch test. (I think our GS guy was even corkscrewing it down.) It does become a problem in the technique test though, so just be sure to practice both and be able to switch as needed. GS and Hardstyle are two very different philosophies.

[Cast Iron Ken]

I will definitely practice both, thanks for that.

[Machete]

On 6/25/2016 at 9:09 AM, Cast Iron Ken said:

I will definitely practice both, thanks for that.

 

I think you can totally Hardstyle Snatch it all the way though, seeing that you're already practicing with 20s. It's just 100; big guys in our course were finishing at 3:30. Usually it's the little guys above 60kg who have trouble with the Snatch test and/or the Press, just because the 'bell is so big relative to them.

[Cast Iron Ken]

Well, I am sitting at 100kg myself right now. I've broken my training down into three phases and know just have to plan out on a calendar to make sure that I am going to be okay heading into the cert. I still haven't booked it yet as I am waiting for my wife to get a job, as I am only a lowly teacher and running a household on that salary doesn't allow much extra cash. 

[Machete]

On 6/27/2016 at 1:08 PM, Cast Iron Ken said:

Well, I am sitting at 100kg myself right now. I've broken my training down into three phases and know just have to plan out on a calendar to make sure that I am going to be okay heading into the cert. I still haven't booked it yet as I am waiting for my wife to get a job, as I am only a lowly teacher and running a household on that salary doesn't allow much extra cash. 

 

Yeah, it's definitely a big investment. Where are you located currently?

[Cast Iron Ken]

I am currently in the Tampa Bay Area in Florida. 

[Cast Iron Ken]

Tore a callus on Tuesday. Training break.

[Machete]

On 6/30/2016 at 6:27 PM, Cast Iron Ken said:

I am currently in the Tampa Bay Area in Florida. 

 

Really? I believe I know a few SFGs over in that area. Garrett McCoy is an SFG1 I did my cert with, and Thayne Shatah is an SFG2 who was an assistant instructor. Great guys. Check them out.

 

Also, if you haven't paid for the course yet, you might want to wait later next year. I believe they have been hosting level 1 certifications every March at Dania Beach, by Ft. Lauderdale. It'll save you the travel expenses and the early registration discount.

[Cast Iron Ken]

On 7/8/2016 at 1:52 PM, Machete said:

 

Really? I believe I know a few SFGs over in that area. Garrett McCoy is an SFG1 I did my cert with, and Thayne Shatah is an SFG2 who was an assistant instructor. Great guys. Check them out.

 

Also, if you haven't paid for the course yet, you might want to wait later next year. I believe they have been hosting level 1 certifications every March at Dania Beach, by Ft. Lauderdale. It'll save you the travel expenses and the early registration discount.

Just got back from Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. I am looking those guys up now to see where they are. It appears that I will have to wait since my wife is still looking for work. I'm going to dial back my training and take a more S&S approach, alternating swings and snatches. I have been using chalk too liberally the past couple weeks and it destroyed my hands. I am going back to a chalkless approach as I didn't have issues before with my hands. 

[Machete]

Ah. Yeah, that tends to happen during Snatches. I only Snatched twice a week training for it, one light day and one test day. Hand blisters take away more training time, so I always stop whenever I feel one coming. Your technique also plays quite a bit into it. I came out of my SFG 1 cert with nothing even close to a blister on my hands, despite doing the Snatch Test on day 3, after thousands of Swings. On my Level 2 though, I pulled my back and it caused me to modify my technique and have a weaker hip drive. My hands were torn in four different places like 30 minutes into the cert.

 

Smart move to move to Simple & Sinister. That has quite a following here. Getting to the Simple Goal (100 Swings in 5 minutes then 10 Getups in 10 minutes with a 32kg) I believe builds a strong enough base to get your through most of what the course demands. It was previously called The Program Minimum in Enter The Kettlebell. A strong Swing allows you to Clean and Snatch, as every one of those moves starts with a Swing, and a heavy Getup teaches good hand positioning, moving under load, and a solid overhead lockout (very important for the Snatch and Press).