In today’s post I thought I would share with you my goals for the 12 Week Challenge starting Monday.
On Friday November the 9th I am going to fly over to Brisbane for three days on Kettlebell torture. I will be attending what is known as the Strong First Girya level 1 (SFG1)
Though I already have a number of Kettlebell certificates under my belt I don’t yet have the SFG1 which is considered to be the gold standard within the industry.
The SFG is the mastermind of Pavel Tsatsouline who essentially started the Kettlebell revolution back in 1998. Pavel who was born in Minsk USSR, moved to America bringing with him a Kettlebell and a thick Russian accent quickly established himself as the go-to guy for the Kettlebell.
Pavel trained the US navy seals, the marines and the army special forces in the kettlebell and soon after took both his kettlebell and knowledge to the American public.
In a nutshell if you have a kettlebell in the gym you go to, you can pretty much thank Pavel for that.
Many courses, qualifications and certificates within the health and fitness sphere are solely based around theory and though there is nothing wrong with that, Pavel wanted to do something different. Pavel aka ‘’ the evil Russian ‘’ said yes we need theory but we also need people to be practising what they preach.
The StrongFirst requirements
I am expected to complete the following perfectly with a 24kg kettlebell
- Swing (10 repetitions each side)
- Double Clean (5 repetitions)
- Press (5 repetitions each side)
- Double Front Squat (5 repetitions)
- Snatch (5 repetitions each side)
- Get up (1 repetition each side)
And the Kettlebell snatch test – 100 kettlebell snatches in under 5 mins to be performed with 24kg for males and 16kg for females
With a 30% failure rate I might just have to pull my socks up a little 🙂
So now I have told you what I am going to do I am going to now tell you the how…
Step 1 – Planning & Preparation
I need to figure out what my current baseline is and what my strengths/weaknesses are
Once mapped I then go to work creating a program that will get my where I need to go. I will have to consider variables such as
- Frequency, intensity and training type
- Duration, overload, specificity
- Exercise selection, sets, reps, weight, rest, tempo, rehab, prehab, movement
- Recovery, rejuvenation, hand care
Step 2 – Accountability
Just as many of you do, I too will be getting the assistance of a good coach. Someone that has been there and done it themselves (currently there are only 6 people in NZ qualified, so not too many to choose from)
Though I have been training with kettlebells for over 15 years I still have lots to learn. I still have my blind spots and recognise I know what I know, I know what I don’t know but I don’t know what I don’t know
Step 3 – Positive social support
That’s you guys.
When you embark on a challenge one of the most crucial steps is to get some positive social support. Everybody has shit days, days they don’t feel like training, days they feel like eating the whole tub of ice cream, days that make you think why am I even bothering.
Having some positive social support is the thing that is going to pull you out of this rut.
Step 4 – A meaningful incentive
I have two incentives for doing this.
1 – To give back to you
By upskilling and educating myself I get to bring back what I learn and share new knowledge with you guys.
2 – Raising the standards in NZ
Unfortunately little old NZ all to often gets left off the map. Because the size and population of NZ many of what are considered the gold standard of courses, certificates and educational programs just don’t make it here. That means if you want to get qualified you have to travel overseas and too many people don’t want to do that.
I believe just because NZ has a small population it shouldn’t get left out. The more NZers that qualify the greater the chances of hosting some of these gold standard courses.
Step 5 – A deadline
Without a deadline it is too easy to go into cruise control. For me the 12th of November is D-day.
Pass or fail
With that said, it’s time to hit the gym and get snatching 🙂
Ps – I know there are a few of you reading this that enjoy the work of Timothy Ferriss, so here is a short video of a young Mr Ferriss attempting the 100 snatches (shot in Clapham London)
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