
“We’ve been smart enough to be naïve enough to not know what we can’t accomplish.”
-Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour
Part I if you missed it.
Getting to the RKC was not a smooth ride by any means. Along the way I made two $300 donations to Dragon Door to withdraw from two courses last year for various reasons (one death in the family and one health reason).
Having committed to USA Track and Field Club Cross Country Nationals in December 2011 and the Houston Marathon in January 2012, I then refocused on running during the fall and winter. Kettlebell training consisted mostly of partial getups and low rep pressing for a few months. Returned to serious kettlebell training mid spring, but collided with a new set of life challenges ranging from flood, school, Olympic Trials, and several others…
In total from April through August, I probably spent more time in hotels than in our own house. Then two weeks before the certification, Augusta State University in Georgia offered Katherine an assistant coaching position in the cross country and track and field programs.
One week before the certification, I drove across the country in two days from Tucson to Augusta, Georgia transporting Katherine’s car (thanks to RKC TL Delaine Ross in Atlanta for a workout!). This only a few days after moving back into our house after having spent most of the summer in the nearby Embassy Suites. So much for a nice relaxed taper….
Master RKC Dan John describes three readiness states:
Throughout the process this year, I lingered in a yellowish-red haze. Not an ideal training state. That said, you can still legally drive through a yellow light, but if you’re not careful you might get slammed or get a ticket by running through a red….
Upon resuming kettlebell training in February, I followed a 4-5 workout cycle while working out 3-5 days per week. This progression began as just a four day cycle from February thru April, but transitioned to five with the introduction of snatches in late April. (yes, I did virtually zero snatching for months…). I had used this cycle last summer in preparing under Danny’s direction, so I simply hopped back into the cycle and began my rebuild with an eye on San Diego.
Essentially this was the program from February through June.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
A few general observations from this cycle:
After reconnecting with Danny in late June, he transitioned me to the Brett Jones program doing mostly single bell work, since the RKC now tests with single bells. In general, I went through each set twice, though would sometimes modify a few details (See below). I found the squat day fairly modest, while I was fortunate if I could get through press day without dropping to three reps per set in round 2.
Brett calls for the three main days to run Friday through Sunday consecutively with snatching days during the week. These are not commandments, however. Typically, I would do the VO2max snatches the same day as the swing or squat emphasis workouts (Day 1 and Day 3 in the cycle), since I had midweek sessions with Danny and the VO2 max snatches didn’t fit neatly elsewhere.
Subjectively, it seemed the base from doing five months of double bells (along with several months last year) served me well. I don’t claim the timing is ideal in taking most of the winter off, but getting used to handling 88 or 106 pounds of bells must have had some benefit for single bell work. RKC weekend is more about swinging bells close to snatch sized with speed rather than grinding with heavier bells (though I did do one set of 15-14-13-12…1 two armed swings with a 32kg bell).
Every RKC course is a little different but it should be little surprise that the Jones protocol made the workouts feel quite similar to what I had experienced prior to the course. Remember though, there’s a lot of activity throughout the weekend beyond the workouts themselves (skill practice, shuttling bells). None of the workouts at the RKC are gut busters in isolation, but the cumulative stress is high.
One modification we made to the program was including my weekly session with Danny for the six weeks prior to the course. During this session we cleaned up technique worked on heavy low rep work, particularly with the 28kg bell. Just the feel of snatching and pressing this bell was priceless. Personally, I think the real key here was to exploit the neuromuscular gains of handling the heavier bells without working so hard that any lingering stress would impair the potential adaptations from the program’s foundation. Maybe snatching and pressing this bell are not phenomenal feats of strength, but RKC I is not about pressing the Beast, it’s more a test of “How good is your 70-90%” (as Dan John often discusses “making your 80% better.”)
25 July
2 x thru. 5 reps each w/ 24kg except swings and snatch
VO2max snatches (15/15 for 15 min w 16kg)
27 July
5 reps each but 3 x presses on second round
28 July
2x through. Five reps each.
29 July
31 July
Heavier session w/ Danny
1 Aug
2 x thru. 5 reps each w/ 24kg except swings and snatch
VO2max snatches (15/15 for 15 min w 16kg)
3 Aug
2x thru
4 Aug
2x
5 Aug
9 Aug
Session w/ Danny
10 Aug
3x thru. 5 reps each w/ 24kg except swings (10)
12 Aug
13 August 2012
1x through
Stay tuned for Part III where we discuss everyone's favorite, the snatch test....
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