American Kettlebell Club Blog

Anyone else would’ve loved being in my position…working directly with World Champion Valery Fedorenko and Eric Liford, Editor of WKC/AKC every day as Office Manager of American Kettlebell Club.  Any question about Kettlebells or training at my disposal.  But I wasn’t interested in picking up the bells.  There were many times Eric would say, “Just see what you can do with the 12kg”.  Finally, I gave in.  I worked directly with Coach Fedorenko a couple of times, but the 12kg just seemed too heavy.  So instead of putting in the effort, I whined, and I told the guys when they made a Kettlebell lighter than the 12kg I would try it.  I’m sure you know what happened next…The 8kg Kettlebell and the Fitness Program.  No more excuses.

Some people make fun of the pink “girly” Kettlebell, but I thought it was cute.  Nevertheless, I still wanted to be lazy. So it was begrudgingly that I picked up the 8kg to test what level I could do.  I actually didn’t do too bad.  The guys explained the different levels of Fitness Program, and the rules…I wasn’t allowed to go to the next level until I passed the current one.  Not allowed?!  That made me want to do it more.  So I started working hard to pass the levels.  I wasn’t interested in competing, but I was interested in challenging myself to make it to the next level.  I started picking up my 8kg every day, on my own, to see what I was capable of-sometimes in the gym nearly an hour.  I started seeing results fast.  The more results I got, the more I was hooked. 

I also started running as part of my working out.  I had never been able, in my whole life to run a mile, or even a ¼ mile without stopping because my sides hurt.  After a couple of months using my 8kg, I was able to run a mile without stopping.  I was able to keep adding a lap to my run to where I can consistently run 2 miles without stopping.  And even though I’ve never been heavy, I started to lose weight and see some tone.  During this time, I was still telling the guys that I was never going to work with the 16kg or anything heavier…I didn’t want to do sport and the 16kg was too heavy.  Eric told me that really I just needed Kettlebells for fitness, not to compete. 

Then I started seeing videos…Girls my size working with the 16kg for long periods of time.  “Why can’t I do that?  They’re my size!” I said.  “They’re just stronger than you,” was the response from Eric. Coach Fedorenko would tell me of girls smaller than me doing a crazy amount of reps.  One after the other, girls my size and smaller, lifting the 16kg, the 24kg and the most recent is cleaning the 44kg!  It really amazes me every time!  So after much reluctance, I started using the 12kg in my Fitness Program.  After a few days I went back to my 8kg because the 12kg was just too heavy…It wasn’t too heavy-It was just harder!  But after picking up the 8kg again, it was too light!  And even in the few days of using the 12kg I saw even more results.  No excuses again.  I could either maintain my body with the 8kg or improve it with the 12kg.  I’ve been using the 12kg ever since. 

The 8kg will always hold a special place in my heart, because without it, I would never have started working out.  I feel sorry for it, sitting in my workout room collecting (chalk) dust, but I had to do what was best for me.  Although I accept the fact that I may never be able to clean the 44kg, instead of telling the guys that I’ll never do something with the Kettlebell, like use a certain size or compete, I don’t rule anything out anymore. 

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up the 16kg to do Jerk.  It was only for a few reps, but I just wanted to see if I could do it-and I could.  I also started using it for swings.  And guess what?  When I try to swing the 12kg now, it’s just too light!  My friends were saying the other day, “I want to get in the best shape of my life this year,” and I didn’t say a word.  Why?  Because I’m already in the best shape of my life-Ever!  And I just keep improving.  The truth is there are no excuses not to use the Kettlebell.  If an 80 year old, a 10 year old, and I can do it, anyone can.  I used to be the lowest specimen of fitness possible.  Not anymore…

Krystina, Office Manager and Fitness Protocol Lab Rat for AKC

I will start out somewhat differently. As a  Handball Player in a country where high-level fitness does not get its due attention, I started looking for ways to bring my body to its maximum performance capacity. I was lucky, or maybe even unlucky. I didn’t show much promise for Handball as a young player, although my fitness always stood out from the rest. However, once I got to the professional level, shortcomings began to show. The fact is, we were all training in the same way.

This took me to search for new training methods, methods previously unknown in Slovenia. I discovered kettlebells. I spent quite a long time using them as classical weights, multiple sets of relatively low reps, be it snatch, squat, press, jerk and all the rest. The only exercise I managed to put together a higher number of reps in was the snatch, and even that wasn’t really down to my own will, but rather due to some senseless tests.

Since I first heard of Kettlebell Lifting, I’ve heard thousands of different bits information, read and wrote just as many articles, bought any magazine, DVD and book I could find, as long as they included kettlebells. People were coming up with all sorts of combinations of workouts and exercises, although these were not much different from the ones I already knew from Sports, Athletics, and the Professional Gyms and Trainers I had access to.

It came to my attention that the first Kettlebell Lifting seminar in Europe would be hosted by Honoured Master of Sport Valery Fedorenko. At the time, I used the abbreviation GS to refer to Kettlebell Lifting. In fact, a lot of people use that abbreviation to refer to Kettlebell Sport, but Coach Fedorenko just calls it all Kettlebell Lifting whether it’s 1 heavy rep or 1000’s of them.  Once I saw Valery’s results and achievements, I was in a dilemma. OK, so he’s got endurance, but is he strong too? I saw clips where Valery did 132 jerks with two 32kg kettlebells. I managed to do 5 with two 40kg ones. So that means I’m stronger, while he has more endurance. That was my conclusion. All the same, my friends from throughout Europe managed to convince me to come anyway.

As the seminar was taking place in a coastal town in Greece during the summer, I thought to myself that I might as well take a vacation and throw in the seminar for good measure. Why not heal in the natural volcanic springs?

Loutraki is a wonderful place. Sun, sand and sea. The seminar wasn’t held in Loutraki, but rather in a gym a few miles out of town somewhere between there and Athens. Entering the gym, I found myself breathless for the first time in my life. I’ve seen over a thousand gyms, halls and training centres, but this was truly crazy. A large space, no training machines, no treadmills, elastic bands, coloured dumbbells and similar commercial accessories.

All you could see were kettlebells, Olympic bars, lifting platforms and an arm-wrestling stand. Looking across the hall, I saw that the participants were physically all in better shape than the Greek demonstrators, which made me think that this could be yet another commercial trick. Valery was far from a big man, like I expected him to be, while the Greek teenagers did far from impress me either.

Valery demonstrated all exercises by using a 24 kg kettlebell. He carried out each exercise in a 5 minute set, so I was really beginning to ask myself whether I belong there. From attending previous seminars, I was used to having 200-lb guys who would lift 40 kg as if it were a piece of paper.

And when Valery called over this kid who looked half-asleep, unshaved, wearing torn jeans and sandals, I thought I had seen enough. But when that kid, weighing roughly 75 kg, lifted a 90kg (200 pounds) kettlebell above his head seven times, I had to do some thinking. I always thought of myself as a strong guy, but I weighed at least 20kg more than the kid at the time, and he managed to lift with one arm something I probably couldn’t manage with two.

I admit that this was my wake-up call and I started listening, writing down every word and starting to look differently on Valery, his coach and the other guys (read: young students) in the gym.

Of course I had to go and try to lift those 90kg’s myself, but I couldn’t even get it up to shoulder height. So I tried a 70kg kettlebell. I managed to get it up to shoulder height, but that was as far as it would go.

I must admit that I am a hard man to convince, and my ego doesn’t allow someone else to beat me in something, but right there and then, I realized that I was a weakling compared to the athletes training according to the World Kettlebell Club methods.

I spent the whole ride back to the hotel thinking about it. My hands were completely covered in blood, as I wanted to make a good impression on the guys who were teaching me. I don’t know whether I succeeded or not. All I know is that I went down to the beach and spent 4 hours explaining to my girlfriend how crazy it is, what kind of results these guys had, how much they can lift etc.

Of course it takes more than one seminar to learn kettlebell lifting. It took me more than a year to understand what to do and how it is done.

Now ask yourself: If kettlebell lifting convinced me to achieve better results first in handball and then in kettlebell lifting itself by applying the WKC methods of training, then kettlebell fitness is surely a step ahead of conventional fitness, right?

Returning from Greece, I told myself that I would be back. Now I have an opportunity to do so. Take one of these courses yourself and learn one of the simplest and most useful forms of exercise in the world from the best in the world.

I once used a little word play during an interview for a radio station by saying that if Athletics is the Queen of Sports, then Kettlebell Lifting is certainly King.

The decision is yours.

Sincerely,

Gregor Sobočan

 You can check out some amazing videos from Greece through the following links:

Alternating Rack Position

1-arm Jerk with 200lb. Kettlebell

Proper Breathing Technique for Kettlebells

The “Greek” Kettlebell Club Experience

1-arm Jerk with 136lb. Kettlebell

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Coach Sobočan has since been named Head Coach of Slovenian Kettlebell Club and has retired from Professional Handball to pursue the Sport of Kettlebell Lifting. From a small country he teaches Kettlebell Lifting in the largest Kettlebell Gym in Europe, and travels all over the World doing Seminars on Kettlebell Lifting. Not bad progress for a little bit more than a year after the first European KB Lifting Seminar!

I was asked the other day how long I have been involved with the kettlebell.  I thought about it for a minute and even though it was for a few years, I said about 6 months, since July 21st 2007 to be precise.  That was the day I was fortunate enough to enter Pandelis Filicides gym in Athens, Greece.  that was the day I was exposed to what kettlebell methodology was all about.  Prior to that moment I was only using a ball with a handle and didn’t have a clue about what was truly possible with the kettlebell and more importantly, myself.

I wanted exposure to what I thought was GS training and had seen a magazine with Valery Fedorenko’s picture on the cover.  I had no aspirations to compete but I thought the experience would be valuable to me in my business and overall understanding of the kettlebell.  I looked up the American Kettlebell Club on the internet and saw there were certifications available.  I signed up for one and while online later that week I saw that Valery was going to reunite with his Coach in Greece and the AKC was going to hold a cert at the same time.  I emailed the AKC and asked if I could switch my cert location and they were kind enough to switch it for me.  My 12 year old son had just spent the entire school year studying about Greece and I thought what a good opportunity for both he and I.  Education for both of us, so to speak-little did I know just how true that was to be.  I didn’t want to leave my son alone while I attended the seminar and I asked if it was ok if he attended the cert also.  He is a healthy, well behaved young gentleman so I knew  he wouldn’t be a problem and Eric Liford was kind enough to allow me to register him for the coaching seminar.  He said Valery started when he was 12 and it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for my boy.

My son Cona and I flew to Athens and took a cab to Loutraki, the town where we were recommended to stay.  It was beautiful.  The hotel was wonderful and the staff very friendly and kind.  We spent a few days just walking around town, eating the food, swimming in the warm, clean waters across the street from the hotel and just trying to absorb so much culture.  Greece is amazing.

We met Valery and Eric the night before the cert at the hotel.  I was surprised at how down to earth both men were and how good they were to my son.  All the participants met in the lobby at 8:00am the next morning.  It was great to see Steve Cotter as I hadn’t seen him for a while and to meet the other participants from all over the globe.  None of us knew what we were in for or even what to expect to be honest.  A shuttle came and off to the gym we went.

The gym was a massive industrial building divided into two main areas.  One side was all wrestling mats, the other had numerous Olympic lifting platforms, arm wrestling tables, a kettlebell area and assorted weight lifting equipment.  There was a very long partition that separated the areas and it was covered in pictures of Coach Filicides students over the years.  We even found a picture of young Valery when he won his first title!

Coach Filikidis came in and we were introduced to him.  He was a powerhouse of a man and despite the language barrier very friendly and cordial.  There were no lifters present as we as a group all wondered when the lifters would show up to train.  A group of young teenagers showed up shortly thereafter and we all thought they must be neighborhood kids coming in to look at the gym.  We couldn’t have been more wrong.

None of us had any idea what we were going to witness.  Coach Filikidis translated to Valery that his boys wanted to show us a few things.  The first thing we saw was a 170lb teenager jerking a 200lb bell with barely a grimace.  With that one 7 rep set I realized everything I knew was wrong.  Young boy after young boy got up on the platform and performed the impossible-easily.  None of us could speak for none of us except Valery had ever seen such a display of technical mastery.

By virtue of the boys age it hammered in the concepts of proper methodology-how else could boys this young get that strong?  In that one moment I knew and realized I would never be able to return to my prior self-imposed limitations.  I wish life showed you this more often so you had no doubt as to which direction one should take.

Valery and Eric began the cert and throughout the day Coach Filikidis and all his athletes would assist us in learning good technique.  Coach Filikidis’ boys would come into the gym to train and put a quick show of strength on for us that never ceased to be beyond belief.  Coach Filikidis gave us a lecture that Valery translated and one point stood out in my mind to this day and shaped how I would coach from that moment forward.  He said it’s the Coach’s duty, his responsibility, to further the sport at all times and to build champions.  If that’s not your intent, you’re not coaching.

My son spent time arm wrestling, wrestling and kettlebell lifting with high level athletes all day and never felt out of place or intimidated.  The training atmosphere was second to none and allowed you to immerse yourself in the knowledge with no fear of looking bad.  Effort was acknowledged and egos were non-existent.  At the end of the day Coach Filikidis gave us commemorative plaques.  He said Valery was his first world champion and it was a homecoming of sorts for him and all of us to come together.  My son received the plaque and the coach hugged him with genuine affection.  As a dad it almost put a tear in my eye to see my son so proud.

My life has not been the same since.  Because of what I saw I know that with good technique, methodology and diligence I too can be far greater than I ever thought possible.  That belief infected my students who began to realize they could remove their chains an elevate too.  My son is the youngest coach in the USA and has learned from the very start what is truly possible if so desired.

Greece was a special place for my son and me, something we laugh about all the time and we just hoped we would have the chance to go back to Greece and to that gym.  When I read that the AKC was going to put on a sport camp I knew that my son and I were going back.   I wanted to write this story so that for those who hadn’t had the honor of attending the first trip to Greece wouldn’t miss out on this opportunity.  My son and I hope to see all of you there and want to let you know to prepare yourselves for an experience of a lifetime.

Sincerely,
Kevin Jodrey
Owner
Redwood Kettlebell Club