Phil Scarito RKC - The DV8Fitness Kettlebell Training Blog

Phil Scarito Blog

Comrades,

Woke up today feeling strong.  Looking forward to another great RKC weekend with some good friends and the best instructors in the world.  Today we do our snatch test.  No problem here, In april I already tested out, but when your here, you just can't resist.  I will be shooting some video today, so stay tuned for some great video. 

I'm staying with Senior Brad Nelson Adam T. Glass and  Will Williams what a better group of guys, holy shit.  The wealth of knowledge these guys posses is awesome. Looking forward to working out at Brad's gym as well, I see rings and deadlifts in my future. 

I will be bloging as the weekend progresses.

Out

 

Hello all you DV8Fitness fans.

I want to thank the group of people that came out tonight to experience my substitute workout while Phil Scarito is at the Russian kettlebell certification level II training this weekend.

It was a hot day over at Wilson's Farm Park. There wasn't much of a breeze and the sun was shining down on us

Today's workout : "The Hill of Doom."

I wanted to post today's workout so that we'll have it for future reference.

We started off with stretching as usual. Neck rotations, arm rotations and leg rotations to start. Then seven halos in both directions followed by a series of slingshots, 10 in one direction and then 10 reversed.

Once the warm-up was over, we got right into our workout. Instead of having the workout at our standard pavilion location, I moved the victims and the bells over to a small hill. This hill would be the focus of the work out for the evening.

Starting at the bottom of the hill:


 

Phase 1: swing, rack walk, squat

10 swings, left/right

Rack the bell,carry it up to the top of the hill,

3 squats with the bell,

Rack the bell and go back to the bottom of the hill.

Repeat 10 times decreasing the swings at the bottom of the hill by 1 each time but continue with three squats at the top of the hill.

One minute rest:

Rack the kettlebell and carry them from the hill to the pull-up bars.

Five pull-ups each

Rack the kettlebell and returned to the hill


 

Phase 2: body weight and bear crawl

Five push-ups at the bottom of the hill

Bear crawl to the top of the hill

Five birdies at the top of the hill

Bear crawl in reverse back down the hill

Repeat decreasing by one repetition

One minute rest:

Five pull-ups each


 

Phase 3: the squat and run

We brought our bells over to the curb and did the following.

10 squats with the bell

Short parking lot run with sprint

Repeat the above decreasing the amount of squats by 2 each time.

One minute rest:

Stretch and cool down


I hope everyone enjoyed the workout tonight.

Sincerely,

John Hubickey

I will be posting videos and text about RKC Level II here this weekend.  Check the site often this weekend and watch my twitter feed.  It's right next to the main image on the home page.

In my last Blog post, I mentioned that I went to a Workshop in Delaware to hear Dr. Mark Cheng.  What really stood out to me was how the smallest things in a Turkish Get Up and a simple Deadlift make the whole movement harder.  For example,  in the TGU we focused on really opening the T-Spine during the first 2 progressions.  A lot of the time, we tend to keep our chest neutral, when we are able to open the chest up much more.  I will post a Video of this progression.

Next we focused on the Deadlift.  One of the best movements of all time. Simple but very effective when done properly.  It's all about prying open 3 things.  First, root those feet hard into the ground.  At the same time, think about pulling the knees apart as your butt pulls back as far as possible.  Once you start this motion, you will find that your chest will open up.  It's important to pull yourself into the deadlift instead of just approaching the bar.  I and many others found that doing these drills will increase your deadlift-no shit!!

My advice, take it slow and think about the movement.

I had the privilege to attend a great workshop this Sunday.  Dr. Mark Cheng www.kettlebellslosangeles.com/ and Sandy Sommer from Charm City Kettlebells hosted a workshop at St. Andrews school in DE.  I am amazed of how many little things that I pick up during these workshops.  As Will Williams said on the RKC Forum, Pavel is always trying to make the RKC better, but the fundamentals never change.  During RKC we go over many ques that enable us to teach and learn the techniques as best as we can.  Dr. Cheng gave some great ques today that really made a huge impact on my Deadlifts and TGU's. 

Fellow RKC, Jennifer Morey and I spent the whole workshop working together on simple yet ass kicking drills that we will feel tomorrow for sure.  It's amazing to me that working the deadlift and Turkish Get Up with no weight, but focusing only on activating certain muscles will wipe the shit out of you.  Train the movement pattern first, with no weight you will be humbled. 

Here is your homework assignment for your next training session.  Work on mobility drills first and then move into movement patterns like the Deadlift and TGU with no weight. Focus on your form, think about your breathing and move slowly.  Try to resist using a bell, I know it's hard, but you will be amazed on how off your movement patterns are.  They may only be a little off, but a little makes a big difference. 

Try it. 

 

Comrades,

 

There is a big discussion going on currently about the new HKC (Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification).  I posted my opinion on the DragonDoor Forum last night.  In a nutshell DragonDoor is coming out with a 1 day Certification that will cover the swing and the Turkish Get up.  As you may already know, these are 2 of the most fundamental movements in Kettlebell training.  The newly minted HKC's will not be RKC's.  There has been many who are worried about them flooding the market or lowering the standards of RKC, but I feel that it is a good thing for Kettlebells.

As I stated in my forum post, I'd rather an HKC instructor teach a client the swing or TGU instead of throwing them on a BOSU ball, right?? As RKC we hold ourselves to the highest standard at all times.  It is our duty to conduct ourselves  and represent RKC.  Senior RKC David Whitley said that they are going to get the same treatment and scrutiny as RKC's did when we went through the 3 day cert. The Seniors and Masters will not let them graduate if they cannot live up to the standards that we set. 

I'm anxious to see how the first Cert goes.  RKC is always evolving, even though the movements stay the same, as Senior Will Williams said.  This is just another way to open the door to those who are interested in what we do.  Lets bring them in and teach them what we already know. Spread the wealth as I say.

Stay tuned.

 

Page 7 of 8

7

DV8 Newsletter Signup

Sign up for the DV8Fitness Email Newsletter
For Email Marketing you can trust