尋夢園

First of all, if you weren't a man (or woman) before you trained with Steve Cotter, you surely will be afterwards. The International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation certification that I just went through in Malaysia was the hardest thing I've ever done -- both mentally and physically. I'm trying to think of something comparable and all I can come up with was going through US Army basic training. Even though that was two months of 4-hours-a-night sleep and 4-5 mile runs every day, it was also spaced out over two months. And I was 25 years old at the time. This cert felt like two months of basic training crammed into two days. That's how tough it was.

The cert covered all the major kettlebell lifts that you'd expect and a few that I didn't: swing, clean, snatch, press, front squat, overhead squat, etc. I was nervous going to the cert because when you take a seminar from someone that can jump onto a table from a low single leg squat position multiple times

then you have to expect some real intensity. So I prepared hard before going. But I had no idea how hard it was going to be.

In addition to technical discussion of the lifts and practice of those details, Steve had us do a long set for every single technique covered -- many lasted ten minutes and a few were longer. I hadn't trained for that.

The worst sets were the 10 minute press set, the four minute double KB front squat set, and the 12 minute overhead squat set. I had only done overhead squats a couple of times before the cert because I didn't realize Steve considered them that important. Well, he does.

Ten solid minutes of pressing the KB was excruciating. The only rest positions allowed was the rack and the lockout. And after three minutes or so, the rack was no comfort because we had been training all day. It was an epic struggle to keep the position tight because my postural muscles gave out. I tried to rest a lot at the top and that worked well -- for a while. Then there was no rest postion that was comfortable. It became a battle of pure will as I struggled to keep the bells from falling on the ground -- something I'm proud to say I didn't let happen even once.

The double KB front squat was only four minutes but maybe the toughest set for me. I had never held a double rack of 16kg KBs for that long, let alone tried to do front squats for four minutes. My whole body was shaking.

I told a fellow trainer after the cert that I felt bulletproof after going through that. Overcoming a challenge of that magnitude gives you tremendous confidence.

That's what our lives are missing and what hard physical training with kettlebells, bodyweight, etc. can bring back. We get a sense of accomplishment after doing an extremely hard training like this that we can't get from our incredibly boring jobs or lives. And isn't a sense of accomplishment, the feeling that you are getting somewhere, what many of us want and need?

We all need a challenge from time to time and if you're looking for one of the hardest, the IKFF cert is the place to get it.