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Kettlebell Find an SFG Instructor

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Baron von Raschke

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Hello everyone. Just wanted to drop in and mention how we should not underestimate the importance of working with an SFG instructor, particularly with the getups. I'd been humming along doing my swings (per the heartrate monitor instructions) and getups from S&S the last few months, all with the 24kg bell. I'd convinced myself that I was getting close to moving up from the 24kg bell in my getups because I could do my 5 sets per arm almost every day. In fact, I felt I was farther ahead with getups than swings because I've been trying to keep my heartrate down below 135 in the swings and it's been prolonging my measurable progress, which is fine though. So I decided to go to an SFG instructor that's only 15 minutes from my house, found him on this site.

Within a couple of minutes watching me do getups he found a problem in the initial stages. I was picking my head up and using my neck muscles and sortof tomahawking my way up to being propped on my elbow. When I watched him doing it I could see the difference right away. He gave me some drills to work on to focus on using my core more and my neck not at all. I was finding it somewhat difficult to do this properly at first, even unweighted. He worked with me for an hour and 15 minutes and the bulk of that time was drilling this initial movement and working on hand positions before doing the sweep through. He did, however, say my swings were solid and to keep doing what I was doing.

When I went home I made the decision to drop down to the 16kg bell to practice the initial moves only, making sure to use my core and not lead with my neck. I know it specifically says not to do this (lead with the neck) in the S&S book, but it's funny how having a piece of cast iron over your head will put you into survival mode and make you forget about technique. Instinct sort of takes over and you focus more on finishing the getup by any means necessary and forget about doing it correctly.

It was money well spent.
 
Outstanding. Great post.
Thank you, madam. Reading it again it almost sounds like a sales pitch, but I can assure everyone I have nothing to gain from steering us to the nearest instructor but fitness. I wish I had worked with him sooner, but no biggie. I'd much rather take a step back to ensure my core is tying my top and bottom halves together correctly than try to move up in weight with a huge hole in my technique and injure myself. I'm 47 years old with two young kids, I don't need that.
 
Thanks for the reminder, I just realize I do the exact same thing in my GTU.

I have to fly 2 1/2 hour to closest SFG instructor, but will make the move one day.
 
Awesome post. Thank you for sharing. I've had an opportunity this year to attend a lot of certifications. Even though I've seen the material many times, I always learn something new. I had a similar experience w/ my get up. After watching the get up portion of the SFG I certification in Fort Lauderdale, I went back to the drawing board. Per Master SFG Shaun Cairn's recommendation, I put in some reps on the get up w/out using a weight at all (1,000 to be exact). Then, slowly progressed to the 16kg then 24kg. It paid dividends when I eventually moved up to the 32kg (where I'm at now).

The value of getting an SFG to critique your skills cannot be understated!

The best do the basics better. The bigger the base, the taller the pyramid. Thank you for sharing.
 
Wow, 1,000 unweighted getups?!? Now THAT's going back to the drawing board. Maybe I should go further back than I have been. I did a bunch of unweighted drills but nowhere close to 1,000. Food for thought, thanks, and I'm glad others have had similar experiences. I've watched ETK maybe a hundred times and though my swings are solid and parts of my getups are solid, until you actually have someone watch you up close, like an SFG, it's virtually impossible to get all the nuances correct by yourself.
 
Yup. I train with an SFG Team Leader and although my get ups were pretty good even he found spots to make them better/stronger.
 
...and when there is no SFG Instructor available...go for a cert, and there is a slight probability, that you will find a master. No kidding here. That was just my way. I got a hint and cue, or two. I just worked on that or them, and will keep on working. Behind the expression of strength there is something really deep. something (meta)physical born just out of mother earth. transient and eternal at the same time...
 
I can attest to the importance of working with an well-trained expert for long-lasting, pain-free training. Books alone won't do the job. Some books call for the need for a teacher, to open up, and unlock details out of the printed lines. They can tailor the program for you; your physical situation and backgroup being unique to you.
 
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Where are you located? I will help you find someone. You may PM me if you don't want to post your location here.

-S-
 
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