I just attended my 4th StrongFirst event. In keeping with my posts on the previous 3, I'm providing a summary of the experience. Here are the previous ones:
SFG Kettlebell Course experience
SF Bodyweight Course experience
SFG1 at The Dome
And here are my notes from this one, the SFG II in Portland OR Feb 18-19, 2017:
Towards the end of last year, I was coming up for re-cert for SFG I; had been continuing training and that included a lot of overhead work so I was in pretty good shape for it. And, I wanted to go to Portland. So when I saw this SFG II on the schedule, I signed up!
The 2-day event met all my expectations and more. I'm happy to say that I passed everything and am now an SFG II.
The quality of instruction was absolutely outstanding, as always! Master SFG Zar Horton, Senior SFGs Andrea U-Shi Chang and Senior SFG Lance Coffel were beyond excellent, as were the 3 additional assistants on each of the two teams that had about 16 attendees. I was on Team Coffel. The facility was first rate, too: Industrial Strength Gym is a great space ideal for instruction and practice.
So when I say the instruction was outstanding, this is what I mean: clear, consistent, professional, fun, and perfectly paced. I've been to a lot of training in my life, in the military, in my education, and elsewhere, and I can say that StrongFirst training really is top notch.
The SFG II manual is solid gold. I'm still working on absorbing all of it. I reference all my other manuals regularly so I'm sure this will be no different. I took notes from the instruction to supplement what was in the book. In addition to the SFG II skills, there is an SFG I section that includes some really great corrective drills in a helpful format, so I feel like I've received the improvements that have been made to the SFG I manual since my attendance in May 2015.
The cert course content was super valuable for an ongoing kettlebell practice, both for me as an individual, and for teaching others. We did the strength (pressing) and snatch tests early, then had instruction and practice on SFG I skills before we re-tested those, which helped re-establish the foundational skills. Then we moved on to new things; the Level 2 skills of push-press, jerk, double snatch, windmill, and bent press in addition to some progressions leading up to them, and some assistance drills. We also did a complete bottom-up series and some athletic drills like walking swings, snatch lunges, snatch lunge jumps, and all kinds of other variations, which were fun and I could see they are potentially quite useful!
All of the skills instruction was especially good for finding and correcting faults in the swing, clean... EVERY movement, really. Andrea was super good at doing demos of form mistakes and what they cause the movement to look like, which came across very clearly and will help all of us correct our students. And we had a couple of excellent segments on group class design, which were well-taught and illustrated by Andrea and Zar.
It was really hard work, just like SFG I. We finished about 6pm the first day and I was completely wiped out after both days. We did lots of practice individually and in groups, and also had to assist our partners and correct them in their practice. I had a great training partner! In many ways she was stronger than me... but she was also younger.
Biggest insights for me - a lot better awareness of principles - the cylinder, connectedness, the foundation. Biggest improvement while there -- the windmill. Most insight -- the bent press (I still need to practice that one). Best skill for me -- the double snatch. Most instructive - the jerk. One I'm most likely to continue to use in my practice.... hmm. I'd like to think all of them. We'll see.
Preparation - Heavy snatch programs in A+A format by Al Ciampa were great preparation for me. They built my strength in lockout, opened up my shoulders and t-spine, and made me solid with heavy weight overhead. I also did a 10-week aerobic base training program (LSD, MAF using mostly cycling) which improved my stamina and helped me absorb the other training. As the event got closer, I also worked in practice with the SFG I and II skills, usually using A+A principles for my sessions. My training is all in my training log if anyone's interested in the nitty gritty.
My best SFG II prep tips would be:
.
Many thanks to YOU, my many forum friends who have supported me in my training log and elsewhere here. We are a great community, and growing stronger!
If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer. Feel free to comment here, or send me a PM.
SFG Kettlebell Course experience
SF Bodyweight Course experience
SFG1 at The Dome
And here are my notes from this one, the SFG II in Portland OR Feb 18-19, 2017:
Towards the end of last year, I was coming up for re-cert for SFG I; had been continuing training and that included a lot of overhead work so I was in pretty good shape for it. And, I wanted to go to Portland. So when I saw this SFG II on the schedule, I signed up!
The 2-day event met all my expectations and more. I'm happy to say that I passed everything and am now an SFG II.
The quality of instruction was absolutely outstanding, as always! Master SFG Zar Horton, Senior SFGs Andrea U-Shi Chang and Senior SFG Lance Coffel were beyond excellent, as were the 3 additional assistants on each of the two teams that had about 16 attendees. I was on Team Coffel. The facility was first rate, too: Industrial Strength Gym is a great space ideal for instruction and practice.
So when I say the instruction was outstanding, this is what I mean: clear, consistent, professional, fun, and perfectly paced. I've been to a lot of training in my life, in the military, in my education, and elsewhere, and I can say that StrongFirst training really is top notch.
The SFG II manual is solid gold. I'm still working on absorbing all of it. I reference all my other manuals regularly so I'm sure this will be no different. I took notes from the instruction to supplement what was in the book. In addition to the SFG II skills, there is an SFG I section that includes some really great corrective drills in a helpful format, so I feel like I've received the improvements that have been made to the SFG I manual since my attendance in May 2015.
The cert course content was super valuable for an ongoing kettlebell practice, both for me as an individual, and for teaching others. We did the strength (pressing) and snatch tests early, then had instruction and practice on SFG I skills before we re-tested those, which helped re-establish the foundational skills. Then we moved on to new things; the Level 2 skills of push-press, jerk, double snatch, windmill, and bent press in addition to some progressions leading up to them, and some assistance drills. We also did a complete bottom-up series and some athletic drills like walking swings, snatch lunges, snatch lunge jumps, and all kinds of other variations, which were fun and I could see they are potentially quite useful!
All of the skills instruction was especially good for finding and correcting faults in the swing, clean... EVERY movement, really. Andrea was super good at doing demos of form mistakes and what they cause the movement to look like, which came across very clearly and will help all of us correct our students. And we had a couple of excellent segments on group class design, which were well-taught and illustrated by Andrea and Zar.
It was really hard work, just like SFG I. We finished about 6pm the first day and I was completely wiped out after both days. We did lots of practice individually and in groups, and also had to assist our partners and correct them in their practice. I had a great training partner! In many ways she was stronger than me... but she was also younger.
Biggest insights for me - a lot better awareness of principles - the cylinder, connectedness, the foundation. Biggest improvement while there -- the windmill. Most insight -- the bent press (I still need to practice that one). Best skill for me -- the double snatch. Most instructive - the jerk. One I'm most likely to continue to use in my practice.... hmm. I'd like to think all of them. We'll see.
Preparation - Heavy snatch programs in A+A format by Al Ciampa were great preparation for me. They built my strength in lockout, opened up my shoulders and t-spine, and made me solid with heavy weight overhead. I also did a 10-week aerobic base training program (LSD, MAF using mostly cycling) which improved my stamina and helped me absorb the other training. As the event got closer, I also worked in practice with the SFG I and II skills, usually using A+A principles for my sessions. My training is all in my training log if anyone's interested in the nitty gritty.
My best SFG II prep tips would be:
- Make sure you can do ALL the requirements, which means:
- re-cert Level 1 skills, meeting all standards for swing, press, clean, squat, snatch, and get-up
- pass snatch test with your required weight
- pass strength test with your required weight
- A good amount of practice with all the Level 2 skills: push-press, jerk, double snatch, windmill, and bent press. Much like with SFG I, although they are taught all the way through, you want to be 90-95% competent with them before you get there, else it is hard to absorb the finer details. And of course you want to practice with your required test weight and heavier. - Increase your stamina back to at least where it was for your SFG I cert. It's not quite as exhausting, but it's close.
- Diligently work on your t-spine mobility for 6-12 months leading up to the cert. Overhead lockout with 2 bells requires it, as do the rotations of windmill and bent press.
. Many thanks to YOU, my many forum friends who have supported me in my training log and elsewhere here. We are a great community, and growing stronger!
If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer. Feel free to comment here, or send me a PM.
