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Old Forum SFG1 at The Dome

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Anna C

Level 9 Valued Member
Team Leader Certified Instructor
Elite Certified Instructor
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I could literally write a book about my 3-day weekend at the SFG 1 certification weekend at The Dome in Chicago!  But I condense to a few things of interest to you, my forum colleagues…  After sharing my one-day kettlebell course and bodyweight course experiences (http://www.strongfirst.com/topic/sfg-kettlebell-course-experience/ , http://www.strongfirst.com/topic/sf-bodyweight-course-experience/) , you know I just have to share some of this experience.  What an epic weekend. 

First - If SFG certification is something that you have always kind of wanted to do…. DO IT.  Make it a priority, prepare for it, and GO.  No matter what your level of expertise, it is every bit as valuable as your highest expectations, I promise!!

I was totally blown away by the quality of instruction provided by Master SFG Jon Engum, Master SFG Fabio Zonin, Senior SFG Dr. Mark Cheng, and ALL of the others.  Not only do they have the message fine-tuned and polished, but they target it expertly to the group at hand, individual by individual.  We ALL got the best of the StrongFirst methods.  The assistants were plentiful in ratio to the trainees, and they were all top-notch as well. 

The content was as described here on the web site, and the schedule was packed.  We worked hard, and past 6pm both of the first 2 days.  The last day was so euphoric I’m not even sure what time we finished;   I think around 4:30pm.  There are tons photos available on Extreme Training Facebook page of the entire weekend. 

Preparation for the cert weekend is so important.  Al Ciampa designed an 8-week training program for me, and I just can’t say enough about how awesome that was.  The training was hard, but it was a joy to carry out.  I was never sore, had no undue stress and no injuries, and saw steady progress in both strength and conditioning.  The first 4 weeks focused on strength (deadlift and press, among getups and other things) and the last 4 weeks on conditioning (swings and snatches, while maintaining press/squat/clean etc.).  And, I was able to do this training while carrying out my regular full-time job and the rest of life; the plan consisted of 4 sessions per week that took from 60-90 minutes each.  At the cert, my team leader and assistants had many good things to say and I passed everything with relative ease, so I must have been ready.  No pain or injury while I was there, no distractions, no anxieties.  This was wonderful to just be able to fully focus and absorb everything that was being taught.  I definitely came out with improvements, but I can’t stress enough the importance of doing the work to prepare!  It was somewhat dismaying to see how many candidates did NOT pass, and therefore did walk away from the weekend with the certificate (although most will be able to make the corrections and complete the certification if they pass these things in the next 90 days).  For some it was the snatch test, for many it was the skills test, and for some it was the written test.  They are ALL important, and you have to give each adequate attention to meet all the requirements.  

The adrenaline rush during the grad workout was phenomenal.  All the SFG 1’s and 2’s did it together at the end of Sunday With 2 snatch-test-sized kettlebells, 16kgs for me, 20 rounds of 2 cleans + 2 alternating presses + 3 squats (and he held us low in the squats!), half of the group (Group A), then the other half (Group B).  What a rush!  Here’s where a certain kind of work capacity came into play:  I believe due to the time I’ve spent on the swing protocol (similar to what is described in http://www.strongfirst.com/where-do-you-go-after-simple/ ), this worked beautifully for me – each round was hard, but as I did “fast and loose” and waited to go again with Group A, I could almost literally FEEL that alactic tank filling back up and was ready to go again.   The instructors and assistants kept asking if I wanted to move down to the 12kgs as most of the other women did, but I was going strong, and felt like I could have gone another 20 rounds! 

Well I’ll leave it at that… it’s all still soaking in.  I imagine it will be for a while.  But if this hasn’t come through yet, let me say this… I am very pleased, and extremely honored, to be an SFG 1 and a member of the StrongFirst family. 
 
I'm a bit biased, as Anna and I are training partners, but I could not agree more heartily.  The Grad Workout was sensational:  tons of energy and I was disappointed when it finished.  Like Anna, I really wanted to keep on going.

If you are sitting on the fence, jump off!  The SFG is an incredible experience that simply cannot be described.  One of my favorite sayings applies:  "if you don't know the feeling, words cannot explain it but if you do know the feeling...words are not necessary."

Preparation is indeed the key.  Swing, swing, swing some more...then do some more swings.  Stay within your envelope, while all the while stretching your envelope.  Dial in your form.  If  you don't have a knowledgeable training partner (I had Anna, we both had Al Ciampa reviewing us on video) find one.  Be it a local SFG or someone to review your video, a reliable eye on your form is crucial.

Also, be ready for the snatch test.  Have a solid, tested, working plan.  Also, remember that it is 100 total snatches:  don't get into a rut of snatching an equal number per arm.  You can go longer if late in the test you favor your stronger side, i.e. 11 on the right, 7 left, 10 right, 7 left...and so on.

Bottom line, do it!  It is an incredible experience that has to be experienced to be believed!
 
Thank you Anna, for all your insight, and congratulations! It sounds like it was phenomenal and obviously you rocked it. I'll be going for mine in July, and my life revolves around that fact right now ;)

Would you say the 8 week prep plan that you followed is comparable to Brett Jones' SFG Prep?

 
 
Exciting!  You guys are going to love it!!

I should clarify (and I 'm sure you guys know quite well), I actually trained far longer than 8 weeks.  More like a year, in reality, building up to the 8-week program.  I tend to have the genes to be strong, but I was NOT strong to start with.  It has taken a lot of time to build the strength I currently have.  And, I think I have a long way to go ahead...  Anyway, I had a good aerobic base from road bike riding and had been training occasionally with kettlebells from March 2013 to March 2014, then trained in earnest since March 2014 with S&S and other training.  Months of S&S gave me a tremendous base for swings and getups!!  Then I started to mix in the other skills...

BD, I would say that either one would prepare you if you do them right.  The 8-week prep plan that I did is a simpler template, and would appeal to those who like to narrow the focus and have less variety on each given training day.  For example, session 1&3, press/swings/farmer's carry.  Session 2&4, deadlift/getup/clean/squat.  Later weeks incorporated more conditioning with different kinds of swings and rest intervals, and snatches.  The presses were press sets to start, ladders later.  I feel like it worked really well for me.  Email Al if you are interested in more info!  berto.ciampa@gmail.com

And if you guys have any of those 1,000 questions that pop up in your mind that seem too trivial to post here, email me: anna0067@gmail.com, I'll certainly try to answer.

Good luck with your prep!

 
 
I would love to do it one day.

At the moment I don't even know how to properly snatch a 12kg kettlebell. And I'm supposed to do 100 with a 24kg in 5 minutes! haha

Hopefully I will reach the simple goal of S&S by the end of the year or early 2016.

So maybe in 2017 I can assist an SFG certification :)
 
Andres, stay on S&S!  It is the right road to get you there, except those final few months where you must cover the SFG I skills.

When you get ready to work on snatches, Karen Smtih has an excellent tutorial on Girls Gone Strong (works for guys too :))

https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/how-to-do-a-kettlebell-snatch/

Don't let the snatch test deter you.  You have to get there (train to the point of being able to do the 100 within 5 minutes... on the 3rd day after 2 hard days of work), but it should NOT be a primary focus of your training.  A great swing and solid strength base are what you need to work towards.
 
Anna, thanks so much for sharing. Congratulations to you and John for rocking this. Being trained by Al, you were clearly in very very safe hands.
 
Anna & John,

Thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad you enjoyed the cert. I always get goosebumps during the grad workout ...and let me assure you it is our honor having you guys onboard. I am sure we will cross paths again soon.

Jon

 
 
Anna,

Thank you for the report, and congrats! I saw the photos from the Dome, incredible!
 
Faisal, you're welcome!  I appreciate what you share as well, it is what makes this forum so great.  And you are correct; we have the very best guidance.

Jon, yes, perhaps The Dome 2016 for Level II?  That venue and everything you put together there was absolutely fantastic.  So well done.  Thanks for all the effort you and your team put in to make it the best event possible!!  Absolutely exceeded all expectations - and they were high!

Pavel, thanks!  Yes, the photos are great; the photographer captured so much, and it's great to have them along with the memories.

All photos are on Facebook page "Extreme Training".
 
Congrats Anna and John!

I plan to do the SFG cert some day.

Anna your posts are always inspiring!

Thanks!

 

 
 
Thanks very much, guys.

John and I took the next step today and taught a class of 8 people:  mobility, posture, breathing, tension, hinge, squat, kb deadlift.  Teaching is a new endeavor!  Like John said, we just got another license to learn...

 
 
Hi Anna

I'm generally a lurker on this forum but as a 40-something yr old woman find all your posts and videos to be very inspirational - so thank you.  And congratulations on becoming certified SFG (although I knew you would) !

Anyway all this just leading to a quick question - what weights  did you work up to in S&S for TGU and swing before progressing to more specific training for SFG - simple standard, or better ?

thanks in advance,

Donna Richards
 
Pavel, you are very welcome, sir!

Donna, that is great to hear, thanks!  I was up to the 24kg for both swings and getups, and could do within the 5 min for the 10x10 swings, 1 min rest, 10 min for 5 getups on each side alternating for 10 total.  So I guess that's Simple plus, on the women's standard.  When I do an occasional session now (as I did today), I feel like I'm right where I left off.  For some reason the getups have always been much easier for me than most women, and when I've mixed in reps with a 32kgs I can do that with getups easier than with swings.  But I have improved my grip strength significantly through 90 sec heavy farmer's carries (a special kind of evil thing that Al prescribed...) since I last tried 32kg swings, so I may be ready to give that a go.

Glad to have you out there reading, and posting!
 
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