Several months of intense kettlebell training and preparation paid off this weekend in St. Paul, MN at the RKC, Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor certification program. I am happy and relieved to say that I successfully completed all aspects of this challenging but extremely rewarding weekend. Under the hot Minnesota sun, we were pushed to our physical limits and beyond with 23 total hours of intense kettlebell training and physical testing. Unlike many other personal training certification programs, there was no study from a book and then take a large paper and pencil test. The whole weekend was under the watchful eyes of many of the top kettlebell instructors from around the world. Countless hard core workouts, physical testing of the basic techniques and kettlebell exercises were what we were held accountable for. On the last day of the course, we had live individuals who volunteered to come in for a workout where we as participants in the RKC had to take those people with little kettlebell knowledge and teach them how to successfully complete the basics. Again, all under the watchful eyes of people like Pavel Tsatsouline from Russia, who brought kettlebells to this country in 2001 and my team leader, The Kettlebell Goddess herself, Andrea Ducane who is a Master RKC Instructor. The weekend was grueling, painful at times, and I LOVED every minute of it!
