The Philly Kettlebell Cert is a Success!

Sunday 21 September was the second in-house MaxBells Instructor certification. We gradated 17 new Maxbells instructors. We had an Iceland certification last August and are heading to the UK and Germany in the spring of 2009.

At the end of every certification, in the back of the manual, is a three-question questionnaire:

1. What did you like about our certification?


2. What didn't you like about our certification?


3. What will you tell others about our certification?

We've received overwhelmingly positive reviews. There are always a few comments about what people didn't like, and suggestions to improve, and I study them carefully and take them to heart. Why are people saying such great things about this course? It's because I teach from the heart and give of myself. My vast experience in the field of teaching group kettlebell classes gives me an advantage over the others out there. My goal in teaching this course is to provide genuinely useful, practical and time-tested information about how to teach a superior kettlebell class. We touch on important subjects like:

• Workout construction & design


• Movement-based workouts


• The three major obstacles in providing group KB classes and how to overcome them

The students are given the opportunity not only to perfect their own personal KB skills but how to break these same skills down and teach them to others. We identify the major faults in all KB movements and offer a tool kit of fix-its. Also covered are:

• Payment plans


• Using KBs in personal training


• The client interview process


• Goal-setting

I model sample workouts using the three different teaching styles and help trainees identify the best style for them. Anyone who wishes to become a group kettlebell instructor will greatly benefit from this course. I hope to see you there soon!

- Steve


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ASK COACH!
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Q: Since you use rings in the Ultimate Upper Body DVD, I am curious about the relative advantages and disadvantages of the split Jungle Gym vs. rings.

A:
There's nothing wrong with the rings but for my needs I find the Jungle Gym more useful. They are extremely lightweight and portable and I live in an RV and travel constantly. I basically carry a Jungle Gym in my backpack and use it with all my clients. In fact, it is the first piece of equipment I tell them to purchase. The Jungle Gym is more versatile than rings, which makes it especially useful for me. just last night, i wanted to do a workout and drove all over Westchester PA looking for a pull-up bar, which I never found, but I did find a playground behind a church where I could hang the JG and do pull-ups.

The equipment I use in the DVDs was donated by Torque Athletic in exchange for the promotional value. I have nothing against the rings, I like them, I just prefer the Jungle Gym. You can do a lot of lower body stuff with the JG like leg curls and Atomic Push-Ups, too. I really liked the TAPS unit I used in the DVD but it doesn't fit in the van!

Q: While I can clearly see other advantages with the split Jungle Gym, can you get the grip you demonstrate on training to do a muscle up on the Ultimate Upper Body DVD with the split Jungle Gym that you did with the rings?

A: I've never tried a muscle up on the Jungle Gym. The muscle up is a gymnastic stunt and while it's cool, it creates tremendous stress on the elbows and shoulder capsule and it's caused a lot of injuries to a lot of people. The strength required to do a muscle up on rings or a pull-up bar is useful for doing muscle ups only, not much else.
Being good at muscle ups doesn't improve anything else in your life and the risk to wrists, shoulders and elbows is significant.
If you insist upon it, be careful, and do it on a set of rings, like the DVD shows. But there are far better ways to strengthen arms, wrists and shoulders with less risk of injury.

I showed muscle ups on the Ultimate Upper Body DVD because they are a popular exercise and people really enjoy them but unfortunately, I've seen a lot of injuries in people who weren't prepared.