Recently I was fortunate enough to attend Mike Mahler?s Level I Kettlebell Workshop in Providence, RI.
This was my first experience training directly with kettlebells and at first I was a little skeptical of this old training tool but as the day went on I grew quite fond of some of these unique movements.
Anyway, there were about 10 people attending the workshop with me and we all met at a public park in Providence. The 11 of us took over a small section of the park and we spent the next 5 hours learning about kettlebell lifting from Mike. There were all sorts of overweight joggers (kill fatty types ala CS) and people walking through the park that gave us some quizzical looks. It was actually a really cool environment to learn about this training tool and added to the experience tremendously.
Mike?s workshop started off with some Joint Mobility drills that helped to prepare our muscles and joints for the intense exercise we were about to experience. After getting warmed up, Mike started presenting a variety of kettlebell basics to us. Rather than throwing a hundred exercises at us Mike opted to make sure we had the basics of kettlebell lifting down by the end of the day. I was really happy that he decided to do this because there were so many nuances to this type of training and I can see how it would be really easy to develop some bad habits right from the get go without some real scrutiny on proper technique.
The difference between getting results often lies in the details and Mike spent a great deal of time examining each participant?s form so that we could get the most out of each drill.
As a coach myself I really appreciated how Mike was able to break down each of these complex kettlebell exercises into easily learned drills. Mike was adept at identifying learning problems that the group was having and matching assistance exercises that would convey the proper mechanics of the exercise.
I am psyched that I attended this workshop because I now have another tool in my training toolbox that I can rely on. I had a blast performing some of these kettlebell drills and I got a tremendous workout in the process. The coolest thing about kettlbell lifting in my opinion is some of the unique movements that can be performed with this interesting training tool.
I tell you, as I sit here writing this review four days after the workshop I AM STILL SORE from the exercises I did that day! The unique nature of these kettlebell exercises allowed me to discover muscles I never realized were so weak. The whole-body nature of these exercises really helped to illuminate some of my weak links and help me learn to use my body as a unit.
At the end of the day I felt great as I learned a lot about this interesting tool known as the kettlebell. I think an important part of training is that it should be fun and Mike Mahler clearly demonstrated how implementing kettlebell training into my routine will add some nice variety and excitement to the mix. Thanks again Mike and I look forward to attending another workshop in the future.
yo dude, right on - i just attended mike’s workshop in NYC which was a blast as well - mid July I attended steve cotter’s workshop - these guys were both cool as hell and the workshop was great fun! i highly recommend others to go to a workshop held by an RKC - I’m looking forward to one of Mike’s level II workshops.
So for anyone who is an avid kettlebell fan, get out there and look for a workshop by one of the RKC’s!
HERE is what we did in steve’s workshop - 5 hrs in length - we worked on joint warm ups, etc in the beginning, then worked on the swing for probably 1 or 1.5 hrs - we did swings with 2 arms, 1 arm, walking forwards, backwards, sideways, in a circle - they were nuts
–then followed into various cleans, clean and press moves, a slew of different military presses, then we had small recovery work in between - different rolling moves, etc.
legs were front squats, deep! various stiff leg dead lift moves on 2 legs and 1 leg - balance work w/kettlebells
–we did some HOC using the snatch and jogging
–PNF stretching and dynamic flexibility
–i tell ya, the dude was a beast - stronger than heck and had the balance of a ninja! ha ha
–very cool dude, 5 hrs, it was physically a killer b/c when we did sets, we did sets of 10, he really pushed us - i was feelin it big time
–then going to mike’s workshop helped me big time b/c we did turkish get ups and more variations of presses(standing and lying), the windmill & more
–going to steve’s workshop is gonna be a great benefit if you went to mike’s
–you should e mail steve and find out if he’ll be in your area.
Thanks Kyle and I will try to do another workshop in Providence next summer. Perhaps a weekend of level 1 and 2. However, you can always come out to LA to attend a level 2 and have some fun. Great weather, tons of beautiful women, and a Mahler workshop. You cannot go wrong with that combo
