Attack of the Bells - Review
A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure of hosting a new event in Aberdeen. So far, most people up here have been exposed to only my presentation of kettlebell training. Whether it be the class environment, beginner workshops or 1-2-1's. I travel regularly to Edinburgh to train with guest instructors and friends in the IKFF family.
Rannoch Donald (Simple Strength) and Gerry Higgins (Raw Fitness) are two very good friends and trainers from down that way. We are all equally passionate about kettlebell training and our specialities differ, which is a great thing.
We decided to combine forces and expose Aberdeen to three detailed aspects of KB training, one being familiar material and the other two being perhaps not so familiar...

...Along came Attack of the Bells

Held at the home of the Aberdeen Martial Arts group, the XTS gym was familiar to the locals. Ideal for my athletic session, but interestingly not ideal for Gerry's session - to be explained later.
The 6 hour day was broken into 3 sessions, each delivered by Rannoch, myself and Gerry. Everyone arrived and I made the introductions. It was a pleasure to present Rannoch and Gerry to my friends attending the workshop, and I was excited to get the day going!



Rannoch kicked off with a detailed introduction and got everyone moving. His Resilient Rx program is really interesting, raising awareness of breath work, mobility and body weight basics. We did breathing drills to focus our mind, fun mobility drills to get us moving synchronously within ourselves and of course drilled good fundamentals in bodyweight exercises such as squats and pushups. All in good preparation for our busy day ahead. Ensuring structure was the focus for us in ourselves and when we attack the Bells.



We had a short break and recovered from the blitz of push ups at the end of Rannoch's session. Note to self: Have a question prepared for him next time LOL

I was up next with "Getting Complex". My involvement with kettlebell classes and experience of many different kinds of training and instructors, leads me to blend forms of training. Kettlebell complexes are athletic and challenging. They can also be used as a "reset" between KB rounds. I presented variations to my favourite Compound Complexes, and we drilled them.

I introduced, and then we drilled, double kettlebells. Some people have not had much exposure to double KB's and the handling of them proved challenging let alone the swing, clean and press variations.
Then we combined out new double kettlebell drills with the compound movements from earlier!
I finished by discussing where sport specific training can play its part within kettlebell training sessions.

By now, lunch was calling, so we enjoyed a short rest, refuel and chat.

The final episode of the day was delivered by Gerry. To break us in gently after lunch, Gerry presented use of the Grid. The Grid is a fantastic Foam Roller. Quite a few body niggles were exposed and massaged while Gerry discussed the benefits to regular Grid-work.

Gerry is passionate about lifting heavy s**t. Ask him, he'll say just that! Amongst this heavy s**t is his love of Kettlebell Sport. Gerry gave a nice introduction to the sport, the lifts involved and demos. Here we discovered that the slightly padded flooring was not ideal for the solid foot connection to the floor as we perform the competition lifts. Gerry led us into nice progressions from techniques to challenging lengths of time and repetitions. Pressing, Snatching and Jerking. Combining these into competition-style sets with good technique and focus.

The day seemed to pass in a flash and there was smiles all round as we packed up and headed for a cuppa before Gerry and Rannoch headed for home.

I am thankful to everyone who attended Attack of the Bells and for Rannoch and Gerry making the trip up.
Basics realised, new techniques learned, familiar techniques tweaked, different training methods shared and a few laughs along the way made for an exciting day. I slept well that night!



Edinburgh next I believe! :-)