OK, so I have almost 5 weeks until my RKC weekend in Orlando and I’m starting to freak out even though my Kettlebell Training is taking a turn for the better. I’m really getting in shape, and am mentally trying to prepare for a bootcamp-type of environment, but my hands have taken the brunt of me pushing the envelope and are probably the weakest link in the chain.

Thanks to everyone for the advice on how to care for my callouses. I’ve been cutting off the dead skin pads and then shaving them down with an emery board – which by the way, my daughters won’t let me live down for purchasing. It seems that my oldest has adopted my drole sense of humor and will sometimes say things like "Hey Dad, I’m about to paint my nails, do you think I could use one of your nail files?" Not a big deal, but when she yells it across the room at a family party of 50, I usually have some explaining to do.

One thing that I’ve re-learned and confirmed over the past 6 weeks is that Kettlebell Training is the REAL DEAL.

If I’m looking to get lean and still maintain my weight and stay strong, nothing else even comes close to getting me the desired results in the least amount of time than Kettlebell Training. It’s a wonder why most people don’t do it.

Granted some really enjoy pounding the weights – as I do – but for those that just seem to complain about how they can’t get in shape and hate going to the gym, then why wouldn’t they do some type of Kettlebell Training?

My wife – although she’ll now kill me because I’m writing this admission to you – is one of those people. She hates the gym, she hates exercise, but knows that she has to do it to stay healthy. Our son is almost 11 months old (man, time flies), so she’s been training with KBs for about 6 months now. She trains 2 to 3 times per week for around 20 minutes per session.

That’s an average of 40 to 60 minutes per week of Kettlebell Training and she’s in the best shape of her life.

Not only is she back to her pre-pregnancy weight, but she’s getting more compliments on how cut her arms are and how fast she is on the soccer pitch. The kicker is that we have not done anything to specifically target her arms OR her speed. NOTHING.

Anyway, that was a bit off on a tangent….Back to RKC talk….

Yesterday my hands felt that much better so I was able to do 20-minutes straight of "on the minute" snatches – doing 5 snatches per arm at the top of every minute and then resting for the remainder of the minute until the next minute rolls around. It actually felt quite manageable.

After that I practiced my military presses and rows and then did a circuit on the rings.

For those of you that like to see something structured, here’s how it went down….

1) "on-the-minute" snatches 5R, 5L w/24kg KB x 20 minutes

2a) Military Press 3 x 5-8 w/24kg KB

2b) KB Row 3 x 15 w/32kg KB

3) Ring Circuit

a) Dips x 10

b) Fall-Outs x 12

c) Tricep Ext x 10

d) Face Pull x 12

Good times.

I’ve switched my schedule around so that I’m snatching 3 days for the next week (Tuesday, Friday – snatch test & Sunday). That will change to 4 days per week – I’ll probably add Wednesday – when I’m 4 weeks out.

I’ve also started doing "2-a-days" on the weekends.

To prepare for the rigors of the RKC weekend, I’ve been doing my main Kettlebell Circuit Training in the AM and then doing 15-20 minutes of some core Kettlebell Training movements in the PM. For example, this past Friday night I did 15-minutes of swings with my 32kg KB. On Saturday night I did 15-minutes of Turkish Get-ups with my 24kg KB. And on Sunday night I did 20-minutes of Clean & Front Squats (that almost made me puke).

As I said above, my hands and my grip are my weakest point right now. I haven’t been doing any grip specific training. Instead, I’m just trying to muscle through my circuits (especially the clean & front squats) without putting the kettlebell down.

Another thing that I’ve really noticed is how much my psoas is depended upon when I’m Kettlebell Training. They take a beating so I’ve often had to hit the foam roller (or the lacrosse ball) for some trigger point work and have had to stretch them religiously every night for 3 minutes per side.

Overall, I’m pretty happy. I’m looking leaner and tighter – almost like a fighter – and my energy levels are through the roof!

Training for the RKC is turning out to be one of the best things that I have ever done.