It’s day 2 of a grueling kettlebell instructions certification workshop. My hands are sore. My left biceps most certainly has been detached from its place (I hope not, the physio will probably confirm it next week). My butt is on fire with all those hip-hinged movements (swing, cleans, and snatches).
Think of this as a 3-day long Navy Seal training but with kettlebells. It’s damn hard and the failure rates are often above 50%! So, you’ve got to prepare for the cert instead of just showing up as if it’s a high school reunion. Which is exactly what I did! I haven’t trained with kettlebells since October last year since my focus was to get back into the gym (after more than a month off!) for barbell training. And you can’t help but think about that when you’re an amateur powerlifter recovering from surgery.
Perhaps that explains why I’m feeling so terrible right this moment.
But great learnings from the workshop. The most important one (besides like the thousand other things that I learned) was this — it doesn’t matter how good you were before, what matters is how good you are right now.
Doing the drills, especially if they’re new to you gives you a greater appreciation of your body, it’s limitations and the training you’ve had before. While the cohorts swore by the learnings and the training they’re experiencing, I realized how deeply I love powerlifting.
It’s not any easier. In fact, it’s a different beast altogether. But it’s a beast I’ve lived and trained with over the past 6-7 years. So, I find it a lot easier. Kettlebell training, on the other hand, trains your body in a different way and has a direct carryover to your performance with the barbell as well (not the other way around though).
The point is we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zone every now and then to appreciate, explore and learn about ourselves. That’s the kind of feedback that elevates your performance to an all new level. And this isn’t just about kettlebell or barbells but it’s a principle that applies to our lives.
Every skill we’ve ever learned or added to our repertoire has made us humbler and wiser. It makes us better humans while giving us an experience that makes us more appreciative about life. And that’s something you can’t get it off YouTube or Facebook. I hope people get this sooner than it’s too late for them.