From the Archives:
American Kettlebell Club (AKC) Coaching Certification
This archived article was originally published in 2008 and is kept online for archival purposes. Facts, advice, prices, offers and links may be out of date. For current, sourced advice, see our newer guides. The content below may also be incomplete, as some of the original site was lost.
By Thomas Grow
World Champion Girevik and Master of Sports Valery Fedorenko Works with AKC Student Charley Allen.
As I enjoyed the hotel’s decent complimentary breakfast, I observed the dozen or so people in the dining room, as they all occupied themselves with food and introductions to each other. They seemed like a nice bunch of people… everyone was smiling and talking excitedly about kettlebells, martial arts, other certification classes they’ve been to, and so on. This helped calm my nerves a little, as I felt a little uneasy about what to foresee among the day’s activities ahead. Would I be pummeled to the ground and publicly shamed boot-camp style? I had heard stories of some kettlebell training seminars and how you can pretty much expect to get your butt kicked by about halfway through the day and that these events were pretty much BYOB… Bring Your Own (Puke) Bucket. I asked the guys at my table, but none of them had heard either way about the training style of this particular certification, the kettlebell coaching certification of the American Kettlebell Club (AKC). After I was done eating, I got up to meet a few of the other future kettlebell coaches.
As I networked, I saw three guys walk in, wearing official looking “American Kettlebell Club” tshirts. I introduced myself to them and learned that one of them was Valery Fedorenko. Yes, THE Valery Fedorenko.
The Michael Jordan of Kettlebell Sport
If you’ve never heard of Valery Fedorenko, then it is probably because you are relatively new to the kettlebell world. Valery Fedorenko is kettlebell sport’s equivalent of Michael Jordan. He has earned Russia’s coveted title “Honored Master of Sport” in kettlebell sport (also known as girevoy sport), is the World Champion in the same sport, and holds world records that have not been touched for over 15 years. If you think all that sounds impressive, you should watch him compete. The man is a machine. Go ahead, check out his name on YouTube… you’ll be amazed at how much strength and stamina Valery has.
I had heard stories of some kettlebell training seminars and how you can pretty much expect to get your butt kicked by about halfway through the day and that these events were pretty much BYOB… Bring Your Own (Puke) Bucket.
Shortly after meeting him, we all signed waivers and photo release documents, and sat down to watch the kettlebell legend begin the day. With a very cool, thick Russian accent and no egotistical introductory talk about himself and his accomplishments, Valery jumped right into it. You could hear a pin drop as the soft-spoken World Champion began with how to properly prepare a kettlebell for workouts and competition, followed by how to best dress for a kettlebell competition for maximum comfort and performance.
From there, we moved to the good stuff. One at a time, he discussed the five main exercises that make up the foundation of the competitive girevik’s workout. With each exercise, he went into detail of the finer points of properly executing these movements. It is amazing how the most minor of tips seemed to make a world of difference in the overall performance of the athlete.
After an in-depth study of the five exercises, he showed us how he warms up. I don’t recall the reason he chose to show us the warm-up routine after the exercises and not before. Looking at my notes, it appears that he began to discuss the warm-up earlier, but I guess he got sidetracked, went on to the foundation exercises, and then returned to the warm-up. While it seems to make sense to cover the warm-up first, it was no big deal… after all, none of us had yet touched a kettlebell that morning. This wasn’t a surprise to me since, just before the class started, someone told me that they had heard that the class starts off as more of a lecture, and then later, the physical part begins. But first, the physical part was about to begin for someone else…
Enter Marty Farrell.
If you were to see Marty walk toward you down the street, you would have no idea what type of man-of-steel this guy is. Marty weighs about 150 lbs. soaking wet, but he has the shadow of a 300 lb. hulk. All of the students watched in silent awe as he did the two-hand jerk for ten solid minutes with the 2 pood (32 kg) kettlebells for 62 reps! I didn’t find out until later (because they didn’t really announce at the time why Marty was doing this awesome exhibition of strength), that he was attempting to earn the rank of Master of Sports, which, for a 70kg male working with the 32kg kettlebells, is 153 total reps between the jerk and snatch events. Would his 62 reps be enough to achieve Master of Sports ranking? We would have to wait until later to find out, once he completed the snatch portion.
To our pleasant surpise, Valery prepared to go next. As he chalked up, he gave us some little tricks of the trade that he and other top competitors use. As he picked up the 1.5 pood (24 kg) kettlebells, he quipped in his Russian accent something to the effect, “Marty used the 32s for Master of Sport. But I work with the 24s because I am already World Champion!” Everyone laughed, but no one argued his point. He certainly had nothing to prove to us. Besides, what he was about to do with the 24s would put any competitor in his place.
Why He’s The World Champion
Valery Fedorenko Demonstrates His Kettlebell Prowess.
While Marty’s technique was incredible and very strong, Valery showed us why he is the World Champion. His set was very evenly paced… every rep followed the previous in a flawless and unbroken rhythm. He never missed a beat, while his movements were executed with the grace of a dancer. With each rep, as he would descend into rack position, it appeared as if his arms bearing the heavy kettlebells literally slid into place with deliberate smoothness and no abrupt movements that could unnecessarily consume energy. At 85 reps, he actually started to sweat. I’m not kidding! The man is a hard-core machine. And, at rep number 94, he actually started to go faster! He chose to stop at 100 reps! I think that the entire audience would agree with me that he only stopped for the sake of continuing the class. Later on, he would prove the entire audience right for thinking that.
“Marty used the 32s for Master of Sport. But I work with the 24s because I am already World Champion!”
Next, Valery went over proper technique in doing cleans and jerks. He went over specifics on the type of grip to use, the proper placement of the elbows and the kettlebell while in rack position, and so on.
Now It’s Our Turn
Once we absorbed all of these valuable tips on improving our own technique, it was time for us to start applying what we learned. One by one, each of us took our turn in performing three-minute sets of the double clean. During and after each set, the student was critiqued on his technique. (To make things easy, I will be referring to the students in the male gender, although there was one very tough female in attendance that could keep up with the best of them and earned everyone’s respect.)
After some time off for lunch, it was time for Marty to complete his attempt at Master of Sports for the jerk and snatch events. With the 2 pood (32kg) kettlebell in hand, he nocked out 41 reps with his right hand before switching to his left hand for the rest of the set. It was very involving, and added to the drama, to watch as his mentor, Valery, hovered around him, speaking little words of encouragement and advice in an undertone, coaching him through the entire ordeal. Marty made a very valiant effort, but his body gave out after completing his 76th rep. The last rep was downright scary as he used every ounce of determination and strength that he could muster to snatch it above his head. I was nervous for him, as it looked like he could drop the bell and bust a clavicle at any time. Incredible numbers as they were, his total rep of 138 was not quite enough for the ranking. Marty was disappointed that he didn’t meet his goal. But needless to say, regardless of whether or not he acheived the prestigious rank, he definitely earned the Master of Sports status in our eyes.
They Just Keep Going And Going And…
As Marty recovered from this last feat of strength, Valery introduced long cycle back into the conversation and then proceeded to whip out, with very little effort, 50 long cycle reps with two 24kg kettlebells.
After more pointers, it was already time for Marty. With a pair of 1.5 pood kettlebells, he did 15 reps in only three minutes. At rep number 10, one of his wrist wraps began to unravel. But this didn’t distract him, not even for a second… even though the wrap totally fell off at rep 12.
Platform Reflecting Valery Fedorenko’s 200 Count Snatch Set
Not to be out done by his prodigy, Valery went to snatch the 1.5 pood kettlebell. 100 reps with his right hand, followed by another 100 reps with his left. Yes, you read those numbers correctly.
What is amazing about all this is that Marty and Valery pulled these last sets off after all of those other prior reps throughout the day. The physical abilities of these two were staggering and gave all of us the motivation we needed to push ahead with our own abilities.
After teaching us how to improve our snatches with small, but significant, changes in our grip and breathing, it was time for us to show what we learned. Each of us were asked to do a four-minute set at the pace of 15 reps per minute. As Valery critiqued us, we learned so many important points that really took our snatch to the next level. The points we learned on the snatch alone was easily worth the price of the course. You’d be surprised how much your technique will improve with just a little tweak here and there… and to learn what to tweak from someone like Valery, well, that’s just an awesome honor.
There’s More to Girevoy Sport Than Just Lifting
After the in-depth look at the snatch, Valery moved on to the other facets of training and coaching, touching on everything from finding the proper motivation to how to improve our health and obtain the best possible nutrition.
Not to be out done by his prodigy, Valery went to snatch the 1.5 pood kettlebell. 100 reps with his right hand, followed by another 100 reps with his left. Yes, you read those numbers correctly.
From there, Valery moved on to the discussion of “speeding”, which is essentially setting and adjusting the pace that reps are executed at in order to maximize the number of reps in a set while finding the fine balance in listening to our competitive spirit, while keeping our endurance level high. As it is critical for a runner in a marathon to figure out the perfect pace for him, so too, finding and keeping the correct pace is critical to the kettlebell lifter’s success.
Finally, to wrap up the day of training, Valery went into great detail regarding various workout routines. Did you know that the professional Russian girevik (kettlebell lifter) works out twelve times a week? Six days a week, on a typical day, they might start the morning off running, followed by their snatch workout. After resting the rest of the day, they then, in the evening, focus on their jerks. We were introduced to jump squats as being a very effective exercise to improve stamina during the jerk. After discussing other variations of possible workouts, we wrapped for the day… tired, but not nearly as wiped out as Valery and Marty.
My Final Words And Evaluation
Well, I hope that you enjoyed my play-by-play of the American Kettlebell Club’s coaching certification that I attended. It’s been quite a while since I attended that seminar, yet going through my notes now to write this review has me all pumped about it just about as much as I felt on the plane heading back home after that seminar and the following day’s training day (which I will review separately in an upcoming article). In a nutshell, I cannot say enough about the seminar and the staff at the AKC.
AKC Student Terri Parker Gets Personalized Attention From World Champion Valery Fedorenko.
…the biggest suggestion that I would have is that it would be most helpful if each student was given some sort of textbook or coach’s handbook, so that he can review what he learned at any time. Unfortunately, I was the only one in the certification course who actually brought a pen and notebook to take notes.
The instruction, of course, was top-notch, as we had the privilege of learning from literally the best in the world. The staff kept the seminar running smoothly. The location of the seminar at the Airport Courtyard by Marriott, just outside of Cinncinatti, Ohio, was very nice… the hotel accomodations were superb, the free hot breakfasts were generous and far superior to the measley complementary continental breakfasts offered at many hotels, and there is even a great little sushi place within walking distance of the hotel called Jo An, rated the best sushi in the area.
If I were to make any suggestions on how to improve this certification course, the biggest suggestion that I would have is that it would be most helpful if each student was given some sort of textbook or coach’s handbook, so that he can review what he learned at any time. Unfortunately, I was the only one in the certification course who actually brought a pen and notebook to take notes. Perhaps the staff could have advised the students in an email to bring something to take notes with. Regardless, this course definitely would be better off if we had detailed instruction in writing to take home. We did receive a handout of a few pages, but it was not really comprehensive enough to help the student (especially one without a notebook) to aptly review what he learned later. Honestly, as many notes as I took, I feel that I missed writing down alot of information that I may never recall.
…I cannot say enough about the seminar and the staff at the AKC. The instruction, of course, was top-notch, as we had the privilege of learning from literally the best in the world. The staff kept the seminar running smoothly.
I would say that out of the entire class, we probably were physically working out for about 25% of it at most. This might not seem like alot, but it was just about right. A little more hands on wouldn’t have hurt, but really, the lectures were so informative and I wouldn’t want to take away from any of that. Besides, there is a lot more hands-on in the optional training day that follows the certification the next day. It was nice to not wake up the next morning unable to move in bed because we just endured some kettlebell boot camp from hell. Had we received that sort of treatment, the training day on Sunday would have been pretty useless. I feel like we had just about the right amount of hands on. And we never rushed it… there was alot of time to ask questions from Valery, Marty, Eric, and the rest of the gang. We had alot of time to work on fine-tuning our technique. In fact, for many, this hands-on portion continued clear into the lunch break.
I would pay the full price without the free kettlebell offer without any hesitation. This coaching course is worth every single penny, without a doubt. The fact that you’re taking in one-on-one instruction with the World Champion and world record holder by far overshadows what few shortcomings there may be.
Textbook or no textbook, the course was top-notch and worth every single penny. And regardless of how much we worked out, we definitely left with our brains chock full of good stuff. For those who were fortunate enough to take advantage of attending the course this year, we got a complete set of kettlebells thrown in to the deal for free! Quite frankly, this is the best deal to ever come out of the kettlebell world! The price of the course was only slightly more than the price of the kettlebells, had you bought all of those competition-grade kettlebells on your own. (I will be reviewing the kettlebells from the American Kettlebell Club in an upcoming article.) Really though, even when the kettlebell special runs out (all good things eventually come to an end), the course itself is still an incredible deal. I would pay the full price without the free kettlebell offer without any hesitation. This coaching course is worth every single penny, without a doubt. The fact that you’re taking in one-on-one instruction with the World Champion and world record holder by far overshadows what few shortcomings there may be.
I officially award the AKC Coaching Certification the very first Kettlebell.com “Worth The Weight” Perfect Rating of 5 out of 5 pood, for the quality and depth of instruction. Anyone coming out of this certification will be very competent in coaching others to success in kettlebell sport. Originally, I was going to ding the smallest increment for the lack of text book, but I couldn’t bring myself to doing so, since the course itself was so informative and educational, and the opportunity to learn from Valery Fedorenko himself was just too exceptional to give anything less that a perfect rating.
I’d like to end this review with this piece of admonishment: If you are at all serious about competing in the sport of kettlebell lifting, look up your local AKC certified coach. I’m confident that if you work closely with that coach, you will excel farther than you ever would have on your own in girevoy sport. Anyone that is a coach certified by the American Kettlebell Club is going to be more than qualified, having learned personally from the best of the best. There are so many nuances in kettlebell lifting… you have no idea until you become a AKC Kettlebell Coach yourself. And, if you’re a personal trainer who is interested in teaching others about kettlebell lifting and are especially interested in helping competitors place very high in kettlebell competitions, do yourself a huge favor to your career and sign up for the next coaching certification. Any specials going on to help promote the course is gravy… the AKC Coaching Certification is well worth its weight in kettlebells.