This is from my Old Blog.. on 4/29/10

Now What?

Ok... lets suppose now that you have been training with kettlebells for a little while now. Chances are you might have taken a workshop, gone to get certified... bought DVD’s ....You study YouTube videos of Russian Lifters, You have totally forgotten about golf, tennis, biking or whatever silly sports you used to do before this obsession happened... Now you are training with your own Kettlebells, you bought the shoes, you have chalk all over the place... Your spouse is pretty sure you have completely lost your mind with this whole thing.... Does any of this sound familiar?  Is This you? The good news is... you are not alone...

I am going to go on a little bit of rant right now about what I know to be true about kettlebell training...

1. 1.This sport is fucking hard!!! I know that you heard all about the mind blowing benefits of lifting kettlebells... but it is hard to get better at the sport... I though we should get that out of the way first.  
2. 2.There is a huge difference between exercising and training for a sport... Zoomba will not help you on the platform..
3. 3.Training wise Long Cycle is less demanding on your time than the Biathalon...
4. 4.No matter what event you do, one arm jerks will help develop correct overhead position... Great lift with huge carryover in all competition lifts, including the snatch.
5. 5.Don’t major in minor things. Assistance work is just that, to assist, not a substitute for your main set. 
6. 6.If you train alone, (like many of us) Video your sets and watch them daily!! I have busted myself doing stuff I thought I had fixed a long time ago...
7. 7.Fundamentals are the most important. For some reason people are very attracted to shortcuts the secret is work!! But keep it down...Shhhhhh!!!!
8. 8.Training has to be progressive... In order to do that, you have to track it... Write down your training sessions... Also write down anything that might be effecting your training.. poor sleep, feel sick, ate crap... It all has an effect
9. 9.Ask for help... This has made the biggest difference for me... I have seen plenty of very talented lifters go by the wayside because they were unable to ask for help and follow the directions... They get frustrated or injured and move along.
10. 10.It really helps to have a support system of like minded people around you... very easy to do now with the facebook and  internet groups... Be careful, people are making money off of coaching now... check out your coach before you send any money... 
11. 11.At first you will make great progress with just some regular training... the longer you stay with it.. the slower the gains and the tougher it gets... Kettlebells will expose your weaknesses.. this doesn’t feel good!! Nobody ever orders humble pie.. You just end up with a big plate of it in front of you mysteriously... 
12. 12.The snatch is the funnest lift in the beginning... once you realize how many you need to do... it becomes very difficult.
13. 13.Training 5 days per week is the best way to go about making progress. One money set per day is best... You don’t want to over do it, but you cannot sandbagg it either... working at about 85 to 90% of your capacity is good.
14. 14.your mind usually quits way before your body does... Mental toughness is a must develop quality...
15. 15.The order of sound progression is Time, Pace you work, and finally weight.. If you cannot go 10 minutes snatching the 16 kg at 15/16 rpms.. forget the 20 or the the 24... 
16. 16.People have been supposedly lifting these things for a very long time... If you are getting injured, it is a signal that you are doing something wrong... Kettlebells are only metal... they are not out to get you!!
17. 17.Better than training is practicing... People that exercise get bored easily.. they need variety.. that is fine... This is a sport and like every sport we have to practice... People that change up the training to keep it fun or interesting are full of shit... 
18. 18.Even when you do everything correctly it takes time to get good... Be patient, focus on getting great at your event and diligently work your ass off... the results are the by product of doing it well.