My journey into the world of kettlebell training started with
a trip to dragondoor.com. The site was recommended to me by my
Rolfer Michael Reams, who runs Centerworks Northwest. He works
the kinks out of my muscles, especially after all the abuse they
take from being a full-time professional firefighter. Michael
showed me how to do few basics with his 35 lb kettlebell and lent
me his tape of Pavel's Russian Kettlebell Challenge. I was hooked.
This was the kind of intense and functional workout I had been
searching for - no fancy machines, high-tech gimmicks or complicated
contraptions. Just a hunk of iron with a handle...
Firefighting is a physically demanding job. You have no time
to warm up when the alarm sounds. In fact, many of your hardest
calls wake you up the middle of the night. You have to drag heavy
hoses, lift ladders, carry heavy equipment, and pry open or just
break down doors. You need a strong grip, a powerful back, and
the ability to take ballistic shocks. I have discovered that these
qualities are developed with KB training. I'd like to share with
you how kettlebell training has changed the entire way I look
at overall firefighting fitness.
So after my Rolfer introduced me to KB trasining, I ordered my
own KB along with both the RKC book and video. While just training
two or three times a week, I felt that it was building functional
strength, active flexibility, and cardio power. After my initial
training sessions I noticed minor pains in my elbows and wrists.
They faded as my tendons and ligaments started to strengthen and
thicken, adapting to the ballistic shock. You don't get this kind
of shock from the health club machines - they teach you to be
slow and smooth and have zero impact. That would be OK except
for one small thing... REAL LIFE! You get jarred around in real
life - if you never train for it, you won't be able to handle
it. Controlled ballistic training helps you handle shocks without
getting injured as easily and feeling as sore afterward.
| I also bought Pavel's Power to the People, a
gold mine of information on gaining real strength. Pavel's
concepts and methods refuted almost every mainstream American
"Health Club" training guideline. After high school
I just lifted recreationaly, but soon my brain was polluted
with the "Muscle Fitness" garbage in all the magazines.
They focused on looks over performance. I had to unlearn a
lot of the BS from bodybuilding. Functionality became my new
mantra. What's the point of looking muscular if you aren't
actually strong? Reading the article by David Finley RKC entitled
"A Case for Becoming a Girevik (Kettlebell Lifter)"
at the dragondoor site sealed the deal. Excellent points from
start to finish, especially on conveyance (carry over). As
Pavel might say "Read it! That's an order!" |
 |
The next big step was attending a one-day KB seminar taught
by Pavel. His mastery of the subject was humbling, but he never
tried to intimidate or belittle anyone. Fine points were explained
for each exercise and his eagle eye caught each detail of your
lift. He would quickly praise or correct each move. During the
day "punishments" were doled out (usually 10 pushups
or so) for unsafe actions or mistakes. He did it with a slight
smile and it didn't matter who it was. Nothing personal - just
do it, learn from it and move on. Pavel's grasp of athletic biomechanics
was superb, and his teaching skills were excellent. I've worked
with many excellent coaches and teachers ( I taught high school
history and English and coached football and wrestling) and Pavel
takes a back seat to no one! He has a command presence. His style
is very straight forward and direct, but without being pushy or
rude. He is passionate, not preachy. I learned and lifted all
day long, working out with a wide variety of people, and they
seemed to feel the same way I did - thoroughly impressed.
The next day I took Pavel's three two-hour courses on stretching,
abdominal work and on his Power to the People principles. His
stretching techniques worked instantly. I was able to do a standing
stiff-legged toe touch for the first time in my life! (I was always
a mid-shin type stretcher) His abdominal work taught me amazing
breathing techniques. The PTP class showed me how to contract
and control all my muscles as a unit to increase my power. There
was no denying it... I was officially "Pavelized".
Over the next few months I lifted less and less at the gym (and
eventually dropped my membership) and started focusing on building
my KB skills. I started to bring them to my fire station, so I
could practice during our allotted fitness time each shift. KBs
are perfect for doing short but intense workouts. Never "training
to failure" helps me stay fresh. As a fireman, you really
can't afford to be really sore and stiff like you get after the
typical "feel the burn" bodybuilding type workouts.
Most of the guys I work with were very good high school athletes,
and some played in college. Many enjoy weight-lifting like I do,
but none of them had any idea what a kettlebell was. Some have
now joined in and I show them a few things and let them borrow
my well-worn tapes. One ex-marine told me that KB work has gotten
him in the best shape he's been in since going through Marine
boot camp (maybe even better). A former two-time High School state
champion wrestler said he wished he would have had KB training.
He bought a KB and has had me teach his two young sons a few drills.
Kettlebells are the best single tool I have found for developing
strength, endurance and flexibility. Their off-center weight distribution
recruits the stabilizer muscles of your shoulders and torso like
no dumbbell or barbell can. The over-sized handles are about the
same size as the grips on our axes, pike poles and other tools.
High rep swings, snatches, and cleans tax your cardiovascular
system just like moving a charged hose line down a long hallway,
hauling hose and tools up multiple flights of stairs, or dragging
a person out of a building. You can't get that kind of cardio
from a treadmill or even a stairstepper. You only develop that
kind of cardio from working your entire body. Major upper body
muscle systems working in a controlled and coordinated fashion
with you legs and hips - and your abs and back staying firm and
protecting your spine. I have yet to sit on a bike seat or a rowing
machine seat, or lay on a bench during the fighting of a fire.
But I am always lifting heavy objects off the ground, carrying
heavy things quickly up stairs and/or down hallways, working with
heavy tools over my head, and bending or crouching down as I pull
hose or search for victims. Bending over, standing up and holding
things over your head describes KB lifting to a tee. Our class
motto at the State Fire Academy was "Train like you fight,
fight like you train".
Firefighting tasks can be trained for with the use of kettlebells.
The versitility of KBs is unsurpassed. You can hold them in many
different ways - one handed, two hands together, two hand parallel
(rightside up or upside down) or even press it sitting on your
palm, either on the flat bottom or the curved side. You can wrap
a towel or large diameter rope around the handle to lift it up
and even swing it around your body or legs. It swings like a wrecking
ball, developing a lot of force. Swinging a six pound axe feels
like a toothpick after swinging a 72lb kettlebell on a rope. [I
did it at a Seattle KB meeting at Green Lake with Tyler, Ram and
Jersey Boy as witnesses to my insanity] Holding two KBs in one
hand develops strong fingers.
My future plans involve attending Pavel's RKC Certification class
in April. I will be attending with Tyler Hass, who I met at last
summer's Pavel seminars in Seattle. Can't Wait! Reading Mike Mahler's
article on his weekend with the "Evil Russian" really
left me no option but to go! I want to start a personal training
business and hone my skills as an instructor. Having coached football
and wrestling and also assisted many of my athletes with their
weight-training, I enjoy sharing my experiences and knowledge.
Seeing some of them set school records and smash their PRs was
inspiring. Eventually I want to develop a program to train firefighters
to lift safely and effectively with KB training. I am even considering
creating a video which would show how to use KBs to train for
specific firefighting tasks. My advice to any firefighters (or
people training for the demanding physical entrance exams) would
be to get some of Pavel's tapes, read all the articles on KB training
at dragondoor.com, buy a kettlebell or two, and consider getting
some training from an RKC. You will not be disappointed.
Keep training and having fun with KBs and don't pass up an opportunity
to convert an interested person - they might be a "victim"
of the bodybuilding mentality that pervades American gyms and
health clubs. Please help set them free! I am glad someone I knew
took the time to put me on this path. Hopefully you will too!
--------------------------------------------------
Tom Corrigan lives in the Green Lake area of Seattle and is a
member of the Seattle KB Club. He has been with the Everett Fire
Department since 1994, and works as a firefighter/driver on L-6
in South Everett.
Tom wishes to thank: Dana for taking the digital photos for this
profile; my sister Kim for all her editing help and for attending
Pavel's classes with me; Tyler for suggesting that I write this
profile; Gianni "JerseyBoy" Migliaccio for the great
training/teaching sessions; Everett firefighter Sean Dickinson,
who first started training with me at work; Everett Firefighter/Driver
Scott Ames, who not only let me train him, but had me train his
two sons with KBs; Michael Reams, Advanced Rolfer, for showing
me this path; to ALL the people who have written KB training articles
for dragondoor - they both inform and inspire; Tim Mead and John
Ondriezek - they were my high school football coaches and first
weight-training instructors - they taught me the basics and helped
me build a solid foundation and a love of lifting; My high school
wrestling coach Bruce Burns, who always pushed me, and whose grueling
practices taught me about intensity, discipline and dedication
- lessons every young athlete should learn; and of course a HUGE
thank you to Pavel Tsatsouline, Master of Sports and King of the
KB.
Special Note: I am wearing a FDNY tshirt in the photos to honor
the brave fireman who died on September 11th. I visited NYC in
March of 2002 and visited many fire stations, rode on one of the
large fire boats, and met a lot of amazing guys. I am wearing
a shirt from Engine 54/4 Truck - their station (located in Midtown
Manhattan) lost 15 members that day.
