Heeeeeeere's Johnny!

I'm back from my multi-day, offsite meeting with my company. We stayed at a beautiful, old resort that in upstate NY that strangely resembled the hotel in the movie The Shining. Needless to say, there were a few ladies who ended up sharing rooms as they didn't feel comfortable sleeping alone in the big, old, spooky hotel.

The three days spent were filled with all sorts of business presentations from different functions within the company. We have a total of about 70 people in offices here in the US, Dublin and Singapore. I didn't count, but probably about 65 folks made it in to this meeting. We try to have these offsites about once a year. It is a great opportunity to spend time with people you typically only get to talk to on the phone and get to know one another on a face to face basis.

Along with all of the work activities, we got to enjoy some team building "athletic" events. On Day 1, we all made our way up to the outdoor ice skating rink and had some fun competing in the Human Ice Bowling Competition. On Day 2, there was a bit of ice skating for those who chose to partake (including myself) and a team-building exercise that consisted of several small teams each designing and building a sled out of pvc piping which would be used in a 2-lap race around the rink. One of the team members would be seated in the sled while two others pushed. This was a fun activity and I am happy to say that my team won the race with the best time for two laps at 52 seconds!

So if all this wasn't enough, I had agreed to teach an introductory kettlebell class to anyone who was interested in attending - and motivated enough to be at the fitness center at 6:30am. I lugged a dozen of my kettlebells up with me and on Thursday morning had a turnout of 8 individuals. That's more than 10% of the company!! With safety in mind, I made sure that there were no overhead movements performed. Also, the most technically complex movement was the basic kettlebell 2-hand swing.

This is what the session looked like:

• 2-Handed Swing
• One-Legged Deadlift
• 2-Handed Swing
• Tactical Lunge
• 2-Handed Swing
• One-Legged Row
• 2-Handed Swing
• Farmer's Walk
• 2-Handed Swing
• Russian Twist
• 2-Handed Swing

This sequence took us about 25 minutes to get through. Afterward I took everyone through a series of basic stretches as a means to cool down. (I was told afterward that my stretches were as intense as the kettlebell drills.)

Happy with the outcome of the session I thought I would be able to sleep in the following morning, but that didn't happen. By popular demand I was asked to hold another session the next morning, not just by the current attendees but by others who heard how great the class was. More kettlebells?? Sure thing!

Next morning, we had 4 individuals show up. I suppose those who were enthusiastic the prior day were either up too late that previous evening or were a bit more tired and sore than they had expected. Three of the four that showed up had attended the previous day's class, so I decided to go a little slower and get into some more detail.

We continued to work on the swing, both one-hand and two-hand. I also introduced the front deadlift, to emphasize the hip crease and hip/knee lockout. We also practiced "straight-shin" squats to emphasize sitting back into the hole and not just down. We also performed kettlebell front squats. I think that was about it. Again, we ended with stretching.

I had a great time and I believe all those who participated did as well. Teaching definitely helps one learn more for themselves. Watching others and finding areas for their improvement all carry over to one's own practice. This was also a great way to start developing my own teaching style. I am very proud of everyone that attended. They all worked hard and showed great enthusiasm. Looks like the start of more good things to come. Next stop RKC.