That's a wrap!

Windmill

Today started with a walk to the training academy carrying all my gear. A reverse of Monday evening when I had to walk to the hotel from the academy carrying all my gear. Except this time, it was mild enough to work up quite a sweat. Once I got there, I figured, the worst part of my day was over. And I felt fortunate that it wasn’t raining.

We started the day with a cool teacup warm-up the shoulders taken from Tai chi. Then we did some foot stretching and foot stretching under load, and finally, silly walks that tested the strength and flexibility of the feet. I can honestly say I’ve never done a warm-up like that before!

To warm up for pistol (a single leg with one leg in front) squats we did half squat holds to activate the glutes, followed by shoulder bridge for one minute. Then raising one leg and holding. We were shown some regressions of the single leg squat starting with the reverse lunge, and reverse lunge with one foot on raised on a block. Next was Superman squat, a great complement to the pistol squat, in which you lower one knee to the floor. This can be regressed by starting with the knee down and standing up. Start with toes tucked in, then try laces down. Harder progressions included holding one foot with the same side hand, holding with the opposite hand and holding with both. It’s okay, those are for later, much later.

Enough of leg work: time to work the kettlebell practice. After some individual practice time, we did teach backs for the Turkish getup and the windmill. This is always instructive, both seeing others teach and doing the teaching yourself. It helps you prepare to answer questions that might come up in a class setting.

When we broke for lunch, the rain was pouring down. Ugly day. I went out, bought a sandwich to bring back and we gathered around for a talk session with Sara. She walked us through programming for movement practice, for yourself or a client. This session really helped solidify the lessons we’d been learning all week, but that can get lost in sensory overload. She basically gave us a map for reaching a particular goal. Then we got into groups and came up with a plan for someone training the front squat.

With less than two hours left, we had to get back to physical work. Shawn showed us some kettlebell variations, most of which I’d seen, a few I had not. Then he showed us an exercise borrowed from the early “strongmen”, which involved pressing an Olympic barbell with one hand. Try balancing that baby! Very cool trick!

The end of the day and the week loomed. Time for certification test. I did the basic moves and then had to leave to catch my train. Although I did not do the final timed test, they said it was okay since I had just certified in November.

Agatsu really are geniuses. We did get sore but we did not get worn down. And we learned so much. I say we because I know everybody there felt the same way. There is a reason for everything we do. If you don’t like the reason, don’t do it that way. But at least you know you’re not shooting in the dark. Everything they taught us is in the past five days was a building process. It was a lot to take in but it was super fun and incredibly informative. Looking forward to getting back and applying what I’ve learned, for myself and for my clients.