Kettlebell training is amazing! I have tried numerous training programs over the last 20 years and working with kettlebells gives the fastest and best results for total body strength and conditioning. Admittedly I am not the most naturally talented athlete and the athletes I train are not the most genetically gifted either. However, great feats have been accomplished with the integration of kettlebells in my personal life as well as in the lives of my athletes. At the writing of this, I am a 35 year old strength and conditioning coach at a high school of 2,400 students. Along with being an RKC certified kettlebell instructor through Pavel Tsatsouline, the certification I am most proud of, I am also a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and a sports performance coach through USA weightlifting.

Everything I have achieved in athletics I credit to strength training and hard work. I am 5'10 and weigh around 220 lbs. I am a former high school football player and wrestler. I won some Greco-Roman and Freestyle State Championships, was named all-American, and was a nationally ranked Greco-Roman wrestler while in high school. After high school I received a scholarship to wrestle at the University of Indianapolis where I graduated cum laude with a degree in Exercise Science. I developed my talent in wrestling from training hard with weights and by learning from good coaches and partners who taught me what hard work was really all about. However, I would have been a much better athlete then if I had known what I know now which is one reason why I am so passionate about kettlebell lifting.

After college I began a 10 year powerlifting career that ended with winning a USA Powerlifting national bench press championship, making the USA powerlifting national bench press team, finishing 5th in the world championships in Hungary, and setting an all-time state bench press record of 620 lbs. in the 242 lb. weight division. Although I do not compete in powerlifting at the present, I still train hard with kettlebells and I can honestly say I feel stronger and better conditioned now than when I was competing in wrestling or powerlifting.

I teach and coach at a very large and successful high school on the southside of Indianapolis called Center Grove High School. The conference we compete in (the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference) has been rated by some as the toughest overall sports conference in the Midwest. Our conference turns out numerous division 1 scholarship athletes every year and many who have gone on to compete at the professional level. Last year Max Preps ranked our football team the 13th best in the country, and USA today ranked our conference the 5th toughest football conference in America.

Our teams since joining the MIC in 1996, have won 33 (individual and team) state championships and 31 (individual and team) state runners-up. We just completed the "Best Ever" Athletic Year in Center Grove history. Over the past couple of years alone our athletes have accomplished the following: football state championship, softball state championship, boys volleyball state championship, individual and team boys tennis state championships, multiple individual girls swimming state championships and state runners-up, girls swim team state runners-up, girls individual cross country state champion, girls individual all-around gymnastics state champion, girls volleyball final four, boys weightlifting state champions, one wrestling all-american, two of our high school swimmers swam in the Olympic trials and one of them placed 1st in the Pan American games. Also in just the past two years we have had over 50 athletes receive college athletic scholarships in various sports.

I use one system based on RKC Kettlebell training with Olympic lifting, Powerlifting, Battling Ropes, Sleds, Sandbags & Elite Rings to train between 300 and 400 athletes every semester in 25 different male and female sports. I run the strength and conditioning class during the school day, the after school S & C program, and a summer S & C program for all athletes in grades 2-12. Every athlete in every sport trains with kettlebells in class, or after school, or both. My athletes and teams are dramatically increasing their performance through kettlebell training.

Kettlebell training is a total body strength and conditioning program. Our kettlebell workouts develop total body strength, flexibility, explosive power and muscular endurance that transfers over to every sport. These movements improve body composition by burning body fat and increasing functional lean body mass. Another benefit of kettlebell training is that it teaches basic concepts of sport such as proper body positioning during athletic movements. The kettlebell is the single best tool in existence for developing elite all-purpose strength and conditioning.

The name of our training facility is "The Center Grove School of Strength." Our kettlebell training sessions for athletes, while very fun and challenging, are also very tough and demanding. This isn't the kind of environment you will find in a local health club or gym. The workouts prescribed and implemented in our system of training are: 1) highly organized 2) short in duration and 3) extremely intense. Every workout is timed on the clock and ran just like a practice. We are not here to socialize, we are here to train.

To be a member of the School of Strength you must be willing to do the following:

1. Work hard: The best way to build the human body is and always has been through hard work and kettlebell lifting is just that. This system works if you are willing to work. It will toughen you up both physically and mentally. As Pavel put it, "the kettlebell has bred weakness out of the Russian gene pool." Whether you are lifting heavy bells for low reps or lighter bells for explosive conditioning, you must be willing to work hard and push yourself to the limit every day. What is hard work? It is constantly challenging yourself: more weight, more reps, better form, better concentration, and being obsessed with reaching your goals. My athletes work at such a high level they truly believe that our opponents have never worked one day like we are willing to work every day! We are willing to pay the price to outwork our opponents in every area. We will never let our strength and conditioning be the reason we are defeated! We must use our strength and conditioning to wear down and dominate our opponents.

2. Have perfect technique: Athletes in the School of Strength must strive for perfect form on every repetition. We never sacrifice form to lift heavier weight. Our athletes spend time "practicing" their technique before being allowed to take on heavier bells. After they have mastered their technique with light weight they are allowed to try the next bell up. If the form is perfect then they are allowed to start training with that weight. We never lift to failure. If the technique starts to break down we always stop or switch arms.

3. Be consistent: One of the hardest things for young people to do today is to stay committed to something for a long period of time. When I talk about commitment to my athletes it's not in weeks or months, it's in years! Some people stay with something for a few weeks and they think they are really committed. Most people who attempt anything difficult usually quit and give up. You must be totally committed to the program and determined to be a champion. At the School of Strength we stress being consistent every rep, every set, every lift, every day, every week, every month, every year, year in and year out until we reach our goals. You must have an iron will to succeed. It goes without saying that you must never miss a workout. Champions are great every day, not just once a week. I have had many high school athletes who have never missed a training session in four years.

4. Be intense: The dynamic, ballistic and unstable nature of kettlebell lifting demands total body involvement as well as complete mental focus. Every repetition completed with a kettlebell requires focused concentration. My athletes focus on performing every rep with the same intensity as they would their one rep max. I have seen people get really intense and focused when they are going for a new personal record on a lift. I require my athletes to give that type of intensity on every repetition. We are not just mindlessly going through the motions. If you are not lifting, you are either coaching or encouraging your partner. Everything is done on purpose with a purpose. There is no sitting and there is no socializing when our teams train. Kettlebell workouts are designed for the hard-core athlete. When you want maximum results, you need maximum effort.

5. Set goals: How do athletes in the School of Strength stay intense and committed year round to this hard style of training? They must set meaningful goals. Everyone in the program has to have at least one important goal, but most athletes have more than that. The training is much more enjoyable and fun if everyone has a goal they are working toward. I share my personal goals with my athletes and they share theirs with me. Our athletes are at the point where the harder the workout is, the more enjoyable it becomes because they have moved one step closer to reaching their goals. I often have athletes come to me at the end of a grueling workout, drenched in sweat, and they will shake my hand on the way out of the weight room and say, "thanks coach." You must write your goals down on paper and look at them every day. You must have a burning desire to excel at your sport and you must be obsessed with reaching your goals. We never get discouraged if we have a "bad" workout. There are no bad workouts. If we don't perform at our all-time best in any given workout, then we have just laid the groundwork for future strength gains that day. Success and strength is coming, but you must be patient. You can and will achieve your goal.

Success in the School of Strength means for every athlete to achieve their genetic potential and reach their personal goals. To accomplish this you will have to make a long term commitment to training and attempt to perform each and every workout with maximum effort and focused concentration. Our goal is not to maintain strength, but to always improve year round. Our athletes have to be mentally tough to stay intense, focused, and committed to the training system throughout the entire year. It's a strong mind to muscle connection that provides amazing results. You're guaranteed to sweat, but you'll love the way you feel after each workout.