Kettlebell Success — Martial Strength and Conditioning Expert Jeff Martone, Physical Fitness Combatives Coordinator DARC

Defensive Tactics Instructor Jeff Martone - Senior Certified Russian Kettlebell Instructor

"I'm the Physical Fitness and Combatives Coordinator for a company called Direct Action Resource Center , which trains military and law enforcement personnel. I spent 10 years before this as a senior defensive tactics instructor for a federal law enforcement agency - two and a half years leading their recruit physical fitness program.

As a defensive tactics instructor, I started incorporating stretching exercises from Beyond Stretching by Pavel Tsatsouline, as part of the warm ups and cool downs. The stretches worked out really well, minimizing student soreness from daily body-slamming sessions. Shortly after this time, I attended Pavel's Power to the People! seminar and immediately incorporated his strength training principles into my personal training sessions.

Later, when I was leading the physical fitness program, I noticed that the classic hi-repetition, military-type calisthenics program we were using (i.e. lots of jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, etc. and running), just wasn't giving my guys the results they needed. Their PT scores and running times got a little bit better, but their physical performance in the scenario based training exercises was less than desirable. Sore, strained/pulled, muscles and joints were common place. Physical stamina, in a tactical environment, was also lacking.

I explained the situation to Pavel and he invited me to attend the Rapid Response seminar, he was presenting for the Texas Tactical Police Officers Association (TTPOA). After the seminar, I immediately added weighted pull-ups, weighted dips, Janda sit-ups and one-legged squats to the academy PT program. A few months later, I attended a 40 hour law enforcement PT instructor course, taught by Pavel for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety's Law Enforcement Academy. It was here that Pavel first revealed some of the basic kettlebell exercises using dumbbells (note: kettlebells, RKC book and video were not available yet). The missing link was found!

Our academy bought the first shipment of kettlebells manufactured by Dragon Door. My co-instructors (i.e. Bill Cullen, Randy Bartlett) and I immediately started the process of taming our k-bells. Later, Bill and I went to MN to attend the first Russian Kettlebell Challenge certification course. It was great time! When we got back to the academy we enthusiastically implemented our new knowledge and skills. It would be a stretch to say that the recruits were as excited about their new fitness tool, as we were. But like it or not, the results were tremendous. Physical stamina, during intensive training (i.e. hand-to-hand, tactical exercises), had greatly increased. Recovery time during and after training decreased. The injury rate dropped. If a guy did get injured, the type and severity of the injury was minimal. Whatever the injury, it seemed to heal a lot faster.

Now that I work for the Direct Action Resource Center, I have the opportunity to incorporate various aspects of kettlebell training and tactical strength concepts into our courses over here. Whether you're a soldier, police officer, nurse, athlete, blue/white collar worker or house wife, kettlebells give you total body conditioning that will make your life easier and more enjoyable.

In addition, I've had personal success with kettlebells, too. Prior to exercising with kettlebells , I was constantly in pain. I had the meniscus taken out of my right knee twice, the ACL in my left knee re-constructed, three shoulder surgeries, various broken bones and spinal injuries from years of playing football, martial arts, boxing, grappling, occupational hazards, etc. Since I've started training with kettlebells , all the pain has gradually gone away; my joints feel stable and strong. I am faster, stronger and can do more now than ever."