Optimal Life Fitness, for health, fitness and a new lifestyle outdoors.

When I heard that there was an opportunity to return to the same venue and this time train under Valery Fedorenko his coach Pandelis Filikidi and all of his awesome athletes it was a prospect that I just could not miss.

Coach Filikidi and Coach Valery Fedorenko

The Fitness Protocol for the AKC was delivered on Friday the 13th March, I didn't attend this as I was already taking enough time away from Optimal Life Fitness and my studio. I arrived late on the Friday night, just after 8pm local time. 4hours on an Easyjet flight is about as long as I want to fly on a budget airline! I jumped in a rented car and started to head towards Korinthos (I was pretty sure this was the right way). Most of the Course and Training Camp attendees were staying in a hotel in Loutraki, a seaside resort about 100km south of Athens and from memory that was near to Corinth (Korinthos). I was much relieved when I finally saw signs for Loutraki. I was able to make my way to the hotel from memory (I stayed at the same one in '07). I quickly checked in, made my way to my room, unpacked and then went and grabbed a bite to eat from the kebab and pizza restaurant across the road from the hotel. I then took myself to bed.

Saturday & Sunday 14th/ 15th March

Days 1 and 2: Coaching Cert
It was a pleasant surprise when I left my hotel room to head downstairs and I bumped into Judit and Mark, a couple that I know from London. We said hello's and then I made my way to breakfast. I was starting to get quite excited anticipating the next 7days. I had my breakfast and then went for walk along the waterfront. I returned to the hotel lobby where I met the other attendees of the Coaching Cert. Uri Hirsch another guy I know was there from Israel, I also said hello to Eric and Valery from the AKC as well as Kevin Jodrey, his son Cona and Gregor from Slovenia all of who I'd met back in '07.There were a heap of others that I was meeting for the first time, Gregor had a team of lifters from Slovenia, there were others from the states, Joe from Germany, Kris from Croatia and Virgil and Carla hill from New Jersey. It was an honour meeting Virgil Hill an Olympic Silver Medalist and 5 Time World Champion and a really funny and humble guy- he's also spent time in Sydney and new the difference between Rugby League and Rugby Union and was a massive rugby League fan so I got on with him. We all then headed to the training venue via mini bus.

The seaside resort of Loutraki. A great place to unwind after a day of training.

The Coaching Cert over the next couple of days was a little familiar as I had done it back in '07, but the reinforcement of the technical aspects of Kettlebell Lifting can never be underestimated and I could probably be exposed to this plenty more times before I truly understand it.

We were also witness to plenty of great demonstrations during these 2days. I have put a summary of these on our forum:

Some of these were truly amazing, however the best were saved for the Tuesday and Wednesday of the training camp, which I'll outline below.

Lunch on the Saturday and Sunday was spent in a local restaurant where grilled shish kebabs and Greek salads were the order of the day. On both days we returned to our Hotel rooms reasonably tired at about 8pm. On the Sunday we said our goodbyes to those who were only attending the Coaching Cert, among those leaving were Virgil and Carla Hill, Mark and Judit and Uri.

During the Coaching Cert we were given tips and training advice as well as the outline for an amateur Kettlebell Sport Training programme. I've also posted some of this info on our training forum:
Jerk and Snatch pointers http://www.optimallifefitness.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=441

Amateur sport template http://www.optimallifefitness.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=442

16-20th March 2009, Mon- Fri

On the Monday morning Day 1, we met in the Hotel Lobby and were on the minibus' by 9am and at the training venue for 10am. The minibus trips were something else, during one of the journeys I had to steer as the driver played with his window and was texting at the same time!Now the training venue is essentially a large warehouse in the outskirts of Athens, which is divided down the middle by a partition. On the left are 'platforms' (platforms are in inverted commas as some of these were not much more than ply wood and rubber matting), and Olympic bars and plates with Kettlebells scattered around the venue. On the walls are photographic prints of Coach Filkidi and his lifters and records of their achievements. On the right of the partition are wrestling mats. The place is simple and almost Spartan, however it just shows that not a lot (equipment that is) is needed to get the body performing at elite levels.

Most days were quite similar, my training was as follows:

KB Jerk 24s- 3-6sets. The first set was between 6 and 7 minutes, the assistance sets were made up 5minute sets at faster paces.

One Arm Jerks 32s- 2-3 sets of 2minutes each hand. These are great for practicing the lockout for both the Jerk and the Snatch a 1-2 seconds pause is held at the top. These felt like they really improved as the week went along.

Snatches 24s-2-3 sets at 6-7minutes. I really struggled with these all week. Technically I need to get my arm a lot closer to my ear. I finally understood what I need to be doing to improve these. My snatches basically have not improved in 2 years and I think I at least now know why.

Swings 32s- 2 sets of 1min each hand. These are assistance exercises for the Snatch and are also great for conditioning. I need to be doing a hell of a lot more of these.

Jump Squats 100kg- 3-5sets of between 25 and 100 reps. As Valery said "These are for really killing the legs!"

For a complete overview of my training week check out my training log:

http://www.optimallifefitness.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=434

Training finished between 2 and 3pm everyday. We then got to watch Pavlos train and were witness to a couple of very impressive demonstrations where best ever lifts were achieved. Two of these lifts included Pavlos performing 180reps of the Snatch with a 32kg Kettlebell with his right hand. The previous best ever one hand snatch was 165reps. Pavlos also completed 40 One Arm Jerks with a 62kg Kettlebell. Afternoons an evenings were spent eating and sleeping!

Pavlos on his way to 180 right handed snatches with a 32kg bell