Cheap? Expensive? What do I look for?
The Hidden Question
A question I run into all the time is usually not really a question: it’s a statement with a tacit question hidden inside of it. The statement?
“My gym is offering kettlebell classes with Johnny Beefcake/ Jane Q. Bodybuilder. All the are tiny and rubber coated, and the class is only, like, $35 a month. That’s pretty good, right?”
The hidden question?
“How much should I be paying for kettlebell workouts? Is this a good deal?”
Without trying to sound like a kettlebell snob (and I know I will) the statement above makes me cringe, but the question is a fair one.
The answer to “how much should I pay for kettlebell workouts?” is the same as with the amount of friends you have and money in your bank account: the more the merrier.
If you’re learning kettlebell techniques from anyone, the person should be a professional. And when it comes to melting fat off your body like a popsicle on a porch in July, getting a ripped-to-shreds physique like a Greek deity, and feeling confident enough to take on the world every single day, do you want to entrust that to someone who is “dating” kettlebell training knowledge, or someone who is absolutely married to it and deeply in love with it? Put another way, if you’re having a heart attack, do you want the cheapest cardiologist or the most expensive one? Who would you rather entrust with your life?
Master your muscles, don’t “confuse” them
The same goes with kettlebell trainers. Go cheap, get cheap. Go expensive and experienced, get real results. I’ll tell you a story: One of my clients – a woman in her fifties who is a high-level executive at a major corporation – hires me to come to her place of work twice a week and train her in the company’s workout facilities. 99% of the time we have the facility to ourselves. One day, one of her co-workers (another high-level person) had scheduled to meet with his trainer in the facility at the same time. While his trainer (a beefcake whose arms practically dwarfed my legs – and I’m no chicken-legged punk, either!) was having him do some weird, half-assed quarter squat/half overhead press thrusting motion with two 10 lb kettlebells, she was performing easy farmers carries with two (count ‘em, TWO) 53 lb kettlebells – for a total of 106 lbs at 123 lbs of bodyweight, followed shortly thereafter by several sets of 5 deadlifts with the same kettlebells and Turkish Get Ups with 25 lbs on either arm. While his trainer was having him struggle through some heretofore unseen variation of bodyweight rows that involved way too much wailing and gnashing of teeth, my client was slowly lowering herself under complete control from a chinup bar after a flexed arm hang. While his trainer was letting him struggle through some odd variation of knee raises on the ground, my client was doing L-sit holds while hanging from a bar.
Best money you’ll spend
Who do you think got more out of the session? For what it’s worth, the gentleman in question was young and more than physically capable of doing more, but his trainer – despite his obvious physical prowess – was far less skilled at coaching him through any of the movements he was doing.
I’ll be the first to admit that I grit my teeth and cringe a little bit whenever I see the price of a workshop I want to attend or the amount of money it’ll cost to me to train with a high level trainer for even just a few short hours, but I know that in the end what I will take with me will make it worth it both for me and for my clients. When I first started training seriously with kettlebells, I was 22 and working part time in a fast food restaurant and studying full time in university. Forking over the money for just one hour’s worth of training time from the man who ended up becoming my coach, Scott Stevens, was not the easiest thing to do. But as my results continued to roll in from his laser-like focus on the little details that made up the bigger painting, it was easy to justify it: I was transforming before my very own eyes, not to mention before the eyes of my friends and family who all wanted to know what magic potion I was taking!
StrongFirst: Strong for life
Anything great in life is worth the price you pay to get it. One-on-one time with a StrongFirst instructor usually runs upward of $80, and a number of Master StrongFirst instructors charge $300 or more. Prices for group classes vary greatly, with prices ranging from $200-$300 + per month. Success stories of weight loss, strength gain, and general acquisition of physical hotness and jealousy-inducing sculpted bodies practically roll out of classes like this, and the price is reflective of the results and quality of training you can expect.
It may be steep, but it’s worth it. Why entrust your physical fitness and health to anyone less than an absolute professional? Any money spent on someone with deep knowledge on imparting the skills necessary for you to meet and exceed every lofty goal you set for yourself is money well spent. Anything less is a waste.