So, I’ve written a lot about the program written for me and how it helped me meet my goal of making the Iron Maiden Challenge look easy. When I wrote about what I did and was interviewed about my process, there was some debate about whether I was giving too much credit to my coach.
To give you an idea of where I was at last year, I’ll give a brief overview of the major life events for me in 2011: got married, moved away from my life in California, sold my successful kettlebell business, moved to Denver, was starting my personal training business from scratch, became a step-mom, moved in with my husband and his two kids, and was trying to find my way through all of that. Some of it was good stress, but some of it was extremely challenging. Mentally draining which at times turned into physically draining. To say that 2011 was stressful is a gigantic understatement.
I went from This:
Happy Kettlebell Instructor on the beach
To This:
Crazy stressed out chick
The reason I’m telling you all of that, is because last year I needed a coach more than ever. I’m not one to ask for help, but through last year’s trials, I learned how to be ok with it.
I really needed a plan but I was determined to do the work to get me to my goal. I knew I would overtrain, over-think, and/or second guess myself the entire time if I didn’t have a coach. I was able to give credit where it was due because the lifts spoke for themselves. I did listen to my body and I did adjust the plan when I needed to, but I also learned a lot while training for strength.
To claim that I had no help would be absurd! There are so many people in this industry to learn from, that anyone who claims they did something “on their own” is either stupid, or a liar.
I think I’ve said a couple times that my goal was to “make the Iron Maiden look easy”. I didn’t want there to be any doubt in my mind that I would be able to complete each lift. And with my training program, I was able to do that. I felt so incredibly strong with the strength work and the tapering at the end, I felt invincible!
It was seriously so freaking cool. At 131-lbs I was doing Pull Ups with a 28kg kettlebell (62lbs) strapped to my waist. That’s 193-lbs. Really?!? Never EVER thought I would be doing that.
And that’s kind of why I love strength. When you train for it and do it well, you feel like you can conquer the world. Especially being a woman. It’s awesome to train and know you’re strong and capable. Of pretty much anything.
You can see the Iron Maiden Challenge video on my About page, or on my YouTube channel. But for the first time, I’m sharing my video below of my practice the week before the Iron Maiden Challenge. I surprised myself and did all 3 lifts with the 28kg. You can see how happy I was. I couldn’t help my giddiness!
Again, comments & questions are always welcome.
Thanks for stopping by,
Iron Maiden Val, RKC, CSCS, FMS
Official DragonDoor Iron Maiden Challenge Winner
That’s just crazy!
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You did make it look easy, I saw you first on the press and was like “She is making that 24kg look like a paperweight.”
Like your swing evolution, it looks like your quads and hips are generating alot of explosive power on the discharge. Thank you for sharing how you learned.
thank you, Russ. & I’m always learning so I’m sure there’ll be revisions to the revision soon =)
Way to go Val!! Keep up the hard work and inspiring us ladies to stay strong and never settle.
Ps. love the pup in the vid too
Thank you, Bridget! My pup is around for a lot of workouts. She now knows to “sit” and “stay” when I’m swinging kettlebells =)
Truly humbling and inspiring at the same time!
Thank you, Kevin =)
Great job!! You are such an inspiration!! Keep up the great work! Strong women unite!! I want to do this some day!!
Thanks Linda- if I can do anything to help you get there, please let me know!
So how did you start ? What the secret to the pull up ?
Hi Janet – There’s an article I wrote about my journey for Power by Pavel at http://www.dragondoor.com/demystifying_the_iron_maiden/?apid=valpacstrength
Also, I wrote about the Pull Up on http://coachfury.com/
Feel free to email about other questions! Thanks for your interest =)
This was so fun to watch. I really like that you used your right, then left arm on the presses. You’re strong all over! Super cool…definitely makes me want to train up on pull ups and pistols! Lola is a good gym dog.
Thanks, Heather! Go get those pistols and pull ups!
Beyeond Impressive Val!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Franz! And thanks for all your help on the pistol and the pull up! Wouldn’t have been able to do it without you and your form adjustments. You ROCK!
SWEET!!!
=)
Wow!!!
You’re inspiring Val! Thanks for sharing–your earlier article gave me the idea to talk to Andrew myself and he pointed out exactly what I needed to do.
Thanks Ryan! & good luck with the Beast! Let me know if you need any help =)
Thanks for sharing! Really helped me to refocus some of my own training. I sent your video to all my kettlebell clients and posted on FB. I like the women I train to know that you don’t have to be HUGE to be strong and fit! Thanks for the inspiration, keep up the awesome work!
Thanks Lindsey! I was a little nervous I’d “get big” while training but it was good to see first hand that you don’t have to get huge to get strong! Thank you for sharing this with your friends- it takes a lot of strong women to get the message out that strength does not mean bulging muscles and looking like a guy. Good luck with your training and let me know if I can help at all
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