Specialized Variety

To get good, I mean REALLY good at any one thing you need to practice that one thing a lot.
One number that sticks in my mind is 10,000... as in the 10,000 hour theory that  states it takes 10,000 hours of practice to reach a world-class level of mastery at anything.

So, you need to practice that ONE THING that you want to excel at for approximately 10,000 hours.
However, that one thing you want to excel at often consists of many things. Therefore you prioritize and select the most useful or fundamental techniques to focus our practice on. After all, mastering something fundamental lays the foundation for quickly learning something that appears to be "advanced" when in fact that advanced thing is simply a different application of the fundamentals.  This is why Bruce Lee once stated that he does not fear the man that has practiced ten-thousand techniques once, but he fears that man that has practiced one thing, ten-thousand times and Master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi taught "from one thing, know ten-thousand things".

The problem is, practicing anything that much is boring...  really boring. Some people are wired this way and can practice the same thing every day, day in and day out... while most of use are not. I believe one "secret" to productive training is keeping your practice sessions energetic and mindful. One way to keep your energy level up and stay "mindful" or focused to detail  is to bring variety to your routine and keep things fresh. So, there-in lies the problem... to get good you need to practice the same thing over and over again, yet not get bored.

According to RKC Chief Instructor Pavel Tsatsouline the answer is specialized variety, in other words... practicing the same thing, in different ways.  Variety in technique, variety in work to rest ratios, variety in load or intensity, variety in reps, variety in volume, variety in leverage, variety within variety.

Finally, you need to know what sort of variety as well as when and why to apply it so as to avoid what Master RKC Mark Reifkind refers to as "random acts of variety".

Specialized Variety is a principle that every RKC Certified Kettlebell Instructor knows well. When applied wisely it is what allows us to practice frequently while avoiding over training. (Sometimes we actually over-train on purpose... but that's another post.)

So here are some examples 

Variety in training for the RKC Snatch Test

• The Test itself
  complete 100 reps in five minutes with as many hand switches as possible,setting the bell down when necessary.
• 5-minutes: complete 100 reps with as few hand  switches as possible and without setting the bell down (an Ode to the original RKC snatch test)
• 10-minutes: complete 100 snatches and 100 burpees (my new personal favorite routine at Omaha Elite Kettlebell)
• 10-minutes: complete 200 high pulls with a heavier bell (ala Master RKC Mark Reifkind) 
• 20-minutes: 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off
• 40-minutes: 15 seconds on, 15 seconds off with a lighter bell (ala Kenneth Jays Viking Warrior Conditioning)

Variety in technique:

• Two hand  swings, one hand swings, hand-to-hand swings, D.A.R.C. swings, walking swings, swings with two kettlebells, power swings from a dead stop
• Turkish Getups, Getdowns, Partial Getups, Repetitive Getups, Getup Singles, Continuous Getups, Slow-Motion Getups, Getup-press up
• One arm cleans, two arm cleans, alternating cleans, anchored cleans, uneven cleans
• One arm press, two arm press, see-saw press, uneven press, sots press, kneeling press, bottom-up press, waiter press, one-legged press, stacked press, side press, back-up press, bent press, push press
• Front Squats, overhead squats, Goblet Squats, Lunges, One Legged Squats, Tabata Squats ala Dan John, Rocking Deck Squats, Reactive Goblet Squats ala Senior RKC Jon Engum.
• One Arm Snatch, two arm snatch, anchored snatch, split snatch

Learn about various applications of specialized variety in the following books and videos:

Enter the Kettlebell and it's free "Special Reports" provide examples of how to vary your practice of pressing and kettlebell ballistics while staying on course to achieve a 1/2 bodyweight one arm press and 200+ kettlebell snatches in ten minutes with the 24kg bell.

Viking Warrior Conditioning is a excellent illustration of variety by manipulating intensity volume and density to improve V02 max and develop a heart of "Elastic Steel"

The Russian Kettlebell Challenge
is the book and companion video that started it all. A great collection of kettlebell exercises that will provide even the most experienced with enough challenge to last a lifetime