Olympic strength coach says attention to detail is the secret to good performance

Kenneth Jay with Sara and Mike Juve

Olympic strength training coach Kenneth Jay says people--even Olympic athletes--don't use all of the strength of their bodies.  The secret to unlocking that strength, says Jay, is to lift the body out of survival mode and into performance mode.

Kenneth Jay visited Decorah Friday and Saturday to work with kettlebell enthusiasts at Rejuvenation.   He has more than ten years of experience working with Olympic level athletes and an extensive background in exercise science and neurology,

During a class Saturday with Rejuvenation owners Mike & Sara Juve, numerous Russian Kettlebell Challenge-certified trainers and several kettlebell enthusiasts, Jay showed the class members the importance of details in exercising with the kettlebells--how specific motions, stances and even eye positions would make difference in their performance.

Jay says that's because the human body is geared to survival, not peak performance, and the brain often kicks into survival mode, telling the body how it can handle an exercise with the least effort possible, not with the peak performance.

Jay says he works with Olympic swimmers and with Olympic wrestlers to break down the mechanics of their sport and get them to set very specific goals for very specific muscles and motions.  e says the same attention to details works for the average person.

RKC-certified instructors at Rejuvenation. Fees from a Friday class for RKC instructors were donated to the Abby Theisen fund.

People attending Saturday's Kenneth Jay class