About Taco Fleur
Hello, and welcome to THE KEY TO YOUR KETTLEBELL SUCCES. I’m the main character behind this amazing online product and, of course, it will be important for you to know a little about me. That way I won’t be so scary, well, I don’t think I am but others sometimes tell me that I’m scary.
I will post my credentials, and achievements, and talk on a bit more personal level as well, in fact, I’ll start with that. It’s up to you to decide whether it’s true.
What makes me a good kettlebell coach? And what I believe doesn’t necessarily mean that I actually am, but these are the reasons why I think I am. It’s for you to decide.
One of the most important reasons is that I am still a student and will always remain a student. One of the things I learned as I studied science, opinions, and experts, whatever they stood for or believed changed at some stage (if they dared to admit it).
I’ve made many mistakes, and the only thing that made me grow was admitting them and seeking more knowledge.
I’ve been judgmental, opinionated, and hard to deal with, but as I grew, I could see my faults and tried to overcome them. This does not mean that I have.
I have a passion for the tool, a passion for the movement, a passion to spread health, and that which brought joy, strength, and mental toughness to me. The kettlebell.
But most of all, I have always adopted the “put myself in your shoes” approach, which means that I try to understand your point of view, and your position, before I speak or judge. I try not to judge, but I would lie if I said that I didn’t. We all judge, but that doesn’t always mean that a relationship can’t be built. This is one of the major things missing in the current world, respect has to be earned, it has to be built, and all that takes time.
If you want to work with me or our other team members, come and join me in this awesome program. It might read like I’m ending this intro with a sales pitch, but I’m actually ending with a way for you and me to connect and allow me to take you to the next level of your training, and perhaps even life in general.
Here’s a video of me breaking down an advanced exercise, the Turkish Get-up, and that will give you an idea of my teaching style.
Now for the regular intro that I provide in my books.
My name is Taco Fleur. The first thing I’d like you to know about me is that I do not know everything, I don’t pretend to know everything, and I never will. I’m on a path of lifelong learning. I believe there is always something to learn from someone, no matter who they are.
I’ve been physically active since the day I arrived on this earth in 1973. I got serious about training in 1999, touched a kettlebell for the first time in 2004, and got serious about kettlebell training in 2009. I’m here to do what I love most, and that is to share my knowledge with the world.
Some of my qualifications are:
- Russian Girevoy Sport Institute Kettlebell Coach
- IKFF Certified Kettlebell Teacher
- Kettlebell Sport Rank 2
- HardstyleFit Kettlebell Level 1 Instructor
- CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
- CrossFit Judges Certificate
- CrossFit Lesson Planning Certificate
- Kettlebells Level 2 Trainer
- Kettlebell Science and Application
- MMA Fitness Level 2
- MMA Conditioning Level 1
- BJJ Purple Belt
- and more…
Owner of Cavemantraining and International Kettlebell University. Author on BoxRox. Featured in 4 issues of the Iron Man magazine. I have owned and set up 3 functional kettlebell gyms in Australia and Vietnam, and lived in the Netherlands, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Italy, Tanzania, Albania, and I’m currently living in Greece.
Some of my personal bests are:
- 1 hour unbroken clean and jerk with a 16kg
- 45 minutes unbroken clean and jerk with a 20kg
- 400 burpees performed within one hour
- Chest press with 2 x 40kg (80kg total) for 8 reps
- Completed the workout OMINOUS with 2 x 24kg at 12 rounds per cycle (176BPM)
- 500 kettlebell snatches, 500 swings, and 500 double-unders completed in one session
- 250 alternating dead clean and presses in one session with 20kg
- 200 pull-ups in one session
- 200 unbroken kettlebell swings with a 28kg
- Most kettlebell swings completed in one session with a 28kg (1,501)
- Most total kettlebell swings completed in 28 days with a 28kg (11,111)
- Windmill with a 40kg kettlebell
- Chest press with two 40kg dumbbells (total 80kg)
- Lugged a 16kg kettlebell up a 3,479m mountain
- 160kg deadlift
- 50 CrossFit Burpees and 100 single-arm swings unbroken in 5:34
- 100 snatches on soft sand with a 24kg kettlebell
- 85kg Olympic Squat Snatch
- 300 unbroken clean and jerk with 20kg kettlebell
- 10-minute unbroken clean and jerk 80 reps with 2 × 16kg kettlebells
- 532 unbroken snatches and achieved rank 2 in kettlebell sport
I mention these PBs not to boast but to demonstrate that I have a good understanding of technique and movement across different areas.
My own training and goals are geared around GPP (General Physical Preparedness), which involves kettlebell training, calisthenics, mobility, and CrossFit. I like high-volume reps but also like greasing the groove now and again. My main goals are to remain as agile and mobile as possible, to train in as many planes of movement as possible, and to learn as many different exercise combinations and movements as possible while having fun and enjoying other ways of movement such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’m no Arnold Schwarzenegger and never will be, but strength is not solely defined by physical appearance and huge bulging muscles.
You can read more about my training, philosophy, and other ramblings on the Cavemantraining website, www.cavemantraining.com, and on the Cavemantraining YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/Cavemantraining, which as of this writing has over 65,000 subscribers and more than 20 million views.
for detailed moves and tips
Facebook.com/Cavemantraining for up-to-date articles and news
Instagram: @realcavemantraining
TikTok: @tacofleur
Reddit: u/cavemankettlebells
What Has The Kettlebell Done For You?
Someone asked me “What has the kettlebell done for you?”. I found it an interesting question and wanted to share it with you so you can get to know me better. I’ll probably have more to tell about what the kettlebell has done for me than most, simply because I’m kind of kettlebell crazy and do things that the majority of people won’t do. I talk a bit about what it’s done for me and then I’ll include some photos and video at the end so you can verify that I don’t just talk the talk but also walk the walk.
For me, the kettlebell has given me a reason to take photos, a reason to film, a reason to go to hidden places no one goes so I can drag kettlebells to places no kettlebell has gone before. My kettlebells have been on the top of the highest mountain in Spain, in a gondola in Venice, on an island in the middle of the jungle in Tanzania, through canyons, in the Acropolis in Athens, and the list goes on and on. All that has given me joy but also additional strength, core strength, grip strength, stability, mental toughness, and more just by carrying it, and trust me, I have asked the question “Shall I leave it here?”.
Here’s a video of me at the beach in Athens with my kettlebells. Don’t worry, you won’t be doing anything crazy like this but, of course, if you want to level up to this then going through the whole process and remaining a member for a long time will get you there step by step.
Right, so, that’s the weird side to what the kettlebell has done for me. Now the training aspect. Because the kettlebell is so versatile, after 20 years I still enjoy it as there is so much to learn still. There is so much I can do with it, work on power, strength, hypertrophy, flexibility, coordination, stability, balance, mobility, and more.
I enjoy the hybrid aspect of it that I use a lot, I have programmed over a thousand workouts, 250 of those are in our workout library online, and at over 1,000 they’re still not just thrown and slapped together as you will see with most workouts out there, a bit of this and bit of that, and away we go. I program power intervals mixed with mobility/active recovery, strength with cardio intervals, cardio with flexibility intervals, and so much more. Most people that follow men’s or women’s magazines think that swings, snatches, and presses is it for the kettlebell, but far from it, take what they show you (I prefer you don’t as the form and technique is almost always horrid and incorrect) and multiply that by 200 and that’s the kettlebell world out there to explore.
Here’s a workout I created and enjoy a lot, it’s an EMOM, a high-intensity interval workout where my heart rate was in the red zone for most of the workout. Again, don’t judge your journey with us by this, as we’re experts at starting you from the beginning with the basics.
Physically, I’m no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but that requires more than exercise tools anyway. But I can perform handstand push-ups, I can clean and jerk unbroken for an hour or more, I can clean and press 500 unbroken reps, I can snatch 32kg, I can chest press 40kg, I can go on, but the point is that at half a century of age, I can do more than I could at a quarter of a century, my reaction time is fast, I can last long when it comes to physical exertion, my range of motion is really good from all angles, I have the power to lift heavy weights fast, my mental toughness is high, and the list goes on, but the great thing is, I can keep going with improving myself and helping others, and I will, so it’s also given me purpose.
So, all those aspects like strength, endurance, flexibility, and mental toughness give me confidence in daily life, and I enjoy life a lot when the government isn’t ramming its mandates down my throat. I have enjoyed life so much that if it would end today, I can say that I lived a healthy happy life with no regrets and I can thank the kettlebell partly for that.
In this video, you can see me and my wife in different parts of the world with our kettlebells.
go.cavemantraining.com/motivation
Me in the gym with kettlebells in Marbella Spain.
One of my kettlebells at the bar in Venice.
My son with kettlebells at a competition.
My wife with a kettlebell at a competition.
My dog with a kettlebell at the river.
