Short Friday evening session

RMAX KB Foundation warm up

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 5 minutes @14rpm

Stretching

Patience and kettlebell lifting

Tonight’s session was a bit better than last night’s:

RMAX KB Foundation warm up

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 4 minutes @ 14rpm

20kg Swing: Tabata protocol

I am beginning to realize that kettlebell lifting demands a lot of patience. Sure, it is easy to push hard every session or add all kinds of exercises for the sake of blasting your body. This in my mind is not the route towards longevity or mastery of the bells. In a sense what I’m doing at the moment is based on what Coach Sommer of Gymnastic Bodies calls “steady-state training.” This training methodology is based on picking a few exercises or skills and practicing them consistently for extended time periods (30 days to 6 weeks) without adding much in terms of volume, density or intensity. Only when an exercise starts feeling too easy does one consider adding anything. I’m happy with this format at the moment. I’ll do my best to practice the skills of kettlebell lifting consistently; fitness, strength and other benefits will come with time as a nice by-product. 

Some days are just harder than others

Tonight’s session went like this:

RMAX KB Foundation warm up

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 1 minute @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 1 minute @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 4 minutes @ 14rpm

20kg Swing: Tabata protocol

This kettlebell thing is weird. Going into my session tonight I felt strong and planned on doing a 3 minute and then a 2 minute jerk set followed by the snatches. After the second minute of my first jerk set I knew this was not going to happen. For some reason I just got tired very quickly and as a result had to cut back on my plans. Given the fact that I have no experience with doubles I’m not too perturbed. I know I probably should have started my doubles work with the 16’s but I really don’t feel like waiting another 9 weeks for the next shipment of bells to arrive. When they do arrive I might grab myself two 16’s; then again, by that time I might be a lot more comfortable with the 20’s. Let’s hope that is the case!

An easy day

Now that I’m working with double bells my body seems to need a bit more recovery time than before. I’m not keen on taking more days off than before so for now I will just work in some easier days from time to time. Tonight’s session went like this:

RMAX KB Foundation warm up

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 8rpm

20kg Snatch: 3 minutes @ 12rpm

20kg Swing: Tabata protocol

Jerks and light snatching

Tonight’s session went like this:

RMAX KB Foundation warm up

2x20kg Jerk: 3 minutes @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 5 minutes @ 14rpm

20kg Swing: 20/20

I am finding the double jerks to be somewhat of a two-edged sword. On the one hand holding on to more weight is much more taxing from an endurance perspective. On the other the benefits of doubles seem to outweigh this endurance issue. I am finding that I’m developing a lot of explosive leg strength with the doubles. I am also finding it easier to find rest in the rack position than with singles, perhaps because the weight is evenly distributed. The double rack position just seems to be more comfortable and allows me to relax more than with singles. Another benefit of this balanced posture is that it seems to me that it is helping me to release some postural problems due to tightness built up over the years. Interesting stuff. More tomorrow.

Sunday afternoon

Some more practice with the new bells today. The session went like this:

RMAX KB Foundation warm up

2x20kg Jerk: 2 min @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 min @ 6rpm

20kg Snatch: 4 min @ 12rpm

20kg Swing: Tabata (8x20sec on 10sec off)

The double bells are going to take some time to get used to. Right now I’m just trying to get the technique right. Once that feels more comfortable I’ll extend the length of the sets.

Beginning a new adventure

I picked up my first professional style bells today; a pair of 20’s. Naturally they had to be welcomed home so my sets all involved them tonight. I did:

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

20kg Snatch: 4 minutes @ 14rpm

20kg Swing: 25/25

The doubles, and in fact any work with the pro bells, is a whole new ball game. I could feel in the jerk sets how important the leg drive really is. To try and lift 40kg or more overhead for extended time periods using upper body strength is madness. So far in my work with single bells I think I have been neglecting the leg drive. This is something I’ll have to work on. The snatches felt pretty good. In fact, I think the pro bells just make things easier. It is obvious that they were designed for this type of work. After just one session with these beauties it will be hard to train with other bells again. My sessions from now on will be mainly focused on building my jerk and snatch numbers with the pro bells while perhaps occasionally throwing in some heavier work with the normal bells.

Tonight’s session

24kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 8rpm

16kg Snatch: 5 minutes @ 14rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

The real secret to success in kettlebell lifting

A few years ago Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming, a world renowned master of the Chinese martial arts, was in South Africa to teach some seminars. The attendees were, as is often the case when in the presence of a real master, totally in awe of his abilities. During an informal Q&A session someone asked doctor Yang whether he would be willing to share his secret with them. The student really wanted him to share his secret, inner knowledge about what makes him as skillful as he is. Dr. Yang, after a brief pause, said: “Practice.” That was it. There was no strange explanations involving secret inner energies, facing in a certain direction or only training during certain cycles of the moon.

When it comes to kettlebell lifting the hype surrounding it often causes us to forget this simple rule. So I guess if we want to get good at lifting the bells we need to practice. In my mind it really only requires three steps:

1. Find a good teacher:

For me this entails someone who can not only display skill, but also some kind of longevity. Someone who has been training with the bells for a few weeks is not (in my mind) a real teacher (this includes me, which is why I have no plans of teaching anytime soon). Longevity also implies someone who has been doing this for a long time and is still healthy, strong and injury free. Naturally a good teacher also needs to have the ability to share his or her skills with students.

2. Practice

Yes, practice. Keep lifting the bells and adding up the reps over an extended period of time. Train often, train right, don’t push too hard and see this as a skill you are honing, not a way of kicking your own ass or burning so many calories per second.

3. Drop the ego

I’m not going to explain this one. It really is a secret, inner, for closed-door disciples only kind of teaching.

Enjoy your lifting!

Today’s session

16kg OAJ: 5 minutes @ 10rpm

16kg Snatch: 5 minutes @ 14rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

The more you train the more you learn

It is often said that kettlebell training will expose all your weaknesses pretty quickly. Also, proper training will often assist in alleviating these weaknesses. Over the last three days I’ve had a very practical experience of this. On Saturday I decided to record my training in the OAJ’s and Snatches. To my utter dismay I noticed that my elbow is pretty bent during the lockout. I first tried to rationalize this fact away by thinking that it is simply due to a quirk of my body. I luckily didn’t succumb to my attempts at wishing away the facts and started doing a bit of research and practical tests. Some of my research indicated that mobility issues or sometimes simply poor technique can be at the root of issues with the lockout. What I discovered about my body can be summarized like this:

* I have overly tight chest muscles

* My posture is often hunched over

* I struggle lifting my arm over my head and bringing the bicep close  to my ear because my shoulders are tight and bulky

* It is easier for me to lift my arm over my head if I lift my shoulder out of the socket --- very, very bad idea

After these discoveries I set out to deliberately work on correcting these problems during my sets. I used a lighter weight and lower rep count and focused on “forcing” my arm into the correct position. After two days of this I already notice a difference. My arm was straight in the lockout today and my upper back and shoulders are feeling better as well. Ah, the joys of learning!

Today’s sets went like this:

16kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 10rpm

24kg OAJ: 2 minutes @ 10rpm

16kg Snatch: 4 minutes @ 14rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

A bit more work with the 24

Same as yesterday:

24kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 8rpm

16kg Snatch: 5 minutes @ 14rpm

32kg Swing: 10/10

Stretching (hip focus)

The 24kg work is starting to feel better. I’m placing a lot of emphasis on getting comfortable in the rack position. It is slowly improving but I am still not fully finding the iliac crest. I guess it will just take time and consistency. Now it is time for a braai!

A bit of 24kg work

I was browsing through some old emails today and discovered some advice Catherine Imes gave me more than a year ago. She suggested that I focus on 24kg OAJ’s and 16kg Snatches. My session tonight was based on exactly that:

Intu Flow warm up

24kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 8rpm

16kg Snatch: 5 minutes @ 14rpm

32kg Swing: 10/10

Stretching (hamstring focus)

That’s all for today.

The magic number 4

A while ago I read in Paul Tucker’s excellent guide to Girevoy sport that 4-6 minute sets tend to produce the most gains when it comes to competitive kettlebell lifting. Although Paul mentions various training templates, including timed sets and high volume approaches, he ultimately concludes that there is no escape from timed sets if your goal is GS related. A while ago I took a detour into volume territory for about two months which entailed performing the competition lifts for high volume but fairly short sets. Now that I’m back to the “Fedorenko method” I’m realizing that there really is some kind of magic in working for time. Not only does it build mental discipline but the fact that you are working with relatively low weights over extended sets also seems to be pretty damn good for the body. My plan at the moment is to keep my set length at between 4 and 6 minutes most days. I will occasionally throw in some 10 minute or longer sets for testing purposes as well. I’m just really glad that I finally allowed myself to slow down enough to discover the magic of timed sets…well, not magic really, just consistency. My session today looked like this:

16kg Clean: 4 minutes @ 14rpm

16kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 12rpm

16kg Snatch: 4 minutes @ 14rpm

A gradual ascent

My goal for tonight was a 6 minute snatch set with one hand switch. In order to get that done I kept the other sets shorter. Here is the result:

Intu Flow warm up

16kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 12rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 14rpm

24kg Clean: 2 minutes @ 12rpm

32kg Swing: 10/10

Stretching (twisting motion)

The snatch set felt much better than I expected. Although last night’s 5 minute snatch set was quite easy I did expect a bit more difficulty today, which turned out not to be the case. 

Another tiny step

I’m gradually working towards longer sets but I’m doing this very carefully. I’d rather get very comfortable with a certain set length before moving up. I’ve been far too rushed before but hopefully I can maintain my patience this time around. Tonight’s session was short since I got home pretty late.

16kg OAJ: 5 minutes @ 12rpm

16kg Snatch: 5 minutes @ 14rpm

32kg Swing: 10/10

Shorter but heavier

Just a quick session with the 24kg tonight:

Intu Flow warm up

24kg Clean: 2 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg OAJ: 2 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Snatch: 2 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

Tomorrow I’ll probably take off. More on Monday.

A short session to end the week

I just did:

16kg Clean: 3 minutes

16kg OAJ: 3 minutes

16kg Snatch: 3 minutes

32kg Swing: 10/10

Same old,same old

My session tonight was pretty much an exact replica of last night’s session except that the Snatch sets were done at a slightly higher pace. Here’s the result:

Intu Flow warm up

16kg Clean: 4 minutes @ 12rpm

16kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 12 rpm

16kg Snatch: 2 minutes @ 20rpm

32kg Swing: 10/10

Stretching (shoulder focus)

Kettlebell StrongSport™ – NOT!

The AKC/WKC recently introduced a new form of competitive kettlebell lifting known simply as StrongSport™. The idea is to shift the emphasis more towards the strength side of the strength/endurance  equation than is typical in normal kettlebell sport. Competitors in StrongSport™ compete in two lifts, the One Arm Clean and the One Arm Jerk. Male competitors can compete with weights ranging from 32kg to 48kg and female competitors with anything from 20kg to 36kg. The lifts are executed in a 4 minute set format allowing for only one hand switch. In order to achieve a rank with a specific weight 24 reps per hand need to completed for each lift. I am not particularly interested in formal competition but I do aim on at least achieving the required reps for the 32kg category at some point.

Tonight I decided to base my session on the StrongSport™ format but with the 16kg, i.e. my own hybrid sport currently known as WeakSport.Here’s the result:

16kg Clean: 4 minutes @ 12rpm

16kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 12rpm

16kg Snatch: 2 minutes @ 18rpm

32kg Swing: 10/10

Light stretching (focus on the hip area)

The session was pretty easy. The past two weeks of consistent training is clearly starting to pay off. The 32kg Swings felt easier than I can remember. I could have probably done 20 per arm but I’m sticking to my conservative approach for now. I am really not interested in more injuries. If there was a 16kg ranking in StrongSport™ I would have achieved it tonight! Oh well, now I just need to do the same thing with double the weight.

Simple three minute sets

Intu Flow warm up

16kg Clean: 3 minutes

16kg Press: 3 minutes

16kg OAJ: 3 minutes

24kg Swing: 20/20

Light stretching

That’s all for today.

Still playing with Gym Movement

A few weeks ago I discovered a training framework known as Gym Movement. It is the brainchild of Frankie Faires, a martial artist and one of the people involved during the early days of Z-Health. In a nutshell Faires’s system is based on the concept of perpetual progress via intuitive exercise selection. A key principle of GM is that it is possible to achieve a PR in every training session; be it in the form of more volume, more intensity, more density or simply better quality reps. The GM system does not provide a specific program such as a 5x5 pressing protocol, protocol for GS, or whatever. It is in a sense a meta-framework that can be applied to any goal. Looking at some of the material make it seem a bit like Voodoo but there are some serious voices in the fitness industry, like Adam Glass, Josh Hanagarne,and Mike T. Nelson, who swear by this system. 

Given the fact that my goals are currently focused on general conditioning via the GS method of Valery Fedorenko (and in the longer term Kettlebell Strong-Sport and possibly Kettlebell Sport) I will obviously use GM towards selecting lifts in harmony with this goal. Tonight I tested OAJ’s, Cleans and Snatches. The Snatches came out the clear winner. I then tested for set length and three minute sets tested the best. As a result of the tests this is what I did:

Intu Flow warm up

16kg Snatch: 3 minutes

16kg Snatch: 3 minutes

16kg Snatch: 3 minutes

24kg Goblet Squat: 2 x 5

Stretching (emphasis on twisting motion)

The first two snatch sets were REALLY easy. The last one irritated my old lower back / glute injury a bit. Looking back now I realize that I didn’t test for how many sets to do so I just forged ahead after having decided that I’ll do three sets. I will probably need to refine my testing procedure if I really want to get the best out of GM. In all honesty I cannot say that I’m sold at the moment. Given the stir this framework has created in the fitness industry I am also not ready to give up on it just yet. I’m planning to commit myself to the whole testing thing for at least the next 4 weeks within the broad framework of using GS for general fitness and conditioning. I guess we’ll see what happens.  

Keeping the momentum going

I’ve been trying lately to keep my training as consistent as possible. The plan is to train 5 or even 6 days per week. I’m planning on training just hard enough to keep making progress but not so hard that I need to take too many days off. Today’s session looked like this:

Intu Flow warm up

16kg Clean: 3 minutes

16kg OAJ: 3 minutes

16kg Snatch: 3 minutes

24kg Swing: 15/15

Stretching (focusing on the back today)

Slightly faster

I’ve been working lately at 12-14rpm for all my sets. Today I upped this to 16rpm. This is what I did:

Intu Flow warm up

16kg Clean: 2 minutes

16kg OAJ: 2 minutes

16kg Snatch: 2 minutes

16kg Clean: 2 minutes

16kg OAJ: 2 minutes

16kg Snatch: 2 minutes

24kg Goblet squat: 3x5

The increased pace felt comfortable. I could have probably worked at 20rpm in the Snatch sets but I decided not to push too much.

Pre-long-weekend session

I’m looking forward to four days of chilling over the Easter weekend. In celebration I did a short and enjoyable session with the bells tonight. The session consisted of:

16kg Clean: 3 minutes

16kg OAJ: 3 minutes

16kg Snatch: 3 minutes

24kg Swing: 15/15

Enjoy the weekend everyone!