Oh, I laughed. That’s some serious kettlebell love!
[/quote]
Well, yeah…lol. I have taken my old 45-pounder on road trips many times, including beach vacations, but I’ve always been able to drive to those. There’s something in me that loves the idea of going to the beach somewhere nice, like Florida, and being able to walk out onto the sand with a KB and hit a couple long sets of snatches as the sun is rising every morning…
Birdy, I won’t be taking it carry-on. I’ll be checking it. So the “being used as a weapon” question doesn’t matter. The only issue is if they X-Ray the bag and think its a bomb or something. But several people in forums elsewhere claimed to have done this successfully.
20 x 26 (10 per arm)
20 x 35 (10 per arm)
10 x 44 (5 per arm)
10 x 44 (5 per arm)
10 x 53 (5 per arm)
10 x 53 (5 per arm)
TEST: Max Reps x 88 in 5-Minute Time Limit
11 x 88 (6 right, 5 left)
This is my own self-invented test. I also plan to pursue the RKC kettlebell snatch standard of 100 reps x 53-LB in 5 minutes, but I really like this test as well for more of a brute-strength test. Should be noted that I do all of my reps from the floor instead of the traditional KB clean (which is a swing that ends in the rack position) - so this is kind of a misnomer if you’re a kettlebell traditionalist. I just happen to enjoy the movement of starting from the floor and ending locked-out overhead. I took a video, will post later if it works. Somewhat boring but will give an idea of what I’m going for here. My goal is to get strong enough to do more continuous reps (these were all done as single reps with a step back, pause, reset in between).
My GF was visiting this weekend. Today we just set up my five KB’s in a line (26, 35, 44, 53, 88) and went through in a repeatin cycle doing “something” with each of the five bells for 6 rounds. I started off with a clean and press reverse pyramid (10x26, 8x35, 6x44, 4x53, 2x88) and then started varying the movements to get some heavy swings in as well. My GF did a full round of deadlifts, then incorporated goblet squats and swings with all but the 88 - she just DL’d the 88 for a couple of reps every time she hit the 88.
Really fun partner workout, good way for two people of different strength to train together. She has made tremendous progress in her strength over the past year - there was a time when she was afraid to pick up the 45 pound KB. Now she deadlifts the 88 and swings the 44 for reps.
And a side note: I was tooling around on the StrongFirst website and saw that one of their Level 2 cert requirements is a one hand clean and press from the floor, my favorite KB movement. It calls for a half-bodyweight press or nearest that (ie 40 kg for under 186 pounds, 44 kg bell for people weighing 186-203 pounds, 48 kg bell for anyone 203 pounds and up). I am working to be able to really nail several good reps with my 40 kg, and perhaps I will add the long term goal of pressing a 106-pounder at bodyweight 200 pounds or less - in addition to my present goals of repping the 88-pounder for presses and passing the RKC/SFG Level 1 snatch test of 100 x 53-LB in 5 minutes.
[quote]furo wrote:
Man, this is not what I wanted to see when getting back from holiday! Looks like I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me to catch up! Great work beast :)[/quote]
Ha! I’ve got a longggggg way to go to match the guy who’s been doing one handed swings with a 40 kg for awhile. Hope you enjoyed your holiday, man. Take a few weeks’ GPP time and then we can finalize the challenge parameters. I would propose the following:
Body Weight < 200
5 Minute Time Limit
Counting Reps:
Start on floor.
Clean bell to shoulder height.
Raise overhead (any way possible - push pressing is fine).
Return to floor.
Regardless of which hand you use, every time the bell is locked out overhead, that is one rep.
We can add a second “event” if you feel that this favors me too much, haha, since I basically designed it entirely myself. I’ll be working on this and the RKC snatch standard anyway.
[quote]furo wrote:
Man, this is not what I wanted to see when getting back from holiday! Looks like I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me to catch up! Great work beast :)[/quote]
Ha! I’ve got a longggggg way to go to match the guy who’s been doing one handed swings with a 40 kg for awhile. Hope you enjoyed your holiday, man. Take a few weeks’ GPP time and then we can finalize the challenge parameters. I would propose the following:
Body Weight < 200
5 Minute Time Limit
Counting Reps:
Start on floor.
Clean bell to shoulder height.
Raise overhead (any way possible - push pressing is fine).
Return to floor.
Regardless of which hand you use, every time the bell is locked out overhead, that is one rep.
We can add a second “event” if you feel that this favors me too much, haha, since I basically designed it entirely myself. I’ll be working on this and the RKC snatch standard anyway.[/quote]
Definitely not my man! This challenge looks perfect to me, I really like it :).
EDIT: How’s your bodyweight at the moment btw? Mine has been dropping but I’ve got a way to go (207lb today). I think for the weight it should be a fasted morning weight, not the weight immediately before the challenge. E.g. you have to weigh less than 200lbs fasted on the same day as the challenge, but if you’ve loaded up on fluids etc pre-challenge and that pushes you slightly above, then that doesn’t matter. Does that sound ok?
Seven rounds…at this point, I was stricken with an urge to do a 5-minute snatch set. I’ve been getting more comfortable with snatch form and, as stated on page 1, a goal of mine for the year is to pass the Snatch test required for the RKC Level 1 Cert, which is 100 reps with a 53 pound bell in 5 minutes. So…
Finisher: 100 snatches (alternated 10R / 10L the entire time) with 35-pound bell in 5 minutes
Obviously I have some work to do. But I was very happy with this for tonight. I will start working snatches with the 44 pounder in my next workout and try to keep movin’ on up! For now…I can pass the women’s test!
[quote]
Obviously I have some work to do. But I was very happy with this for tonight. I will start working snatches with the 44 pounder in my next workout and try to keep movin’ on up! For now…I can pass the women’s test![/quote]
Good job!! To quote Pavel, “Good job comrade, you have now become a hard Russian lady!” Take care of those hands when moving up in weight. Saw your post on DrGelbman’s log about your hand being all gashed up.
Re: the hands, I’ve done all the reading I can on hand care. I bought a callus file for 2 bucks at the dollar store so I can file them down when they start raising a bit much above the skin. I actually wore gloves for that workout, and much as it pains me to do so, I’ll probably start wearing them for most of my KB snatch work (I’ve never had major issues with them just from swings and presses). I used a whole tube of Neosporin over the past week keeping the gashes covered, bathing in topical antibiotic lotion, haha.
