Several weeks ago I purchased an oddball sized kettlebell, a 14kg.  I have really been kind of a sucker for these in-between sizes.  I bought a  couple of 6kg bells for the studio,  a couple 10kgs, and now the 14kg.  It has been nice to have them to train with, when the jump between standard bell sizes was too much.

Last time through Enter the Kettlebell, I used a 12kg kettlebell.  Around the time I finished the program, I pressed the 16kg on a couple of occasions.  Then, I shifted my focus and began to lose a bit of weight.  I really haven’t tried to press the 16kg again lately, but instead have worked more with the 12kg and 14kg for presses.  I considered starting Enter the Kettlebell again with the 14kg but a couple of weeks ago, but struggled horribly to get through a 3 x 3 Clean and Press ladder. I ended up doing push presses or assisted presses for many of the reps.

Since then I have worked with the 12kg strictly, but haven’t spent too much time with it, only focusing about one day per week on pressing.  Today I decided to try a 3 x 3 Clean and Press ladder with the 14kg.  I really expected to have to shift to the 12kg part way through but totally surprised myself.  The entire 3 x 3 ladder went well, and I know I could even have done more.  I’m very happy to be getting somewhere with the 14kg kettlebell.  I used it for my easy snatch practice on Monday also, doing 112 snatches at 10L/10R/rest for 9:00.

My muscles don’t seem to know I have cancer.  That’s cool with me!  I really don’t feel like I have it at all.  And when I’m happily pressing my 14kg, cancer is pretty much out of my mind. That’s priceless. 

I’ve had quite a dilemma for the past several months.  I have been preparing for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor certification for almost a year and making good progress.  At a body weight of approximately 135 pounds, I would be required to use the 16kg kettlebell for the snatch test.  (To use the 12kg bell, a woman’s weight must be 123.5 lbs or below at weigh-in.)  It became obvious that snatching the 16kg was going to be a problem for me.  But not for typical reasons.

My accident in 2006 left a few permanent limitations with my hand and arm.  One of them is some numbness in my right index finger and thumb.  When I began training to snatch the 16kg kettlebell I ran into major difficulty.  The handle of the 16kg is significantly larger in diameter than the 12kg.  I could not seem to grip the 16kg well due to the numbness. After a few single-hand swings with the 16, my grip would fail. And it wasn’t improving with time.

So I made the decision to change what I could change, and that was my weight.  Although I had a fairly significant amount of weight to lose (I figured 15 pounds, so that I’d have some lee-way at weigh-in) and I was already below 20% body fat, I felt like it was the best way to get to RKC in the least amount of time.  So I began to refine my eating.

All the while, I kept working on my grip, just in case.  I trained as if I expected to be able to use the 16kg. I didn’t know for sure if I really could reach my goal weight and maintain the strength and endurance necessary for RKC, so preparing for the possibility of being able to use the 16kg felt like a safety net.

In a few months I had seen the weight loss I was after. I reached my goal.  In the meantime, I noticed the grip strength in my right hand had begun improving slightly.  I bought a 14kg bell to try to snatch and that went well.  For a few weeks I wondered: what would happen if I tried to snatch the 16kg? I had visions of major property damage and/or injury in mind!!  But then I began to think it was possible to someday snatch the 16kg bell.  And someday began to feel close.

February 7, 2010 I decided to go for it.  Without thinking too much, I grabbed the 16kg kettlebell with my right hand and snatched it.  I was in disbelief when I realized the bell was safely locked out over my head.  Then I repeated it.  And I did the same on the other side.  Surprisingly, it was actually easier on the right side!  At that point I knew that all that stood in my way from using that bell at RKC was time and practice.  If I could snatch it once, I knew I could train to fulfill the certification requirements.

Strangely, snatching the 16kg successfully somehow made me feel ready to go to RKC using the 12kg for the test.  One hundred snatches with the 12kg  in 5:00, though definitely not easy, was definitely doable and I had done it on several self-tests.  My weight was within the range of where it needed to be to use the 12kg.  The success I had with the 16kg gave me hope for long term continued improvement with all my kettlebell skills despite any lingering hand issues. No longer an issue of which bell I MUST use, it became a question of which bell I would PREFER to use.  What a great feeling!

My kettlebell training is nearing the end of another phase. I have one more workout left in the Enter the Kettlebell program.  This is my second time through ETK, and once again I have seen significant improvement in my kettlebell pressing ability.  I’m now able to quite confidently press the 12kg kettlebell.

Me right after my ETK Week 11 Medium day.

I estimate that by the time I complete this “Rite of Passage” portion of the ETK program,  I will have pressed the 12kg bell nearly 1,000 times on each side.  It’s an understatement to say that there is a lot of pulling (rowing, pull-ups or chin-ups) and cleaning and pressing  the kettlebell with this program, but I love it.  I feel strong pushing that kettlebell over my head.  Challenging my body and mind to do it even when I think it can’t be done is the type of challenge that I crave. Doing this program right, in my opinion, will guarantee you strength gains and improved conditioning.  It is tough.  It can be boring.  But it works.

Until now I’ve been focusing primarily on my kettlebell pressing, as it was the skill that needed the most work prior to attending an RKC weekend.  I still need to work on pressing some more, but other things have risen to the top of the list. When I finish Enter the Kettlebell, my main priority is going to be improving my kettlebell snatch technique.  Turkish Get-Ups are always on my to-do list, and I find that regular practice with them is vital, to avoid regression.  Also, it may be time for me to try some double kettlebell work.   Of course, lots and lots of swings are a priority as well.

RKC Instructors: what else am I missing?  What would you have done differently (if anything) to prepare for your RKC weekend? What’s the best way to get ready for the Grad Workout? How can I determine if my overall conditioning is good enough to get me through the weekend? I know I am not going to be ready for RKC until at least late spring, so I have time to change my training now to make a difference.  And you know I’m committed.  Or maybe I should be (committed!)

I started the week with “light” day of Enter the Kettlebell week 8  on Monday.  This week the pattern for the cleans and presses changes so that you really do have a light day of presses, a medium day and a heavy day.  In ETK terms that equates to 5 ladders of 3 rungs each on the light day, 5 ladders of 4 rungs each on the medium day  and 5 ladders of 5 rungs each on the heavy day.  This pattern remains in place through the end of the Rite of Passage, week 12.

Light day was no problem with the cleans and presses. Chinups were tough.  The conditioning practice on light days includes kettlebell snatches performed at an easy pace: 10 R, 10 L followed by a minute rest.  In this case, the practice lasted 8 minutes.  I’m not sure if grip strength is the problem, or just form in general.  But kettlebell snatches are just painful for my hands.  I’m training with Elise Matthews, RKC-II on Sunday and am psyched about letting her evaluate my form with snatches, among other things.

Tuesday was a variety day and I chose to do a test to see how many swings I could do for a set period of time with as-close-to-perfect form as my body and brain could agree on.  The practice lasted 12 minutes and wasn’t physcially  tough because I was focused on correct form as opposed to a completing a certain number of preselected reps.  When I felt like I was losing form in any way at all, I stopped and rested until I felt ready to go again.  It was an interesting practice, and illuminated the fact that many of my past workouts have gone too far.  The hardworking exercise fanatic in me always wants to push the work load.  I have to focus on taming that beast because form needs to be the priority.

Wednesday was medium day, so the clean and press practice included an extra rung in each of the five ladders. It went fine.  I think I must be getting stronger with the presses.  For the conditioning portion of the practice,  I did kettlebell swings for 8 minutes: 24 swings (which equates to about 45 seconds work for me) followed by 15 seconds active rest.  This part of the workout felt more heavy than medium!

By Thursday I realized that I would be losing a rest day this weekend because I’ll be training with Elise on Sunday.  I am taking rest days very seriously and prefer to err on the side of too many at this point, so eliminating one from the week didn’t feel right.  I considered using Thursday, a planned “variety” day, as a rest day to make up for losing Sunday, but then realized that if I did so, I wouldn’t get much practice with Turkish Get Ups in this week.  That didn’t seem right either, so I did a workout of 15 minutes of slow “naked” (no weight) Turkish Get Ups followed by some (no idea how many) single leg deadlifts.  (Just because I miss deadlifts). I think it was a good compromise.

The need for rest was confirmed when I somehow slept over 9 hours Thursday night.  Because today, Friday, is a planned rest day, I had turned off the alarm clock.  I expected to wake up at my usual time but slept through instead.  I feel really good today, and am excited to tackle my first “heavy” day of cleans and presses tomorrow.   More fun follows on Sunday!  Yay!

 This week I have been  following Week 6 of Enter the Kettlebell.   The clean and press ladders are going fine and I’m looking forward to adding another ladder to the practice next week.  I’m improving with my chinups, although not nearly fast enough to suit myself.  I need to get some better bands so that when I have to switch to assisted chinups I actually get some assistance.  (The band arrangement I have right now just is not cutting it.)  Until then, when I run out of steam with chinups, I move to bent rows.

The kettlebell swing and snatch training is going well, although some of the  swing practices are pretty crazy. Five seconds’  rest between sets of 25 swings?  That’s not a rest, it’s death avoidance!    Oh my.  But I’m getting through them.

Monday was “light” with 4 ladders, 3 rungs each of cleans and presses, plus the “pulls” as required in the ETK workbook.    Monday also included snatches.  They went well but I felt pain in my hands way too early in that practice, in my opinion.  This will definitely be something to discuss with Elise when I train with her again.

Tuesday was a variety day, and my practice looked something like a double workout from the Program Minimum part of Enter the Kettlebell.  The first part was kettlebell swings – 50 of them followed by a 1 minute jog.  No rest, just repeat until 12 minutes are up.  After a brief recovery I then did part two, 5 minutes of continuous Turkish Get Ups, alternating sides.  I used one of the baby kettlebells.  This was a killer day.  But I felt great the rest of the day.  Funny how that works. 

Wednesday was “medium day” from ETK.  It looked much like Monday, except there was swing practice in lieu of snatch practice at the end.  After burning it up on Tuesday, this was pretty tough, but I followed the protocol as required.  I also practiced  pushups and planks at the end, two exercises I’d really like to be better at.

Thursday was another variety day, and I used my heaviest kettlebell and did swing intervals at :30 on/:30 off for 12 minutes.  For active rest during the :30 off I did prisoner squats or alternating lunges.  Then I did 7 minutes of Turkish Get Ups, “naked” (no weight.) Doing them this way makes it much easier to focus on form and I’ve decided that I’ll do  them this way for a while.  Form matters so much more than how much weight you can hoist without killing yourself.

Friday was a rest day for me. Yay!! I needed it!

 
Saturday was a “heavy” day.  The clean and press ladders and pulls were the same but the swing practice was the heavy part.  This was the one with 25 swings and 5 seconds of rest.  Thankfully it only lasted 6 minutes.  Some really ugly thoughts came to mind when I was in the latter part of this practice.  But again, I made it through.  I have definitely developed some new respect for those who have completed the ETK program!

Sunday is a rest day. Looking forward to the rest and a little extra sleep.

I’m basically happy with the way my training went this week.  I noticed that I had to work hard on staying focused mentally as well as physically.  I didn’t really get this when people mentioned it before, but it’s clear now. 

No more fasting for me for the time being.  I need a steady supply of energy, and personally I find that my energy is significantly affected by fasting.  As long as I’m doing ETK, there won’t be room for it.

Moving on to week 7 of ETK (round 1) on Monday. 

The family went to the pool and part of me wanted to go with them.  But there’s all summer for that, and I was ready for my scheduled appointment with Elise Matthews, RKC II.  My goal of becoming prepared for RKC was my priority. So I trained with Elise for an hour and change on Sunday. 

Whenever I leave her studio, I always feel great about what’s ahead and what I’ve learned.  And it was no different this time.  It is always a pleasure to work with her.

As usual, she started by asking me how the last few weeks had gone.  I told her how I’d had fun figuring out the kettlebell snatch, and how I had torn up my hands in the process (although thankfully, they’re better now.)  I told her that the workouts had gone well, that I’d made progress building endurance and strength, but that a brief bout with a cold had erased some of that, at least temporarily.

Then she began to evaluate three main movements for me:  the swing, the clean and the snatch.  We focused on each one individually.  With the swing we discussed my range of motion, and whether or not it was large enough.  I made a mental note to work on enlarging the range, even though she said it would be fine as is.  My kettlebell clean needed another dose of  “arc taming,”  something I never seem to hear enough about.  Apparently the arc was especially wild on the left, which accounts for the bruises on my left forearm only. 

At our last session I was introduced to doing kettlebell snatches.  At that point, mine looked more like one of the pictures of Pavel demonstrating the WRONG way to do them in Enter The Kettlebell.  So I was psyched to show Elise my progress.  I knew my technique would still require much refinement, but I also knew I had come a long way.  I was both surprised and relieved when she didn’t find too much wrong with the snatches.  When I told her that I was having some low back pain when I used a  (for me) medium sized kettlebell to do snatches, she immediately diagnosed and showed me how to  fix the problem.  This is one reason why it is important to work with a certified kettlebell trainer.

We spent a good deal of the time talking business.  She gave me some great ideas to use when coaching other women and shared some of her experiences in the fitness business.   We talked about how kettlebells are basically unheard of in our area, and what the best way to change that would be.  We discussed RKC:  the organization, and the certification weekend.  I think I may have enjoyed our conversation more than the training. 

Then she walked me through a workout she had her kettlebell group perform the day before.  I’ll be doing this workout as part of my weekly line up over the next several weeks.  I only did one round, and I can say with certainty that this will be a good one, for those of us who love to train hard.   Details to follow. 

Once again, I’m ready to charge forward and see how much I can accomplish before our next meeting.  We made plans to have that next session in several weeks. 

Today’s workout:  none.  Too much DOMS.  Love it! 

I’m making this short and sweet.  There’s no other way to follow yesterday’s post. 

I’m off track a little, still in recovery mode.  I just wanted to do swings today.  But then I decided to add some kettlebell snatches.  In the end, this was the practice:

• 10 2 Hand Swings
• 10 Single Hand Swings R
• 10 Single Hand Swings L
• :30 Rest

Did that for 10 rounds, 300 swings total.

Then:

• 10 kettlebell snatches R
• 10 kettlebell snatches L
• :30 Rest

Did five rounds, for total of 100 snatches.

To top it off I did 5 windmills on each side. 

Tomorrow will be the Lower Body workout (Brutal.) Ugh.

Yesterday I felt like dirt.  Sometimes you don’t realize how bad you feel until you feel better and think back.  Today I can think back.  At least it’s over.  I slept late this morning because I felt so bad last night.  Maybe that’s what I needed.  My workout today was mid morning, and I had tons of energy.

To start off, I did Elise’s cardio workout.  It’s the one that is mostly swings, with a few cleans thrown in at the end of each round.  Since I got my heart rate monitor, I’ve been keeping track of which of these workouts burns the most calories.  The lower body work out wins, but I believe this one comes in second.  It’s just a piece of information, though.

Last time I did six rounds of this workout. Today I finished 7 rounds without any difficulty.  My grip was wearing out by the end of the cleans, but otherwise I still felt good.

Despite the tired hands, I picked up the 8kg bell and decided to really work at this kettlebell snatch situation.  (Mind you, I learned this move 2 days ago.  8kg is a lot today.)  I also chose to wear my wristbands just because I knew that if I didn’t, this wouldn’t last long.

It was ugly, and then – it got OK.  One time I tried snapping my hips crazy hard and success!  Soft landing with the bell.  Ah hah!  I had another breakthrough when I tried snatching continuously, rather than doing a swing-snatch-swing-snatch thing.  (Don’t know why I was doing that anyway.)  Wow!  So I kept going.  I did a bunch of them.  Over and over.  I lost count.  I rested a little here and there, and I think I finally stopped about 15 minutes later.  Probably not too wise to do that many.  My elbows are feeling strange at this point.  Not injured, but confused.  Hopefully tomorrow I won’t be crying.  And hopefully I’ll remember how to find the groove I somehow managed to stumble into today.