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!

Today’s kettlebell practice did more than make me stronger.  I have had a headache for almost two days, and nothing has helped.  Sleeping made it better, but after being awake for a few hours, the headache was back in full force. 

I took yesterday off from exercise, and wasn’t sure if I would work out today or not.  In the past, the endorphin rush from the workout has helped with headaches,  so I tried it.

A few minutes into it, I could tell I had made the right decision.  Everything felt good.  I felt strong.  The headache was gone.   All in all I did about 25 minutes of swings and TGUs then followed up with 10 minutes of snatch practice. 

 ACSM has a program called Exercise is Medicine.   They are on to something.   Today’s dose was wonderful.

Figuring that I’d be too sore this morning for my scheduled Turkish Get Up and Swing combination workout, I slept late.  (Hmm. Been doing that a lot this week!) In reality, I wasn’t all that sore when I got going,  and probably should have gotten up at my usual time so I could have made better use of the rest of the day.  Oh well.

The prescribed workout of the day involves up to 3 Turkish Get Ups per side, then 25 swings.  Rest and repeat.  It’s my favorite one in the rotation Elise provided. Today I used the 8kg bell and did 3 TGUs on alternating sides (6 total) followed by 25 swings with the 16kg kettlebell x 4 rounds.  

Snatches:  I couldn’t NOT do these. Experienced kettlebell friends, tell me:  should I keep on practicing every day if I feel like it?  Or will that lead to overtraining?   With the 8kg bell, I did 10 per side x 5 rounds.  By then my hands were really hurting/burning.  (More and different callouses are on the way.)  I upgraded to the 10kg bell just to see how it would go, and managed several more per side before deciding to stop the insanity on my hands.  So I’m basically obsessed with snatching the kettlebell at this point.  Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!