Resolutions or Goals for 2008?

[Boris]

Another year has come and gone. Not a bad year as far as training, strength, numbers, etc, but certainly nothing worth noting for me. I was happy to do the kettlebell cert. and I'm planning on actually doing something w. it this year.

Anywho, here are my goals and resolutions for 2008 - I think they are pretty reasonable although work will be a bear and not make training and side-jobs easy:
*100 kettlebell snatches w. 53lb kettlebell (one hand switch)
*200 kettlebell snatches w. 53lb kettlebell in 10:00
*Establish, train for, achieve respectable numbers w. kettlebell press and jerks
*Improve OLs
*Work w. area gyms, teams, classes consulting KBs
*Except for special occasions (restaurants do not qualify as special occasions), eliminate sodee pop completely

[neilx]

i got goals! i want to participate in the tactical strength challenge in april 2008.

the contest is:
max deadlift
kb snatches with 53# for reps in 5 minutes
max pull ups

id like to blow out over 100 snatches, and at least 20 pullups. a 550 deadlift would be sweet too.

right now, i think i could do 5 pullups, recently pulled 505, and havent maxed out any KB snatches yet.

and of course, to squat some decent weights!

[Boris]

That looks like a lot of fun!! I might have to give that a go myself... Got a ways to go on my DL - haven't done much in the weightroom in quite a while!

[neilx]

where are you located? im doing the one in new jersey:

tacticalstrengthchallenge.com/

im trying to think of how to train for it. I already do 2 or 3 conditioning days a week, around 20 minutes a piece.

I figure twice a week I could work on doing my usual round stuff (power ups, burpees, swings, pushups, oh bw squats, etc...ala rosstraining) and try to work on going for 5 minutes decreasing the rest periods over time.

another day i could actually practice the Kb snatch. maybe doing 1 min on, 1 min off, then over time trying to get 1. 5 on, 1 min off, slowly trying to get up to 5 minutes straight, or going for something lighter but more intense like as many 3 minute rounds as i can get in a session. 5 minutes may sound like too much to work frequently. i actually dont know, ive never snatched anything for more than 20 reps.

on top of that, im doing the fighter pull up program.
strongerman.com/guests/the_fighter_pullup.pdf
i started on the 3 rep max program yesterday. i do pull ups late night, and workout during the day. hopefully i should have 20 buy april according to this chart. well see!

[Boris]

Johnny and I are both in Iowa. I'm sure there's something going on in neighboring states.

Are you doing sport training as well?

[neilx]

Id like to compete in powerlifting, but my squat sucks. I can pull 500, but can barly manage a 225 squat without good morning out of it.

[neilx]

I started doing some snatches with the 24kg KB. I did one minute on / 1 minute off for 3 rounds. Got about 27 reps in a minute. But, i pulled a chunk of skin off my right hand. I was using chalk, any ideas on how to save my skin?

[Boris]

I'm pretty sure there are other articles about hand care at dragondoor's site, but here's a good one with hand care stuff given: dragondoor.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode3&articleid=369

Somehow I've gotten away with only a few minor tears and I credit just digging away at those callouses before they build up too bad at moisturizing at night (yes, I know I'll be called a "metrosexual" by Pavel but...). The past couple of months, I've been working on my drop and that has relieved some of the grip (and skin) issues as well.

And (this may be obvious) if your kettlebell handle is not smooth - that needs to be addressed asap.

[neilx]

great article, thanks! i also use the horseshoe type filer on my hands.

you know, i dont have that much experience with the KB and high rep stuff, its no very smooth. how do i go about smoothing it out...sanding it?

[Boris]

file, sandpaper, and a drummel type of drill attachment would probably work. Some bells just suck too much to fix unless you have a lot of tools and patience...

[neilx]

any tips for my drop? that seems to be where the most contact occurs. its squishes my calluses together! should i be holding the bell like rippetoe says to hold the bar in deadlifts in 'starting strength'? theres a picture of hand placement in there, though you probably know what im talking about.

[Boris]

I got a lot of good tips from Tom Corrigan about implementing some girevoy sport techniques into my snatch. You can tell a huge difference in my technique if you look at the following videos (both snatches w. 70lber). You don't have to watch the whole thing, just enough to see what I'm talking about.
(before): youtube.com/watch?v=1h3ihGAo1Yw = Notice here, I'm crush gripping the bell, the bell handle is always straight in the palm, the bell comes over the hand on the drop and I stop and reverse the bell very quickly at the bottom
(after): youtube.com/watch?v=6Pcsjgr3RBI = More hip flexion, bell is angled in the palm at the top, drop accompanies/follows an interal rotation and the bell comes around the hand rather than over, reversal is less forced.

Grip was always a huge limiting factor before I made these changes - now, I have nothing to blame except my pathetic conditioning. Not saying that my grip isn't stressed towards the end, but I went from 65 snatches w. the 53lb KB (one hand switch) to pass the RKC test, to 80 w. room to spare.

[neilx]

Thanks Boris!

Those videos were a huge help. i did 20 sets of 5,5 today really trying to get the technique down. i did a lot of good ones, but a lot of bad ones. when its 'good' if feels like no effort. i worked a lot more on the drop, and it makes a HUGE difference!
im a great swinger, but i know i also have to work on swinging for the snatch, sometimes it went right up with no effort, othertimes, i had to use some arms.

lotsa snatches=ab workout!

[Boris]

Glad to here that it went all right. I should mention also that if you have a lighter KB, you might want to use it for a while - it really is a lot easier to get a feel for the technique with a lighter bell. I kicked it down to the 35lber for a week or two of higher reps focusing on technique - I would do a few reps here and there w. heavier bells to see if I could maintain the technique, but the lighter work helped.

[neilx]

makes sense. i have a 35#er. ill throw it in on my conditioning days first this week. man my traps are sore from all those snatches today.