Friday, August 18, 2006

Improving Snatch #s - Heavy and Light


Photo above from Washington State KB Championship. I'm snatching the 32kg/70# KB.

Had a great session yesterday. I was able to use my friend's full set of competition ketlebells, designed by Valery Fedorenko, and made to meet the International size standards. They are all the same size, but their weight varies from 12kg/26# to 32kg/70#. They are cast steel, with smooth handles, which are slightly thinner than the standard Dragondoor KB handles. The size really makes a positive difference with the lighter bells. The larger bell size ensures a larger contact spot on your wrist. The 12kg and 16kg are great for warming up the shoulders.

My workout consisted of snatches, clean and jerks (1 and 2 handed) and overhead squats. After about 35 minutes I was wrapping up my snatch work with the 32kg. I felt pretty good and decided to snatch the "Bulldog", the nickname for the 40kg/88# KB. I haven't snatched it in quite a long time, probably over a year, and I've snatched the 32 only a few times over the past year. I did 17 reps with my right hand, and 18 with my left. The only thing that bugged me was the roughness of the (older) Dragondoor handle. Probably could have got 20-22 with smooth handles.

After that, I decided to get a small taste of "Beast" training (48kg/106# KB). My friend has a pair of those, so I though "When in Rome..." Did some 2 handed swings. Felt great! Much nicer than cleaning a pair of 53s because you can keep your feet closer together, making it better for the hip snap and easier on the knees, since they track better. Then just did a couple of sets of Clean and Jerks, 3 reps each hand. One thing about the Beast, it really reinforces keeping yourself tight when accept the Clean and Locking out it out. As Rif says "It's all easy until it gets heavy!"

Today I had a "Light" snatch PR, doing 224 reps with the 20kg/44# KB in 10 minutes. Last time I did 205, so this was a nice gain. Wore my heart monitor - started at about 80, at 5 minutes was at 180 (avg. 160), took a short break, then did the last 4+ minutes hard, averaging 170 beats a minute. Reps went (R/L) 23/23/22/21/15/15/5 (rest) 15/15/10/10/15/10/8/14.



224 reps with 44# = 9,856# of "work" [not scientific definition]
170 reps with 53# = 9,010# [previous best with 53#]

200 reps with 53# = 10,600#
250 reps with 44# = 13,250#

My goal is to do 250 reps with the 44# the next time I test, then it will be test time with the 53#. I want to bild a solid base, ensuring my joints are conditioned enough to take the full 10 minutes with the 53# KB. I want to "own" 200+ reps, which means I can do it and NOT be too tired, sore and I'd be able to do it the next day if I had to.... Obviously I won't be volunteering to do it!

4 Comments:

Blogger Mark Reifkind said...

Nice going man!. thats a great picture too. Hey, did your HR monitor keep track of calories burned?

Keeping track of tonnage is a great way to quantitatively measure progress. good stuff. I wish I had some of these Pro KB's but I dont want the whole set, just the 16 and the 24 kg. Do you know if they sell them other than by the set?

keep the updates coming!

rif

6:41 AM  
Blogger Ken Black said...

Hey Tom hope all is well with you. Good to see the training is going well. Chuck has been telling me a bit about your training but it is good to read what you've been up to. You are right about training with the beast!Look forward to reading more and congrats on the PR.

11:15 AM  
Blogger Fireman Tom said...

Rif,
my HR monitor is bare bones, a basic POLAR model with just one button. Do you recommend a certain brand and model?

They sell any number you want, but the have "deals" if you buy sets of the same weight, or of the complete set.

When you email me, I can forward the info to you.


Ken,

thanks for the feedback, and Chuck and I talk a lot because there's not a lot of people I know who appreciate the kind of training we do.

BTW, great double BU press with the 53s! I can do the BU C&P with either hand with the 70, but need to practice the doubles.

Tom

12:00 PM  
Blogger Franz Snideman said...

Wow - nice training. Very strong and great goals as well!

8:00 AM  

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