100 Snatches with 24kg KB in under 4 minutes

[ Picture of me snatching a 32kg KB during the 2004 Washington State KB Championship. My brother Mike took this, catching me just as I was about to "punch" the handle around the bell. ]

Decided to do a 100 rep snatch test today. I've done this before with a 16kg KB and I was planning on doing it with a 20kg KB next, but after getting my 24 kg Competition KB, I decided to give it a go.

I did about a 5 minute warm-up of snatches and overhead squats with a 25# bar, and some snatches with a 16kg KB. I then did 100 snatches with the 16kg in 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Rep breakdown (R/L) was 20/20/15/15/15/15. Went about 75-80% effort.

Took a seven minute break and then did 100 snatches with the 24kg Comp KB. Did 15 right, 15 left, then put the KB down for 5 seconds and did a MacKensie Back bend. Then did another 15/15 set and another back bend. Finished with 4 sets of 10 reps. My goal was to finish under 4 minutes which I was able to do, doing the 100 reps in 3 minutes 55 seconds.

Decided to do a foot/# calculation for the work done. This is an estimate only, as I don't claim to be an expert at this. I just want to do it so I can compare my own workloads. This is a way I can calculate the loads of different exercises with different weights.

Snatch 53# KB six feet = 318 ft/#, times 100 = 31,800 ft/#s of work.
Body (230#) moves 6" up/down = 115 ft/#, times 100 reps = 11,500 ft/#s of work
31,800 + 11,500 = 43,300 ft/# divided by 235 seconds = 184 ft/# of work a second.

My back feels great, which is always my top concern, so I consider this test a success. Next time I am going to either do 200 reps with the 1 pood or maybe 150 reps with the 20kg KB. I'll continue to build my volume with the 24kg Comp KB, and will get my 100 rep time below 3:30 before doing a 150 rep test. Doing more high rep sets of high pulls with the 32kg Competition KB should be added also.