Athlete's Training Tips

by Charlie Newkerk

1. Eat approximately 1 1/2 or 2 hours before session which provide you the fuel for the workout.
2. Drink plenty of fluids [ water is the best for up to 1 1/2 of activity, sports drink for longer periods] before, during and after your workout. [don't use your thirst as an indicator because by then you are dehydrating which can cause a drop in performance].
3. Warm up before workout to increase body temperature, muscle and blood viscosity, psychologically to prepare you for the workout.
4. Dynamically stretch gently before the workout, stretch the muscles worked during the workout and save the intense stretches for afterwards when your muscles, tendons and ligaments are the most pliable.
5. If possible, schedule your strength [anaerobic] and cardio [aerobic] sessions on different days. The reason for this is the hormonal response to aerobic exercise is virtually opposite to anaerobic exercise. Aerobics causes the release of glucocorticoids, which are catabolic [waste muscle] as compared to anaerobic exercise, which releases anabolic [builds muscle] hormones such as human growth hormone and testosterone.
6. Use free weight and other functional exercises as much as possible as these have the greatest carryover to real life as they work the stabilizers and proprioceptors [increases balance, stability, whole body movements as in real life].
7. Try a variety of exercises as this keeps the body guessing and ensures progress, relieves boredom, and creates anticipation which will help to ensure long term success.

Question on the double Kettlebell Snatch

I can do double snatches with the 24kg bells in my sleep at this point, but the 32kg bells are still eluding me. Part of it is that the weight is about 87% of my bodyweight, and it is very difficult to swing this all the way overhead without being pulled back or even thrown back. Nonetheless, I think there are some pretty amazing records in the old one-arm dumbbell swing to an overhead position, and I'm sure there are guys who did more than 100% of bodyweight.
Wait a sec, just looked it up in Calvert's "Super Strength" -- seems Thomas Inch did 160.5 lbs @ 160. This was a one-arm lift, though, with a dip under to complete the movement. Do you dip at all to fix the KBs overhead in the double-snatch, or do you stand straight? Any insights you may have would be appreciated.

There were a few people back in the day who could swing slightly over their own bodyweight. I'm pretty sure that most of them dipped into a full squat position to fix the weight overhead. The thing is, it is much easier to dip into a full squat when doing a one arm swing rather than a two arm swing, so I don't really dip at all when doing a two arm snatch with the 70's.
Here is the best advice I can give you: Forget about swinging the bells. I weigh about 10-15 pounds more than you, but it doesn't make much of a difference, as the bells still tend to shift me off of my feet when I swing them. You have to remember that it isn't just 140 pounds...... its 140 pounds moving with quite a bit of momentum. That will throw anyone off of their feet unless they weigh a good 200 pounds or so. In the past when I did two bell swings to head height, I would terminate the set not because of tired muscles, but because the momentum was getting out of hand and I was gonna end up on my ass or worse. That is why I only do dead snatches now.
So Instead of swinging them, try dead snatching the bells. Do not place them in line with your feet for the initial pull, rather place them a good 10 inches BEHIND your feet. This will significantly increase the length of the initial pull, giving you that much more power to complete the full snatch. Try it with a pair of 53's first, or try it with one arm with an 88. You will be astounded at how much more power you will put into your snatches. The 53's or 88 will feel like nothing.
Once you have the technique down pat, give the 70's a shot. You should be pleasantly surprised.
-John Allstadt