We all have a comfort zone. For some it is the couch at home, for
others it is running marathons, my comfort zone is strength. I love
picking up a heavy weight - but only once (maybe three times). The
low rep comfort of strength allows me to express my desire to be
strong without the pain of enduring long events.
Well, I recently stepped out of my comfort zone when I accepted
a Kettlebell challenge issued on the dragondoor.com forum. The challenge
was to see who could perform 1000 continuous snatches with a 16kg
kettlebell. This friendly challenge then progressed into a charity
event to benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Initially, I had no interest in trying to perform 1000 reps of anything.
My comfort zone told me that this was a waste of time. Where was
the challenge in lifting something so light that you could accomplish
1000 reps? I was about to find out!
The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. Combine that
with the fact that curiosity killed the cat and you have the beginnings
of my journey of 1000 steps outside my comfort zone.
Prior to this challenge, the highest continuous rep sets I had
ever accomplished were in the 25 - 100 ranges. So the idea of
1000 continuous repetitions seemed a bit odd but after reading
on the forum about Comrades working their way toward this goal,
I decided to give it a try. So I got home one night and let curiosity
take its course. On that night (11/28/2003), I performed 500 continuous
snatches with the 16kg kettlebell. This 24 minute 30second set
was more than I had ever done before but left me wanting to fulfill
this challenge.
Physically this first set was not a great challenge. My grip did
experience some fatigue but the rest of me was doing fine. That
is the beauty of the kettlebell snatch - the stress is so well
distributed through your body that you can just keep going because
no one part will break down. Mentally, however, is a different
story! I found little demons appearing and telling me what I wanted
to hear. "Go ahead and stop - what's the point?" "You
are in pain - stop now." "Are you crazy?" Those
and more began to pour out of hidden parts of my mind, quite surprising
for someone who fancied himself as pretty tough.
So the challenge was far less physical and more mental than
I thought it would be. Quieting those demons and overcoming those
mental breaks were the true challenge. There are mental challenges
to performing strength feats as well but they only last a few
seconds - not an hour. Different ball game!
My next steps along the journey were sets of 700 (12/3/2003 in
less than 35 minutes), and a set of 800 (12/7/2003 in 39 minutes
18 seconds). The set of 700 was really good - both mentally and
physically. The set of 800 hurt - no other way to put it. My mind
would not quit and my body wanted too very badly. But I did make
800. At this point 1000 seemed a big jump from 800.
Around this time, a dragondoor.com forum member in Germany became
the first person to accomplish the 1000 reps. Heartened by his
accomplishment, I decided it was time to smash through to the
1000 reps. So later the same day (12/13/2003) I set out to accomplishing
this challenge. My wife was counting and I was ready. But during
the first (I did say first) set we ran into a counting problem.
My wife and I were not on the same page as far as how to calculate
total reps and was telling me a number half of what I thought
it should have been. (Turns out she was giving me the total for
one arm instead of both arms.) This resulted in a mental break
that caused me to terminate the set at 560 reps.
After a break to collect myself mentally and physically I decided
that I would not let it end like this on this day. So I set to
trying to accomplish the 1000 reps for the second time that day.
51 minutes and 19 seconds later I had done it - 1000 continuous
kettlebell snatches. Totaling 1,560 reps in just over two hours.
During the second set I found myself in a different zone - a comfort
zone I did not know I could tap. A very profound experience.
For the charity portion of the challenge I had picked Jan. 26,
2004. This put me in the position of having to wait to accomplish
the 1000 reps even though I was at a peak. But I did know that
I could perform this set when I chose to do it because it was
a mental decision. So on the Friday (12/3/2004) before the charity
day I did a set of 700 in 35 minutes in order to prepare for Monday.
Then I performed my set for charity on Monday the 26th of January.
I continued performing continuous kettlebell snatches with the
16kg kettlebell for 60 minutes and 29 seconds and totaled 1,160
repetitions (A US Record for this obscure event I think).
In the end and coming out the other side of this challenge successfully
I have learned some very useful things regarding my training and
my mental abilities. #1 - As Steve Justa described in his book
"Rock, Iron, Steel - The Book of Strength" - Strength
endurance is an important aspect of overall conditioning. It does
not matter if I have a great dead-lift if the effort of performing
that lift leaves me spent and unable to perform anything else
for quite some time. Therefore, no matter how much I love strength
and the comfort of low rep training, I must step out of this comfort
zone and challenge myself mentally as well as physically with
an endurance challenge. #2 - As endurance athletes have known
for centuries - your body will follow your mind. Mustering a few
seconds of effort is a great skill but the skill of quieting your
mind for an hour of repeated effort is another. Both are worthy
of your attention. #3 - My base of strength made this challenge
possible. Had I always worked on the 16kg kettlebell I would have
thought 1000 reps impossible. Strength is always useful - even
in an endurance situation. #4 - Pacing and patience has a very
important role in training. Sprinting through 1000 reps is not
in the books - but pacing yourself and having the patience to
only complete 20 reps per minute allows you to accumulate a frightening
volume of work. #5 - We set our own limits. I found during my
sets that if I set out to accomplish a certain number - that is
where the set would finish. I had preset my ending point and my
body and mind made sure that is where I finished. This is a useful
tool and a curse.
So - what is your comfort zone? And do you have what it takes
to step outside of it and learn about yourself?
Brett Jones is a Senior Russian Kettlebell instructor
based near Pittsburgh, PA. He found In Motion Athletics, which
is a group and individual conditioning service utilizing movement
based solutions to release the athlete inside of you. You can
check out his website at www.inmotionathletics.com.
