So you have tried kettlebell lifting and now you are hooked. You
love the feeling you get of accomplishing a tremendous workout in
a short period of time. And you love the great benefits you have
received from kettlebell training. You constantly strive to improve
your work capacity, your pain tolerance, and your immortality. So
now you want to take it up a notch. Enter Kettlebell Sport, a new
kind of sport which is rapidly taking hold here in the US. Kettlebell
Sport involves Jerking two kettlebells for maximum repetitions followed
by Snatching one kettlebell with each arm for maximum repetitions.
Training for a kettlebell competition will increase the benefits
you get from kettlebell lifting because your competitive max, if
you peak correctly, is higher than your training max. Hence you
will achieve a greater amount of the work capacity and pain tolerance
in competition. Besides that Kettlebell Competition is lots of fun.
Let have a look at the ways that one needs to train for a kettlebell
competition as it is different than simply training for functional
strength endurance, or superior physical conditioning. Here are
the basic steps
1. Test how many reps you can do in the two kettlebell jerk,
then rest 30 minutes and see how many reps you can do in the
one arm Snatch with each arm back to back, then only count the
weakest arm. (Hey no one said this was going to be easy) Add
these together to get your total.
2. Set a goal to reach the desired amount of reps. For an idea
of where you should aim, start by comparing your total with
the totals on the qualification tables located on http://www.stormloader.com/setnewfocus/
. I recommend starting at III Rank and working your way up one
rank at a time.
3. Do whatever it takes to reach your goal.
a. Learn from past competitors/competitions
b. Get competent instruction on
technique
c. Practice perfectly and diligently
d. Prepare Mentally as well as
physically
e. Have fun doing it.
Neural Adaptation is a high priority if your goal is to achieve
high numbers in the Jerk. First things first, you can not train
the 2 KB Jerk with one kettlebell. It is a consequence of the
Law of Specificity of Movement which says you get what you train
for. First you must properly train the nervous system which is
responsible for firing off the neuromuscular programs which determine
specific movement. For instance, training with barbells has a
different training effect than does training with two KBs. So
you must train the Jerk with two kettlebells if you want to win
a KB lifting competition.
Your first objective is to learn the Jerk technique. If you are
a female and you prefer, you can just concentrate on learning
and perfecting the snatch technique, since this is all that is
contested in International Competition. However, in the Great
ol' USA women do compete in the Jerk and well as the Snatch, so
it is worthwhile perfecting the Jerk.
It's been said before, but bears repeating again, form is more
important than weight or number of reps. A good resource for learning
kettlebell sport technique is my book and video on the subject
available from www.kettlebellsport.com. You can also seek out
a certified Russian Kettlebell Instrcutor. For now remember that
your shoulders need to be kept down and compacted as much as possible
into the socket, at all times. The Jerk is not a shoulder exercise.
If you use your shoulders too much you will tire the muscles out
too quickly.
Once you have the proper technique it is necessary to practice
it until you can nail it on every rep. The recommended way is
to start off with two lighter KBs, such as the 16kgs or the 24kgs.
Trust me, if you can't reach your rep goal with the lighter kettlebells,
you can't do them with a heavier one. So master the technique
and hit your repetition max goal with a lighter KB before moving
up to a heavier one. There is a reason for this, which you will
find out if you try this method of training with higher reps.
Next you will need to practice diligently. This means developing
a program and following it whether you feel like it or not. Several
competition programs are publicly available at www.kettlebellsport.com/Workouts.html
. Or you can have a kettlebell coach develop one for you, or of
course, you can develop your own. Hopefully you have picked a
competition which is 12-16 weeks out and you have plenty of time
to prepare. Make sure to keep a training log so you can look back
and see what works and what doesn't. Try to keep the variables
to a minimum so it's easy to determine the cause of success or
failure.
I highly recommend the "ladder" rep scheme for your
training. It has worked well for me and other champions and it
will probably work well for you. You start off with low reps and
work your way up to higher reps, resting only as long as it takes
to complete your previous set. You can make the rungs of the ladder
as high or low as you want. e.g. you can increase reps by 1 such
as 1,2,3,4,5,6 or threes such as 3,6,9,12 or even fives as in
5,10,15,20. The point is you go as high up the ladder as possible
without reaching failure. When finished, you can start at the
beginning of the ladder and climb again.
Reduce the weekly training volume for a week, every 4th week
and test your rep max about every month or so. The max test will
help develop the mental toughness you need to have in a competition
to push through the pain of fatigue. It will also tell you if
you are heading in the right direction with your training. If
the numbers go down, you are doing something wrong and it's time
to take a look at your training log and change something. If your
repetition max goes up, then your on the right track and you can
reset you training variables.
Along with the set/rep scheme of a training program, you must
also consider the frequency of your workouts. This is a function
of how hard you train. I measure the intensity of my Kettlebell
workouts as a percentage of my repetition maximum. I try to stay
between 30% and 80% of my previous repetition maximum. Occasionally,
after I've worked up to it, I'll go as high as 85-90%. If you
decide to always train at 90% or above, of repetition max, only
do it twice per week and for no more than two weeks. Otherwise
it will lead to overtraining because of the large big drain on
the Central Nervous System which needs a longer time to recover
from hard workouts.
The late Dr. Mel Siff in his excellent book 'Supertraining'
recommends that the training frequency for strength endurance
be between 8 and 14 sessions per week. If you train at 30-50%
you will be able to train as many as 8-14 times per week. If you
cycle the training intensity between 30-80% you can do this no
problem. High volume coupled with moderate intensity leads to
a high degree of general endurance.
Mentally prepare for the competition. Read all you can about
this subject. My favorite technique of mental preparation is called
autogenic training. A common method developed in East Germany.
It is described in the book, "Quantum Fitness"
by Irving Dardik and Denis Waitley. Another great book that covers
the subject of mental preparation in detail is "Red Gold"
by ex Soviet Olympic coach Grigori Raiport. The Russians have
mental preparation down to a science.
Finally, but not least in importance is to have fun. My experience
with kettlebell competitions has been very positive. You get to
meet other people with similar interests and have a lot of fun
cheering each other on.
Christian Rubio is a Russian Kettlebell Sport
competitor and coach located in Orlando FL. He is
available for private coaching, group seminars, and
develops optimum programs for Kettlebell Sport. He can
be reached through his website,
www.kettlebellsport.us.
