IUKL USA Open Kettlebell Competition

The week leading up to the IUKL Open was a good taper for the competition. Although I though I had peaked already at the IKSFA Meet hitting a personal best in Kettlebell Jerk and Kettlebell Snatch I still had some momentum for the IUKL meet. So Coach Duffy put me through a good taper to get me ready. I had a few more days off than I was use to but it was good because of work.
 Main Work Sets
4/16 Monday
2x24kg Kettlebell Jerk 10min 8rpm (8min 64reps)
22kg Kettlebell Snatch 6min 16rpm
4/17 Tuesday
2x22kg Kettlebell Jerk 5 min 10rpm
24kg Kettlebell Snatch 10min 15rpm (8:45 68/65 new pr)
4/19 Thursday
2x24kg Kettlebell Jerk 6min 8rpm
24kg Kettlebell Snatch 6min 15rpm (This workout felt ok not great.)
Competition day Sunday April 22nd. I weighed in 72kg on the dot for the 73kg weight class. IUKL has a different ranking system than ISKFA,IKFF and WKC. You can't get CMS with the 24s so my goal number of 148pt was out of the window. They go up to Rank 1 with the 24s and I didn't make Rank 1 my goal but I made sure I would pass those numbers again. I wanted to get a better score than I got at the IKSFA meet, I hit 2 PRs 75 Jerks and 125 Snatches. I saw a few familiar faces but wish there were more competitors there. Since the sport is still growing and getting larger more athletes no matter what affiliation they have to an organization they need to make it to these small competitions.
It was a surprise to see the Ice Chamber ladies there all the way from California, Mike Sanders from NJ, Joe Eagan and his family from NH and the Lockout crew from Massachusetts all made it out. Fedor Fuglyev was there with Valentyn Berbenychuk from the Ukraine and they had taught a 2-day seminar that my coach and Scott got a chance to go to. They mentioned that Fedor was insane and his training was different than everyone elses. But he does what he does. Anyways back to the competition. There were only 11 total flights with Long cycle being the last flight. It was organized so that there was a long enough break for those doing biathlon to get enough rest for snatch. Women were only allowed to do snatch as per IUKL rules. There were some great performances by the women with 2 ladies doing snatch with the 24kg bell. Wil Metcalf had a great performance lifting the 32s hitting pr in Jerk and good numbers in snatch before he ripped his hand. Scott hit 45 reps even though he wasn't feeling up to par. Not bad for only being 3 away from his best. The kettlebell handles were thicker than what I was use to but its competition and you have to be ready for anything. Here are my 2 sets. I hit good numbers in jerk and a new PR in snatch. I had the privilege of having Maya from Ice Chamber count my sets. Im glad she liked them :)
IUKL Kettlebell Jerk Set 2x24kg
IUKL Kettlebell Snatch set 24kg Overall it was a great competition even though it was small. I'm glad I was able to hit a New PR in snatch and stayed somewhat consistent in jerk. From here I can hopefully move on up and focus on reaching new heights within the sport. Next competition is the big one unless some pop up over the summer. WKC World Championships in Chicago. I missed the last 2 but I plan on going to this one! Long road of training ahead but I'm gonna enjoy the ride! Whatever competition you are getting ready for train hard and train smart! Whatever it is you do in Kettlebell sport help build it in the USA!

Road to the IUKL Meet

So it has been a while since I last updated my blog. I have been training hard for the next meet I will be competing in. My training leading up to this was a bit different than what I thought I was going to do. I was put on a path to keep my momentum going. I hit new PRs and my conditioning was good so might as well keep pushing. My goal is to get CMS this year at the WKC World championships so by next year I can start working with the 32s and on my way to MS. This is probably one of the toughest roads I have ever traveled. After the IKSFA meet I was beat!!!! I had no idea I was gonna get hit that hard. But I did put all my effort into that meet. So I started off slow.
4/4/12
OAJ 16kg 3 min/3 min 21rpm
Snatch 16kg 3 min/3 min 22rpm
OALC 16kg 3 min/3 min 12rpm
2 min rest btwn sets
Rowing 2k 8:49

4/5/12 Kettlebell Jerk Training
2x22kg 2 min 10rpm
2x24kg 2 min 10rpm
2x26kg 2 min 9rpm
2x28kg 2 min 8rpm
2x22kg 2 min 10rpm (supposed to be 3 min)
2 min rest btwn sets
Did some glove snatch 16kg 2min/2min 24rpm

4/7/12 Kettlebell Snatch Training
Warm-up 16kg 30/30 reps
20kg 4 min/4 min 18rpm
Swings
24kg 25/25 reps
26kg 25/25 reps
28kg 25/25 reps
Pull-ups 15 reps

4/9/12
10 min test set Jerk
2x24kg 8rpm (only did 6 min, then 2 mins to try and finish the set felt very tired that day)
Snatch 24kg 8 min 15rpm (only did 6 min at 14-15rpm. Short rest btwn sets)
Overall felt tired and shot for these sets.

4/10/12 Kettlebell Biathlon Training
2x20kg 2 min 12rpm
2 min rest
2x22kg 5 min 10rpm
Snatch 22kg 6 min 18rpm

4/12/12 Kettlebell Jerk training
2x20kg 2 min 12rpm
2x22kg 2 min 10rpm
2x26kg 2 min 8rpm
2x28kg 2 min 8rpm
After this workout I felt very good!!

4/13/12 Kettlebell Snatch Training
24kg 8 min 15rpm (7 min 60/45 reps) I felt pretty good during this set. Hands are doing good.
Swing 32kg 30/30 3x
So far so good. I'll post this week's training leading up to the competition.

IKSFA competition and taper week leading up to event

This past weekend I competed in the Crossfit L.I.C. IKSFA kettlebell sport competition and the first meet I got back on the platform. Leading up to the competition I finally got a 10 minute jerk set and hit a new PR and bested my snatch number. I'm getting closer to finishing a full 10 minutes and hitting an even higher PR. Back to the competition, I felt good going into it because the last few training sessions I was able to take two days off. My weight was good, I went in weighing 72kg while working my way down to 70kg. I competed in the biathlon with 24kg. Not many competitors in biathlon event which I found a little weird. The sport has changed over the last few years. A few people did just jerk or just snatch but not both. Anyways I competed as part of Team Lockout Kettlebells, Coached by C-Duff and team members Scott Tighe MS, Wil Metcalf CMS, and Melissa Metcalf . 
Scott hit a new PR in Long Cycle with the 32s ( 48 reps) just one short of tying Marty Farrell but still making CMS and Will hit new PRs in both Jerk and Snatch using the 32s.
My week leading into the competition I only had two workout days. Monday's workout:
2x24kg Jerk 7 minutes 7 rpm
24kg Snatch 8 minutes 14 rpm
Tuesday-Off


Wednesday's workout:
 2x24kg Jerk 6 minute 7 rpm
24kg Snatch 6 minutes 15 rpm
Then I took off Thursday and Friday preparing mentally for the competition. I was ready.
Jerk set was up first as always....here is my set
 

New PR 75 reps!!!!

Here is my Snatch set

New PR in competition 60R/65L.

I was 11 away from what I wanted to do. I hit my Jerk goal but missed my snatch goal by 15 reps. I wanted to make CMS but but hit a really good Rank 1.
The venue was great much better than last year. It was great to see old friends of the kettlebell world and great performances. It was a great weekend and there were some great photos taken taken by the host. Congrats to all who competed!!! Can't wait to do it all again. Next competition IUKL April 22nd in Connecticut!!!
I also owe a HUGE thanks to Coach Duffey for helping me reach new highs in the sport!! Im glad I came back to a great Coach!!