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!