World Championships 2015 Dublin, Ireland: Re-cap

It's been a little over two week from the World Championships in Dublin, Ireland. Over 36 countries and 560+ athletes. The USA team brought over 50 athletes to compete this year. Almost all professional weight classes were filled up and there were more than 2 lifters in certain weight classes for the amateurs. Some even went against each other in flights. That helped to make things more exciting for the USA team. The competition went on for 4 full days (26th-29th). These were long days as amateurs started the day and the professionals finished it. The schedule for the competition: 26th Nov, Biathlon and Women's Snatch- Men- 63kg, 68kg, 73kg and 78kg, Women- 58kg and 63kg; 27th Nov, Biathlon and Women's Snatch- Men- 85kg, 95kg, +95kg, Women- 68kg and +68kg; 28th Nov, Long Cycle- All weight classes- Amateur, Professional and Veterans, 29th Nov, Veterans Men's Biathlon and Women's Snatch.

First part of the trip and competition was a bit hard but not difficult. It was the task of registering and weighing in. Since we had a lot of members it took longer than we thought. Thank you to Judi and Rhonda for doing their best to keep this part organized and running smoothly. i was a bit frustrating seeing other teams go in, pay and weigh in before we had a chance to even start. Eventually we finally got to weigh in. I weighed in at 67.3kg (148.06 lbs) which was 1.54 lbs under my weight class. It felt good to come in strong and feeling good (although a bit dehydrated from the 3 hour wait). I had till the following day to rehydrate and eat a hardy meal.

Competition day: I got there early with some of the team. Amateurs were up first so it gave the professional lifters some time to relax and enjoy the amateur lifters put up some great performances. Eric Hayes and Carter Berry both had some great performances; Eric 117 reps in Jerk, Carter 156 reps in Jerk. The rest of the team also put up some really good numbers stepping up on the international platform. Some of the judging was strict and some of it wasn't. It's all subjective to the judge(s) watching the lifters.
I came up around 3pm Ireland time. First up was Jerk. Not my best lift but it was something I had worked on for the last 3 months to improve. Here is my set.

I thought I felt good but nerves probably got the best of me. I got stopped after my 32nd rep for a shoulder infraction. I though I was okay resetting my rack position but it was viewed as illegal rest. There is nothing I could do after putting the bells down. Now I know what I can't do and will have that as a focus during my training going forward. Next up was Snatch.


Snatch is my stronger of the two lifts because there is no real rest position besides the lockout. I hit a personal best of 85 reps (5 better than in Aug). I'm proud to represent the USA in World competition and I hope to do it again. Thank you to all who supported me during this journey!!

Please check out some of the other great lifters from the USA: Juan Pellot and Rick Martins in Long cycle, Chris Doenlen, Aaron Guyett, JT Netterville, John Lesko, and some women Melissa Swanson (141 reps in Snatch!!), Brittany VS, Erin Mercadante, Ryle Reeves and can't forget my FL sister Cayla and Teri!!

When I made the decision to lift at the 68kg weight class I knew what could happen with regards to strength and endurance. My improvement to my endurance was definitely noticeable as I hit new PRs when I ran long distances. It also effected my strength possibly more than I thought. Going forward I will stay at the 73kg weight class but keep my weight around 70-72kg. During the weight loss process when I reached this area I felt really good.

Now back to the basics to really work on my technique and find what works best for me. It's kind of what everyone says when you experience something bad. It was an eye opener but this time around there is more work to do. I have plenty of more reps and great sets ahead of me. More competitions to come and another World Championship in the future. I'm back up to 163lbs and ready to get back to work.
Time to lift and lose some pounds ;) Excited for the road ahead!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Congratulations Team USA Members 2015

In case you missed it, today was the final announcement of all the Team USA Kettlebell Sport athlete who will be competing in Dublin, Ireland this November. Congratulations to all. I wish you all the best in training leading up to the event! It will be the first time for me traveling across the Atlantic for competition. I'm excited for the experience!!

A look back to 2014 IUKL World Championships in Hamburg, Germany

In last year's competition at the IUKL World Championships, the 68kg weight class had 4 professional lifters. If you have never seen a Kettlebell Sport competition there are 1- 6 lifters in a weight class going at the same time. Each country is allowed to have 1 lifter per weight class in the professional division. Men lift 32kg kettlebells and women lift 24kg kettlebells. The competition is to get as many reps as possible in 10 minutes with out setting the bells down. I will be competing in Biathlon which involves two lifts, Jerk with two kettlebells and Snatch with one. Here is what last years competition looked like in my weight class.

68kg (149.6lbs) Men's Professional Biathlon Jerk



As you can see a lot of great lifters! Next up is snatch.

68kg Men's Professional Biathlon Snatch



Snatch is where I am confident where as Jerk is what I need to work the most on. The flexibility of my hip, back and hamstrings needs to improve so I can maintain straight legs to rest my quads in rack position. Its a never ending battle but by November I should see much improvement when working with the 32kg kettlebells.

My interview with Brittany VS about Kettlebell Sport!!

Recently I was interviewed by Brittany VS of KOR Strength and Conditioning. Here is the link to her page and the interview. Hope you enjoy!!
What do Waffles, Guinness and Kettlebells have in common?

Taking the 32kg bells for a ride

The beginning of this week I began training to lift the 32kg (red) bells for competition. I will be competing with them at the IUKL meet in Wilton, CT May 4th. Here are my first 2 sets going after these bells. They are no joke!!
Kettlebell Jerk 2x32kg


Kettlebell Snatch 32kg



So this is where I am at. My goal is to get Master of Sport and hope to lift these at the Nationals in September and the WKC championships in October. Reps needed in IUKL is 175pts and WKC 58 jerks/ 55 snatches per arm.

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!