Iron Bell Competition 2016

With a big personal event happening later this year I am restricted to picking one or two Kettlebell Sport events. I picked the NJ IronBell Kettlebell competition, June 25th. Since the beginning of 2016 I decided I wanted to compete in both Biathlon and Long Cycle. This was my first comp of 2016 so I decided to go big, I lifted 24kg in both events.
My mindset going into this was to hit a respectable number in Biathlon and get a huge number in Long cycle. Oh how things change when you're on the platform. Biathlon goals were 90 jerks and 150 snatches (75/75) and then 70+ in Long Cycle. My results from the day were

24+24kg Kettlebell Jerk


24kg Kettlebell Snatch



And this is where things changed. I was thinking 70+ reps when I drove to the location in the morning. That changed after completing snatch to 60 reps. After the break and stepping onto the platform I decided to get Rank 1 numbers.

Kettlebell Longcycle


Everything changes when you are tired and your body starts to feel exhausted. Thats what happened. I respect every lifter that trains and competes in both Biathlon and Long cycle. Its tough on the body and the mind. I can't wait to do it again.
Right now my focus is on building reps and speed. The faster I go, the more reps I can get in done in 10 minutes. So from now till next competition, don't know when that will be, I will continue to wokr on all 3 lifts and build up these numbers!!

Hello Long Cycle!!

After the World Championships in Dublin, I noticed that there were a few athletes that competed in both Biathlon and Long Cycle. This happened in the professional as well as amateurs. A couple well known lifters are known to compete in both one of them being Ivan Denisov.
As a goal for myself in 2016, I would like to be proficient in all lifts of competition. Eventually be able to lift 32s in both biathlon and long cycle with good results in both. Why? This makes training interesting :) Also one lift correlates with the others. Training Jerk and Snatch help with Long cycle and vice versa. Example: training Jerk helps with rack and fixation, while long cycle helps with cardio allowing you to lift at a higher rpm in jerk and snatch.
Here is one long cycle session from last week. I'm also starting to do more band work and this is helping with jerk and fixating much quicker. (more on that later)

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!!

Meanwhile in Russia.... Russian National Team selected!!

The Russian National Team that'll be competing in the World Championships in Dublin, Ireland has been selected. Some of our favorite lifters will be competing and some that we don't know much about will be there as well. In any case this team is well respected. They have been leading the sport for many years. It'll be a great experience to see them all lift!!

Here is the link Russian Girevoy Sport National Team

photo cred: Sergei Merkulin

The composition of the Russian national team to participate in World Championship
 
Men's Professional Biathlon: 
63kg Johnny Benidze, St. Petersburg 
68kg Vladimir Beavers, Tyumen
73kg Alexander Khvostov, St. Petersburg 
78kg Mikhail Sverdlovsk Kvashnin, St. Petersburg 
85kg Anton Anasenko,  Omsk 
95kg Vladimir Gurov, Kaluga  
+95kg Ivanov Denis, Chelyabinsk 
 
Men's Professional Long Cycle: 
63kg Alex Ryabkov, Tyumen  
68kg Alexander Usoltsev, Tyumen  
73kg Ivan Belyaev, Belgorod region 
78kg Lapshin Nikolai, St. Petersburg 
85kg Denis Vasilyev, St. Petersburg 
95kg Edward Opelender, Omsk  
+95kg Nikolai Kichimaev, St. Petersburg 

Women's Professional  Snatch: 
58kg Olga Yaremenko, Omsk  
63kg Natalya Gorbunova, Omsk  
68kg Xenia (Ksenia) Dedyukhina, Chelyabinsk  
+68kg Anlina Vaskina, Smolensk 

I'm excited to see all the other countries and their participants. Some countries are finishing up their championships to select their athletes. Good Luck to all and see you in Dublin!!

Training Day with Ivan Denisov

A few weeks after the USA Nationals, a small group of us had a chance to work with Ivan while on his way back from Mexico. Thank you Chris and Yuri for setting that up for us!! The group consisted of Duffey, Aaron L, Cara, Judi and myself. All disciplines of lifting were there, so we were in for some good information.

I won't give everything away but if you get a chance to work with him you'll find out a lot about yourself and where you are. Some of the key points that I will mention, that you have access to, which Ivan went over was being balanced during all movements in jerk and long cycle, and learning to be relaxed in all lifts. He told me some specifics to improve my numbers in Jerk. Kettlebell Jerk is one area where a lot of people know is not my strong lift compared to Kettlebell Snatch. Ivan was able to change the way we thought about the lifts. Same principles just a different thought of how to execute the them correctly. 

I wrote notes and videoed a lot which is something you need to do because there is a lot to go over and over once you are done. 

Big key points- Use your legs not your arms to lift the bells, be relaxed, be balanced and breath. It was a fun afternoon and very informative. Thank you Ivan, Chris and Yuri. 

I will begin to post my Road to Dublin training updates this week. So far re-learning these techniques has been a bit rough but I like where its going!!

Flexibility for Kettlebell Jerk

One of the biggest issues for men when learning the Jerk is the rack position. The rack is the place to rest and recover from each rep, enabling you to duplicate and complete another rep (refueling station). What most men and/or women that lift double kettlebells find difficult is to find that area of rest. So, in breaking down the rack position we can look at areas to improve to make the rack position comfortable and tolerable.

 In the above picture the lifter is in perfect rack position to perform the jerk. The body needs to be prepared for each repetition, so rest and recovery is what we are looking to achieve in rack. The spine needs to allow the upper body to deviate from the straight line in order to have a place for the bells to rest. If not the body will go under tension trying to support the bells.

                                             

 

In rack position the upper body (shoulders and trapezius) must be able to relax. Through this relaxation, the arms (elbows) will be able to reach the hips and allow the legs to support the weight of the bells. When the elbows can’t reach the hips and the knees bend an area that is analyzed is the flexibility of the hips and hamstrings. When the area that needs to be worked on is the flexibility of the upper body particularly the spine. The back (upper and lower) plays a key role in allowing the elbows to reach the hips or at least get close (depending on body type).

First thing is to get the T-Spine (thoracic) mobile and flexible. A tool I use to enhance the mobility of the spine is a foam roller.

I use the foam roller to help loosen up the muscles and work range of motion. Working my way from the low back to the upper back continually working flexion and extension. I also use the roller to loosen up the shoulders and latissimus dorsi a.k.a. Lats. 

The second exercise I continue to work on and improve is the gymnastics bridge. The bridge is a full body stretch targeting the upper body, shoulders and forearms also the quads and hips. If you can't get the bridge in the beginning don't worry. Here are a few ways to build up to the full gymnastics bridge.

1.     Wall walks

2.    Bridge with head

3.    Full bridge with small ball (not shown)

4.    Back bridge press ups 

5.    Cobra position (yoga low back stretch)

Start by increasing the range of motion of each stretch and the length of time in the stretch building up to a minute per stretch. The next areas to increase flexibility are the hips. This is a large area because we not only need to look at the hips but the low back, glutes and hamstrings.

Some great mobility exercises for the hips are the Cossacks squat and the rock bottom squat (ATG squat). 

Some stretches I recommend for the low back, glutes and hips are the pigeon stretch, butterfly stretch, hurdler stretch and straddle stretch, lunge and quad stretch. 

Theses are just some of the ways to increase your overall flexibility.

As flexibility in the thoracic spine and lower body increase you’ll be able to feel comfortable in the rack position allowing you to last longer and complete the ten-minute set.

2nd Kettlebell Sport competition at Punch Gym Sarasota!!

This was a great meet!!! Jay and Karen Trunzo put on one hell of a meet. It ran smooth with no bumps in the road. Times and flights were set, lifters knew when they were lifting and had no question when they were up. No matter what they stayed on task and made the meet GREAT!!
Jay and Karen worked with me and I am very proud what they have been able to do with their gym and  how they positively affected their community for the better. And now that they are into kettlebell sport I can't wait to see what they do.
Back to the competition, it was a small meet but a huge turnout! Some big names and some new comers  showed up and decided to put it all out on the platform. The ladies from the Ice Chamber flew in from San Francisco, Scott Shetler came down from Atlanta and the entire Punch Gym Sarasota Family came out to take part in this 1st Kettlebell Sport Championship at Punch Gym Sarasota! It was a WKC endorsed event so they use WKC rules and ranking. Since a lot were new to the sport they didn't go to heavy but that doesn't take away from what they were able to do and experience. Scott had a small competition with John Beamon in long cycle with 20s, Melissa lifted the 24kg amazingly in biathlon, Surya and Jessica both lifted the 20kg in Biathlon and put up a great performance with Jessica getting her second MS. I lifted the 28kg in Biathlon and had a great meet. I missed CMS rank by 2 reps in Snatch....not that happy but still good. Here are my 2 sets from the meet.
2x28kg Jerk


28kg Snatch


Overall it was a great meet as I said before. Melissa Swanson and I both won the Best Lifter Award in Biathlon and Scott Shetler won Best Male lifter in Long Cycle and Teri Stabler from Punch Gym won Best Female lifter in Longcyle!! Awesome!! The sport is still growing!!
Next Competition will be in Wilton, Conn and it will be an IUKL/AKA meet. Back to training!!

Huge Thanks to Jay and Karen for hosting me this weekend. I can't thank you both enough and very happy I was able to inspire the both of you into this wonderful sport!

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!

Anton Anasenko kills it in Long cycle

I have been following Anton on youtube and he is one of the great lifters of this era in Girevoy Sport. Here he is doing Long Cycle 2x32kg. Awesome technique!