Road to Dublin: Training Update 1

As of right now I'm 5 weeks into my training for World Championships. After having the chance to meet with Ivan Denisov, I have a few things to work on. Biggest thing is to get my numbers up for jerk. So the last few weeks I've been training hard focusing on improving technique and endurance in the lift. The other biggest challenge I face again is the weight loss. I'm going from 165lbs down to 149.6lbs (75kg to 68kg). Its probably the toughest part of my training.
How will I be making the transition from one weight class to another: caloric tracking (intake and usage). I use My Fitness Pal to track calories and Polar Heart Rate monitor to track how much I burn during my workouts and runs. These two applications help make the weight loss easier to handle. I can see exactly what it is I can have and how much food I can eat. Also If I want to have a cheat meal or food I can make sure it works into my daily caloric intake.
As far as training has been going things are working. I'm definitely getting pushed. My technique is getting better in Kettlebell Jerk. Two weeks ago (Sept 26th) I performed some test sets to see where my training is taking me. I was excited with the results. Here is the video:


One big thing in Kettlebell Jerk technique that I'm working on is my balance. I still have a horizontal sway back and forth. It's something I was doing to generate power to get the bells up. What I need to do is remain still until it is time for a rep. Then start the lift without the rocking forward. More on that later.
I'll try to update more often leading up to World Championships. With only 5 weeks left of training until competition things will get more intense.

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.

A.K.A. Kettlebell Sport USA Nationals 2014

USA Nationals was held yesterday at the Reebok Sports Club in NYC. It was a great event with a lot of talent from around the USA coming into NYC to compete. This event was a qualifier for World Championships in Hamburg, Germany later this year. Just like last year at Nationals I competed this year in the 73kg weight class Biathlon lifting the 32kg bell. My goal was to better last year's results and move closer to getting Master of Sport in the AKA/IUKL ranking table. To achieve those results would yield a more competitive field. This year there were 3 lifters in the 73kg weight class lifting the 32kg bells. It was the first time there were 3 people lifting the same weight bell. I was excited for that reason. The field was tough! Marty Farrell who has been doing this for a long time, Michael Cluse who lifted in the World Championships in Tyumen, Russia and myself.
So there were 4 lifters in biathlon lifting the 32s. John Lesko had a good showing putting up good numbers in both jerk and snatch. Note: he was the only one to last the full 10 mins snatch. Great job John!!
So my game plan was to do better than last year because I have improved but I didn't know how much better because training was off leading up to it. Whatever the excuse was it didn't matter. I was on the platform lifting the 32s.
First event in biathlon is Kettlebell Jerk


I did okay...better than last year and a new PR by 3 reps. I felt much better here and solid during the set. I ended my set because of the reps I was producing were starting to get worst and worst. I didn't want to push the reps out from the elbows. So I ended the set.
Next up Kettlebell Snatch


In snatch I didn't hit my intended target of 50/50. On my first hand I switched at 44 reps because I felt a tear starting to happen and it cause me to switch earlier than I wanted. On the second hand I felt pretty good and did 48 reps. I was able to get a personal best on both lifts. New Personal Best in result as well.
It was great seeing everyone and all the great performances. Friend from Punch Gym Sarasota made an appearance with 2 new lifters and they did exceptionally well with some adversities. Teri S. was so close in Snatch to win her event but it was a great job with it being her first time doing snatch. Cayla B. competed in Longcycle with the 16kg first time at Nationals(Next time you'll be prepared for anything). Chris S. great job next time not so many wafels and dinges before you lift ;). The ladies from Ice Chamber Kettlebell girls brought an expanded team out for Nationals. The core group of veterans as well as the newbies lifted exceptionally well. Rylee (13 yrs old) lifted great in the 16kg Snatch division and Miranda (14 yrs old) lifted great as well in the 16kg Longcycle division. They looked like they have been doing this for a while. Brittany from IC achieved CMS in Snatch and MS in Longcycle ( great set with her and Melissa S. going head to head).  Sakaya from IC also produced great results her first time out at Nationals! There were a lot of good sets: Amanada W and BJ from Texas, Chris D from DC kicked ass in 32kg LC, Doug S and Juan P went head to head in 28kg LC, Team Pride Conditioning lifted great, there were so many great sets! It was a long day and the event went well. OH yeah can't forget Team Lockout lifter Will M coming back on the platform lifting the 24s. Great seeing you all!! Can't wait for the next event.....maybe I can lol.