Knee Injury. Or, How I Became a Snatch Specialist

Yesterday I dislocated my knee. Although I've dislocated my knee more times than I can count, I have not injured it to this degree since I had reconstructive knee surgery in 1996. The irony here is that I did not dislocate the knee exercising (GS has a very low incidence of injury). I actually did it sitting down in the courtroom, in the middle of a rape trial. Long story, I'll spare you the details.

As you may know from a previous post, my favorite kettlebell exercise (and sporting event) is the Long Cycle Clean and Jerk aka "Long Cycle" or "LC" in Internet parlance. In addition to loving the LC for the total body workout it provides, I have progressed faster in the LC than I have in other lifts, and the positive training results have encouraged me to concentrate more on this exercise.
The legs are the prime movers for much of the LC, and it provides a much more intense stressor on the lifter's legs than the snatch. Using two kettlebells instead of one has a lot to do with that.

I had planned, based on my progress, to enter into a competition in the Men's LC event. In light of that, I had already shifted my workout focus to LC. I was even considering dropping the snatch completely from my workouts until the contest was over. Then I dislocated my knee.

Now the knee is pretty sore. Sore enough that I'm just not up to cleaning and jerking two 24kg KB's for 8-10 minutes at 7 rpm. Or, more accurately, I'm not up to cleaning and jerking any amount of weight right now for any period of time.

Fortunately, I can still get a good KB workout with the snatch. Because of the mechanics of the snatch, I can still do this lift for several minutes at a stretch without any stress on my knee. As a matter of fact, my knee felt better after an eight minute snatch set with my 20kg KB than it had all day.

So, while I'm waiting for the knee to heal up, I'll be concentrating on the One-Armed Snatch (OAS). Its not so bad. It's a weak link I need to work on, and here's my chance. In the mean time, I'll be formulating a plan to incorporate squats and stretching into my routine to ensure a proper muscle balance in my knee area. Wish me luck...

Here is a video of a KB expert, Bonnie Mullaney, working the snatch. She has also recently suffered an injury, although much more serious than mine(broken leg). Please remember her in your prayers. I wish her a speedy and full recovery.

Kettlebell Comparison

Kettlebells were not commonly available in the US for the last several decades of the 20th century. Then, in 2001, Dragondoor.com made kettlebells available to the US general public. These bells appear to be based on a very old kettlebell design, and more resemble the weight-measuring implement used for weighing grain than the modern physical training tool that has become standardized in size for international sport competition. Most Americans didn't know any better, and the kettlebells sold well for DD. Well enough, in fact, that a number of companies began selling knock-offs of the dragondoor product.
In the last few years, true Kettlebell Sport has grown in the US and other Western countries. To compete on the international level, American athletes needed true sport kettlebells, built on the standardized sport dimensions. The Amercian Kettlebell Club was the first organization to offer true sport Kettlebells in the US. In true American (and Chinese) fashion, it wasn't long before knock-offs appeared. (Edited to add: In September of 2009, three months after I first posted this blog entry, I learned that usgsf.com first imported sport kettlebells to the US in 2002, although few lifters were aware of this event. USGSF imports their kettlebells from Russia).
I bought my first competition-style kettlebell from Perform Better (performbetter.com). PB carries a number of differently styled kettlebells. Their "First Place Elite" Kettlebell is their competition-style model. The 20kg KB I bought appears to be the same dimensions as other competition bells. Here it is next to an AKC 20kg and an AKC 24kg:

If you look closely you will see that some of the paint has chipped off at the lower right portion of the KB. The paint on these KB's chips off easily when they strike another KB during jerks and long cycle. You will also notice that the stripping of the handle is not even or uniform. The PB KBs do not come pre-stripped, so all blame for the shoddy job belongs to me. Unfortunately, stripping the paint revealed quite a bit of bondo. I had to grind the handle with a drill and file to get the handle smooth enough to use. It took a lot of time to get it ready to use.
My next competition bell purchase was an AKC 20kg KB. It appears below:

This KB is a great improvement over the PB bell. When the PB and the AKC Kb's collide in jerks or long cycle, the PB bell loses paint. The AKC bell still looks like the day I bought it. The only difference is its handle is slightly thicker than other comp bells and the handle surface is slightly rough. I decided to leave it as is, and it has been fine.
The newer AKC bells I mentioned in my last post ("Wonder Twins") are the AKC 24kg's. I have no complaints about the bells and find them to be near perfect. Here is a photo of compared to the 20kg AKC bell:



An here is a close up showing the differences in the handles in old and new:


As you can see, the new AKC handles are polished and require no special touches to make them ready for immediate use. You may also notice that the new AKC bell has a slightly thinner handle than the old one.
That's all for this time. I hope to post comparison picks of DD style Kb's in the near future. I am especially fond of one DD knock-off brand that I find to be an exceptional value. Until next time...

The Wonder Twins: My New AKC 24kg Kettlebells

Today I received two 24 kilogram competition-style kettlebells from the American Kettlebell Club. I've been anxiously awaiting their arrival since I surpassed the "Rank II" level for amateur kettlebellers set by the WKC.
I was pleased with what I got. They are uniform in size and shape, and the handles feel great in my hand. They look really nice; not quite the Rolls Royce quality of Leoko kettlebells from Finland, but I have to say that Leokos were the first thing I thought of when I took these out of the box. These are nice, quality kettlebells. I'm glad I bought them.
As soon as I took them out of the box, I did a five minute set of Long Cycle. I averaged 7-8 reps per minute, and finished with 37 reps total. I'm hoping to make the 69 rep total I need to make my "Rank I" level in the next month or so. Judging by how tonight went, I think that's realistic.
By the way, the American Kettlebell Club has a sale going right now (that made this purcahse possible) and they had very attentive and efficient customer service. I have no affiliation with these folks other than being a fan of their training methods and coaches. I'd recommend them to anyone considering buying kettlebells.

Here is the link to the AKC web site shopping page:

http://www.americankettlebellclub.com/forum/faq.php?s=d74bc8c4cd5d59ac2ae03bf2b8d4fad7

Here is the WKC rankings page:
http://worldkettlebellclub.com/ranks.php

Long Cycle Clean and Jerk

There are two traditional lifts in GS (girevoy sport; "girevoy" is Russian for "kettlebell"). The lifts are the snatch and the jerk. The jerk is performed holding two kettlebells. It is an explosive pressing movement that uses the legs as well as the arms. The snatch is a one-armed snatch; the competitor switches hands once during the time allotted. Contestants are allowed ten minutes for each lift. There is usually at least an hour between lifts.
My favorite kettlebell exercise is the "long cycle" clean and jerk ("LC"). It is a newer competition lift, although it is now a well-established event in GS. In LC, the girevik (Russian for "kettlebell lifter") lifts two kettlebells off the ground to his shoulders (the "clean") and then jerks them both overhead. He then lowers them to his shoulders, then lowers them again between his legs, then resumes the exercise.
I like LC because it works the entire body. I think I also like it because one body part does not get appreciably more fatigued before the others. If anything wears out first for me it is my wrists. But I guess that is not a bad thing. One of the benefits of GS is the strength-endurance it builds in a girevik's connective tissues as well as his muscles. Strong wrists are a useful and valuable attribute for everyday life.
In full disclosure, I must admit that I have progressed in LC much faster than I have in the snatch or the jerk. It just comes naturally to me.
Here is a video example of the long cycle clean and jerk:

Inaugural Post

I am a 40-year-old married father of three, and a career prosecutor. My wife and I (and our kids) are very involved in our church. We have very little free time outside of work and church.

My one real hobby is lifting kettlebells. I lift at home, in my garage, after we have put the kids in bed and made their school lunches for the next day.

I love kettlebells because they condition me for real life. The standard spiel I give is that ketttlebell workouts give me the conditioning to unload a moving truck then push mow my lawn, and not be too tired or sore to go to church the next day. It's a workout that prepares you to work in the garden or the lawn. If someone asks you to help them dig ditches, or put up fence posts or some other hard labor one Saturday, you can do it, even if all you do Monday through Friday is sit at desk all day.

Kettlebells were developed in Russia as counterweights for grain scales. People noticed that the guys who moved the kettlebells all day were very strong and resilient. Eventually, they became a physical training tool. Over time, lifting kettlebells became a sporting event in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Recently, the sport has gained popularity outside of the former Soviet bloc. Pavel Tsatsouline popularized kettlebells as a training tool in the US and other countries. True kettlebell sport lifting in the US followed a few years later, and was popularized by Valery Fedorenko.

I have yet to compete in any kettlebell sport contests, but I hope to one day. Right now I just train in my garage, and chat with other kettlebell enthusiasts on discussion boards.
That's all for now. A couple links on Fedorenko and Tsatsouline appear below.
-David




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Tsatsouline
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valery_Fedorenko