Goodbye 2011

2011 was not what I expected.
What I expected was to reach WKC CMS numbers in Long Cycle in the first couple months, then officially achieve that rank at the GA State Championships later in the summer.
Instead I got tendinitis in my elbows, and that sidelined me for most of the year.
I spent that "off" time running, usually three days a week. The other days I walked. The walks (and the runs) were pretty challenging, because my neighborhood and the surrounding areas are extremely hilly. A few of the hills take several minutes to climb.
But it was ok. I enjoyed it, and I worked on my general endurance 6 or 7 days a week.
Also, I confirmed what I had posted earlier in the year:
Kettlebell Sport is an endurance sport.
The proof was in how quickly my numbers rebounded after my doctor cleared me to train with kettlebells again. I am not a naturally strong or muscular person, and my upper body turned skinny and flabby while I limited my workouts to running, walking and squats.
But even with skinny, flabby arms I started setting new personal records just weeks after my return to kettlebell training in August, after months of endurance work. Those records include a 77 rep 7 minute 2x24kg set, and several 40 plus rep sets in 3 minutes. I wrote my last blog post about my 97 rep 2x24kg 10 minute set in October. That was significant to me because I felt awful that day, and I suspect on an average day, or even on a bad day when I paced myself with a timer, I would have smashed the 100 rep barrier easily.
With those results I was hoping to be the first American to crack 100 reps in competition. But the November comp I was planning to attend was cancelled. I can't blame the event planners, as several significant competitions were held within weeks (some just days) of the comp, so I did not expect attendance to be high. This was just the only comp within driving distance for the foreseeable future, and my travel budget didn't allow for farther trips this year.
After the comp was cancelled, two American lifters broke the 100 rep barrier in competition on the same day at another competition. Lee Quattrone (101 reps) and Jeff Martone (104 reps) both achieved CMS rank in Long Cycle with their 2x24kg performances at the IKFF National Championships on November 19. I would have liked to have beaten them to it, but I was happy for them both. I hope to meet them on the platform one day soon.
Later in the year my elbow tendinitis flared up again, and I was forced to turn to running and walking as my primary training exercises.
Once my elbows heal again I plan to lift again, although I may be limited to 24kg kettlebells. I'd like to best the 104 rep record that Jeff set, as the mountain climbers say, just because it is there. We'll see.
For now, I wish you all a happy and blessed 2012.
-David

97

Today I set a new personal record of 97 reps in the 2x24kg long cycle clean and jerk.

I didn't feel like working out tonight, and I sat on my garage steps looking at the bells for about 5 minutes before I picked them up. I finally cursed and picked them up, figuring I might as well try for a pr since any workout tonight would feel like suffering anyway.
The set was un-paced; I just set the timer for 10:00 and started a mental countdown from 95 (the rep total I estimated I'd get). I did the 95 and two more reps before the timer went off.
After putting down the bells, I walked around my driveway for 5 minutes catching my breath before my wife asked me to go to the grocery store. I'll probably stretch and take a walk after the kids are in bed.
For now I'm finishing off the homemade lasagna my wife made and a nice glass of red Spanish wine a friend brought me yesterday. This was a good pr.
Until next time...

Balancing Act

A few weeks ago my doctor cleared me to resume kettlebell training. That was the best news I'd gotten in a while.
I had missed lifting the bells. I missed the rhythm and cadence of the lifts. I missed coordinating my breath with the movements, and all the technical aspects of long cycle.
I missed being strong, and the utility and fun things that go with it. This year at the church pool party many of the kids were disappointed I couldn't throw them into the deep end of the pool while we played in the water. Usually I'll stand in the pool and the kids would take turns being thrown for an hour or so. I missed that.
I did enjoy running, and improving at a useful activity. I ran progressively longer and faster, and I enjoyed setting and exceeding new goals.
Now I've resumed lifting. Running was obviously a good choice for conditioning. Even though my muscles had withered without weight training, it was easy to resume kettlebell lifting. I credit the common but underrated general endurance that running provides. I am blessed (cursed?) to live in a neighborhood filled with daunting hills. Many of them are so long they take several minutes to climb. Since kettlebell lifting, particular long cycle, is as taxing as running up a steep hill, it was a great substitute for lifting.
Despite the loss in upper body strength, it only took a month to return to my former level of kettlbell sport conditioning. Last week I did 90 reps of 2x24kg Long Cycle in 10 minutes, and the day after I set a personal best of 41 reps in a three minute sprint.
Despite these results, I still have to keep close tabs on my tendinitis. Sometimes I need an extra day off from lifting when my elbows are tender, and have a running workout instead. When my elbows were sore last night I decided to go for a 5:00 record with the lighter 20kg bells. Even though I had to use the lighter bells, I was happy to get 71 reps in five minutes.
Dealing with my tendinitis is truly a balancing act. Every day there is a question of not just what my lifting volume and intensity will be, but whether I will lift at all. Right now I am hoping to enter the South East championships if my health holds up. Afterward, I will probably take a break of some kind, and focus on GPP outside of kettlebell sport. I want to make sure my elbows completely heal before the year is up.
Until next time...

Kettlebell Domination

So I follow other Kettlebell Sport athlete's blogs. One I like in particular is John Wild Buckley's blog. John is an entertaining writer, and I've enjoyed reading about his progress in the sport and discipline of kettlebell lifting. I was positively enthralled by his accounts of visiting Siberia, and learning under the great coach Sergey Rudnev.
In a May 21 blog post, John recounted an informal demonstration and contest between two famous kettlebell sport champions, Sergey Rachinsky and Sergei Merkulin.
In a recent IKSFA sport camp in St Petersburg, Rachinsky and Merkulin demonstrated Long Cycle technique by engaging in a 5:00 2x32kg contest. Their first five minutes ended in a tie of 44 reps each, for an average of 8.8 reps per minute (rpm).
Not satisfied with a tie, the two decided to compete again to determine a winner. They decided a a 2:00 sprint set would be the tie breaker. Both lifters went all out, at a much faster pace than either would use for a 5:00 training set.
Merkulin finished with with 24 reps (12 rpm). Rachinsky finished with 26 (13 rpm). At the end of his effort, Rachinsky fell to his knees. It was an exciting contest, to be sure.
After reading the blog post, I checked my email and looked over my YouTube subscriptions. One of them is the channel of Ivan Denisov. Denisov is the absolute world champion and record holder in Kettlebell sport, and is a coach and adviser for the World Kettlebell Club (WKC). Ivan often posts competition videos of the athletes he coaches, as well as videos of his regular workouts and competitions.
One new video in particular caught my attention. An ordinary, 6 minute set of 2x32kg Long cycle during a recent workout. Denisov uploaded the video on May 13.

He did 72 reps in 6:00. That's 12 rpm for the entire six minutes. He made it look easy. Here is the video:




Looking over Denisov's competition records, it appears that 12 rpm is not a sprint pace for Denisov the way it is for other world class athletes. As a matter of fact, he has completed 116 reps in 10:00 (11.6 rpm)....the world record.
I do not mean to take anything away from Rachinsky or Merkulin. They are two of the greatest kettlebell sport athletes to ever set foot on the platform. And like most of the top performers in GS, they are reputed to be good people as well as great athletes.
But Denisov dominates this sport like no one else. He is truly in a class by himself.

I'll close with the video of his world record performance. Until next time, take care and God bless.

Running

So my tendinitis has been really slow to heal. I considered a number of ways to stay in shape while I wait to get better. I thought about buying a Concept 2 rowing machine. I know many kettlebell sport athletes use the Concept 2 for general physical preparedness training (GPP), and there has been some success by competitive rowers when they try kettlebell sport. Then a few weeks ago I stumbled across this running program. Known as "The couch to 5k running program", it's a common sense program designed to ease adults who aren't exercising into running a 5k race in 8 weeks.
Running is a cross-training mainstay for GS athletes. There are a lot of pluses to running. It's low cost, and can be done almost anywhere. It's such a popular sport that there are countless online resources available on training, mapping and measuring running routes, and convenient race calendars to plan your events. Most people in North America live within a short drive of several 5K races every weekend.
I started the program on April 24, following it pretty closely. I didn't over-do it, because for the first month my nine-year-old son ran with me. We had fun spending that time together, although after a month he was ready to play and be a nine-year-old boy again. On the days I didn't run, I continued to jump rope and do one armed swings with a kettlebell.
Once my son stopped running with me, I cranked up the intensity and went beyond the couch program. Lately I've been running for about 25 minutes (about 2.5 to 3 miles) or so, with a short warm up and cool down. I run in my neighborhood, which is very, very hilly, so the workout is pretty intense (A neighbor of mine grew up in the mountains of West Virginia, and he says its harder to run in our neighborhood than anywhere he ran growing up).
Competition motivates better than anything, so I plan to run my first race on July 4th, if not sooner.
In the meantime, I'll share a photo of my running partner for the first month of the program. In it I am holding a picture I drew of a quetzalcoatlus (his favorite prehistoric creature) for his birthday. I drew the picture right after breakfast. Both of us still had bed-head. :)

Working on recovery

So I've been dealing with triceps/elbow issues, first reported here, which turned out to be tendinitis.
In the meantime, I've been working on a three-pronged recovery approach. Here are the components:

1. Rest. Not doing movements which aggravate this injury. In this case, no presses or jerks. Obviously that means no long cycle work either. Surprisingly, because the injury is essentially inflammation of the tendon tissue in the elbow, any movement that involves bending the elbow can also aggravate the tendons. That means I have to limit cleans and pull-ups as well.

2. Instituting an injury prevention program. Right now, that means a focus on range of motion (ROM) work, as well as stretching and other flexibility work. I am doing ROM work throughout the day at my desk, and as a warmup and cool down. You can find the foundation of the ROM and flexibility work I practice in Beyond Stretching: Russian Flexibility Breakthroughs by Pavel Tsatsouline. The material in this book was later divided into two of Pavel's later books, but I prefer this one. Pavel does not break down the concepts as simply or as user friendly as he does in his strength training primer Power to the People, but even though it is imperfect, it is the best book I have found on overall flexibility and range of motion.
The ROM work is very similar to traditional Tai Chi warm ups, and the ROM exercises commonly practiced throughout Russia. As for "stretching", it's important to note that the best flexibility work incorporates a type of isometric strength training. This type of flexibility work not only strengthens muscles; it also causes a relaxation response that rapidly increases flexibility. Known as PNF stretching it was developed decades ago by Herman Kabat.
In addition to ROM and PNF work, I've resumed a more expansive yoga practice. I've been a student of yoga since 1994, and was interviewed about my yoga practice for the 2003 book Real Men Do Yoga. Author John Capouya also interviewed a number of pro athletes for the book (Eddie George is on the cover), and he wrote what I think is the most accessible introduction to yoga I've ever read, especially for men more accustomed to weight training and watching ESPN than new age type stuff. I think I was featured as the token "regular guy" among the famous types, and to show how yoga can reduce stress if you have a demanding job (I was in charge of prosecuting most of the child murders in Atlanta at the time). Like the PNF stretching, I rely on yoga for strengthening as much as I do flexibility.

3. The last prong of my rehab is maintaining conditioning. Like most injured athletes, I have been overly concerned about maintaining my sports conditioning while I allow my injuries to heal. This anxiety motivates many athletes to resume sports training before their bodies are ready, and results in re-injuries that are often worse than their initial problem. So part of this is simply giving the athlete a challenging workout to do so he won't hurt himself with a premature resumption of training. Another part of it is selecting an appropriate exercise plan to keep the person in good physical condition for health, irrespective of his athletic goals.
American Kettlebell Sport trainer and coach Cate Imes suggested I try a circuit that included kettlebell swings and jumping rope. Kettlebell Sport athlete (and physician) Matt Schinabeck also recommended swings as a way to maintain the special endurance for kettlebell sport, and, reading the training diary on his blog, I see that he practices what he preaches. Based on their advice, I've combined kettlebell swings with jumping rope to make a challenging circuit. Basically I jump rope for one minute, do a one minute set of left handed swings, jump rope another minute, then complete a set of right handed swings without stopping. I complete this circuit 5 times for a total of 20 minutes. It sounds easy but its a good workout.
If you are looking for a good jump rope, I highly recommend this one. It's the most durable jump rope I've found, and it swings better than any of the ones I used when I was boxing. It comes in two lengths, including one specifically made for tall guys like me. I've had mine for close to 10 years now.

So that's it for now. I'm hoping that within a few weeks I can resume sport training again. If so, I merely want to rehab well enough to make Rank I numbers again in the GA State Championships. In the meantime, I'm working on another piece about injury prevention by practicing sound technique. Until then, I'll leave you with the front cover of Mr. Capouya's book. Take Care and God bless,

David

Disappointment

So I re-injured my arm. And I figured out what was wrong.

I have tendinitis. And not just in my left elbow, but my right one, too.
I was making progress again, and I expected to resume training with the 28 kg kettlebells again by April 1st. But after an easy set of 2x24kg long cycle on Wednesday, March 23rd, I thought I'd follow up with a second set of 2x24kg instead of the easier set with 2x20kg I had planned.

Big mistake.

My left arm told me so, after just 17 reps. I felt a another pain in my left triceps and elbow area, and set down the bells. I thought it was no big deal at the time, but the next day I could tell I had re-injured it.

In the meantime I've done some research about my symptoms, and I've figured out I have tendinitis. Basically, an inflammation or irritation of the tendons.
Some relevant facts for kettlebell sport athletes (taken from WebMD):

1. Tendinitis is most often caused by repetitive, minor impact on the affected area.
Gee, I wonder who that applies to?

2. There are many activities that can cause tendinitis, including:

* Gardening
* Raking
* Carpentry
* Shoveling
* Painting
* Scrubbing
* Tennis
* Golf
* Skiing
* Throwing and pitching
* Kettlebell lifting

Ok, so I added that last one. But now we know.

3. Poor stretching or conditioning before exercise or playing sports also increases a person's risk.

Yes. See my last blog post.

Now for the best part:

4. Initial treatment of tendinitis includes:

* Avoiding activities that aggravate the problem (edited to add: even if it's your only hobby)
* Resting the injured area (even if it makes you stir crazy).

And for the coup de grâce:

5. Tendinitis may take weeks to months to go away, depending on the severity of your injury. This is true even if you have a meet planned and its the only one less than one hundred miles from your home in the next year.
Ok, so I added that last sentence, too.

Looking forwards, I also found this advice at WebMD:

How Can I Prevent Tendinitis?

Include warm up and cool down exercises and stretches in your exercise routine. As a general rule, a good warm-up is five minutes for every 30 minutes of planned exercise. One hour on the treadmill or elliptical trainer requires 10 minutes of warm-up. Vary your exercises and gently stretch all the muscles and tendons you are planning to exercise.

Really, if this is the worst thing that happens to me this year, I should count myself blessed. But I was so looking forward to competing in the GA State Championships this June, and I was expecting to make my CMS rank. Even after the first injury, I thought at the very least I could dominate in the 24kg (amateur) division. At this point, I may not even be able to compete. It's starting to look very doubtful.


I've had some workouts (like last night for example) that feel really easy at the time, but leave my arm(s) sore and in a little worse shape the next day. Last night it was super-setting 2x24kg cleans and jumping rope for 22 minutes. Even thought I'm not in pain today, my left arm is stiff and a little worse off, and won't heal doing that.


I'm not really sure what to do. Looking at the big picture, I'd probably be best served by just completely bailing on any kettlebell lifting for the next few weeks, and concentrating only on rest and recovery. In the meantime I'll learn a new joint mobility and stretching routine, and maybe work on squats. I'll report back when I've decided.

Until then, good lifting and good health to you.
God bless,

David

Injury prevention in GS, or, stuff I should have done

So earlier this month I injured my left arm. It was just the second rep of a planned 10 minute set. I had planned to break my personal record for 2x28kg long cycle, maybe even get CMS numbers. Instead I injured myself, and had to stop doing jerks for a couple weeks. That stunk.
That incident forced me to own up to one major shortcoming of my sport conditioning:

I did almost nothing for injury prevention.

Like most US kettlebell sport athletes, I am an amateur (and an over-40-year-old amateur, at that). Like many of my fellow athletes, I have a regular job, and family responsibilities, too. So I try to streamline and eliminate any part of my routine that is not absolutely necessary.

It turns out injury prevention is necessary.

I think before this happened, I would have agreed with the last sentence with my mouth, but not with my actions. Sure, I stretched a little during the cool-down phase of my workouts. But that was it. But it took straining my left triceps badly enough that I could not even do cleans (much less jerks or snatches) in order to internalize this lesson and really learn it.

So in the meanwhile I improvised. I started doing jump squats with a barbell, as well as kettlebell swings. Gradually, I added back cleans, then bumps and (very) light barbell jerks, then one-armed jerks with a light weight. Last night was my first night back doing long cycle clean and jerk, albeit with the 20kg bells instead of my usual 28's.

I also took this time to study what the pros do. It turns out joint mobility work and stretching are a big deal. I saw an interview with World Champion and Master of Sport World Class athlete Denis Vasiliev and here's a summary of what he said about his stretching routine (as recorded by Tom Corrigan):

[Denis Vasiliev] believes that having a great stretching session can be even more important than having a great lifting session. His reasoning is that if he has a great lifting session, but a poor stretching session, he will recover less, sleep worse and not be ready to train as hard the next day. But if he has a poor training session (i.e. not meeting his goals) but has a great stretching session, his muscles will feel better, he will sleep great, and he will be able to train harder and better the next day.

Tom recorded Vasiliev's stretching sessions, and a video of one appears below. Note: Tom's record of Vasiliev's comments appear when the video is viewed at the YouTube site here.



Just as importantly, Tom recorded Vasiliev's pre-workout joint mobility warm up:



Tom noted: Here is the joint mobility warm up of KB Sport World Champion Denis Vasil'ev. He does this after a general warm up of his body done by running on a treadmill or an elliptical machine. He systematically works through his joints, making sure he is ready to start working hard.
The rest of Tom's comments may be found when watching the video here.

So now I've added a joint mobility warm up and cool down to my routine, and I've expanded the stretching I do once I'm done. I must confess that I had neglected true stretching for so long that I had no idea how much flexibility and range of motion I had lost. I'm thinking of adding a yoga workout to my off days.

On the bright side, many of my kettlebell compatriots offered me well wishes and helpful advice. Steven Khuong, in particular, was very encouraging, and even sent me two get well gifts. Here I am wearing the first one:



In case you missed the logo on the shirt, here is a closeup:



As many of you know, the Ice Chamber is one of the top kettlebell sport gyms in North America. Steven Khuong and Maya Garcia are the founders. Maya actually wrote an excellent article about restorative stretches for kettlebell sport just last week.

Recently, The Ice Chamber was host to an excellent sport camp that featured (among others) absolute world record holder Ivan Denisov. (Edited to add: I am told that the camp also featured coach Cate Imes and the legendary Valery Fedorenko, so you can imagine how good the camp was). Denisov is widely considered to be one of the best (if not the best) kettlebell sport athletes in the world. My other gift from Steven was a calender featuring Denisov, signed by the champion himself. Here is a photo:



After my injury, I asked for help designing a convalescent workout regimen at the WKC forum. Steven not only offered suggestions, but offered to send get well gifts. I was truly touched that Steven sent such thoughtful gifts to me. I hope its not long before I meet him, and the other great athletes from the Ice Chamber.

In the meantime, I'm back on the training road. I've decided that now its unlikely that I will make the Candidate for Master of Sport Rank (CMS) this summer at the state championships, although its still a reasonable goal for the year. We will see. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a photo follow up from my last two posts. It seems that my youngest daughter Maddie thinks the best thing about the Perform Better Kettlebells is the foam packaging they send their KB's in. Turns out they can be used as planters for summer tomatoes. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Follow up on review of Perform Better Competition Kettlebells

I was surprised at the volume and immediacy of the responses I received to my last post reviewing Perform Better's latest generation of competition kettlebells.

Based on the content and the amount of responses, I'd like to add the following information to my review:

I don't work for WKC, and I did not rely on any information from WKC in writing my review. I uncovered (sometimes literally) the facts for this review myself, and I documented my experiences with photos.
Although the review contains my own impressions, certain facts are indisputable:

1. WKC began selling competition-style kettlebells several years ago. Initially, some of them had defects that were covered in bondo and then painted, even in the handle area. There were some complaints about the quality of these early bells.

2. In approximately 2008, WKC began shipping bells with pre-stripped handles, among other upgrades. My 20kg WKC bell is an example. These bells were higher quality than the previous bells, and did not contain bondo-covered defects. WKC stopped selling the previous bells that were of lower quality.

3. At some point, PB began selling the exact same bells that WKC had stopped selling before their upgrade. The bells Perform Better sold were simply WKC's pre-upgrade kettlebell's with WKC's logo (along with any defects) covered with bondo and an epoxy that easily chipped off during normal use.

4. WKC upgraded their bells again in 2009. This is when they went to the polished handles. At that same time PB was still selling the bondo and epoxy-covered KB's that WKC no longer sold. (I call them "rejects" because WKC no longer sold
them anymore, and they obviously did not meet WKC's new standards).

5. PB started selling bells with pre-stripped handles. I ordered one to review it, and reported the defects I found.

Those are the facts.

Since that time, some folks have contacted me to say they were happy with their PB bells, but many more have noticed the same defects on their PB bells, including the mysterious tape repairs and sloppy bondo fixes. The 8kg bell seems to be the one most prone to defects, perhaps, as one poster noted, because "8kg bells are the hardest to make and the easiest to [mess] up. The thin shell is the problem. Any defect pretty much equals a hole".

However, the defects were noted on many weights of many PB bells, not just the 8kg.
No tape or bondo fixes were reported on any second or third generation WKC bells. Instead, I received unsolicited reports on the high quality of WKC bells, and photos like these:



I did receive one report from one lifter about a problem with a second or third generation WKC 8kg bell that cracked. He reported: "I had it for a year before it cracked due to it being more frequently used" and that AKC/WKC replaced the bell upon request. The same lifter reportedly purchased 12 new generation PB bells; 5 of them had the tape repair. The five bells weighed 8kg (2), 12kg (2), and 20kg (1) respectively. That same lifter reported that "1 PB and 1 WKC [8kg]bell are exactly identical, down to finish on handle and even shade of pink paint". Taking all of the facts I've gathered together, it strongly suggests that PB and WKC still share a common manufacturer. The most obvious explanation for the difference in quality is that WKC has higher quality control standards; they don't accept defective bells that have been repaired by bondo and tape from the manufacturer. PB does. It's simply a matter of what each company will agree to accept, and then pass on to their consumers.
I've since read that many other retailers have begun selling competition-style kettlebells. I may review some of them if I get a chance. In the meantime, I stick with my recommendation that WKC's competition kettlebells are the best buy available.

Review of Perform Better's latest generation of competition kettlebells

I have previously reviewed AKC/WKC's competition style kettlebells. They are officially called "VF Prograde Kettlebells", and are available at the World Kettlebell Club's store here. In two previous reviews in December and June of 2009, I found them to be of very high quality, and to be the "best buy" in competition kettlebells on the market. I have also compared their bells to those sold by Perform Better, and later learned that Perform Better had been selling WKC Prograde rejects as their own competition bells. I documented that discovery here.
Perform Better has since changed the competition bells that they offer. Officially known as "First Place Competition Kettlebells", these kettlebells now come with the handles pre-stripped so that the athlete will not have to strip the handle with a file and sander or other tool. Another benefit to the consumer is that it will be obvious if the handle contains multiple imperfections that could tear his hands. A manufacturer or dealer cannot hide the imperfections with bondo and paint on a stripped and polished steel surface.
Since Perform Better instituted these changes, their competition kettlebells have become popular with kettlebell sport athletes, and many recommend them. Recently my wife and daughter have expressed an interest in kettlebell lifting, and asked me to order them one to share. I decided to order one of Perform Better's 8kg models, and report my findings.
Here is what arrived:



Notice that Perform Better's website is cast into the kettlebell. This bell is an obvious improvement over PB's last offering. However, I noticed a number of imperfections that indicated painted-over repairs.
First, there are two spots on the bell where some type of tape was placed on the bell, and then painted over. Here is the small taped spot:



Here is the larger one:



Another view of the large taped portion in brighter light:



In addition to the sections of tape that were applied and painted over, there is a large patch of what appears to be bondo that has been painted over. Here are two views:





Note: the marks that look like scuffs on the bell are not scuffs, but are places where the paint was not completely and evenly applied, and part of the bell was not painted at the factory. Basically, the paint job is really shoddy.

What to think? Well, I was shocked, honestly. Perform Better has an excellent reputation. They send confirmation of orders quickly, and ship promptly. I have heard of anecdotes of other consumers who have been very pleased. But this is the second time I have ordered a kettlebell from them, and the second time they have sent a substandard product. It's troubling to me that this happened, especially since the last time I told them they sold me a competition bell that was not suitable for competition, they replied that I should not have taken the finish off the handle in order to use it, and would not offer a replacement or refund (I wonder if they know I figured out their secret about where they were getting their bells and why they covered them with so much bondo and epoxy?). Back then I tried to explain that competitors have to strip and sand the handles if they actually want to compete with their product, but they denied that. Since then, as I said, they only sell bells with handles that are pre-stripped.
So what's the bottom line? From what I can tell, the defects in the bell won't be an issue unless we use the bell for double kettlebell lifts and the paint and bondo get knocked off when the bells clang together. I doubt that will be a problem. I bought the bell for my wife and daughter, and even if they want to use it to train to reach reach Rank IV or III with the WKC, it won't hinder them. The real problem is that defects like this don't leave a good impression, especially when you have received two in a row.
Perform Better and WKC seem to be in a perpetual pricing war (maybe that's just my impression). But it varies day to day which company is offering the lowest prices on kettlebells. The day I ordered this bell, I think it was $10 cheaper than the WKC's.
Based on my experiences, I wish I had paid the extra $10 and ordered from WKC. This experience has only confirmed my earlier impression, and what I now believe is not merely an opinion, but an objective fact:

The AKC/WKC VF Prograde Kettlebells are some of the best you can buy, and are by far, the best for the money.

On the bright side, my daughter Caroline has really taken to kettlebell lifting, and has been practicing her swings almost every night. Here she is below:



Good lifting and God bless,

David

Do you need more endurance in 2011?

Kettlebell Sport is known as a strength endurance sport. Most non-athletes consider kettlebells to be "heavy" weights, whether they are thinking of amateurs who compete with the 24kg kettlebells or world-class athletes who use the 32kg bells. To be fair, most folks don't lift 53 lb or 70 lb objects every day, much less put two of them overhead for fifty or a hundred times in a row.

But from an athletics standpoint, the weights that kettlebell sport athletes use are very light. Olympic weightlifters of my weight class snatch over 400 lbs; they clean and jerk over 500 lbs. Powerlifters often squat over 1,000 lbs, deadlift over 900 lbs, and bench press over 900 lbs. These lifts are completed in just seconds, for only one repetition, as opposed to the kettlebell lifts, which are repeated continually over the course of 10 minutes.

I mention all of that to give context to a statement that should be obvious, yet comes across as controversial to many who discuss kettlebell sport on popular Internet discussion forums:

Kettlebell sport is an endurance sport.


Now, some may acknowledge the truth of that statement superficially. But when you start talking training regimens for kettlebell sport, many recommend heavy lifting of some kind. Squats, deadlifts, and even presses. Rarely do these same people recommend running, rowing, or jumping rope. But lifting truly heavy weights? All the time. Recently, a great American kettlebell sport trainer, Cate Imes, addressed this phenomenon in two excellent blog posts, the most recent of which can be found here. Obviously, the title of those pieces inspired the subject of this blog.

The questions and advice posited from many kettlebell lifters and fitness enthusiests reveals the common assumption that the development of maximal strength is a priority for kettlebell sport athletes. Yet, Sergey Rudnev and Eugene Lopatin disproved this common misconception in their article Strength or Endurance, development of strength and strength endurance in Kettlebell Sport. A very readable summary of the article and one lifter's impression of it appears here. Of note in the article is that Lopatin, a multiple world-record-holder in kettlebell sport, could not meet the minimum strength recommendations for athletes who wish to participate in kettlebell sport as set by a Voropaev, a highly respected sports scientist. Yes, the world record holder could not pass the recommended strength requirements for a beginner.

Again, to be fair, Voropaev's recommendations essentially reflected the priorities of many other sports scientists, and the prevailing wisdom of kettlebell sport throughout the years. So the assumption that the development of maximal strength is a priority for kettlebell sport athletes is neither new, nor isolated.

Both Rudnev and Lopatin teach in the department of physical training and sports of the Far Eastern Military Institute of Russia. They noted that the athletes with better results in kettlebell sport at their Institute were endurance athletes, and specifically noted the successes of former cross-country skiers, rowers, and distance runners.

Rudnev and Lopatin conlcuded that the development of maximal strength with a barbell had no bearing on the success of the kettlebell sport athlete. While some reading that sentence are still saying, "yeah, but..." let me take it a step further:

Strength endurance is not a determining factor in Kettlebell Sport lifting.

According to their article, strength endurance is the ability to perform an activity at a fast tempo for 1-3 minutes. One measure of strength endurance would be the two minute push up test that is often used as a part of the US Army's physical fitness test, in which a soldier completes as many push ups as he can in two minutes. However, per Rudnev and Lopatin, "...strength endurance is not a determining factor in Kettlebell Sport lifting. It [strength endurance] only allows you to perform at fast tempo for 1-3 minutes...Kettlebell Sport lifting [requires] endurance which allow(s) [you] to perform 10 minutes of competition time. Therefore, we should talk about the special endurance, which is necessary to work with pauses between repetitions sufficient for recovery to the next repetition..."

The authors go on to explain that, according to their studies, the development of general and special endurance are the top priorities for the kettlebell sport athlete.

This brings us to what I think should be the real question for all aspiring kettlebell sport athletes:

"Do I need more endurance in 2011?"

Only if you want to succeed.

Gods blessings on all of you,

David

Inching closer to CMS

Today I finally crossed the 60 rep barrier in 2x28kg Long Cycle.
I performed 60 reps in 9:43, which is just under 6.2 rpm.
I did not pace this set with a minute timer. Instead, I just set my chronograph timer for ten minutes and started lifting. The goal was 60 reps before the timer went off.
Initially I thought about going for 65 reps, but by the time I reached 60 my form was breaking down and I was afraid I might drop the bells on my head instead of fixating them overhead. So at 60 I just set them down.
If I had known there was only 17 seconds until the 10 min mark I would have held on...maybe. I'm still very pleased with the pr, and to be a few more reps closer to the CMS mark (69 reps).
Next I'll work towards going the entire 10 minutes without setting down the bells, and increasing my pace to 7-8 rpm for the 10 minutes. I only have to average 6.9 rpm for 10 minutes to make the 69 reps required, but I'd prefer to have some "cushion" in my average 10 minute pace when I try for CMS in competition.
For now, I'm enjoying a post-workout snack of wine and cheese. Maybe not the snack of champions, but it works for me. :)