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. :)

Year end review, and return to the pumpkins

So I began this year with the plan to make the AKC's candidate for master of sport rank ("CMS") in Long Cycle with the 28kg kettlbells my wife and kids bought me for X-mas 2009. (See my post "The Great Pumpkins"). I put this plan on backburner in March when the District Attorney in my area announced his plans to resign and run for judge, giving me the opportunity to run for the DA position.
The stress and workload of the campaign was too much for me to continue using the 28kg KB's as my primary training tool, so I returned to concentrating on the 24kg KB's for most of my workouts. I had some unexpected progress with the 28's, and then some more with the 24's.
Eventually, the 12-16 hour days of the campaign were too much, and I had to drastically cut back on my volume and frequency. By the day of the election November 2, I had cut back to 3-4 days a week (down from 5-6) and was averaging only one 4-5 minute set of 2x24kg long cycle per day. During the month of the runoff, I sometimes used the 20kg KB's that I had all but abandoned.
Since the runoff I have gone back to 5-6 days a week, and have increased my volume to pre-election levels.
I'd like to reach CMS with the 28's by July, when I expect the Georgia State Championships will be held in Atlanta. I'd also like to reach CMS according to the IKFF's ranking table, which would mean 96 reps with 2x24kg KB's (the IKFF awards CMS rank using the 24kg KB's, which follows the traditional Russian system).
In the meantime, I'll list a few milestones I reached during the year, listing date, weights used, total reps and rpms. I hope to have many more to list as the months go by.

April 11 LC 2x28kg 6:00 48 reps. 8,8,8,8,8,8.
July 25 LC 2x28kg 32 reps in 3:00. 11,11,10.
August 12 LC 2x24kg 4:00 49 reps. 12,12,13,12.
August 18 LC 2x24kg 5:00 60 reps. 12,12,12,12,12
August 28 LC 2x24kg 10:00 93 reps. 10,9,9,9,10,9,9,9,10,9.
My lockouts weren't great on the 10:00 set but I was proud of it given that I did it at 10:30 at night after campaigning for 12 hours.

Since the runoff on November 30 I've completed a 2x28kg 55 rep 8:30 set and a 9:00 54 rep set.

With regard to the election, although we made the runoff, we did not get the result we hoped for. Still, I'm proud of the job we did and honored and humbled by the support our campaign received. For now, I'm spending a lot more time with my family. I'm back at my old job, although I have a new assignment that allows me more time with my wife and kids. Below I posted a snapshot of my wife holding the X-mas gift my kids gave her this year. It's a set of sculptures depicting the three wisemen.
I wish everyone a blessed and prosperous new year. God bless you all.
-David

More unexpected progress

So I've drastically scaled back my use of the 28kg kettlebells as my campaign for DA has intensified. Still, I've unexpectedly set some more personal records. They include (all are Long Cycle performed with 2x24kg kb's):

70 reps in 7:00.
66 reps in 6:00.
55 reps in 5:00.
49 reps in 4:00.

A couple times I've been within 2:00 of my goal of 90 reps in 10:00, but it was so hot and humid in my garage I did not think it was safe to go beyond 7 or 8 minutes.

Still, I've been happy with my improvements with the 24's.
Until next time...

Unexpected progress

So I scaled back the intensity of my training since I started my campaign for District Attorney. But an odd thing happened. Somehow I set new personal records ("pr's") despite backing off the intensity. Here's how it happened:
I resumed using the 24kg kettlebells instead of the 28kg's. The 24's felt so much lighter after the 28's, that I often set a fast pace just to get a good workout. I set new pr's with the 24's, including 60 reps in 6 minutes for 2x24kg Long Cycle.
I got so used to keeping a fast pace with the 24's, that using the 28's for a slower pace seemed less intense. So occasionally I resumed 2x28 LC for slower paced sets. Sometimes I would not pace the sets, and would merely set the timer to go off at the end of the set instead of once a minute.
Tonight I performed 52 reps of 2x28kg LC in eight minutes. That is a pr for time as well as reps. The irony is that, tonight, like many of the nights I've set new pr's, I was so tired I doubted I would work out. But I decided to just give it a shot. Eight minutes later I had a new pr.
I'll take it.
Now for a video. In keeping with my last post, this video is a campaign-related video instead of a lifting video. It depicts my speech to the Macon City Council in favor of an ordinance to regulate massage parlors and therefore drive out of business the sex trafficking operations that operate under the banner of massage. Combating sex trafficking is a major issue in my campaign, and has been a primary mission and specialty of my career. My speech begins about 3:00 in.

Kettlebell Sport on backburner

Most of you know that this sport is my one real hobby. Basically, I work a very stressful job, I have a wife and three kids, and we are all very involved in our church. I only have time for one hobby, and that's kettlebell sport.
About a month ago, I learned that the District Attorney in my town is resigning to run for judge. I have always wanted to be the elected District Attorney, and I knew that if I ever wanted to run for the office, this was the time. The district happened to have a real need for someone with my experience (there is a severe problem with sex trafficking in my jurisdiction, and prosecuting sex crimes is a primary specialty of mine, so its a good fit).
All that is to say I have begun campaigning for the job in earnest. While the campaign does place demands on my time, I still have enough time to exercise as much I would need to achieve my kettlebell sport goals. The issue is intensity.
Political campaigns require a high degree of stress on the body. This is in addition to the high demands of my day job, prosecuting crimes against women and children as chief prosecutor of a Special Victims Unit (SVU).
The practical consequence of this is that I dropped down in weight to lifting the 24kg kettlkebells instead of the 28kg size. Although I've occasionally had the energy to set new personal records (say, 60 reps of 2x24kg LC in 6:00) I just don't have the energy to lift the 28kg bells on a regular basis.
So I have pushed back my goals of making CMS and MS this year, in favor of being elected District Attorney. Once that happens, I'll return to the goals and begin working on them.
Here's a different kind of video than you are used to seeing here. Me reading my announcement speech. It was raining, so there were only about 40-50 people there (I had over 100 set to be there a week earlier before I had to reschedule to allow the Secretary of State to make sure there was going to be an election instead of a gubernatorial appointment):

Jerk work

After my last post I posted several videos on IGX of my Long Cycle practice with the "pumpkins", AKC's orange 28kg kettlebells.
Although I've been steadily increasing my ability to lift them, a number of experienced lifters and coaches told me what I already knew:
My technique stinks.
To be more accurate, the jerk portion of my Long Cycle lift stinks. The cleans are pretty good. And, according to more than one authority, I will never truly progress until I improve my jerk technique.
So the last couple weeks I've been doing some remedial jerk work. To make sure I improved my speed with the bells (one major issue I have), I've dropped back down to the 24kg bells for jerks. I must say I'm not thrilled by the idea, but honestly, it had to be done. Its best to use a comfortable weight when working on technique.
The last couple weeks, I've done a set (or two, or three, or more) of 2x24kg jerks. After that I switched to 2x28kg cleans.
The cleans have actually been pretty easy.
The jerks, not so much. Part of the reason I chose Long Cycle as a specialty is my discomfort with jerks. With Long Cycle, if the bells don't sit right on your forearms, you can reset them by virute of the mechanics of the lift. With the jerks, you are stuck with the position you choose in the beginning. If your wrist gets bent back, you are toast. End of story.
I'm sure that biathlon specialists know how to set the wrists to make this less likely. But that doesn't really matter to me. Long Cycle, to me, is the perfect lift. It has the jerks of biathlon, plus double cleans (which I find superior to the one armed snatch).
For now, though, I do the jerks. I'm looking forward to my return to pure Long Cycle work.

Here's one of my jerk sets:

Here's my work with cleans: