SPORT

www.unconventionalathletes.com
USE PHYSICS FOR EFFCIENCY!
Understand the Kettle bell dynamics, unconventional preparations
and execution of performance with precision
STAYING AHEAD OF THE GAME WITH
CORRECT KETTLEBELL EDUCATION FOR
CHAMPIONSHIP DOMINATION
Kettlebell Sport Explained
Kettlebell Sport, also known as Girevoy
Sport, is a strength-endurance sport
that originated from Russian military
training. In the past 10 years, the sport
has seen a lot of growth in Western Europe
and the Americas. The competition
of Kettlebell Sport is a 10-minute set,
in which the athlete completes as many
repetitions as possible without setting
the kettlebell down – and with only one
hand switch (or in the case of lifting
two kettlebells, no switch at all!).
Enhance your Motor CONTROl
Strength and Cardio!!
The benefits of Kettlebell Sport are
numerous, as it promotes strength
and cardiovascular endurance all in
the same exercise. Kettlebell Snatch
especially works on grip strength and
shoulder stability. Because one side is
trained at a time for single arm lifts,
imbalances between the two sides
of the body will decrease as well.
Being right-handed, I have seen a big
increase in the strength and motor
control of the left side of my body since
training kettlebells. Kettlebell Sport is
a great way to motivate people to train
towards a goal and stay consistent with
their training – whether they are just
aiming to last 10 minutes, hit a certain
number of repetitions, or qualify for
the World Championships.
MIND POWER!!
Perhaps more importantly than the
physical challenge Kettlebell Sport
presents (which is a great one, don’t
get me wrong), is the mental tenacity
the sport demands. The most grueling
part of a 10-minute set is convincing
oneself to keep pushing through to
the very end. The kind of resilience required
to complete a Kettlebell Sport
set has amazing carryover into any other
physical endeavor or life challenge
that comes up – after completing a 10
minute set with a heavy kettlebell, everything
else seems easy!
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!
I will be traveling to Dublin, Ireland
in the last week of November to
compete in my second IUKL Kettlebell
Sport World Championships. In
order to qualify, I had to win my
weight class category (63kg) in the
Professional 24kg Snatch lift at the
American Kettlebell Alliance National
Championship.
PREPARATION:
In my training for the World
Championships, I complete 3 trainings
per week - two days of shorter intervals
with varying kettlebell weights for
conditioning and technique practice,
and the third day a long training set
with my competition weight ranging
from 6-10 minutes. Between the days
that I lift kettlebells, I do 2 days of
accessory workouts, which include
general strength training (squats,
deadlifts, etc.) and bodyweight training
(push ups, skin the cats, handstands).
SNATCH LIFT
The trickiest part about the Snatch lift
and what makes it “unconventional” in
my eyes is that you must use the principles
of Physics for efficiency. In most
training modalities, you are trying to
exert as much energy and muscular
force as possible when completing an
exercise in order to work your body.
When training for Kettlebell Sport,
however, the goal is to save your energy
with each repetition so you can
complete as many repetitions as possible
in 10 minutes.
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION FOR
GRAVITY ADVANTAGE!
Learning to shift your weight properly
to use gravity to your advantage
and properly time each repetition
is a huge factor for Snatch.
If the timing of one portion of the
lift is off, the timing of the entire
lift will be thrown off. Thus it can
take years to perfect the technique
(something I am still working on after
4 years)!
Issue 03 - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER EDITION 2015 Page 22