Throwdown Meet

Reflecting on the kettlebell meet I attended, a few thoughts come to mind.  The meet was professionally run, and every athlete was a great sport.  That said, I learned a few things.

My first observation is about intestinal fortitude.  Guts.  Some people have it in greater measure than others.  Example 1: Grace.  Grace is 16, and has trained kettlebells for three weeks.  She competed with the 8k in the biathlon.  She had rudimentary technique, which resulted in several no counts, but she gutted it out to the finish in both sets.  Toward the end, her discomfort was evident, tears of pain and frustration were flowing, and she was ready to quit, but she didn’t.  She stayed in the set.  Example 2: me.  I had a strong set- 45 reps and a no count in 8 minutes.  That’s a PR for reps and time for me, so I have reason to be happy with it.  However, I terminated the set early.  John and Josh said I looked so strong, that they were shocked that I put down the bells and walked off the platform.  Watching the video, they were right.  My technique was not deteriorating.  There was no localized fatigue that forced me to stop. I could have gone on.  It was just too hard, so I quit.  No excuses.  It got hard, and I quit.  I need more conditioning, but I also need more courage and guts. 

I also observed several new GS athletes who were obviously great athletes.  They were in great shape, with lots of muscle, and very well conditioned.  Most of them were lifting lighter bells, because they were not ranked yet.  They used hardstyle or Crossfit technique, with a focus on power, not efficiency.  About two minutes in, they each got the same expression of their face: “What have I gotten myself into?”  Even though they were strong athletes, they really struggled with a ten minute set, even with 12k bells.  Much respect to people who are clearly great athletes, but it was clear that smaller, lighter athletes were outlifting them in this context.    Lesson?  In GS, strength and conditioning are not enough.  Technique rules.  Specifically, several of these athletes did not rest, did not support the bells on the body, lowered the bells instead of dropping them, and used a lot of arm and shoulder power.  There are differences in lifting styles- some are more conducive to strength, conditioning, and adding muscle mass, but they don't result in more reps on the platform.  The stronger lifter does not win- the better lifter wins.  I need to become a more technical lifter, particularly as I age.  I'm reaching the age where I can't muscle the bells around.

My first kettlebell meet was in Atlanta, at Scott Shetler’s gym in 2010.  I competed in StrongSport with the 36k.  Among competitors in biathlon and long cycle, the heaviest bells lifted were 20k, by Josh Dunn.  As I recall, one man lifted 16k’s, and most men lifted 12k’s.  Three years later, at this meet, two men lifted 28k’s, three lifted 24k’s, and lots of guys lifted 20k’s.  The sport is improving.  Competitions are getting harder.  That’s good news.

One more observation.  Three years ago, I was playing around with StrongSport at that meet in Atlanta. Josh Dunn was lifting 20k’s.  I’ve played around with a lot of things since then, and I’m just now in the mid 40’s with the 24k bells.  Josh is about to hit CMS, doing 20% more reps with 56k than I can do with 48k, and he’s two weight classes below me.  Who is making progress?  The guy who keeps doing the same thing over and over, consistently, for years.  Who is playing catch up?  The guy who plays around with different things from one training cycle to the next.   Coincidence? I think not. 

Lessons learned: guts, technique, and consistency leads to great kettlebell lifting, and I need a lot more of each.