Working with Indian Clubs

Agatsu 15lb Indian Clubs

I've owned a pair of 15 pound Indian Clubs from Agatsu for about three years now and have neglected using them for a long time. I am not sure why I've done that sense they are great for developing range of motion in the shoulders, strengthening the shoulder & arm muscles and gaining upper body stamina. Regardless I need to make them a more integral part of my training especially after my kettlebell training.

Indian Club Mills - 30reps per hand, post kettlebell Long Cycle.

The above is a video of a short set done after a kettlebell session, needless to say I was fatiqued and it's been a while sense I've used the clubs so my form is rusty. Any tips, hints, comments or suggestions on my form are much appreaciated.

AKC Las Vegas Classic - Part Three: Competition

Marty and myself on the platform.

Well it is time for the last part of the AKC Classic report, the actual performance. It's taken a bit of time to fix the video up and get it posted but it is finally up! I was participating in the Long Cycle event with a pair of 20kg kettlebells. My primary goal coming into Vegas was to reach Rank II, which at my weight of 80kg would require 60 repetitions. I know that I could not win best co-efficient as Marty Farrell (A Master of Sport in Long Cycle) was on the platform next to me working with a pair of 32kg bells.

Marty and myself doing our sets.

My goals coming in were simply to hit 60reps and get Rank II, nothing more. The plan was to keep a steady 6 reps per minute and just chip away at the numbers until the 10minutes is up. It is easy to get carried away go to fast and tire out early, something I didn't want to happen. Over the long haul I felt good and calm, pacing myself properly and making sure to make all the reps count. In the end I hit my goal and made 60reps while Marty confirmed his Master of Sport ranking with 49 repetition set. Congrats to Marty on a great performance! I didn't feel pressured on the stage as I knew people we're focusing on Marty which helped me concentrate, so i have yet another thing to thank Marty for.

Monkey shoes and kettlebells, a perfect combination.

What's with the monkey shoes?
Some of you might notice that almost all Kettlebell Sport lifters use weightlifting shoes with a hard wooden heel, I personally do not. I actually don't even own a pair at the moment to be honest. I wear my Vibram Five-Finger Flow's both in training and at the AKC Classic, I enjoy the feeling of having my feet grounded. It feels like I can really grip the platform and tranfer the force more effiently, a feeling that I like. As it stands for the time being I think I'll stay with my Flow and not bother getting weightlifting shoes, although I might need a new pair of Vibrams as the two years of stink of these puppies cannot be washed out.

AKC Las Vegas Classic - Part Two: The Weigh In

The Flights are up and I am on the last one.

Well after the helping with some of the competition set up, Eric and myself weighted in the night before. We both knew we'd had to cut weight but were not sure just how much. Then came the scale to tell us the truth, Eric weighed in around 91.8kg and planned on competing in the 90kg class while I came in a whooping 84.9kg but planned on competing in the 80kg class. Holly crap!!! How did this happen? That is 5kg over or almost 11pounds I had to shed in just around 12hours.

Sauna Suit, the answer to all sweaty needs.

Now let's not kid ourselves, 11lb isn't a little to shed the night before the meet. That is a whole lot of water that needs to be burned off. To make this happen we didn't drink or eat anything from the the time of the evening weight in until the Official Weight In the next morning at 8:00am. On top of that we dressed ourselves up in sauna suits and garbage bags plus other warm garments and began to thoughtlessly beat ourselves up to induce sweating and get rid of that extra weight. With out further adieu here is a montage video of how this rapid weight loss went down.

Now that's how you party in Vegas on a Friday night!

Who said we don't know how to party in Vegas? Well while others were getting piss ass drunk and loosing their life saving on gambling and cheap hookers, Eric and myself we're flirting with heat stroke.

Powerade had never tasted sweater then after 14-16hours of forced dehydration.

I have to admit that was one of the most unpleasant things I've done in recent memory, we were so dehydrated and starving that we barely slept at all. I personally kept waking up and washing my mouth out with cold water to sooth my dry throat, but it was all to no avail. I could not wait to get a drink and bought five 1liter bottles of Powerade in the anticipation of the hydration experience to come. Sadly once I stepped on the scale at 8:00am I was just over 600grams over 80kg and had to dawn the sauna suit again and hit the treadmill. That was a painful 15minutes as I felt my body cramping up, but I stuck it through and made it in at 80.0kg on the dot! YEAH BABY! POWERADE TIME!!

On the platform.

Was it all worth it?
Hmmm... In this case I would say so, I hit my goals and made Rank 2 at the meet and had a blast doing so. It was lucky that I was the last flight of the meet and had plenty of time to hydrate, but if I was first I think the story would be different. But I can say one thing for sure, I am not looking forward to or planning on doing that ever again! Now I am going to go and have a tall glass of water to help me repress this memory.

AKC Las Vegas Classic - Part One: The Bigger Picture

AKC Las Vegas Classic.

Well I am back from the AKC Classic in Las Vegas, and boy what a weekend it was! Las Vegas is a surreal place that can easily overwhelm the senses with loud sounds, flashing lights, promises of wealth and of course a unhealthy consumption of alcohol. Luckily that was not why Eric and myself where there, we were there for a Kettlebell Competition and boy did we see a different side of Vegas! Everything from casino loading docks, self-storage facilities, hard manual labour, forced dehydration, shady off the strip motels and free rides in U-Haul vans. Truly Las Vegas has it all!

An U-Haul van, the less conventional way to tour Las Vegas.

We arrived in Sin City Friday afternoon and soon found ourselves riding to the outskirts of the city in the search of lifting platforms and weights needed for the competition. Helping to set up the meet really does give you a chance to see the non-hedonistic side of Vegas. And yes Vegas does seem to have one and I can thank my friend Moses for showing us that while driving a old beat up U-Haul van. After we helped drag the gear up a casino loading dock Eric and myself had to cut weight the night before the competition. I will not give you too many details on that yet, as I am working on a compilation video of that experience. But I will post a quick clip from the weigh in time.

After the first weight in I was still over, by about 1.5lb. So some more weight had to be cut.

Once we both made weight it was time to rehydrate as the competition got under way. Eric was competition in the Biathlon and would compete before me where as I was the very last flight doing the Long Cycle. I was worried coming into the meet that my lack of training due to my lower back injury back in September would be a major hindrance as it took me out of action for almost two months. But gladly that was not the case this weekend and I preformed to my own expectations. I completed Rank Two with a pair of 20kg/45lb kettlebell by completing sixty repetitions. While Eric achieved his Candidate for Master of Sport in the Biathlon, sweet! The full listing of results can be seen on the AKC blog.

Nope no chocolate inside, shame really.

The meet took most of the day on Saturday and showcased some of the up and coming talent that is emerging in the sport with two lifters earning Master of Sport and six more earning Candidate for Master of Sport. The event was well managed as well as judged and all that were involved in making everything happen deserve a great big round of applause and a thank you. Truly a labour of love.

A view of the lifting platforms.

It was great seeing many familiar faces again and meeting some new ones. The sport seems to be growing; slowly but surely, especially on the female side. Male lifters were more sparse, specially in the Long Cycle where only four lifters competed. Very glad to see a lot of females taking up Kettlebell Sport, with Ice Chamber from San Francisco having a great showing. But the male side of things needs quite a bit more work. Hopefully the future meets will have a much better showing for men as well.

Statues outside of Luxor make for great post workout rest stations.

After the meet was done Eric and myself had a chance to check out the city and do the more touristy things. Four days in Las Vegas is fun but very mentally and physically draining, if I go again next year I'll definitely not stay so long. There will be more things to come but it will take me a few days to edit the video and sort out pictures, so bear with me while I get those up.

AKC Las Vegas Classic Prep

Well it is only five days till I am off to Vegas for the AKC Las Vegas Classic on Nov 7th at the Tropicana Resort. The flights are booked, the hotel reserved and the competition registration has been sent. All that is left is to just wait out the last few days before everything finally happens.

Today was really the last day of training for me until the competition itself and it was a pretty easy one. There is not much good more training will do at this point, no improvements can be made in this short a time and only injuries are possible. To this effect everything today was kept under 5min.

A 4min set with a pair of 24kg bells.

My goal was to get some time under tension today, practice my form and focus on pacing. I think I covered all that I wanted to and most importantly kept my hands to tearing. There is nothing worse that can happen at this point in time then tearing a callous that would not hear in time for the competition.

Well that is it for kettlebell lifting till Las Vegas... Wish me luck!