"Make What's Important the Priority, and Do It First!" - Mark Reifkind
Words of wisdom. Hearing exactly what you need to hear at exactly the right time. There are a few things I need...I mean, want to get done, and my excuse is either no time, or no energy when I have the time...yep, same as everybody else :) But Mark called me on the carpet and in doing so lit a fire under my ass to get my priorities in order!
Snatching the 20kg 100/5 min is not a priority. I'm close enough any day of the week, so it's back to my sport set, for my own personal satisfaction. In order to get it done I have to put myself first, my own training, which I haven't been doing. The other priority is getting my regular yoga practice back. Enter the "luxury of no choice"!
Training on my own first of the week I'm changing my KB practice to Monday, instead of Tuesday. The workout starts with GS snatch and I have the next 10 weeks planned out already. Thursday workout starts at 5:00am, instead of 5:30, when the girls get there, so I can get my sets in before they come...brrrr, it's a hell of a time to start earlier too! Darker and colder, in fact out in the garage it'll be freezing in a few weeks. Saturday I already start before my first client/workout, but new target, new focus, Max snatch will be on the agenda from now on....no one else likes to do it but me it seems :) So, I'll do it on my own, it's easier that way anyway.
Thursday heavy 16kg GS snatch
typical warm up w/12kg and 14kg, but I only have about 15 min
16kg swing snatch x 25/25
16kg 1 min R/ 1 min L x 2 sets (1 min rest between)
I decided to do a "swing snatch" set to see where my grip was w/16kg. I'm not sure the last time I did a long set, maybe 40/40 was around or before my birthday, and the last time I did a longer set was months before that one, so baby steps.... 20/20 was the plan, which is 40 reps per side, but when I got to 20 it was easy, so I made the executive decision to go to 25. I could have done more, but that's not the point....t's not time to kill myself just yet! In fact it was enough on the easy side that with the few minutes I had left I wanted to see how a simple 1 min R/ 1 min L felt like, so I finished with 2 sets, one minute rest between.
Wow, it exposed the challenge. I'm plenty strong enough, until my cardio starts to come into play. Nothing makes you weaker than no oxygen! Okay, so now I know better what to expect and where I need to put some attention on.
Here is my swing snatch set, the other two practice sets you can find on my Youtube channel:
The girls arrived and I continued on with squats being the focus practice for their/our TH morning practice, sandbag clean and squats and some barbell presses, finishing off with double bell swings. I have some baseline skill/strength targets for this coming year, and I want the girls to have the same, so no avoiding squats, so in the next two weeks we'll be building some flexibility and depth in that movement.
I'm seriously proud to say that I made it to yoga 4 days this week, changing half of my practice to that 5:30am class time! Ouch! I'm my least warm and flexible that early in the morning, but I have to get it done first! Id rather be making cookies! But too bad for me :) (more about the cookies coming soon :) )
What have you been putting off? What have you been wanting to make a priority but haven't committed to taking the action needed? Mark gave me the words that inspired me to take the responsibility and make the changes I needed to make.....so far, so good :)
there ya go! way to step up love. :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice. I wanted to ask about your technique. When swinging on your right side you use your right leg by lifting your foot and pushing thru your hip. I can see how you need to control your left side to have more mobility and power on yiur right. Is this a technique for every weight or just an adaptive technique due to the weight youp are using? Also you KB is not centered in your hand. Is that to help with balance? Thanks you for the feedback
ReplyDeleteI love your swing snatch workouts!
ReplyDeleteHi Suzie, Sport training is completely different than using kettlebells for exercise training. Exercise training has the focus on health! Proper alignment to promote symmetrical power and strength and improvement for general cardio conditioning and very little risk of injury, which is why proper form for those health and strength goals are key. Competitive Kettlebell Sport has the focus on a very specific event. The "event" I'm practicing for is a 10 minute long snatch set, with the 16kg, and I only can switch hands, R to L one time, usually at the 5 minute mark, and for me in particular I have the goal of completing 100 reps per side.
ReplyDeleteIn order to do that there are other things that come into play. The adaptive techniques do not only consider the weight of the bell, but the length of the set, the number of reps, etc. Just as a marathoner runs differently than a sprinter, each trains differently for their events.
My right and left side are completely different (as most peoples are too) because I broke my left arm when I was 4 years old and it was set and healed abnormally. When you use the opposite foot to "push off" the snatch foot's heel can often lift from the ground, it is a technique allowed in sport. It's purpose is to actually lift the torso, and keep the connection of the torso and the snatching/lifting arm. As far as the position of the handle, that is also individual, and for me I find off center grip to be more comfortable.
In general, whether you are swinging/snatching for sport or for exercise, there are no hard rules for holding the bell exactly in the center of the handle. It will always be, and should be, an individual choice.
Thanks for you comment, I hope my answer helps :)
Monika, Me too! I love the swing snatch and it's been part of my training forever!
ReplyDelete