16kg 10 minute set, multiple hand switches 223 reps, PR (personal record)

This is going to be a quick post.  I realized a few things are lacking in my GS training.  To compete in Kettlebell Sport, the goal, the requirement, is to see how many reps you an complete, in the chosen event, (snatches, jerks, dbl jeks, etc.) in a 10 minute time allotment, while only limiting yourself the option of switching R to L (Or L to R) one time.  Done, period, end of story...one hand switch!  This is traditionally divided at the 5 minute mark (1/2 way), but strategy plays a role also as you are building that 5 min/5 min foundation.  The forearms and grip can only endure so much.

Okay, so maybe this is not going to be a quick post.....

I better get used to snatching the 16kg for 10 minutes straight, no mater how many times I have to switch hands, #2, I have to practice and train the technique that will save/build the strength in my grip/hands to endure only one hand switch, R to L, for 5 minutes at a time.  Argh.  Fine....be that way!  #3 I need to get used to the extra mass of the size of the competition bells.  The larger size means that it takes more force to move it fast.  I pretty confident that had I used a smaller, cast iron bell for this set I could have completed a few more reps....but then I'll never know....but then I don't really care!

What is easy for me is, to snatch the 16kg for a continuous 10 minute set and work out the hand switches as I go along.  So, first things first.....the USSST (ultimate secret service snatch test).  If your main kettlebell training is about "hardstyle" technique, then a continuous 10 minute set, with a challenging weight is, well...a challenge!  For GS sport, it should be a walk in the park.  At least that's how I'm feeling, and what I'm seeing in my fellow GS teammates...they kick some serious ass!

So, screw it.  10 minutes continuous, switch hands whenever you want?  Bring it.  No fear, no problem.  It's just ten minutes of my life.

I need to start training "10-12 minute blocks" of ballistics in order to adapt my heart rate and conditioning to succeed.  Competition not need mean purely exhausting yourself, it should mean pushing, challenging, and rising above "normal', or regular training/workouts....or am I wrong?  I might be?  I'm still trying to figure it all out.

Here's what I know.  If I cannot, regularly, snatch the 16kg and heavier, for 10 minutes with as many changes of hand, how could I ever expect to complete a 10 minute set with only one chance/opportunity to switch hands?

So, without fear and "matter of factly" I walked into the gym this morning and did a 10 minute 16kg snatch set, with a competition bell, for as many reps as I could push myself to do.

I knew it had been years since I last tested a continuous ten minute 16kg snatch!  In "hardstyle" terms, a "test" has been measured in 5 minutes, a completely different story from 10 minutes.  If you have never tested it, then trust me, it's a completely different animal!  Which is why I hadn't done it recently! But I hadn't realized it has been 3 1/2 years?  Really?  Wow!

Long story short.  My strategy was 11 reps per 30 sec (22rpm) for 10 min, with a sprint to the finish in the last minute, hopefully gaining a couple/few more reps.  "It's all easy 'til it gets heavy!" is a quote I've heard a couple of times....(Mark Reifkind!)

I hadn't realized I completed 12 reps right in the first 30 sec, so I thought I was behind pace. slightly throughout the entire time.  At 9 minutes, I tried to haul ass.  The most interesting part of the whole experiment is that although I tried to use a combination of Hardstyle and GS throughout, I automatically went 100% HS in the last minute, relying on my legs and my lungs!  You may notice more "full squatting:" power at the end.  Everything else went out the window,  My goal, for this set was total reps.  223, a personal record.

Okay, done with that.  Do you think that picking out and maintaining a slower more particular pace for a 10 minutes set is easier?  Well, I know that it's not!  I will start to incorporate more 10 min 16kg snatch sets, BUT training pace, NOT reps.  My next set, I already know, will be slower, 20 rpm.  I'm guessing it just may be a bit more fun (aka, harder!).

PS, I tore my hands up pretty good today in the last two minutes. I've gotta keep practicing the magic "grip skip" if I don't want to rip my palms off.  AND, sorry fot chopping my head off in the video!  I wasn't trying to make a production out of it, I was just wanting to verify rep count!

PPS  I hadn't realized that it had been 3 1/2 years since the last time I tested this!  Oh sure, I've done some hard ass stuff in between, but it was a different kind of hard!  As I approach my 50th birthday I'm stronger and more fit than ever....Okay, I admit I take a daily afternoon nap (like a baby), but I still show up and train!  lol!