American Kettlebell Club Blog

We all take different paths to bring us to where we are today and we all have different influences – positive or negative. Oddly, William Shatner (Capt. Kirk) has a lot to do with where I am today. It will make sense (I think); let me explain…

One year ago I was deeply mired in powerlifting. I was nearly 300 pounds of glorious immobility. I was doing all the things the powerlifting gurus said I should do - get big, gain weight, and lift heavy. All of this led to skyrocketing blood pressure, a racehorse pulse rate, and joints so sore it was hard to move. I thought it was a small price to pay to be strong; sacrifice is what it’s all about…right?! I felt (and looked) like I was about to explode.

Anyway, back to Mr. Shatner. At the peak of my bulbous insanity, someone close to me stated that I was looking very “William Shatner-esque”. At first, I thought, great, I look like Capt. Kirk! Upon closer examination in the mirror I realized that obviously wasn’t true…I didn’t even look like the TJ Hooker version of William Shatner; he was talking about the unrecognizable Priceline.com version of today! This dose of reality really threw a wrench into my plans; is this the way I wanted to chart my course?

However, being the incredibly bullheaded person that I am, I forged ahead relentlessly; but every time I saw a Priceline.com commercial it ate away at me. On top of that, I was feeling worse, not sleeping, and my hips were so sore that I walked with a constant limp caused by the wide stance squatting. Deep down I knew that big changes had to be made. Ultimately, I turned my back on much of what I’d learned in the past and decided to take a new path…a healthier path; the old one was destroying me. My progress from this new path is detailed below:

June 2006 – 290 lbs

In June 2006 I started using kettlebells to the exclusion of barbells. Not knowing any better, I was following the “hard style” protocol that most of us have tried. I had some success and started to feel better. I continued this throughout the summer, but felt like something was missing. In October 2006 Eric Liford issued a release stating the American Kettlebell Club had named its first coach – Jon Hoskins. I contacted Jon immediately, and am now very proud to call him my coach as well.

November 2006 – 270 lbs

It was now November and Jon was showing me the technique of Kettlebell Sport, but my body at the time didn’t want to cooperate. I was able to jerk the 24’s for 24 reps (3 minutes) and snatch the 24 for 40 (3 minutes w/each arm). Like many of you, I struggled tremendously in the rack position; my tremendous midsection girth was really working against me.

Jon laid out a simple program of Jerks and Snatches 5 days a week; no more, no less. I was sure this would lead to a strength loss (I was wrong). Also, I figured that I could add “extra” exercises for strength and make it even better (wrong again!). On this “updated” program, I made modest gains over the next few months. I got up to 5 minutes in the Jerk, but I didn’t think I would ever get any more. The problem was that I wasn’t following the program as laid out.

January 2007 – 260 lbs

This is where change really started to happen; perhaps because this is where I put everything I thought I knew aside. I was ready to give up, but Jon convinced me to do the program EXACTLY as he laid it out. He promised that I would make gains and things would get easier; especially my problems with the rack position. Of course Jon was right; the program has a pedigree that’s second to none. Within a few weeks, 5 minutes in the Jerk was no problem at all; it was working - fast! The genius lies within the simplicity of the program. Over the next few months the weight loss accelerated and my endurance increased tremendously. I was following the program and the results were coming.

April 2007 – 235 lbs

Staying on the program as laid out by Jon and underscored at my Certification Seminar in February, I am now at 80 reps in the Jerk and 160 reps total in the snatch. I finally reached my initial goal of 10 minutes for each lift! I have a long way to go, but I have a roadmap and a great coach to insure I have the tools required to go the distance. I’m even coaching others; putting my certification to work and passing on what I’ve learned from Jon and Valery.

Closing Thoughts

Kettlebells fueled my weight loss and gave me a new lease on life. At 45, I have never felt better or been healthier (I know, that sounds exactly like the guy from the Bowflex commercial, but it’s true). I even have more energy now than during my teenage years!

The only real changes I made to my diet were the elimination of french fries, regular Coke, and other foods high in sugar. I also cut down on the fast food a bit; you may have noticed the McDonalds share price dip a bit over the last few months.

Seek out a coach and get to the seminar! I have to give a huge thank you to Jon for all his help and guidance. Not only is he a wonderful coach and talented lifter, but he is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Also, I want to extend many thanks to Eric and Valery for all of their advice, coaching, and effort in building this organization. They are providing us with an exceptional opportunity to be part of something truly great. All 3 of these men are truly class acts and have our best interests at heart.

Work hard, believe in yourself, and in the timeless words of Capt. Kirk’s famous sidekick – “Live Long and Prosper”!

 

Mark Boggs

Mark Boggs is a Kettlebell Lifting Coach living in Columbus, Ohio. 

Last month we put on a Contest at our booth at the Arnold Fitness Expo in Columbus Ohio, and a certain Kettlebell “Guru” disagreed with the “no time limit” rule. You can find the details about this Contest in the Blog post below this one, but I’d like to keep on point about what happened after the contest for this Article. It all started when a disgruntled participant asked if we drug tested the Winners…

First, this is a good time to talk about the World Kettlebell Club’s Drug Policy and how all the Country Clubs will address this serious issue that can’t be avoided. It’s really simple… WKC will follow the Olympic Drug Policy due to the fact that one of our collective goals is the inclusion of Kettlebell Lifting in the Olympic Games. Since Kettlebell Lifting is predominantly a Strength-Endurance test of human potential, it’s acceptance seems imminent. In other words, it’s too good a Sport to be ignored! Only time will tell, but with the recent surge in Kettlebell Lifting interest, numbers can move mountains.

I was a bit shocked by the question this lady had. I mean, we anticipated Drug Policy questions for Competitions and planned for it over a year ago, but since the World Kettlebell Lifting Championships aren’t until November 3-4, I wasn’t expecting serious questioning until then. Anyway, the Arnold Fitness Expo was a Contest, not a Competition. Our purpose for holding such a Contest at the Arnold and in the future is to expose people to the fun that can be had Lifting Kettlebells for their intended purpose-Repetitions. Kettlebells are also a superior path to Fitness when done correctly, but people want to try them before getting involved, and with 254 participants over the Arnold weekend and thousands of curious spectators, our goal was accomplished. Seriously, can you imagine trying to promote a new Sport of Fitness at one of the largest Fitness Expo’s in the World and asking people that didn’t even know there was a Contest until that day (and never having touched a Kettlebell previously) to take a needle in their arm or to urinate in a cup? Not very welcoming…

There’s a certain Kettlebell “Guru” on the Internet that offers a certification course. I’m not sure of his experience because it’s hard to tell just by reading the Ad Copy someone writes for themselves, but he said “I’m not sure I agree with the “no time limit” test”. He’s entitled to his opinion, I guess, but like Valery says, “America, it’s a Freedom Country, but just having an opinion doesn’t make you right”. Besides, one might ask why this guy even cares what Contest we conduct! Well, he didn’t intentionally give this opinion… Since I was in dialogue with the disgruntled lady over email, she must have forwarded some of my comments (i.e. questioning her methods since she had been Lifting Kettlebells for over a year and was not pleased with her results). He inadvertently replied to her email with my address in the “To:”

His response was directed at my urging her to try a no time limit set when she said she wasn’t aware she could have gone so long. I also mentioned that Valery had done 2006 reps last Arnold that took him around 2.5 hours to complete. I was trying to show that a little over an hour of work is not out of this World. It’s quite common among real Kettlebell Lifters in fact. Note- I must say Valery did this 2006 reps (as a gift to the WPO for Arnold 2006) with no specific training and he could have done it with twice the weight with some training! He’s also Jerked two 70 pound Kettlebells in one hand on numerous occasions, so one rep or thousands, he’s a pretty good example of what can be accomplished with proper Kettlebell Lifting.

This is exactly what he said: “Okay. Good for him. There’s another guy who does something similar with dumbbells…a few thousand reps, etc. But for what? I’m not sure I agree with the “no time limit” test. Makes no sense to me given that work (in real life) is often performed under timed conditions that are often not optimal to begin with.”

Hmmm… I don’t even understand the response 100%. But, it makes no sense to him given that work “in real life” is often performed under timed conditions. Where is real life? How about a Firefighter that has to stay on the job (a Strength-Endurance situation) until the danger is over with? How about a Soldier that goes “In-Season”, and has no idea what conditions they will face or the duration of the Mission? There are countless examples of jobs that require Strength-Endurance, but almost all Sports last longer than an hour as well. Extreme “real life” situations would be hunting for food daily as some people in this World must do to survive, or fighting for your life in a hostile environment. These folks already have Strength-Endurance, so I doubt they need Kettlebells to simulate hard work like the rest of us. It might make no sense to this guy, but it’s not “given” that work in real life is performed under timed conditions. “For what?” …do we have Marathon races? …Tour De France?

The lady that was questioning the winners of our contest also wanted to point out that normal Kettlebell Sport Competitions were timed 10 minute sets. Yeah, we are aware. Valery is a Master of Sport, International Master of Sport and also an Honored Master of Sport (a rank given only to a handful of Kettlebell Athletes in the history of the Sport). He has dozens of Medals from Competitions all around this World. Again, this was a Contest, not a Competition. The 3 winners had never touched a Kettlebell in their lives, so thrusting them into a Competition setting where Professionals take years to perform masterfully seems too much. Our goals are to show the amazing Health and Fitness benefits of Kettlebell Lifting, not scare people away with detailed rules and limitations.

More to come about this topic… There were several more emails exchanged and a lot of important points to be discussed. We take what’s going on in the “Kettlebell World” very seriously, but Kettlebell Lifting can be quite fun, challenging and rewarding for a huge percentage of the population. It’s actually a Mission for us to bring you real First-Hand information regarding all forms of Kettlebell Lifting. Not just the Sport…

Eric Liford, Editor

American Kettlebell Club

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