American Kettlebell Club Blog

Spend 4 days living the life of a Pro Kettlebell Sport Athlete. The only way you’ll be able to handle the intense workload is by having ample time to relax in the healing waters of Loutraki Greece. This location, once known as Thermai, is the most ancient bathing resort of Hellas, with a Therapeutic history pre-dating Christ. Greek Folklore speaks of the Gods Apollon, Hera, Xenius and Hygeia in it’s creation. True Professional Coaches and Athletes will be there working along side of you. You’ll train in their gym. You’ll eat what they eat. You’ll feel the slower Mediterranean lifestyle they enjoy… You’ll be surprised how it effects your performance! The Camp will be adjusted to your personal level, but there will be no pulled punches. You will be Training at your maximum for four days, and you’ll witness others doing the same. Whether you are a Pro athlete of another sport looking to enhance your training knowledge, a Coach looking for a superior Conditioning for his Team/Students, or a Kettlebell Sport fanatic that wants to take it to the next level, this is our Premier Course. The four day learning experience in the land where Sports, Athletics and Kettlebells originated will prove to be unparalleled in Elite Sport Conditioning and an Event you will never forget!

The goal of the Camp is to show you first hand what it’s like to train like a Professional Athlete. While seasoned Pros usually train twice a day, with a “nap” between sessions, this will be a mid-day training, allowing you to make a vacation out of it and bring family or friends and still enjoy Greece morning and night. If we could run month long Camps, we would, but the cost is very prohibitive. This is the next best thing to actually going Pro! We’re sorry, but during training you will have to leave your guests in Loutraki, alone to “torture” themselves in the place modern Athenians go to relax.

This Training Camp will take place in Valery’s Coach’s new Gym near Athens, which produces Champions in Wrestling, Olympic Lifting, ArmWrestling and, of course, Kettlebells. Lodging in a classy European-style hotel within walking distance of the beach is included in the Camp fee, as well as daily transportation to the gym and back to Loutraki, a nutritious lunch after training, high-tech supplements, and more… We’re purposely leaving the evening open for you to enjoy, as there are numerous shops, clubs, restaurants, cafe’-bars and even the largest European Casino all on the 2km strip overlooking the water. Some of the most historic spots in the entire World are within a few hours (or closer) of this location, so extending your stay is possible if you make your reservations early. It is a great time of year for Holiday in Loutraki, so book your slot now! *note- We must keep the course relatively close-knit. Please confirm attendance early.

Sport Camp Fee: $4760

Daily October 27-30

Includes:

5 night hotel stay 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Continental Breakfast (5 days)

Nutritious Lunch (4 days)

High-Tech Supplements (30 days)

Transportation to/from Gym

Informative Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loutraki

http://www.travelinfo.gr/loutraki/

To reserve your spot contact Krystina at:

AmericanKettlebellClub@gmail.com

I got a call from Ken Love, a guy who’s been around since the beginning of AKC. He was asking me about Las Vegas and when he should book his flights. He’s coming in to judge Pros and Amateurs and also compete in the Senior Division, Snatch only. I also think he wants to see Denisov at the special Coach Certification in Vegas after the Competition. We’ve gotten a lot on inquiries from existing Coaches to attend the new format Coach Certification with more hands on training, so this has made it reasonable to offer re-certification(2 year) spaces at a very reduced rate to Coaches on a limited basis. We’ve had to turn several away in the last few months already due to limited gym space, so these spots will be available on first-come basis. Coaches should email Krystina…

In the course of the conversation Ken was talking about how he’s been working with the 16kg in Snatch for the most part and the other day pulled 450. He said a few other things and I could have sworn I heard 450. I had to ask. Not because I think everyone is embellishing (just some), but because Ken is 66 and has only been Snatching 16kg! I said, Ken… How much did you deadlift? He said 450 pounds. Ok, it wasn’t a 3, it was a FOUR-50! Just like I thought I heard…

This is the response I got from him after asking for a little background. Things like, what have you been doing? How long? How many times did you deadlift in this cycle to pull 450? How? What? When? I mean, I knew Ken was primarily a 16kg Snatch guy, as he came to Miami and did a demonstration and most of his postings on the Coaches Forum pertain to that. I had to know for sure… So, I asked if he minded if I wrote about it. I said, I’d love to have a picture, and if ever you do it again, I’d love a video. The next day he filmed it again. He then answered my questions for the interview, but there is no way I could write it any better.

In its entirety…

Eric Liford, Editor

Eric,

Monday was my third deadlift since January of 2006 when I had a pr of 470 before I abandoned all barbell training and went strictly to kbs. My first pull in November of 2007 I pulled 405 over at Crossfit Montgomery and it felt relatively easy. Back in January 2008, I did a 580 pull with a couple of farmers walk implements but that lift is a lot easier than a regular deadlift because of the much higher starting point. Then Monday, Mark Lehmkuhl who owns Crossfit Montgomery (he’s attending the AKC cert in Atlanta), invited me to the wod to deadlift and I pulled the 450 with seemingly some left and I did it again today for the video. But to answer your question directly, I have not trained for the deadlift in over two years as you can see. I basically did the deads to see how much pulling strength I had lost. The short answer is I have lost none.

My training in 2006 was basically hard style kb stuff – swings and snatches and occasionally getups, front squats and presses. I hooked up with Steve Cotter in late 2006 and he introduced me to time training ( at this point I believe Steve was making his break with the RKC camp and was or was becoming a disciple of Valery’s methods). I attended the AKC cert in February of 2007 and a training day in April of 2007. I saw the superiority of Valery’s way and became a convert (seeing Marty jerk the 32s blew my mind).

At my age of 66, serious competition with the 32kgs and 24kgs was not a very realistic goal for me so I concentrated on the 16kg snatch. The snatch is my favorite and I have made good progress in terms of time and reps over the past 13 months using Valery’s methods. Basically I snatch 5 times per week with one money set per day of 10 to 14 mins. Doesn’t sound like much to the uninitiated but it suits me and my recovery ability. I do shoulder and hip stretching just about every day and I teach basic swings, presses, push presses, jerks and snatches for Crossfit Montgomery each Saturday. Although my technique is quite modest, I enjoy teaching others.

I got into physical training late in life, around 2001 when I was 60. I am a recovering alcoholic and compulsive gambler – clean and sober since 2/1/99 by the grace of God. As a result of my addictions, I became involved with a recovery ministry called Celebrate Recovery for addicts. I lead Celebrate Recovery each Thursday night and that is my main calling in life. I also work in a family business with my oldest son and my wife and I sit on several for-profit boards of directors for local businesses and a financial institution. But my spare time is for grandkids (4) and kbs.

I will be 67 in July and my weight stays at 200. Due to a lifetime of abuse to my body by alcohol and by my life style, I had several major operations on my intestines during 1992, 1993 and 1994 finally resulting in the removal of my large intestine. Since 2/1/99 I have been relatively healthy albeit I am missing some parts which necessitate ongoing medications.

Ken

Last week was the first call to some members of AKC Team America that I have chosen to be a part of my Phone Coaching Program. We’ll be making some additional picks for the Team America Roster in the next few weeks, but these Lifters are documenting their workouts for the entire Team Roster to view, analyze and discuss. The Team can also gather useful methods and tips to help with their own Programs by following these Lifters. 9 Athletes participate. They are Team Captains Catherine Imes and Marty Farrell, with David Zink, Chris Duffey, Andrew Durniat, Ashley Hughes, Gregor Sobocan, Susanna Baxter, and Scott Helsley. These athletes have agreed to go with me Internationally and represent America in Competitions throughout the World. For now we take it slowly so I can learn about their temperament for work, but soon it will not be easy. I wanted to congratulate these lifters for taking part in this program and let everyone know who they are.

I’m not sure why, but I have gotten a lot of questions lately about using the Alternating Rack my Coach came up with to increase his numbers in Jerk. When we were in Greece last year, he showed everyone his rack technique that increased his best 70 reps (that he had during my competitive days of 130+ Jerks), to 100 reps several years back. Now it is part of basic Kettlebell information in America already The technique works, but it’s more of a trick, not an actual technique. I feel a technique should allow more efficiency, so you can work even harder. This move slows you down, increases unnecessary movement, and keeps you from gaining the flexibility to have a good launch pad from your hips. It is a less healthy position, and while it is legal in competition (there is no rule that you must rest on the hips), the top lifters don’t use it. I’ve heard the excuses that they can’t reach the hip, but no American Lifters I know have lifted long enough to know for sure. I understand the feeling, and I do not blame someone for wanting to use it, but it is not the best advice for someone new to Kettlebell Sport. For a Strength and Conditioning application you can use 1 Arm with a heavy Kettlebell or just take advantage of the flexibility enhancement and further benefit from doing it correctly with two Kettlebells. There is nothing to prove except personal results in S&C lifting! For a Fitness application it’s low level instruction, and the trainer is simply lacking experience or understanding of the goals of Kettlebell Lifting. My Coach is a Master of Sport and had years of experience Coaching Kettlebells before implementing this trick on himself, and did it more for an experiment. Still, he only got to 100 reps. I recommend not even using this, but you should have years of experience before playing around. One last thing is it also makes it easy to drop the elbow onto the belt and use it as a lifting aid, which will get you disqualified (not just a no-count) in a competition. I’ve never recommended it for the reasons of safety, efficiency, and potential. It’s very hard to break a habit years later, trust me. This is a game of patience…

Valery Fedorenko
Head Coach, AKC

The American Kettlebell Club Classic takes place in Las Vegas, NV on May 3rd at:

Alexis Park Resort Hotel
375 East Harmon, Apollo Meeting Room
Las Vegas, Nevada 89169

This Competition is open to all Kettlebell Lifters in the USA and is free of charge to both competitors and spectators. Our Special Guest for this competition is Ivan Denisov, Absolute World Record-Holder in all three classic Kettlebell Sport lifts, who will attempt to break his own record of 175 repetitions in the Jerk! Come witness an historic attempt at one of the highest displays of human work-capacity, and literally feel the floor shake as the 250 pound Russian Stallion explodes off the platform!

Not only that, but there is a special Kettlebell Lifting Coach Certification following the AKC Classic where you can participate in an intense two day course by Honored Master of Sport and Head Coach Valery Fedorenko and his top Squad Leaders, as well as see demonstrations up close and personal by Super Heavyweight World Champion, Ivan Denisov. No one is quite sure what will happen, but high-profile names in the Sport and Fitness Worlds have already booked for this “show” in anticipation. One thing is for sure…You just can’t find a higher level of experience under one roof! See below for details about booking this Course* – Spots are limited!

Call to Competition:

This is the AKC Classic, a National Competition Contesting the traditional lifts of Jerk, Snatch, and LongCycle for American Lifters under these divisions:

PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
Men 32kg – Women 16kg
Open Age
Weight Categories:
Men – 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, 85kg, 90kg, 90+kg
Women – 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 75+kg

AMATEUR DIVISION
Men 24kg – Women 12kg
Open Age
Weight Categories:
Men – 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, 85kg, 90kg, 90+kg
Women – 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 75+kg

MASTER DIVISION
Men 24kg – Women 12kg
45-55 years of age
No Weight Category

JUNIOR DIVISION
Boys 16kg – Girls 12kg
Up to 17 years of age
No Weight Category

SENIOR DIVISION
Men 16kg – Women 8kg
56 years of age and over
No Weight Category

YOUTH DIVISION
Boys 12kg – Girls 8kg
Up to 14 years of age
No Weight Category

The Competition will be Professionally Judged in accordance with the World Kettlebell Club Rules of Lifting. If you are not familiar with proper lifting rules, you should contact and AKC Coach and make sure you are before competing. There will be a Pre-Competition Meeting to go over the Rules before Competition begins, so don’t be late. Many lifters will be attempting to acquire Rank under the World Kettlebell Club, so strict judging will be enforced. Also, the rule of the Judge is final, and you will either receive a Count or No-Count, and will not be “Coached” by the Judge during your Meet performance.

The Professional and Amateur Divisions will have 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Medals for each Weight Category. The Master, Senior, Junior and Youth Divisions will have 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Medals and the Places will continue with each of these in order based on number of reps. If there is a tie, the Place will be determined by the lighter lifter.

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*Kettlebell Lifting Coach Certification will be May 4th and 5th from 9am to 5pm both days. Our current special to attend the Kettlebell Lifting Coach Certification is $1333, and as a free gift for your participation you receive a free set of our Competition™ Kettlebells**

**Set includes 1 each (8kg, 12kg, 16kg, 20kg, 24kg, 28kg and 32kg…Shipping charges not included) of our Competition™ Kettlebells designed by Valery to be the best! Ask Krystina for more details at AmericanKettlebellClub@gmail.com

Tens of thousands of athletes and spectators visited our booth, but 612 had the courage to step up on one of four platforms and participate in our Overhead Lift Contest at the 2008 Arnold Fitness Expo. Last year we had around 250 participants in our 1 Arm LongCycle Contest, but our expanded booth made all the difference this year. Many thanks to our Volunteer Coach Staff that showed up like Soldiers, I think we had over 20 “work” our booth at some point in the weekend! It would have been impossible to have pulled it off with just myself, Jon and Valery, so we are grateful for your generosity. I know some of you made pretty good contacts, so I hope all the hard work pays off big! Except for a few guys spending a little too much time “Coaching” young gorgeous women, it was a well oiled Training Machine among chaos. Oh, and this year we did actually coach people that wanted to listen. Some people feel they have nothing to learn from a bunch of leaned out Kettlebell Athletes (only later did they find out they might…), but many got a nice introduction to Kettlebell Lifting that was well worth the price of admission. These AKC Coaches coach fast! It was pretty much non-stop action from Friday as the doors opened, until Close on Sunday. Young and old, big and small, man and woman… There is no discrimination in Kettlebells! How many can you do!?

So, I said to this big guy, “Where have I seen you before?” He said “Worlds Strongest Man?”. Yeah, I think that was it… Those were my first words to “Schoonie”, our Mens Overhead Lift winner. It’s ok, I spoke some pretty stupid words to Valery the day I met him too, so I have reason to expect Mr. Brian Schoonveld will forgive me as well. After all, it was The Arnold and there are no shortages of big, strong and famous people walking around. Anyway, he lifted the 32kg/70lb “Fedorenko” bell 120 times in 10 minutes with only one hand switch. I messed up in the last Blog and said 129, but the 0 looked like a 9, probably scribbled due to the excitement of the performance! Not only do your arms have to be strong, but your hands, your wind, your back, feet and definitely your mind have to be up to the task. There weren’t many rules… Just begin the lift from down off the crest of the shoulder and pop the lockout. It ain’t Kettlebell Sport, it’s a Festival Lift, and from what I hear, they had a lot of these in the old country. You should have seen the creative ways people come up with to survive. This really proves natural instinct of lifting is not the best way when it comes to Kettlebells. The effort put forth by 90% of the contestants was simply amazing to see first hand. With a little bit of Coaching, some of these people could be the Champions of our Sport. The rest could tighten up a few weak links in the chain that holds together total Fitness.

Our Women’s winner came late Sunday. Unassuming, but you could tell she had been training something, hard. She put up 94 reps with a 16kg/35lb Kettlebell within 10 minutes. Her name is Rachel Rosenfeld. I don’t know what she does yet, but it’s obvious by her results that she can go further and become a Kettlebell Athlete with the AKC. We think she’s going to turn out to be one of our best students, at least we hope. With the help of just the 4 main women AKC Athletes that were present assisting at the Arnold, I’m sure she will get all the help she desires in our Club. We charge Catherine Imes, Kelly Moore, Ashley Hughes, and Susanna Baxter, all who can now Jerk a 32kg Kettlebell for reps due to a lot of 16kg practice, with helping to welcome her to our Club and helping to steer her in the right directions if she chooses to pursue the Kettlebell.

More on the Arnold…

Eric Liford, Editor

All day I’ve been trying to figure out where to start on the Arnold Expo/AKC Event that occurred this past weekend in Columbus. It’s an amazing spectacle as those Coaches that had not been before now know. You just never know who or what you will see at any given moment. Go get Tshirts, and you miss Scott Sonnon who stopped by to see the Coaches. He was very busy himself over in the Anti-Aging “wing” of the Convention Center. It’s ok, I ended up seeing him after “bumping” into Arnold on my way out. Actually, I couldn’t get but a few phone shots over the mob from about 10 feet away, but the Terminator was there! Late Sunday was just as eventful as Prime Time Saturday. We found our Mens Winner in Brian Schoonveld, Worlds Strongest Man Competitor, who happens to be one of the best Pressers in the World it seems. He got 129 reps within 10 minutes in our Overhead Lift Contest with a 32kg/70lb Kettlebell! Last years winner was also a Strongman Competitor, so there is a trend forming. Valery wanted me to make sure I explained to “Schoonie”, as they call him, that we aren’t trying to turn him into a Kettlebell Lifter, but even if he learned one small point that accounted for just a few % of his training, it would be worth it at his level.

There’s just too much to talk about in one Blog, so I’ll post some pics for now and figure something out in the meantime. Most of all we want to thank the 21 AKC Coaches who helped run the booth and the others that stopped by and hung out. We’re building quite a Community of Kettlebell Lifters in this Country! More to come…

Eric Liford, Editor