CrossFit Journal - Issue 59.pdf - CrossFit Journal - Gozluk

ISSUE FIFTY-NINE

July 2007

A Performance-Based

Comparison of Kettlebell

Methods

Steve Cotter

page 1

From Rowing Indoors to

Rowing on the Water

Judy Geer

page 6

My First CrossFit

Certiication Seminar

Paul Eich

page 8

Greco-Roman Takedown

Wrestling with Dan Henderson

Becca Borawski

page 10

Silly Bullshit

Mark Rippetoe

page 12

The Most Powerful

Human Being in the

Entire Universe

Lon Kilgore

page 17

Teaching the Jerk

Part 3: Split Jerk Drills

Mike Burgener,

with Tony Budding

page 20

A Performance-Based Comparison

of Kettlebell Methods

Principles of Physiologic

Conditioning

Tony Leyland

page 22

Hamstrung

Kelly Starrett

Steve Cotter

page 25

There is an art to kettlebell lifting and it begins with selecting a formula for success.

This article aims to highlight differences among kettlebell training methodologies

and to help you understand these differences so you can maximize the productivity

of your kettlebell lifting practice.

Dumbbell Conditioning

for Rotational Strength

and Health

Michael Rutherford

page 29

If you ask someone why they do something a certain way and their answer is

“because that is the way it was taught” or “because that is the way everyone else

The Grinder

CrossFit FRAGO #12,

“PALMER”

page 31

continued page ... 2

CrossFit Journal • Issue Fifty-Nine • July 2007

A Performance-Based Comparison of Kettlebell Methods

...continued

does it,” is that a suficient reason to adopt the same way? I think

that would depend greatly upon the performance of the person

doing that thing.

1. Classical (also called “competitive.). These are the foundational

lifts, the basics, the ones that are contested in kettlebell sport

meets: clean and jerk and snatch. Simply put, if you’re good at

these, you’re good at kettlebell lifting.

It is performance that drives the CrossFit athlete, and it is

performance that can be measured and tested. My opinion

about kettlebell lifting styles is not necessarily important to your

goals. However, rather than just my opinions, what I try to offer

here is an analysis that allows you to test and evaluate the two

methodologies with respect to your performance and progress.

2. Fitness. This category consists of a wide array of movements

used to build coordination and general conditioning; includes

bodybuilding and feats of strength.

3. Juggling. Just like it sounds, this type involves throwing and

catching kettlebells in any imaginable fashion.

Most people irst start using kettlebells for basic itness, in

which they do a wide range of activities to learn techniques for

working with KBs and start to develop strength and a solid base

of conditioning. This is like gym class for kettlebells. Then the

question usually becomes, what’s next? What happens once you

have a basic itness level?

Matching methods to goals

To understand performance, we must irst understand the goals.

An important question to be able to answer before selecting a

particular tool or modality is “why?” Why would you select one

tool over another, or one approach instead of another?

So, why use kettlebells? This is a relative question because what

we are really asking is why we would select a kettlebell instead

of something else (dumbbell, barbell, a can of soup, or something

else).

The kettlebell is a tool that that is used speciically for the

development of work capacity via ballistic repetition. That is its

greatest gift. Sure, we can juggle and do tricks with kettlebells, but

it is the combination of endurance and strength training that gives

them a place among basic strength and conditioning tools.

If your goal is to lift a weight as heavy as possible one time, is

the kettlebell the best implement to choose? Most likely not,

in that you will be limited by how big the kettlebell can be and

by its shape. Sure you can have a 200-pound kettlebell, but it

becomes cumbersome beyond a certain size. Traditionally, 48 kg

is the heaviest a KB will weigh, unless you move into kettlebells

for circus stunts. Anything heavier than 48 kg requires the mold

to be larger, and the leverage parameters will change and make

the bell unwieldy for all but the most massive frames. A barbell,

however, is quite conveniently designed to hold maximum weights,

whether 200, 500, or 1,000 pounds. So, for the purpose of lifting

a maximal weight one time, a barbell is the logical choice and will

allow optimal lifting for that goal.

On the other hand, if the goal is to lift a sub-maximal weight

many times, for the purpose of training muscular and systemic

endurance, a kettlebell offers unique qualities that will facilitate

this goal. The shape and length of the handle and its placement

behind the mass of the bell favors high repetition lifting, because

the hand can move within the handle and allow a relaxed grip (in

a way that dumbbells and cans of soup do not).

A basic classiication is useful here. There are three fundamental

categories of kettlebell lifting. (They can be divided further, but

this is the stripped-down version.)

At this point, a lifter will typically use that basic training either to

move into another activity, such as Olympic lifting, powerlifting, or

another sport (or CrossFit), or to progress into serious kettlebell

lifting.

This is when the study of the classical lifts becomes more

important and the iner points of learning are needed most. It is

in the precise study of the basic lifts that high achievement can be

developed through repetition.

The emergence of kettlebell lifting as a viable

fitness method

With the growth and popularity of kettlebell lifting as a mode

of effective exercise, it is time to get a clear view of what has

transpired over the past seven years, when kettlebells have been

marketed to the American public.

In the early days, virtually all the educational information about

kettlebell lifting was coming from one source. This information

was—and still is—presented as the “Hard Style” or RKC (“Russian

Kettlebell Challenge”) school. It is a school of thought as well as a

school of technique. With the techniques comes also a particular

approach to the lifting that suits the types of goals that a student

will realistically set and meet.

I will refer this particular approach to kettlebell lifting hereafter as

the rigid style (RS).

In contrast to the RS approach is a less promoted, yet more

traditional manner of lifting kettlebells. It is not new; rather, it is a

long-established approach that emphasizes kettlebell as a primary

tool for strength-endurance and repetition ballistic lifting. This

traditional style has most closely been associated with Girevoy

Sport, which consists of lifting competitions contesting the jerk,

the snatch, and the clean and jerk. Maximum repetitions are

CrossFit Journal • Issue Fifty-Nine • July 2007

A Performance-Based Comparison of Kettlebell Methods

...continued

contested within a 10-minute period. It is a sport that deals with work capacity in terms of

reps per minute. The results are easily quantiiable by the numbers performed.

The Girevoy Sport athletes have studied the most eficient manner of lifting kettlebells. Their

particular approach to kettlebell lifting will hereafter be referred to as the luid style (FS).

After almost four years of sustained exposure to kettlebell lifting, practiced in the rigid style,

I became interested in the high-performance aspect of the lifts, which requires more reined

development of the basics. You can get only so far on conditioning and grit; at some point,

the iner points of the lifts must be addressed if you want to make continued progress and

performance improvements.

For me it took a trip all the way to Moscow, Russia, before I could differentiate between

the rigid and luid styles of kettlebell lifting. It was at the 2005 World Championship Classics

there that I witnessed the tremendous work capacity of the lifters and it was clear that their

technique was very different from what I had learned and been exposed to initially in my RS

training in the U.S.

Since then, spurred on by the emergence of Valery Fedorenko, a world champion in kettlebell

sport who lives and teaches kettlebell lifting in the U.S., more information has become

available about the most eficient methods for achieving optimal performance from kettlebell

training.

Below is a comparison of the way the most basic technique, the swing, is taught in RS and FS

methods. I focus on the swing here as an example, but these differences between the two

styles can be found throughout the teaching and execution of all the basic lifts.

RS head position

FS head position

Rigid vs. fluid styles: Mechanics

Rigid style:

• Hip action: choppy; forced overextension

• Head/eye position: locked into horizontal; restricts hamstring function

• Breathing: opposes movement; exhale coincides with trunk extension

• Grip: maximal tension

• Arm: locked out horizontally; the arm supports the entire load

RS grip

Fluid style:

• Hip action: natural extension; neutral alignment

• Head/eye position: follows movement; allows full activation of hamstrings

• Breathing: coordinates with movement; inhale coincides with trunk extension

• Grip: only as much tension as is needed to hold on

• Arm: relaxed and slightly bent; load supported vertically by base (feet)

The rigid style promotes a short, choppy, snappy motion; the forced extension promotes a

hyper-lordosis (excessively arched) quality to the movement of the lower back. The position

of the head (always facing straight forward, regardless of the position of the back) causes

tension in the back of the neck and down into the trunk extensors and hamstrings; these

tensed extensors inhibit elasticity and reduce loading potential. The inhale occurs at the

RS grip

CrossFit Journal • Issue Fifty-Nine • July 2007

A Performance-Based Comparison of Kettlebell Methods

...continued

point of greatest load; this becomes problematic with heavier loads with regards to stabilizing

the spine. Squeezing the handle tightly with the palm promotes crushing grip strength, but

it diminishes grip endurance. The locked-out elbow requires control of the load by the arm

at full extension.

In the luid style, the trunk goes through a greater range of motion, yet not all the way to

overextension of the hip. Neutral alignment is achieved and the head-trunk angle stays

constant throughout the range of motion. Breathing matches the trunk movement, and

exhaling at the point of greatest spinal load offers greater protection. The grip is irm yet

loose, so that output can be sustained. The arm remains loose and slightly bent so that the

load stays close to the body and closer to the base.

One manner of lifting is clearly more economical than the other. The rigid style is useful for

caloric expenditure, but its mechanics don’t allow for prolonged work periods. The luid style

adopts the mechanics that allow for greatest sustained output, which is the whole purpose

of kettlebell lifting in the context of performance. This brings the focus of kettlebell lifting

back to the basics.

Key differences in approach

FS grip

The luid lifter works primarily to time, not to reps. There is a natural cadence that is right

for each person, and that varies according to conditioning and control of the body.

In the luid style, the muscles of the girevik (kettlebell lifter) have to be able to recover ATP

stores while holding the KB. This means that he or she is working while resting. This quality

of resting under load is a demand unique to kettlebell lifting among the competitive lifting

sports.

In many other forms of athletics as well, there is a prominent need for relaxation under

load. A prime example is in the ighting sports, which require the ability to relax and recover

while subject to external stressors. The relaxed, natural manner of FS lifting is consistent

with athletic movements. The signature of a trained athlete is luidity and grace, an effortless

quality of motion.

FS grip

The RS approach, in contrast, generally focuses on reps, not on time. Typically the goal is

reps done as fast as possible. While this is a demanding task and quite admirable, there is a

limiting factor because once you approach your anaerobic threshold; you will not be able to

continue.

The difference in the quantity of work that can be accomplished in each style, RS vs. FS,

becomes very obvious when the sets are extended over a full ten minutes, which is the

duration of time given to complete your reps in a competition.

RS arm position

A rigid-style practitioner may be able to do 25 rpm but will be able to sustain that effort for

only a few minutes, because of the fast pace and the amount of tension held in the muscles.

He or she will tire and lose power very quickly. For example, a well-conditioned RS athlete

may be able to last at that pace for as long as four or ive minutes. When the set is over, he

or she may have 125 total reps.

On the other hand, a luid-style athlete who maintains patience and a controlled pace may

move slightly slower, so that he or she has a chance to breathe and rest after each rep. This

athlete moving at the more moderate pace of 20 rpm will likely be able to sustain the effort

for twice as long. At this slower pace he or she will have completed 200 reps with the same

load. This is the way of pacing, and as it extends out, the pacing will allow much greater

volume per set and overall.

FS arm position

CrossFit Journal • Issue Fifty-Nine • July 2007

A Performance-Based Comparison of Kettlebell Methods

...continued

It is the story of the tortoise and the hare. Everyone wants to be

the dashing and fast and conident hare. Yet the tortoise is patient

and constant and very calm; conident, too, but in a steady sort of

way.

To the casual observer,

an elite kettlebell lifter

will appear to move very

quickly and very powerfully.

It will look as if there is no

resting at all because of

the pace that is maintained.

For example, the world

record for jerks in the

men’s competition is 175

jerks with two 32kg bells.

This was accomplished in a

period of 10 minutes. We

know that this is over 17.5

rpm, or one rep every 3.42 seconds for ten minutes straight! The

numbers are astounding. That is a gross measure of 11,200 kg

(24,640 pounds) of overhead lifting in one set.

Sports fans in the U.S. often settle performance-based arguments

with“Scoreboard, baby!” In competition, the numbers tell the story

that ultimately really matters. We can look at the scoreboard and

know which team played “better.”

In kettlebell lifting, the tortoise wins every time.

Developing capacity

RS hip overextension

In the broader scope of strength and conditioning training with

kettlebells, we regularly mix the dosages and durations of the sets.

We may wish to go very, very fast for a shorter period of time, to

train power, or more slowly for a more extended period, to train

muscular stamina and cardio-respiratory endurance.

That example uses the best lifter in the world, so it doesn’t relate

to you or me personally except as a point of reference. Yet, this

lifter, Ivan Denisov, like all the best lifters, actually relaxes between

reps. So it is a period of intense explosion, followed by a complete

relaxation. In effect, each rep is the same as the previous. The

athlete stops because the clock stops. He doesn’t rest for long,

but you can see that he is recharged before he does his next rep.

That is the only way to accomplish such workloads.

The interesting nature of kettlebell training is that you can go

from slow to fast (i.e. pick up the pace later in the effort), but you

cannot go from fast to slow. You have to learn how to go slow irst.

This is very important, because, going very fast out of the gate will

deplete your energy stores quickly, and once this happens, your set

is over. On the other hand, by pacing yourself you can sustain your

output over an extended period of time. As your conditioning

improves, you will be able to increase the rpms for the period

of time that you are working, but you are already accustomed to

working, at some level, for the duration. Even if you are training

for longer-duration sets using a luid style, it is certainly possible

to move at a much faster pace for shorter sets, when you want to

optimize power output. There is a deinite place for that approach

in the context of circuit and general itness training. If you can

work for six minutes at 20 rpm, for example, you will also be able

to work for one or two minutes at 26 to 28 rpm. But if you only

practice working at a fast pace for short durations, it will be very

dificult to make the leap to longer-duration sets. There is a very

speciic quality of endurance and stamina that can be developed

only by doing longer sets.

The same level of control is possible at whatever your current

level. By approaching your kettlebell training with a FS approach,

focusing on relaxing as much as possible and training to time and

not just reps, you can build a wide and solid endurance base and

improve your performance of the basics. Don’t be in a hurry to

rush through your sets. Spend some time working on holding on

to the bell and breathing through the movements.

There are two sides to work capacity. Developing the ability to

generate force is an aspect of training that we are all aware of;

learning how to control and sustain that force via pacing is an

equally important aspect of becoming a skilled athlete, but one

that typically garners less attention. This is what the relaxation

properties of FS kettlebell lifting teach. Let’s start paying closer

attention.

The kind of lifting I’m talking about is not taking a heavy kettlebell

and doing something one or two or ive times. That is exercise,

yes, but it does not lead into anything beyond that. This is why it

would be referred to as a feat of strength. It shows that you can

do some things, but it doesn’t say anything about how good you

really are with kettlebells. As kettlebells are primarily a strength-

endurance tool, and not for maximal strength development, it is

appropriate to start slow and build the volume through pacing

rather than through maximal effort in each rep. Those feats of

strength can be done with anything—a barbell, a sand bag, even a

person. Learning how to go slow and relax between reps is the

key to excellence.

Online Video

Kettlebell Comparison Video

http://media.crossit.com/cf-video/CotterKBvidJuly.wmv

http://media.crossit.com/cf-video/CotterKBvidJuly.mov

Steve Cotter is a renowned kettlebell instructor who

teaches his unique blend of Full Kontact kettlebell training

throughout North America, Asia, and Europe.

CrossFit Journal - Issue 59.pdf

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