I hope you all had an awesome holiday over Labor Day and filled it up with a bunch of primal goodness. Yours truly probably ate too much BBQ but hey, a holiday is a holiday right? (And if you follow this blog, yinz should know I have a bit of a rib problem. I see them and POOF! They disappear). I just wanted to take the time out today to talk about some things that have been swirling around my Burgher brain lately, and it’s all related to fitness. To start off, I wanted to show you all what happens when I get curious. And I’m sure by saying that, you all are curious as to what I do when I am curious. Check this out!
First, allow me to have an angry vent session. I have been getting really sick and tired of this whole weight class issue with the RKC certification. For those of you who are not aware of what this means, I’d like to point out that to become a Russian Kettlebell Certified Instructor, you have to pass a snatch test that requires you to complete 100 snatches in 5 minutes. For women, you can test with either a 12 kg bell (26 pounds) or a 16kg bell (36 pounds). To test with a 12 kg, you have to keep your body weight below 123 pounds (more on Dragon Door’s certification requirements can be found here) Once you go above that, it’s 16kg and there is no looking back. Now, I am 5’3” and weigh 121 pounds. However, I will fluctuate above that number by a few pounds (placing me at the cut off) depending on how much fluid I drink or what I eat. At first, this was causing me a lot of anxiety, because I am really right on the cusp of this testing margin. Also, you can really feel the difference in weight with a 16kg doing kettlebell swings, let alone snatches. This is a serious kettlebell! This is some serious weight! After taking a hard look at my physique, revisiting this article, and speaking privately with my trainer about this weighted issue (who, might I add, tested with a 16kg and PASSED for her re-certification. Talk about inspiring!), I got curious. SUPER CURIOUS!
Because I have no concept of a “Lazy Sunday”, I picked up my 16kg kettlebell Sunday morning and had my first ever stab at the RKC snatch test using this weight. I am training for my RKC cert (yes, I know where I am going. No, I am not telling you until after HKC Pittsburgh) and have decided that if I really am that worried about this weight class, I might as well start training with a 16kg for the snatch test. I figure that one of two things will happen. 1) I’ll lean out and build my endurance to pass the test using a 12kg without a problem or 2) I’ll gain some lean mass and have the e
ndurance to pass the test with a 16kg. We’ll see what happens. Either way, I think this is a win-win situation for me. As for my first ever attempt at this weight though, I ended up with 70 snatches using a 16kg and completed them in 4 minutes and 57 seconds. Not going to lie, I was kind of bummed about this, but at least I know now what I can do, and how to effectively train to reach the 100 snatch goal with a 16kg kettlebell. I am currently 30 snatches off my mark, but I will gladly accept 70 snatches on my first ever attempt at this weight as an accomplishment of some sort. Looks like I have more work to do.
Oh, that reminds me. TIme to start paying close attention to hand care. This months training is going to be demanding, and that’s real talk ya heard?
For those of you who are currently training for your RKC certification and are like me, on the cusp of the body weight cut off, I encourage you to consider the value of better endurance and greater strength achieved by training with a 16kg kettlebell. As for me, I’d rather not live in fear of the numbers on a scale if I can become leaner, stronger, and boost my endurance through my training. The positives far outweigh the negatives, and I have HAD IT with the anxiety of the RKC Snatch Test. I hope this post serves to help you all training to put your fears behind you as well.
Remember to eat smart, train hard, and enjoy your life!
Love Always,
Janelle
