Wednesday 27 March 2013

Thursday 21/3/13

Return of a KBC benchmark workout tonight - none of the exercises are particularly easy and put together this is a tough one. Everyone gave it their all and there were some good times as a result. Well done all.

Welcome also to Toby to his first KBC












Tuesday 19 March 2013

Monday 18/3/13

Bit of a mix tonight, starting with double KB ascending ladder then a quick run. Finished it of with another ten minute round of the kettlebell ladder with the aim of matching or beating what you did in the first round.

Some hard work put in tonight so well done everyone















Friday 15 March 2013

Thursday 14/3/13

Nice work by everyone last night, lapping up the pain with this run/KB combo. Well done everyone.






Tuesday 12 March 2013

Monday 11/3/13

Started tonight with some ab work then onto the main workout with the aim of completing 10 minutes without putting the kettlebells down. Only the strongest survive!









Thursday 7 March 2013

Thursday 7/3/13

Nice and simple one tonight split in to two parts.






Tuesday 5 March 2013

Monday 4/3/13

Variation of an old classic tonight. 12 exercises, 2 minutes of each exercise. Good work everyone.
Welcome also to Sandra and Tom to their first KBC session.









Monday 4 March 2013

Competition results!!

Congratulations to team GSU (Girevoy Sport Union) in their recent great results in Omsk Russia. The competition was with 24kg bells (16kg for women) and 7 minutes of each event - Jerk, Long Cycle, Snatch.

As an individual we could compete in all three events for a team total, however, some decided to leave out some events in order to get the best possible result in their favoured event.

Mark Stapleton won a bronze medal for an excellent result in Jerk, Long Cycle and Snatch.

Abigail Johnson pretty much cleaned up in every event and showed the women how it was done! This is no mean feat as Russia is the birth place of Kettlebells and kettlebell Sport so we are competing against the best.

The rest of the team work the hearts out in every event to contribute towards our team total.

I left out the jerk event so I could give my all in the Long Cycle and I did!
My main rival was Anton Anasenko's student Eduard Openlender. He is Junior Champion of Russia and already master of Sports rank at age 19!!!! They are a different breed out here and it was going to be tough.

The set started well but my pace was already fast. 50 seconds in and I was already on 12 reps. I did 13 by the end of the first minute and glanced at Eduards total two platforms down. He was on thirteen too and for the next 6 minutes a battle of sheer will and stubbornness ensued. We traded rep for rep at a pace which was uncomfortable for three minutes let alone 7. When it came down to it Eduard finished 88 reps and with 10 seconds to go I managed to clean and jerk my 88th rep as well. It was as close as it could get but thankfully I drew with him.
The unfortunate thing is he was 2lbs lighter than me and as it was a co-efficient competition the lighter person wins. I ended up with a 3rd place which I am over the moon about considering the standard of competition.

I think the Russians were shocked by us as a team considering most of us have had no formal training and especially no training from multiple world champions.
The team eventually took second place, beating Team Kazakhstan who also have some incredible lifters. Well Done Team GSU - let's hope this is a sign of things to come.



Eddie Sheehan (left) Will Dollar (right)

Video will follow upon my return along with full write up of the trip.



Friday 1 March 2013

Thursday 28/2/13

This workouts name comes from the Kettlebell Sport trip that Will has taken with The Girevoy Sport Union to Omsk in Russia.
21 minutes aiming for as many rounds as possible. Every 3 minutes complete 6 laps of the hall. Good work everyone.







Welcome also to Hel's and Kato to their first KBC Session.




This is a view from Will's Dorm window at the Siberian State University in Omsk. It is currently -20 degrees outside in the day and much colder at night! It is raw here with the weather and with the facilities but amazing experience already.

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Good Luck to Will in Russia




Keep working hard while I'm away everyone!

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Monday 25/2/13

Started the session with some balance work then a nice little 20 minute workout with getups, lunges and overhead carries. Good work everyone.









Friday 22 February 2013

Thursday 21/2/13

Some more double kettlebell work tonight and an exercise to hit each major muscle group.
Working in pairs, one completes all the exercises while the other rests.



Tuesday 19 February 2013

Monday 18/2/13

Time for Tabata again. This time 8 exercises for five rounds.







Thursday 14/2/13

This one was a bit of an animal.









Thursday 14 February 2013

The Boys Done Good!

Congratulations to Nick, Toby and Will for competing in the Scottish Kettlebell Open 2013.
We Travelled up to Glasgow on friday and arrived for our weight in at around 2pm. With the formalities of Weighing completed we then went on to consume as much food as possible in the next few hours!
Nervous and tired and after a good meal with some other competitors we made our way back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Saturday morning had arrived and we were all up and raring to go. We made sure we had a good breakfast (lots more food) and were joined by two multiple Russian world Champions (Sergey Rudnev and Alexander Kvostov) which seemed a bit surreal at that time in the morning. A short taxi drive later and we were at Hillington Park Gym owned by Scott McLaughlin. Scott has recently moved to this location and has a great set up which was set to be a perfect venue for a competition. With over 60 competitors the gym started to fill with some familiar and not so familiar faces. Everyone was busily looking at their flight times (a flight is the time that it is your turn to lift) and warming up, but for Nick, Toby and Myself it was going to be a long wait as we weren't due to lift until 5.15!!!

We made use of the morning chatting to fellow competitors and watching various flights of Jerks. It struck me how much the standard has risen in the sport in just a year of me doing it and there are some big weights being lifted by Women and Men more often than not. After watching the 32's being lifted in the Jerk and some ridiculous numbers by Alexander Kvostov we decided to go for a walk to ease the nerves. Coming back an hour or so later the Snatches had started and with a full bag of goodies from the supermarket we watched some great sets of what i'm sure most people will agree is one of the most frustrating exercises in Kettlebell sport. Surgey Rudnev demonstrated a master class with a 24kg bell at a body weight of 68kg completing 214 reps!! Followed by his student Alexander Kvostov completing 173 reps with a 32kg bell at a body weight of 73kg and that was after having a cold all week!!! This is not taking away some of the great performances by the other competitors who also achieved some great results whilst at the same time being humbled and honoured to lift with two of the best in the world.

With the clock ticking by it was time for us to warm up and due to several people dropping out of the long cycle event at the last minute myself, Nick and Toby were all in the same flight. With our one-off competition t-shirts on, we prepared for battle!
T-shirt rear
T-shirt front


The time had finally come and we prepared our kettlebells and took a deep breath to contemplate the pain that was to come. I can't speak for Nick or Toby but things went ok for me. Don't get me wrong it hurt! the last two minutes particularly but I made ten minutes and got 56 reps with 2x32kg kettlebells which was my target. Toby was slightly disappointed with 93 reps with 2x16kg Kettlebells as he wanted 100 but he made 10minutes and gave it everything he had which is what counts. Nick was slightly off his best with 81 reps with 2x 20kg bells but again gave it his all and has got his fitness back amazingly well after a busy tail end to last year moving house and not being able to train. All in all Three fantastic results and three more gold medals for Team KBC and I also won Absolute winner of the long cycle event. I am always so proud of the time and effort the team members put in and that goes for everyone outside of the competitions too. To see the full videos of our sets please see below - 



Nick Palmer - Long Cycle 20kg - 81Reps




Toby Bushell - Long Cycle 16kg - 93Reps



Will Dollar - Long Cycle 32kg - 56Reps
(Nick Palmer to Will's right)


Just to top the weekend off all three of us attended a course covering Jerk and Snatch with Sergey Rudnev and Alexander Kvostov of the IKSFA on Sunday. This was a great course and both instructors showed their quality of instruction and experience with everything they taught. A very worthwhile course and we have gained some tips and tricks which i hope will be passed on to the club to make you all better lifters.

Left to right - Nick Palmer, Sergey Rudnev, Will Dollar, 
Alexander Kvostov and Toby Bushell



Absolute Winner - Long Cycle

Monday 11/2/13

Some nice little warm up exercises tonight followed by swing and clean/jerk efficiency work. This took us nicely into the main workout. Complete all one side before switching hands for a harder variation.




Monday 11 February 2013

Thursday 7/2/13

Nice workout tonight aimed at walking with load in various ways to work the core and improve joint stability. In each set the aim is to go up a weight providing form is good.






Wednesday 6 February 2013

Monday 4/2/13

This one is going to be put on the site for a benchmark workout so be prepared to do it again! Complete as many rounds as possible in twenty minutes and no matter where you are in your set you have to do five sprawls every 2 minutes.









Thursday 31/1/13

Bit of a different version of lucky seven this time working in three 7 minute bursts. Killer finishing with get-ups!



Thursday 31 January 2013

Monday 28/1/13

This one doesn't really make sense on the board and after my explanation it still didn't :-) everyone got the idea in the end though.



Sunday 27 January 2013

Thursday 24/1/13

Really tough one tonight but this workout is turning into a benchmark workout for the site. The first few rounds are ok but it soon catches up with you.

Welcome also to Wayne to his first KBC session. Lets hope it hasn't put you off!









Tuesday 22 January 2013

Monday 21/1/13

Nice little double kettlebell and double workout tonight. Hits pretty much ever muscle as well as the lungs.

Toby and Nick continued with their comp training with some very successful numbers for a 10 minute set.

Good work everyone.