32kg Kettlebell Snatches

Saturday, 9/14/2012 Nanjing Office

32kg Kettllebell snatch:

5left/5right x 20 @ 90 secs
Total 200 reps in 20 minutes

I have been alternating Olympic lifting sessions with kettlebell ones averaging four sessions per week. Yesterday was a volume PR; the pace was just right as I had plenty of time to rest between sets yet my shirt was completely soaked through when I finished. My only casualty was blister below the forefinger of my left hand. I had to use a little chalk through the last five sets to keep the bell from slipping from my sweaty hands.

Three years ago when I snatched the 32kg in sets of three left/ three right for 100 reps it took an entire week to recover .. I'm older and stronger still keeping father time at bay.

200 in 12:03

Made some improvement on shortening 200 24kg snatches to just over 12:03. Three years ago I did 12:23 so I'm greatly pleased that I'm still able to hold father time in check. Last week I did 300 in 24:30, a PR with this volume. I've been traveling to both California and China for business and have a 24kg always waiting for me at both office locations .. no excuse to keep pushing.

More 24kg MaxVo2 Snatch

Wed 12/7/2011

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 16 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 10 sets, 2.5 mins extra rest
• 8 sets, 2.5 mins extra rest
• 6 sets

Total: 280 reps/27 mins


Sat 12/10/2011

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 18 sets, 3 mins extra rest
• 8 sets, 3.5 mins extra rest
• 6 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 4 sets, 1.5 mins extra rest
• 4 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 4 sets

Total: 308 reps/34 mins

Tue 12/13/2011

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 20 sets, 2.5 mins extra rest
• 8 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 6 sets, 2.5 mins extra rest
• 6 sets, 1 mins extra rest
• 4 sets

Total: 308 reps/30 mins

Still not back to 26 continuous sets. How did I ever do that? And a goal of 40? .. better just take it one session at a time.

Thu 12/15/2011

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 22 sets, 3 mins extra rest
• 10 sets, 2.5 mins extra rest
• 8 sets, 1.5 mins extra rest
• 4 sets

Total: 308 reps/29 mins

More training logs

Monday 11/07/2011:

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch 6 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest:

30 sets, 1.5 minutes rest, 4 sets

Total: 204/18.5 minutes.

Tuesday 11/08/2011:

32kg Two Hand Swings:

20, 15, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Total: 105

32kg Clean left, swing transfer, Clean right:

18 x 6

Total: 108

Sunday 11/13/2011:

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch 6 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest:

• 22 sets, 2.5 mins rest
• 8 sets, 3 mins rest
• 10 sets, 3 mins rest
• 6 sets, 2 mins rest
• 6 sets

Total: 52 sets/36.5 mins

Tuesday 11/15/2011:

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch 6 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest:

• 34 sets, 3.5 mins rest
• 10 sets, 2 mins rest
• 8 sets, 1 min rest
• 2 sets

Total: 54 sets/32.5 mins

Tactical Grip Pullups: 3

I started GTG-ing tactical grip (pronate with thumbs over the bar) pullups as the new RKC requirements call for each male candidate to perform 5 dead hang pullups or chinups. I elected to do tactical pullups as these are a bit more difficult yet easy on my elbows. Four years ago I worked up to 9 before injuring my elbows from over doing it. For now its just twice a day going to max before failure.

Thursday 11/17/2011:

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch 6 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest:

• 36 sets 

Total: 36 sets/18 mins

Sunday 11/20/2011:

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch 6 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest:

• 30 sets, 5 mins rest
• 6 sets, 2 mins rest
• 4 sets

Total: 40 sets/27 mins

Tuesday 11/22/2011:

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch 6 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest:

• 40 sets, 3.5 mins rest
• 8 sets, 1 mins rest
• 4 sets

Total: 52 sets/30.5 mins

Great session. I hit 40 sets without extra rest.

Thursday 11/24/2011

24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 6 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 6 sets
• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 20 set, 
• 6
• 10
• 6
• 4

Total: 374 reps/38 mins

Having hit 40 sets of 6 reps without extra rest, I moved up to 7 rep sets. Unfortunately I only remember on the 7th set doing the next 20 sets with the new increment. Definitely much harder similar to the jump from 5 to 6 rep sets. Once again I must work up to 40 sets before incrementing to 8 rep sets.

Saturday 11/26/2011



24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 26 sets, 4 mins extra rest
• 10 sets, 4 mins extra rest
• 4 sets, 2 mins extra rest

Total: 280 reps/30 mins




Monday 11/28/2011



24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 20 sets, 3 mins extra rest
• 6 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 6 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 4 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 4 sets

Total: 280 reps/30 mins


Saturday 12/4/2011


24kg MaxVo2 Snatch :

• 7 reps/set, 15 sec work/15 rest: 
• 10 sets, 2.5 mins extra rest
• 6 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 4 sets, 2 mins extra rest
• 6 sets, 4 mins extra rest
• 4

Total: 210 reps/25.5 mins

Major backsliding having taken 4 days off. No excuses.

Max Vo2 Snatch

Olympic weightlifting is on hold for at least six months as I focus strictly on kettlebell training. I had too many nagging injuries (right knee, left shoulder, left hip) that have since gone away since resting for a few weeks and then transitioning to kettlebell for the last two weeks.

A further impetus for putting down the O-lift training is work has been a lot more demanding with late night and week-end meetings that require extra preparation. My kbell training sessions are now under 45 minutes from start to finish versus a minimum 1.5 hours for the O-lifts.

At the moment I have been focusing on snatching the 24kg bell looking to get as close as possible to the SSST (Secret Service Snatch Test: 200 24kg snatches in under 10 minutes) before I turn 60. One of my students, ten years younger, succeeded with this challenge via a program of Max Vo2 I recommended. Well its time to follow my own advice. Prior to a trip overseas I was able to to do 40 sets of 5 rep/set with 15sec work/ 15secs rest protocol. Since returning and only training twice over four week period I had some serious back sliding. Here is where I am now:

Max Vo2 Kettlebell 24kg Snatch: 6 reps/set @ 15 secs work/ 15 secs rest:

• 26 sets
• 3.5 minutes rest
• 10 sets
• 3 minutes rest
• 8 sets
• 3 minutes rest
• 6 sets

Total: 50 sets / 34.5 minutes

I found a few years ago that resting after the first session and then doing mini MaxVo2 sessions gets the volume up without injury. A five minute Z-Health R-Phase warm-up and quick shower afterward got me through this in 45 minutes.

New England 85kg class, age 55-59 snatch record

I've been off the blogosphere for over six months now due to work and family and am now back. My training continued as I focused over this time towards breaking the New England 85kg class, age 55-59 master's snatch record of 82.5 kilos. Well I did it back on Feb 21 at the 2011 Atlantic States Open in Lynn, Ma with a lift of 83kg on my third attempt. I had never done over 80 in training so it was a quite a surprise to have pulled it off.

I was so focused on achieving this I cut out all kettlebell work the last three months to focus exclusively on the competition lifts. I tried to stay mostly with the Joe Mills template but found I could only handle one session a week of it as the weights started to come within 95% of my 1RM in both lifts and I couldn't recover adequately for the next session. Instead I went to doubles and sometimes even triples training of both lifts on the other days staying in the 80-85% range. I also was able to rejoin my Boston Weightlifting club mates (formally Excel Weightlifting) in their new location at TPS in Everett, MA as the commute there is under 50 min compared to the 90+ to get to Norwood. There coaches Ben Fuller, Yasha Kahn and Matt Delaney were quick to help me correct some bad habits I picked up training alone.

Along with making the 83kg snatch record, I matched my 100kg c&j to total 183kg which gave me a 318 Sinclair (first time I ever broke through 300) and enough for first place master in the heavyweight division (85, 94, 105, 105+). To put the new 83kg NE snatch record in perspective the National snatch record for the same age group and weight class, set by world record master's holder and legend Chris Dariotis, is 101kg. If all goes well I might get close to 90kg someday before age catches up. However the point of choosing to attempt to set the New England record was it was a stretch goal for me and still in the real of possibility given where I was as a lifter and the time available. It helped me focus and grow.

Apart from my personal lifting, it was fantastic being a member of the first place team, Boston Weightlifting, as we continued our roll with now three consecutive 1st place team wins.

Having a specific goal to be achieved in a specific time period was fundamental in focusing my training and then meeting that goal. Knowing the power of such a goal, I have committed to a new goal of breaking the New England C&J record of 113kg by the end of 2012 giving me a year and a half to do it. I have already recently cleaned 104 and front squatted 115 so it doesn't seem quite as daunting as when I set the goal a few weeks ago. This time squatting, and in particular, front squatting returns to my training.

Looking back I've come a long way since November of 2008 when I could barely squat snatch 50kg. I hope to be looking back at this day a few years from now and say the same thing! And hey, did I mention that besides hardwork and dedication, its fun!

Home Alone

I have completely given up on traveling to train with my club as my work has gotten so demanding I can no longer afford the hour and half commute each way. As a result I will be training the Olympic lifts in the solitude of my basement dungeon following the Joe Mills template. Richard Maloon, fellow master lifter and great training partner, was joining me every other week but unfortunately he re-injured his recently repaired torn bicep tendon by overdoing heavy lat pull-downs .. its exactly the type of dopey thing I would do.

Having now trained alone a several times, I have the deepest respect for those individuals who continue to make progress this way .. so far I'm struggling to stay afloat yet improve.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session in my basement

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Joe Mills Template

Snatch (kg):
(40,45) x 1 warmups
(52, 57, 62) x 5 x 1
(64,66,68,68,70,70) x 1 x 1 [110101]

C&J (kg):
(60,67) x 1 x 1 warmups
(74, 79, 84) x 5 x 1
(86,88,90,92,94,96) x 1 x 1 [111100]

This evening I was alone and knew this would be difficult as my sleep the last three nights has been very poor. Both snatch and c&j started off well but ran into trouble when second half of the 2 kilo increments hit. As Master RKC, Mark "Rif" Reifkind is fond of saying:

"Its easy until its heavy"

I did clean 94 however but the clean recovery was too difficult leaving very little for the missed jerk. I tried to clean 96 afterward, stood up with and refused to get under it .. my body remembered the difficulty getting up with 94 and bailed.

Having missed key lifts, I will decrease my starting weights next session two kilos each to 50/72. Still nothing to be ashamed of as I started this program at 40/60 and the trend is upward.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Morning Kettlebell session in my basement

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

40kg x 3 x 5/5 One-hand swing
32 x 5 x 7/7 Snatch
35 x 5 x 10/10 One-hand swing

My goal was ten sets of seven left, seven right 32kg snatches at the top of every minute and a half but I was too spent after the fifth set. The three sets of 40kg one-hand swings to warm up were explosive but too much. I ended with five sets of one-hand swings with the 32kg but had to slow down to the top of every two minutes after the second set.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Noon Kettlebell session outside on office building lawn.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg x 9 x 10/10 Snatch
24kg x 1 x 20/20 Snatch

Dbl 24kg x 1 x 5 Swing
Dbl 24kg x 1 x 5 Clean & Press
Dbl 24kg x 1 x 4 Snatch

Two other co-worker's who I trained joined me and we alternated turns. Since there was more than adequate rest between sets I ending with 20 left/20 right on my snatches. I followed with some doubles work and was pleased to hit five reps with my clean and press.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Noon Kettlebell session outside on office building lawn.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg x 10 x 10/10 1-hand swing at the top of the minute

Dbl 24kg x 4 x 10 Swing

A suggestion of co-worker, Gorden Lee, to do some swings on the minute. Around set seven I was feeling it.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session in my basement

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Joe Mills Template

Snatch (kg):
(40,45) x 1 warmups
(50, 55, 60) x 5 x 1
(62, 62, 62, 64, 66, 66) x 1 x 1 [001101]

C&J (kg):
(60,65) x 1 x 1 warmups
(70, 75, 80) x 5 x 1
(82,84,86,88,90) x 1 x 1 [11110]

I found out earlier in the day my training partner, Richard Maloon, reinjured his torn bicep that he recently had surgery for. He will be out at least for two weeks. I will have to suck it up and keep training. Tonight was mediocre but no surprise as I hadn't trained O-lifts since last Friday. As a result I will move down to 48/68 and try to build back up.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Noon Kettlebell session outside on office building lawn.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg Max VO2 One-hand Swing, 8 reps/set; 15secs work/15sec rest alternating hands.
Total: 50 sets, 400 swings in 25 minutes

I wanted a good conditioning session that was easy on the shoulders and this really fit the bill. The last ten sets were difficult but every swing was above parallel with a crisp hip snap, so I was pleased my form never degraded.