Legendary Strength Blog

Hi Logan

I really like your blog and all you put in to your different sites. By occasion the former 5 time world champion master in Arm wrestling com by my small shop ( its so new so we just put it in order for the moment ) looked at our Kettlebells, told us he never heard about KBs before.

But, he was thrilled, and want me to start training the local Arm wrestling club with Kettlebells.

What sort of work out would you suggest for these athletes?

Best regard Olof

Thank you, Olof. This is a good question. And here’s why. It delves into the topic of when you should be using what tool.

If the guy is the 5 time world champion, I think the best advice would be to stick with what he’s knows. It must work!

However much I love kettlebells, in this case, they are not best suited to the job.

This ties into the discussion of functional strength. His function is to put other people’s arms down. To build that function you need stronger arms, wrists and hands.

From what I’ve seen of high level arm wrestlers, in their training they do lots of curls in various positions and lots of hand work.

The kettlebell does not lend itself to being curled. Yes, you can throw a towel around the handle and curl, but that’s not what it‘s best at.

There are ways you could use it to help out, but once again it’s not the best tool.

If you want to use the kettlebell for general fitness and strength just stick with the basics for these athletes. The swings, snatches, presses, etc.

On top of that they could do their specialization work (which should of course include lots of arm wrestling).

Though it may not be what you have wanted to hear, I hope it helps.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Remember you can ask your questions here

And let me know if you like the video. Post your comments on the kettlebell juggling blog.

In kettlebell competitions there are two main lifts. You must do the Jerk for 10 minutes straight. The other event is the Snatch for 10 minutes straight.

In case you don’t know what these moves are I will fill you in. If you have ever watched or done Olympic lifting then you will probably get it.

The Jerk is done with two kettlebells resting by your shoulders. Also known as the rack position. With an explosive leg movement you lift the bells upwards then drop down with a second leg dip and lock out the kettlebells overhead. Straighten your knees and you have 1 rep. The goal is as many reps as you can get without setting the kettlebell down.

The snatch is another explosive movement where the kettlebell is swung from between your legs to overhead. Again locked out overhead constitutes a single rep and the goal is as many as possible. You only use one kettlebell here and in competition a single hand switch is allowed. Usually this means five minutes with one hand then five with the other.

There is no magic in the 10 minute number. Five, six, or 20 minutes all work. Competitions are in ten minutes so it is commonly used.

In my eyes the greatest benefit of this training is mental toughness. When you have two kettlebells resting on you and you can feel the pain, where every rep burns, everything in you wants to put those bells down but the only thing stopping you is your decision to keep on going. You may be feeling like this at 6 minutes and still have 4 more to go, each more excruciating then the last.

The sad thing is that sometimes you will lose to this desire of comfort and set the bells down when you could have gone on. But more often than not you push through until the end.

Do you get this benefit from other kinds of training? Absolutely. But some more than others. High rep bodyweight exercises like Hindu squats or hill sprints are good examples. You can always push yourself a little faster, a little longer, or a little harder.

Low rep exercises don’t really build this. Sure you need the mind set to work hard and heavy, but there is a difference when your body is screaming at you to stop but you won’t let it.

The more uncomfortable you are, the more mental toughness you have the chance of building.

The next time you are training keep pushing until you can’t push anymore. Once you’re there reach down deep, use your will power, and keep going.

Grow Powerfully,
Logan Christopher

And if you want to get really high reps then you need to learn the right way to do so. Learn from the people who have done it such as Valery Federenko.

Teaching it any other way does not make sense and is limiting your potential. All the decisions he makes are based on this.

It makes sense to me but I say why limit the kettlebell to its traditional use. It can be used for standard weightlifting stuff in many cases and it performs admirably.

Another point was the difference of going after your end effect. Do you want to be tense or relaxed. Too many people are too tight and instead of getting them to tense up even more to train they should be learning how to relax.

It is the same difference between hard and soft styles of martial arts (karate vs. tai chi for example).

Do people need to have high levels of absolute strength? Or are they better served by having high levels of muscular endurance?

Obviously you are going to need to be able to tense up and relax. The better able you are to do this, the greater of an athlete you are. You need to train for both but how you approach it, from one end or the other, is up to you.

Again optimally you want a high degree of absolute strength and strength endurance. But here too you can approach it from on side or the other.

With the two kettlebell jerk are you going to do 5 sets of 5 trying to handle heavy weights. Or do you work with lighter bells and do one long set and push your numbers higher and higher, eventually working up in weight.

Both sides are valid ways to train, in my opinion, but does one give faster results or better results? That is what the whole debate is about.

In the end your training has to be something you like, scratch that, love to do. People sometimes ask me how I motivate myself to train. To me that is a silly question because I don’t need motivation to have fun.

There are so many different ways to attain the strength and health you want, why spend time on anything less than your favorites.

Grow Powerfully,
Logan Christopher

One of the main things is breathing naturally. Also called anatomical breathing. Basically when you are in a downswing your torso is collapsing so you will breath out. As you come back up you naturally breathe in.

This is fine when you are not under a heavy load. Breathing out as you descend in a squat with 500 pounds on your back would be a bad idea. Kettlebells are relatively light (assuming you use weights you are capable of) so this is not a problem.

The whole idea of bracing for a kettlebell swing (snatch or clean too) is not wrong but a different application. Breathing in one method is optimal for strength and the other for endurance.

So I had to consciously think to breathe out on the way down and round my back. There were many other points like this that I need to work on.

Why would you choose one way of doing things over the other?

Let’s talk about the whole philosophy of the AKC. Valery Federenko is frighteningly strong and enduring. He is a world champion at this stuff. Right there is proof that he knows what he is doing. Many of the techniques he taught us where things he taught himself or learned on the road to doing over 130 Jerks and over 90 Snatches with each hand using 32kg (70 lb.) kettlebells.

Kettlebells are made for these lifts. And high repetitions. These techniques are the optimal way to do that. If you want to reach the highest numbers in these lifts then you should use these techniques. Using kettlebells in other ways can be done. They can be used, and effectively, for bodybuilding or weightlifting, but that is not what they are made for.

Now if you are not competing with kettlebells, would you still want to use these techniques? There is no doubt that properly training in this manner or any other can be very beneficial for health and fitness.

So is training this way better than the Hard-Style method of training? Assuming that the only goal was health and fitness, so that we avoid the argument of different training for different reasons. Or perhaps just martial artists or athletes who want to be in the best shape for their sport. I don’t know for sure. The only thing I can say here is that it would be a fun thing to do a study on.

More coming soon.

Grow Powerfully,
Logan Christopher

For the first time I saw the differences between Hard-Style and Girevoy Sport lifting techniques. A talk by Brett Jones on that day about the two styles still stands out in my mind.

Not too long ago a rift occurred in the organization and part of it had to do with the supposed ‘real’ style of kettlebell lifting.

My goal with this is not to enliven the flames and hatred of some people who are so set in one style that they can’t see the benefits of another method. My philosophy is to learn from (and get good at) everything.

Personally I am not going to knock any style of training that works and makes you stronger and more fit. The way I see it now, is that both have there uses.

Will I be singing a different tune after these two days? I doubt it, but time will tell.

The big picture that this brings up is why do you train the way you do and what are you shooting for as your end result?

I will keep you updated on the happenings and see if I can get some video up of the event (at least some of us playing around with the bells).

My goal at this event is to increase my kettlebell lifting technique, broaden my horizons, become a better coach, and of course, have some fun.

I’d be writing more but the drive down to LA was long and now I’m tired. Stay tuned tomorrow for an update.

Grow Powerfully,
Logan Christopher