Let me start by saying excellent work to those of you who took part in the Intrepid May Challenge yesterday and completed as many Burpees in 5 minutes as you were able to.  There are a few Intrepids who weren’t able to make it in yesterday and have until the week’s end to perform the Challenge, so expect the male and female winner to be announced by the weekend.

Moving our sights to a new month and a new challenge, June is sure to give many of us a new meaning to the word “tough”.  From the little bit I know and have heard about the Secret Service Snatch Test (SSST), it is used in the selection process of Secret Service agents and to test agents’ fitness proficiency throughout their careers.

The rules are simple, perform as many kettlebell snatches in 10 minutes as possible.  The “prescribed” weight for men is 24kg (53#) and 12k (26#) for women.  You may switch hands as often as you like, set the kettlebell as often and for as long as you like, but your score is the total sum of snatches performed in the 10 minute period.  We’ve posted before on the KB Snatch for those that want to review some technique tips, but you may see some more information/drills in posts this month to help everyone prepare.  Check out the Fitness You Can Use website for the top SSST men’s and women’s scores.  The top male has a video documenting his 297 rep record setting performance that is nothing short of incredible and inspirational, so check it out when you get a chance.

WOD 06.01.11

Back Squat 3×5 or Wendler

5 Rounds for Time:
5 Power Cleans
15 Double Unders
25 Squats

Thanks to friend of Intrepid Al Viquez from CrossFit Inland Valley, we’ve been working the Russian Kettlebell Swing (RKBS) into our warm-ups and skillwork these past couple of weeks.  Today we’ll also have the opportunity to work the RKBS and I wanted to post some info on the movement and how it differs from the American style KBS we’ve done up until now.

Strength coach extraordinaire Dan John recently posted an article on T-nation.com about the KBS where he highlighted the hip hinge for the KBS and gave some pointers in the process of learning the new movement.  The first part of learning this movement he calls patterning, where we uses the wall drill to understand and integrate the hip hinging motion into muscle memory.  Many of us may only get this far today and that’s ok.  Note how the hips and butt are pushed back causing a forward lean and bending at the hip joints but the knees aren’t bending all that much.  So today we’re going to try and break many of you of the habit of bending those knees and squatting in the KBS.  Other differences in the RKBS include the peak height of the swing which is around waist to chest height, using the hip pop as the “gas pedal”, and the lats and abs as the brake of the swing.

RKC Instructor Jordan Vezina of Average to Elite Kettlebells in Palo Alto, CA posted this in-depth RKBS video on his YouTube channel.  We’ll definetley be incorporating some of his drills, skills, and cues into our lessons in the future so check it out if you have some time to learn up on the RKBS.

WOD 03.09.11

RKBS Skillwork

Power Snatch+Overhead Squat 3×3

3 Rounds:
5 Wallball Shots (as high as possible)
10 Box Jumps (as fast as possible)
200 yd Sprint

The Tactical Strength Challenge posted the following standards for the kb snatch: “swinging a single kettlebell between the legs with one arm, bringing the kettlebell overhead in a single motion, and locking it out overhead with a straight arm. After each rep, the competitor will let the kettlebell fall in a single motion (without dropping the kettlebell to the chest or shoulder) and perform another rep. The knees must be locked out at the completion of the lift for the rep to count. The competitor may not use the non-lifting arm to assist the lift in any way – the lift does not count if the free arm or some other part of body touches the platform, the kettlebell, the working arm, the legs, or the torso.”

Kettlebell Basics posted some tips for a better snatch:

1. Learn and master the swing. Mastery of the swing teaches you how to use your hips properly. Do man makers twice a week for at least a month before you even think about snatching.

2. There are different snatch styles; we’re focusing on hardstyle – so no cork-screw. The kettlebell will flip over your wrist as it comes over the top, not rotate around it.

3. Be agressive! The more tentative you are about punching your hand through and finishing at overhead lockout, the harder the ‘bell will hit you in the wrist.

4. Keep the ‘bell close to the body (think kettlebell clean). This isn’t a swing, it’s a snatch – we’re trying to project the force up over our head in a snatch and out in front of us during a swing.

5. Think about ‘throwing’ the weight down from the top. Attempt to close the distance from the elbow to the rib cage as fast as possible as the ‘bell comes down in front of you.

6. Energy is driven from the hamstrings and glutes; load those babies up! A high rep snatch workout should leave your posterior chain sore for days.

7. Learn the high pull. Create weightlessness with the hams and glutes. Then progress to high pull – snatch – high pull – snatch – etc. This is a nice progression that helps a lot if you’re having trouble getting the weight to flip over your wrist smoothly.

WOD 07.16.10

Kettlebell Snatch Work

BURRITO
50 Sit Ups
50 Double Unders
50 Sit Ups
50 Walking Lunges
50 Sit Ups
50 Burpees
50 Sit Ups

(hint: don’t eat a burrito before this wod…)