In April this year, Pavlos Georgiardis set a new record for super heavy kettlebell lifting.  Pavlos mananged an astonishing 10 one arm jerks with a 90kg kettlebell, beating the previous known record by 3 reps. There are a few things that make this record even more impressive than it first appears.  First, Pavlos doesn’t train specifically for heavy kettlebell lifting, he trains for traditional kettlebell sport (so for jerks that’s with 2x32kg bells). In the days leading up to this effort, he had done max sets of jerks (10 mins with 32s) and snatches (again 10 mins with a 32kg) so he was far from fresh. Pavlos didn’t wear any wrist protection (just having 90kg resting against your wrist would be extremely uncomfortable), nor did he wear lifting shoes (he was wearing an old pair of sneakers with holes in them). This record really does represent the true spirit of kettlebell training – nothing fancy is required, just good technique, hard work and a lot of balls.

Technique First:  A Case for Kettlebell Safety By Steven Khuong, CSCS As the kettlebell becomes more mainstream, it is pertinent that ripped hands, bruised forearms, and torn ligaments not become synonymous with the tool.  Independent of any dichotomy regarding styles or programming, people using kettlebells or teaching with them have a responsibility to protect themselves and others from injury in the process. It doesn’t matter if you choose to use the kettlebell for sport, fitness, feats of strength, juggling, or power development; having a solid technical foundation should be a prerequisite to what you creatively do later. Gripping kettlebells incorrectly can lead to blisters, skin burns, and bruising.  Not fixating the bell overhead can lead to extraneous stress on the shoulder and elbow joints as well as other detrimental effects associated with unsafe handling. Good technique is paramount to long term health and human performance. The Current World Champion, Fedor Fuglev (photo courtesy of www.icechamber.com) I believe we can all learn some things about safety within the context of sport.  Competitive athletes using the kettlebell simply can not afford to let the tool injure them.  Thus, they spend the necessary time mastering the fundamentals of safety and proper handling based [...]