It’s the French paradox. People in France (and southern Europe in general) have the lowest incidence of heart disease in the world. This is despite the fact that they 1) stuff themselves full of butter and cheese and 2) many of them smoke like chimneys! I’ll give you an example, the average French person consumes well over 100 grams per day of fat from animal sources (the average Aussie consumes about 70 grams). The French eat four-to-five times as much butter and cheese as Americans do and nearly three times as much pork. However, despite this artery-clogging regime, this population has one of the lowest levels of heart and cardiovascular disease on the planet. What’s their secret? It’s called wine my friends. And more specifically, the active ingredient in red wine; a compound called resveratrol. Resveratrol is definitely one of the biggest discoveries is nutritional science. This amazing ingredient is naturally abundant in dark grapes, in particular, the skin of dark grapes. Unfortunately, resveratrol oxidizes quickly, losing its metabolic potency in the process. That’s why fresh grapes are not a great source. However, red wine is a potent source of resveratrol as the fermentation process retains this phytoestrogens’ unique capacities. [...]

Surya Voinar-Fowler is one of my kettlebell sport heroes.  I watched her on YouTube long before I was lucky enough to meet her and was always impressed by her guts on the platform.  However, it was reading ”Just One Rep Away“, written by Surya after a couple of failed MS attempts that made me realise what a truly incredible athlete Surya is: she never quits and epitomises the kettlebell sport spirit with constant growth, not only in numbers but in her outlook.  It’s Surya’s persistence and humble nature that have allowed her to plough through countless barriers and continually add to her list of achievements, which include: Being ranked Master of Sport with the WKC and RGSF Being the only US woman to compete in 24kg snatch alongside the professional women in the IUKL, and winning a silver medal at the IUKL Open Cup of Europe in Russia and a bronze medal at the IUKL World Championships in New York Being ranked CMS in 24kg snatch only with the IUKL Holding record 20kg one arm jerk numbers Surya has also broken down stereotypes by performing double jerks and double long cycle with form that would make most male lifters envious.  This is an interview I’ve been wanting [...]

The World Kettlebell Club World Championships were held this weekend in Chicago.  With around 90 lifters participating it was the biggest kettlebell sport event in the US to date and the school gym in which it was held was a hive of activity throughout the day.  The number of people who attended to lift and spectate is a sign of the growing popularity of kettlebell sport outside of Eastern Europe – it’s been slow progress but we’re getting there! Three Australians competed in the competition: me, David Tabain and Natalie Turner.  Despite the jet-lag and nerves, each Aussie placed first in their event. It was an exciting day with several athletes hitting Master of Sport, including Scott Tighe who is only the second male MS in biathlon (pictured above).  There were also quite a few Candidate for Master of Sport ranks given out, one of which was awarded to William Metcalf who underwent brain surgery only 15 weeks before the competition – and he was able to achieve this largely because his all-round fitness from kettlebell sport training prior to the operation made his recovery miraculously quick. Ivan Denisov, absolute world record holder in all kettlebell sport events, was there [...]

StrongSport is a relatively new addition to the kettlebell sport scene.  StrongSport is based on heavy single arm lifts with the maximum set time being 4 mins instead of 10 mins as in traditional kettlebell sport. Because of its shorter duration and more emphasis on strength than endurance, StrongSport is a great option for those who have a strength training background who want to get involved in kettlebell sport but are put off by the longer sets.  Men work with 32kg and upwards for StrongSport, while women use 20kg and upwards.  The ranking system for StrongSport can be found here. Andy Fitting is the man when it comes to StrongSport.  Andy holds several world records with the ultra heavy bells, including the 72kg bell.  The following interview with Andy gives some great insights into his training and competing in StrongSport. 1. What are the current kettlebell lifting records that you hold? Well the record that people might be most familiar with is 24 total one arm jerks (11/13) with a 72kg (159lbs) regulation sized kettlebell. Valery [Fedorenko] said that he wants to see me do 15/15 with the 72kg for 30 total reps as my next goal. You know we [...]

Most female clients say the same thing when they come to me: I want to lose weight and tone up but I don’t want to get bulky.  Most women don’t want to get huge and look like this (not to say it’s not impressive, but it’s not the look that the majority of women are trying to achieve): Don’t worry, girls, you have to work VERY hard and probably start injecting male hormones in order to get “bulky”.  The fact is that nearly all women are lacking the hormone profile that would enable them to get big from weight training. Many women fear heavy weights because they are worried that it’s the heavy weight that will make them big, so they stick to light weights, Pilates and cardio.  If anything has proven that heavy, hard training for women makes them anything but “bulky” it’s kettlebell sport. The Women of Kettlebell Sport The women of the Ice Chamber Kettlebell Sport team are a perfect example.  And these are not women who have been athletes all their lives or have “good genes”, they’re just like the rest of us, they are mothers and wives, they work full time and they have had [...]

On Saturday the 23th October 2010 Valery Fedorenko completed 70 one arm jerks with a 60 kg kettlebell, setting a world record and smashing his last attempt by 10 reps (which is huge given the weight he’s working with). Let’s put this into perspective: a 60kg kettlebell weighs as much as I do.  For most people, getting a kettlebell of that weight off the ground is enough of a challenge, getting it overhead is unthinkable.  Lifting that sort of weight overhead in one hand requires a tonne of skill, strength and shoulder stability. The kicker, though, is the pressure on the hand and forearm.  Anyone who has held what they consider a very heavy kettlebell in rack will tell you that the discomfort in your hand and wrist is intense and your body will scream at you to put it down immediately.  Notice that Fedorenko has nothing but ordinary sweat bands to protect his wrists. Bear all of this in mind when you watch this video, because Fedorenko makes it look easy and that’s really deceptive. As is the comment that he makes at the end: “that’s it”.  Not much fuss for an incredible world record, but that’s what makes [...]

Kettlebell sport is in its infancy in Australia, but with a core group of people working hard to promote it some momentum has been gained and we’re finally seeing some growth. For those who don’t know, kettlebell sport is a power endurance sport involving long, timed sets of kettlebell ballistics.  Traditionally, it’s 10 min sets of kettlebell jerks, snatches or long cycle clean and jerk.  For men, most competitions involve biathlon (10 mins double jerks followed usually at least 30 mins laster by 10 mins snatches) and long cycle (double bells) events.  For women, there may be snatch only events or biathlon and long cycle events, at this stage all women’s events are carried out with single bells.  In competition sets the bells must not be put down, and for single handed lifts only one hand change is permitted. On Saturday 27th March Australia saw its biggest kettlebell sport meet to date: a whopping 7 competitors! Now in many other countries this sounds very, very small, but in Australia, where kettlebell sport has only really been accessible to people for about a eighteen months this was BIG. The competition was held at Kettlebell Athletica in Melbourne. So big was the [...]

The following interview was done by Ice Chamber Coach Maya: Master of Sport, Elena Viktorovna Yurysheva is from the Vologodskaya region in the city of Vytegra, Russia.  She is 25 years old and weighs between 60-61 kilograms.  Elena credits her coach, Vyacheslav Yakovlevich Ogarev, for helping her become one of the first women in the world to snatch the 24kg kettlebell over 120 times in competition.  Here are a few of Elena’s opinions on women’s participation in the sport and about her goal to break a world record this year… World Champion and Master of Sport, Elena Viktorovna Yurysheva Maya: Please tell us how you became involved in Kettlebell Sport. Elena: I practiced a variety of sports, but in our small city it was only possible to achieve great success in kettlebell sport, and because of a strong coach!! We don’t have the possibility of doing some other kind of sport (not in gyms or in stadiums). And by nature I’m active and I’m more attracted to active sports. Maya: What are some of your personal records? Elena: Snatch 16 kg kettlebell – 220 times. Snatch 24 kg kettlebell 121 times! Elena’s most recent PR on the platform was 121 [...]

Read the complete Valery Fedorenko interview on www.ickbgirls.com Ice Chamber Coach Maya interviews Valery Fedorenko : Valery Fedorenko Interview Maya: Describe some aspects of your childhood that led you to Kettlebells.  Did you play any other sports or consider yourself athletic as a young man? Valery’s Master of Sport Badge/ID from the Ministry of Sport Dept. USSR/Moscow Fedorenko: I’m not sure I considered myself athletic when I was young. Actually I wanted to be strong and athletic, so I turned to kettlebells. I was an active kid but most of my friends were naturally stronger than I was, so it was some motivation to make this skin and bones into something. As for other sports, I did attempt acrobatics, doing flips, jumps and such until I broke my arm. I guess it wasn’t for me. I do remember having to work with a really weak left arm after the break, but even though it’s not my dominant arm, I made it equal or even better than my right with the kettlebell. It didn’t heal straight, but maybe it healed stronger, I don’t know. I also did some Martial Arts training and some Boxing. I just figured kettlebells were more healthy [...]

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 [...]