Thursday, July 2, 2009

First Snatch Test

Enter The Kettlebell! recommends that every 4 weeks you test your strength by attempting to press a heavier kettlebell than the one you use for ladders, and by seeing how many snatches you can perform in 10 minutes. The goal is to be able to press the kettlebell that's closest to 1/2 your bodyweight if you are a man, 1/4 your bodyweight if you are a woman, and also to be able to perform 200 snatches in 10 minutes using a 24 kg kettlebell if you are a man, a 12 kg kettlebell if you are a woman.

The kettlebell that is closest to 1/4 of my bodyweight is the 12 kg bell, which is what I am using for ladders. I don't own anything heavier at the moment, although I have a 16 kg kettlebell on order. I think I will be able to press it once it arrives, but we'll see.

So, anyway, I couldn't feasibly test my pressing strength this week, but I did do the 10 minute snatch test. I got 100 snatches in the first 5 minutes, and another 70 in the second 5. I think they were decent quality too. At least, I'm not feeling pain anywhere and I don't see any marks on my wrists. I probably could have gotten another 10 or so but was starting to notice a bit of floppy wrist action and decided to slow things down in the last couple of minutes.

All things considered, I'm pleased.