What Would Kettle Do?

The weirdest thing happened yesterday. Lately I have been getting emails asking about training or workshops and after one reply they would drop off the face of the earth. I couldn’t understand it but since I am “Way too cool” to pester anyone about these things I just let them go. I was a little worried about it so I ran a few tests with my awesome web guy and everything tested ok. Yesterday I got an email from a new friend Danny Evans and he said that I should check my spam folder for his response. Apparently he did not hear back from me…apparently.

I checked my Spam Box and HOLYSHIT it was like a treasure chest! Well, kind of, since most of these emails are too old to be salvaged. I had never even thought to look. It just never occurred to me.

In the box there were several emails from prospective clients that I never heard back from. One dude who had a whole group of people who wanted to go to the last workshop and maybe 2 dozen responses to an ad for a Jeep I am selling.

I have been replying to these emails since yesterday and I am happy to say a few people have forgiven me. I am sure most of them think I am a flake. I am completely embarrassed but thankful to Danny for telling to check my spam.

So, if you have sent me an email that I have not replied to I apologize. More than likely it just got erased in the spam box. The oldest email in there was just a few weeks old.

I wanted to write this to pass along this tip to those of us who sit in the back of the classroom.

Unreal.

Kettle,

No Kettlebell chatter from me today…

I went to see a movie yesterday. I’m a huge Ray Stevenson fan. Ever since he was in the HBO series Rome  I have been watching his stuff. So when I saw that he was going to star as Danny Greene I was pumped. Not that I knew who Danny Greene was (I didn’t) and not that I had waited long for this movie (I only heard about  it last week) but I was psyched anyway.

It did not dissapoint!

There is nothing like a good gangster movie about a tough as nails protagonist taking it to the fat, stupid, lazy, and inept overlords. Danny is just a guy, but he is tougher and craftier than these “Maggots”. It really gets my blood up.

“IS THAT ALL YA GOT?! IT’S GONNA TAKE MORE THAN A FEW FIRECRACKERS TO KILL DANNY GREENE!!!”

Oh yes it will

“We’ve shot him, we’ve blowed him up…he just won’t die!”

He just keeps coming back. He learns who he can trust. He can feel who is going to betray him. He can smell the greedy, the careless, and the weak of soul.

“My enemies will be taken care of…I promise”

I love it.

Go see it.

He’s not a hard man to find.

kettle,

We had a great 2 Day Workshop in Costa Mesa at Innovative Results this past weekend! There was a good (and good looking) crowd of lifters there. Plus, we had Sarah Lightfoot, Juliet Lederle, and Mike Salemi fly in to offer some assistance making it a pretty full crew. The only one we were missing was Nazo…and boy were we missing her.

On the second day when we were handing out the certificates Aaron asked if we could take a few moments of silence for Nazo, her family, and the Japanese people. It was very touching and I wanted to take a moment to say thank you Aaron. It was a very cool and somber moment. I could really feel that you meant it. I think that is a very rare thing.

Everyone was on point all weekend. It was a great environment with lots of people who knew and liked each other. There was also a great feeling of inclusion that seems to be a hallmark of this community. It makes me really happy to be a part of this whole thing.

A apologize for not writing a whole ton. Nazo is still in Japan and my heart is heavy. It is difficult to get all up about anything right now. I am trying but when she is over there suffering with quadruple stacked tragedy it really slows me down.

I did manage to get in a good set of snatches after the workshop on Saturday. It is always nice to get that in and not miss a day of training. I am feeling stronger lately. My endurance is up. I can’t remember a time when I could teach all day and then do a close to max (including time and pace) set right after.

I am really getting to my breaking point with this Nazo situation. We are trying to plan a charity event which will probably be on April 23 in Berkeley. I have to hold off because I really want Nazo to be there but I have no idea if she will be back by then.

Nazo Unleashed!!!

I hope so.

This whole weekend Dolby and I were trying to explain to people how great the vibe is with Nazo there. It was a great workshop but we can’t explain how much better it is with her there. We were even talking about who would be Nazo’s favorite person there (It would be Armon for sure).

Thank you so much Aaron, Corey, and Geof. You and your crew are so Awesome! We can’t wait to come back!!! Next time with Nazo in tow.

Come home Nazo, please come home…

Kettle,

Oh, Next up is Toronto! BOOM!!

I was at the airport at DFW wearing my new super cool Cowboy hat. I was just about to pass through security on my way home from an AWESOME OKC workshop at Full Throttle Athletics in Frisco Texas when the security lady said to me “I need to see your eyes” in a pretty gruff way. I had forgotten I was wearing the hat.

As I passed her this itty bitty TSA guy looked at me and asked me where I was going, I actually had to think for a minute due to all of my traveling and when I said San Francisco he said with a tough guy neckroll (thumbs stuck in his belt) “I’m sorry”.

Is this guy fucking with me?

I looked at him and I said “well, I’m done with you food and your women so I guess it’s time” (no I didn’t but I wanted to) I actually said “right, we done here?” We were done.

Mess with Texas…check (really a half check).

The workshop was great. He facility at Full Throttle was amazing! I am so jealous! The Blifferts have every toy you can imagine. They even had several different styles of sport bells.

BJ picked Jason and I up at the airport and drove us to their house where they offered us our own rooms to stay in. We went out to dinner and got to meet our new friend Jim who was at both days of the workshop.

All of the people who were there were super cool and Jason and I had a blast working with them. On Saturday night Rev Bart drove all the way from Houston to eat with us and take the second day of the course. I think that him and Jim will be best friends forever .

The second day was really fun and I even started it off by drinking this crazy crank juice that BJ told me was like rocket fuel, or it might have been Tiger Blood I don’t know. Either way I was #Winning ™ for the first hour or so of the second day. When I finally got back to normal I realized that Jason was well on his way to sculpting these fine people into Kettlebell Rockstars!

After the workshop Jason and I said goodbye to everyone and went out to dinner with the Blifferts. We got to talk a bunch about our travels which is always fun! Next time we will bring the slide projector!

Monday we got our hats (and one for Nazo) and took some time to train and then take a few pics. It was a really fun day. It was a really fun trip. I hope we get invited back! Cough cough…

The only downer was that Nazo was not there. She was stuck in Japan and the earthquake had just hit. That is one of the reasons I haven’t written this blog sooner. I apologize BJ, I would have but every time I wanted to post it I just couldn’t. I don’t really know why.

I will say though if Full Throttle invites you to do a workshop in Frisco you should take them up on it! They are wonderful hosts and the attendees are bad ass!

Thank you all for coming to the workshop and thank you to BJ and Kori Bliffert for bringing us down and taking such good care of us. It was a real treat!

Kettle,

Oh, we’ll be in Costa mesa this weekend and there is always room for more.

Oh, what a wonderful thing Stage 5 is.

My training breaks down into five stages. Think of it like this:

Stage 1 Preseason

Stage 2 Regular Season

Stage 3 Post season

Stage 4 Championship game

Stage 5 Off Season

During these stages a lifter will use standard periodization to ramp up and peak at the competition. What I was thinking I would do is bitch a little about the different stages as I go through them. But before I talk about Stage 1 (which I am in now), and before I go downstairs to train, I just want to take a moment to tell you about my Stage 5.

It started as soon as my snatch set ended in Siberia. I hit my number, the one I had been training for all this time, and everything changed.

You see, by the time Jason and I were knees deep in Stage 4 we had given up all of the things that we loved. No booze, sugar, bread, nights out, and even women. The training was just too hard to think of indulging in these things. When we were not training we needed every moment of our rest days to recover. We were using only the best fuel we could afford. We needed sleep. I slept like a log every night for a month. There was nothing else I could do. So every time we saw something, a beer, a dessert, even a girl all we could say was staaaage fiiiive…

It was all we had to keep our sanity and honestly it was all we needed. That little light at the end, finally a little break in the clouds. We would look to our island.

So when that bell hit the ground it rung in STAGE 5!!!!! We were so happy! Rudnev had caught on to our little mantra earlier in the week and he chuckled about it. He teased us that we were gonna crack a beer right there on the platform as soon as the last set ended (Stone Cold Style).

Funny thing though, Dolby only had one set and I had two. When he finished I looked at him and told him he was in stage 5. He was still gasping and told me “not yet Chu-Hu” Fucking guy was waiting for me. That’s Dolby for ya…

After the competition Rudnev told us to be ready at “7-4-5 o’clock” for our celebration. He (and Igor) picked us up and brought us to a banya where we (and a few of Rudnev’s friends) enjoyed a feast. Homemade whiskey, homemade pancakes, and other unreal Russian delicacies were being shared with us along with the bbq’d sword stabbed steaks. They cooked for us. They shared their spirits and their stories.  These guys were Super high level. Cup of Russia winners, World Class Masters of Sport, world champions, and high military men, we drank with them. They honored us (THEY freaking honored US, insane, totally insane, totally backwards). It was incredible. It’s taken me all this time to write about it.

We feasted and then hit the Banya then out in the snow, then back in the banya, then back in the snow, in Siberia, in February. Almost all of the guys spoke some English but they all seemed to know how to say “Real Russia” in English.

That was the start of Stage 5. On the trip home we got to drink on the train, and at the airport, and on the plane…Real Russia! BOOM!!! Chu-Hi!!! I got to eat whatever the hell I wanted. There was no training for a week. Then just gpp for a week. We taught a great workshop in Texas (which I will write about tomorrow) and I ate more fried food than I thought I could. Then I got the email…

“Stage 5 is OVER!!!”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…My beloved stage 5, I hardly knew you…

The length of Stage 5 is determined by your competition schedule. I am competing three times this year so my Stage 5 is short. Some lifters only train for one comp per year so their Stage 5 is longer. Some of them take the time to pickup pet projects. For example, Rudnev wanted to see how many dead hang pullups he could do. He trained for it and he did 41.

Or weird stuff like this

Stage 5 is super important. It gives you hope. It gives you a mental break and a physical break. It also gives you a chance to train in a different manner than standard GS training.  I am trying to be a sportsman but I can’t quit being a rockstar/ lothario /daredevil / king of all things bad for you cold turkey . That could kill me.

Sooooo Stage 5

When Jason and I got back to California, on the way home from the airport we needed a burger. We walked into the joint and I said to the girl behind the counter “I need the meanest thing you got here, twice, please help me, I think I love you” Dolby leaned in “what he said, hi, I’m Jason”.

Staaaaage Fiiiiive BOOM!!!

Oh, right, The Ritz…

We had stage five at the house of Ritz and—————edit for content——Chu-Hi————-cops——————huge———————————edit for content—————glitter———————with a—————edit for content————rubber ducky—————- looked like I beat up a clown.

It was epic.

Oh Stage 5, I feel like I should write you a poem…

Oh my sweet stage 5

Why is it so hard to get

Glitter off a rug?

See you in July Stage 5…

no, you hang up first…

ok, same time…

1…2…3…

Kettle,

Nazo is in Tokyo.

She has been there since before the earthquake and she will stay there until she is finished with some personal matters. You can’t imagine how badly Jason and I want her to come home. She is on our minds every moment of every day.

We have been communicating via email and facebook. I asked her to write a guest post on the blog. Thank you very much Nazo!

Here is Nazo from Tokyo:

As you know that both my parents are sick but this time my mother got worse and I had to fly back urgently.  After two  flights cancelation due to heavy snow in NY , I finally got into Tokyo.   14 hours flight and 90 minutes drive and then I arrived to my mother’s hospital in the Tokyo bay area. I am staying with her 24/7 .  Basically I don’t go out.  The most entertaining thing was video chatting with you two in Siberia every night  (I didn’t know that Siberia and Japan have no time difference !)  You two were just soooo funny and happy at there just like Tarzan and made me smile and laugh a lot. I really missed you guys but I made a right decision not to go with you because it would have changed the color of whole trip…. 

I needed to go to Ginza area and I got out from the hospital at first time in three weeks, and it was 3/11.   Ginza is hart of Tokyo (imagine that combination of  NYC upper east Madison Avenue and Times square with those illuminations ).  It was about 2:45pm.  I was just about leaving Citi bank and felt  first shock,,,, or I just felt dizzy (that I thought).  There was a Gaijin man standing next of me and shouted “HOLY SHIIIT !!!!” and ran out from the bank. I followed him and looking down to  Ginza 5-chome crossing from 2nd floor’s  entrance of the bank.  I took this photo about 20 seconds after earthquake started.  People were just about running out to middle of  the street from buildings.  I looked up the buildings . They were swaying like a willow tree (base-isolated quake proof buildings) and hundreds of people were evacuating from those fashion, office, restaurant buildings.  All cars stopped and drivers got out the cars. The ground was really moving and many people couldn’t keep standing and squatting in middle of the Ginza junction.  It was long .  It was 5 minutes long and about magnitude 7 strong.   You may lift 5 min sprint set or 5 min x 100reps snatch test but Nyet standing 5 min on magnitude-7 earthquaking  ground …. No place to hide or run. It was very, very scary moments.   Some reason I was carrying 3 cell phones and 1 i-pod touch but none of them were working neither email or SMS of course.

 

The subway, JR Train, bus, taxi,,, everything has stopped so I walked one hour back to the hospital. Piece of cake  About 200 ~people have no way back home and they stayed at the main lobby area as hospital provided blankets and rice ball and water.  There is a convenience store at the lobby area and all food and water were sold out.  All elevators/escalators were stopped and I walked up and down to our top floor (12th)’s room.  No problem The problem was there was a“post quake” keep shaking the building all day and night and we all felt like sea sick. Also medium big ones came once in a while and the warning sirens and announcement in whole hospital and an emergency alarm’s on  from government to every cellphone constantly and it was extremely loud and made us nervous and annoying.

As you know the center of this earthquake is Tohoku area (North Japan) and it was Magnitude 9.0. This was the world  4th largest earthquake since 1900.  (900 times more powerful than ‘1989’s San Francisco earthquake)

We  have got used to earthquake and most of high-rise buildings are earthquake resistant built.  That’s why we have only minimum damages and lost people’s life. But not a Tsunami case.  Tsunami killed many cities and people’s lives. At this moment (3/17),  over 15.000 are died or missing, 390.000 are in the shelters, 1 million houses have no water.  Nothing is enough for their lives. Phone line, doctors and medications, clothes, food and water, toilet, electricity, batteries, TVs and radios etc…. but most importantly the gasoline !  There are food donated from all over Japan but the trucks have no gasoline.  This has not happened only to Tohoku area but Tokyo as well. There is no fresh food and water in the supermarket or convenient store. Last 7 days we ate a lot of junk food like cup noodles, potato chips,,,,,  my mother’s stomach accepts only  few sips of water or weak green tea each day but I have to give her tap water.  My father said that all gas station’s gasoline’s are run out.  And the government decided of “scheduled blackout” and it caused whole Tokyo chaos. All subways and JR trains’ schedule are messed up and runs only 50% or zero.  The old houses, small hospitals and clinics have no power. Without electricity there is no water too.  No one control the traffic when the traffic lights are out…..  so this is Tokyo now and we still have magnitude 6 ~7 level of quake few times a day and mini quakes about 50~100 times a day.   Including my mother’s thing this whole thing is too unreal for me.

 

This is not a movie.

As I said before that there is still quake is on and on every day but I am in a one of safest places so no worried, guys .   I haven’t  trained for so long  but after over a month in here I have found a cute 10kg Kettlebell at near my parents house and now I have a kettle in my mother’s room  !   I train 30 minutes every day at the hospice’s super tiny guest room.  (About photo) this is only what I have got in here.  But as Aleks and you said “One bell is enough. Simple is good “.

It is tough time for me but for whole Japan as well now.
I miss okc “crazy boys” very much !!   You two are my family and the only people who can make me keep laughing until I fall off.

Thank you Nazo! We can not wait to see you soon too! Please be safe and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come home soon. We need you

Kettle,

Jason asked me if I remembered almost flying into the steel grill of an oncoming truck and then being spun off into the eternity of the Siberian Tundra. I told him that I remembered only the second half of the first time but that I remembered all the ones after that.

Rudnev was driving a mach speeds. We had to catch the railroad. Jason and I were up at 5 am and were on the road before 6 on our last day in Blago. We had to drive 2 hours into the Siberian countryside to a small town in order to catch the train to Vladivostok. It was gonna be tight. Rudnev was flying down the frozen road.

Every street in Blago was covered with ice. The drivers there were so used to it that they were making quickturns without a thought. Actually, the sidewalks were man made glaciers. Rudnev said that it had not snowed since December but the roadside snow was deep, frozen, and black. The sidewalks had been pounded into man made glaciers. I never knew that basic foot transit could do such a thing.

Rudnev didn’t care. We were flying down this highway (or small country road depending where you are from) and fishtailing around turns like Cole Trickle around turn four (he must have had special tires). That was enough to turn my stomach a little.

But it was the passing of the cars that got even Jason to stop taking pictures.

Jason is a picture nerd (sorry bro, it’s true). Even when Nazo does her Dolby impression it is not BOOM!!! Or CHU-HI!!! It is the way he takes pictures. He always has at least one camera on him. He never stops…never.

The oncoming military truck stopped him

In Blago, the cars drive on the right side of the road just like they do here. But most of the cars (although not all of the cars) have the drivers on the right side (or the wrong side depending on where you are from). You hardly even notice, until you are in the passenger seat while your coach is leaning over trying to see if the oncoming traffic is close or if it is deathly close.

I never thought I was going to die, but one got on me so quick I thought I was dead for a sec.

We got off the “highway” and were driving through this small town. This is what I always had pictured in thoughts of Siberia. Forest, old, old, oooold houses, and tightly bundled people walking around. The wind was blowing. It was like a frozen desert. I almost expected a frozen tumbleweed to blow by us.

Coach stopped and asked for directions. When he opened the window it was colder than any air I had ever felt, by miles. At least it was a dry cold, I hear that makes all the difference.

We got to the train station and there was nothing. I mean there was Nothing man… we were way out there. We were in the Tundra…finally.

For the first time I had to put gloves on right away and even coach put his hood up. Jason snapped a few more pictures. I was thinking of the friends we had made on this trip and how I was going to miss them.

People always say that there is only so far a person can go before they can’t come back. I don’t know how far away that is. I feel like whenever I go on an adventure and I meet you, we make a little trade. I give you a little piece of me, you give me a little piece of you. Now we are different, better. We can never go back.

The train pulled up. Coach started yelling “GO!! GO!! GO!!” as he tossed our luggage on the train.

In under 2 min we were on the train, in our cabin, heading home.

It all happened so fast. It felt like a rip, like we were leaving something.

A little piece of you (or a little piece of me, depending on where you are from).

Kettle,

My Friend Tom Furman asked me this question today:

“John, tell us how the St. Pete, and Siberian trip, with the change in templates, conditioning, and bodyweight have affected your overall, vixen lifting strength? How about overall fitness, health, sleep, flexibility, etc.?”

It’s funny because I have wanted to write about this anyway. Since I have been training exclusively for GS my max pure strength has dropped significantly.

A few weeks ago I was teaching a workshop in Oakland and I was trying to impress some guys by strict pressing a stacked pair of 28kg bells. I was being very nonchalant about it because I needed it to look easy. It was a safe weight for me. A year ago I could press stacked 32’s so I knew that this lift would be easy.

Eh…Uh…No.

Surprised and a little embarrassed I tried again. Then I was pretty upset and I really tried.

No

WTF? I put it down and then out of my mind. I had work to do. Later in the day I “had” to demonstrate my “awesomeness” so I went to jerk stacked 32’s.

NO

What? This couldn’t be happening. I felt like my heart had been ripped out. Like I lost my identity. Who am I if not the guy who can do all of these tricks? It was a suck ass moment.

What I really couldn’t understand is that I had been training harder than I ever had. I had been eating cleaner and resting more than ever. My bodyweight and bodyfat were both down and I felt great.

When I went to Siberia I asked Rudnev about this. He said “of course”. As in, what did I expect to happen when I started to train for endurance? He laughed and said I am plenty strong enough to reach all of my goals and that there were many great GS lifters that could not even press the 32’s over head.

I asked him if my strength was hurting me and he said “of course not”. As in, what kind of stupid question is that? He said what hurts me is my lack of flexibility and Endurance. Without the required amount of flexibility I would not be able to lockout or rest in the rack which will prevent me from developing the static strength I need to succeed. Without more endurance there is no chance.

Coach has had me doing General Physical Preparation (GPP) since the beginning. I was doing barbell work, ballistic work, bodyweight work, endurance work, running, swimming, and rowing etc. I enjoyed this but I never fully gave in to his program. He had me doing fast paced work. He had me supersetting everything and really getting my heart rate up. I was told to do everything back to back to back then change my shoes and run. All of this was to be done right after my GS training when I was exhausted. I was going slower and heavier but still submax. I was lifting inbetween, with no real purpose and it showed. I was not hustling between exercises. I would mosey from one to the next. I would do it all but I could do it better. I can do it better. He had me programmed to work my endurance and the way I went about it was more, dare I say it, general fitness (I know, I know, forgive me).

So, I was training very hard. I was training harder than at any point in my life, but I wasn’t doing my heavy lifting anymore or following Coaches programming with complete understanding so my results 38/152 were what they were…mediocre.

The flexibility work started out very poor and has been upgraded to slightly better than very poor. I hate it…HATE it. But I am committed to doing it with more urgency. I will say though that I have noticed improvement in my overall flexibility and I am confident that it will continue to improve.

My overall health is much better. I am far leaner than I was last year. My clothes are smaller. The word is that when I snore at night it no longer sounds like an army charging on heavy horse. It apparently now only sounds like several dozen Kodiak Grizzly Bears arguing over proper kettlebell lifting technique. I sleep way better and don’t worry, I can still throw a pretty good sized lady overhead with relative ease

So, my overall 1 rep max numbers are down, definitely.  I really can’t see how the outcome could be different. I don’t train GS to get stronger. I am strong enough. I train GS because I love lifting bells and I want to be as good at it as I can be. Those are two different goals. Maybe someday my goal will be to be the strongest guy in the room again. Right now it is all about moving that ball and if it means I have to train a little more endurance than power, so be it.

Rudnev made it clear that leg strength is not as important as power sequencing. He looks at his legs and points out how small they are. I asked if extra strength will help at the end of a set when you are exhausted and clearly using your legs. “Of course” he said as in, that’s obvious. Then we did our gpp. He did dumberll squats/jumpsquats/abs than 30 pistols per leg (I did lunges) then 30 jumpsquats (bodyweight ass to the ground) then abs. Then I blacked out.

So that is what is next for me, crazy gpp after GS training. We will see what it does to my endurance. We will see how it affects my numbers. It is in the program, every day. When we were there we were watching Aleksandr Khvostov workout every day we were there and he was training his GPP every day. He was doing lunges that I don’t even like to think about.

So, I guess that my ability to literally pick up ladies overhead has been reduced. The tradeoff is that it is now much easier to pick them up figuratively, which is a solid trade I think.

Kettle,

Really, how different could the bells be?

We had just spent 30 hours or so in airports and 22 hours on the train. We had been in town for about 12 hours and we were off to the gym to train. Jason and I had been working towards this moment for what seemed like forever and now it is finally here.

Time to train!

A little warmup, no problem, a few swings, a few one arm jerks, easy money. Then a few snatches, the snatches felt a little weird. Rudnev told me to do a few short Jerk sets for warmup and that was not really hard but not really comfortable either. My first working set was a nightmare. I blamed it on the jetlag.

Jason was up. He did a few warm up sets and then a few reps into his working set he crushed the middle finger of his left hand on the drop. He held on and finished his set but you could tell he was in pain. The finger was clearly broken.

I was up again and my set was still, well, lets just say it was still jetlagged. Then it was time for the snatch. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t catch the bell. It was a nightmare.

Jason and I went back to the hotel and we could not figure out what was wrong. Later that afternoon when we returned to the gym we talked to Rudnev about the bells being too small.

He laughed at us.

I showed him that the space inside the handle was too small for me to get my hand through. I had never felt that in a comp bell before. I could barely squeeze my hand through even with the bell sitting on the ground. There was no way I could do it on the clean or snatch. It was horrible. I felt desperate.

Jason was having trouble too. The insertion was giving him major problems as well. These are standard Russian Sport bells here. (We travelled all of this way to see the real thing and there they were. They were old and beat to hell. There were no clear weights written on them. They were crazy!!!)

We will have to use them in competition and we can’t even use them in practice. I know that my hand fits. It has to fit. The Great Mishin’s hands fit and they are bigger than mine. I started cleaning the bell again and again until my hand started to bleed, ON THE BACK!!! The back of my hand was scraping on the bell and I couldn’t fix it.

The next day we went to the Far East Military Institute to train (wow, that’s a whole other blog). Coach’s friend Sergey was there to help us and train with us. We were showing him the problem and he laughed as he pointed to the Cheburashka bells (which are shaped more like DD bells than Comp bells) and told us to try them. We did and they were easier to use than the comp bells.

I have been using comp bells for years. The set I have at home are all comp bells. I have a set of cast iron bells but my buddy has them at his house because I never really use them. I didn’t think I would be able to work with the Cheburashka bells but I realized that the way they sat in my hand made it easier to lockout. My hands are huge and the diameter of the handle hardly ever bothers me, and these comp bells did have thicker handles than what I am used to. I realized now that the size of the bell isn’t that big of a deal to me either. What made the biggest difference for me was the size of the space between the handle and the ball. These Russian bells had a smaller window, much smaller.

I imagine for someone with a smaller hand this is not a problem but for me it was the problem to end all problems. I have enough problems with my lockout. To get a new one this late in the game was the last thing I needed.

If I can’t insert my hand all the way and I can’t get the bell in the right spot I can’t lockout. This was the best thing about this experience. Rudnev worked with me on my positioning. He noticed that when I drop the bells I cross the handles a little. I am pretty sure lots of us do this and it is fine. The problem for me was I would do it on the drop to try to strip away any extra movement. When I would do that eventually the bell in my left hand (which rests on top) would be bumped up a tiny bit each drop until it was just high enough to be out of place. Once that happens (for example rep thirty for me) I am on borrowed time.

So they decided to let Jason and I train and compete with the Cheburashka bells. Rudnev said this was a small regional tournament. He said that at a tournament at any higher level we could never do this. It is actually interesting. The higher you get, the tighter the rules get. They seemed to be designed for people to have success. So they let us use our bells.

Coach Rudnev is carrying the Cheburashkas

During training one day Rudnev was telling us that the new Russian standard bell has a bigger window than his bells. He said that at the world championships in Finland the bells were closer to what we use here in America and that many of the Russian lifters hit personal records using that bell. So they changed, which is awesome on so many levels.

We asked Coach to drive us to the store to see the new bells and he did. The difference was clear. I can’t say if the handle was thicker than what I am used to but it was a little smaller than the bells at the gym. Also the window wasn’t a little bigger, it was A LOT BIGGER!!!

Horosho!

Chu-Hi!!

So we went back to work. With the Cheburashka Rudnev was teaching us more about how to hold the bell during rest. It was frustrating because we were learning a whole new motor pattern. That is the thing about learning new technique though, it is not like a magic pill. I understand what he wants me to do but I can’t just do it. I’ve got to do 10,000 reps before it sticks. I did not have time in Russia so I improved a little before the comp but largely what you saw is what I had. For example, early in my snatch set the insertion was better on the right. As I got tired it got worse. My left is not close yet but it is something to work on which is exciting for me

I know that if I had a year I could compete with the Old Standard Russian bells. I could learn the motor pattern even with a big hand. It is just that the margin of error is very small and I am not at the skill level I need to be to use that equipment.

It’s too much car for me.

For now.

But I will practice…

And practice…

And practice…

Kettle,

One last thing…Cheburashka. We first heard the term from Denis Vasiliev in St. Petersburg last May. They call this kind of bell a Cheburashka because they think it looks like him/her/it. They always say it with a smile. It is a term of affection. This is Cheburashka

Hi Everyone! We flew all the way around the world today! From as far east in Asia as you can get to Los Angeles the long way. So if you don’t count the Pacific Ocean (no big deal right???) We flew all the way around I am putting in the pictures for this blog so it looks a little more like what we had in mind. I will have a new blog up today, so don’t spoil your dinner on this one

Thank you for reading!!!

jw

Dolby LC/24kg/70

Buckley J/24kg/38, S/24kg/76+76

Now that we got that out of the way we can move on to the important stuff

Jason and I were nervous. How could we not be? We had been looking to this comp for so long that we had forgotten what it was like to not be stressed about it. Now it was here and we were in a locker room with all of these lifters (over 100 competitors) and we knew that every one of them was going to beat us down. Then there was a command given and everyone formed two lines. An official came and grabbed Jason and I and brought us to the front. We were begging her not to put us ahead of everyone there. The two Americans, we thought, would be treated with resentment. We lucked out and the whole line started moving before we got to the front so we were able to blend in…a little.

They played the national anthem (the same exact version that was in Rocky 4! Super intense!!!) and raised the flag. My heart was in my throat. Then they honored the lifters with mini children ballroom dancing and large retired military men feats of strength. It was pretty cool.

There were no clocks or counters. It was a bring your own situation so Jason and I were nervous from the get. We realized that our environment would be different than what we were expecting. We just didn’t know how much.

(By the way, super cute Russian girl judges? Really? Not distracting, totally awesome, totally Chu-Hi)

The kids were first. They wanted pictures with us. Then it was the older lifters. Then some girls then the champion lifters. We must have taken 100 pictures. We were worried about them hating us because we were on TV and in the paper and they could out lift us on any day but they did not. They welcomed us. We also noticed that they all seemed to like and support each other. (Except for one guy, but there always seems to be one of those guys).  I was trying to warm up for my set and they kept asking me for pictures. It was cool. That was the moment I realized I was probably not going to get good numbers. Crazy environment, can’t warm up, and maximum distractions? This could be the most awesome kind of excuse in the world.

Funny thing is, I did well. Well for me that is. The jerk is my worst lift. I still have trouble with rest and the lockout. But 3½ min and 38 reps is a pr for me (I know it is terrible). I was hoping for 40 but I’ll take 38. So no excuses on that set

Michelangelo?

Dolby broke his finger on the drop during his first set of his first practice last week (he finished the set). As you can imagine a broken finger can affect your long cycle mechanics and his back spasmed. Rudnev didn’t think he could compete. But he practiced all week like that and was allowed to compete, although Rudnev made him use the 24’s. He finished his 10 min and got 70 reps. Jason was disappointed but he earned a roar from the crowed and the reward of Rudnev yelling “REAL MAN JASON!!!” at the end of his set.

Horosho!

When I was about to warm up for the snatch I was pulled aside by a foxy Russian TV reporter and was asked to do another interview (uh, yes please). Then another reporter (looked like her grandpa) and then another (foxy with a mean-girl vibe). I got a few warm up snatches in and then went up and set another pr. 76/76 (although apparently I got a no-count because my total score was 112.5 for both lifts. I went a little over 9 min and was that last man snatching (CHU-HI!!!)

Rudnev said my goal was 63/63 and when I hit 75 with the first arm I got the “REAL MAN JOHN!!!”  It was my first one He greeted me after the set and asked to see the tears on my hands. There were none. He was surprised and said “No trauma! I honor you.” (ok, so I almost…ALMOST…cried)

We got our medals (gold in empty weight classes) and then we received trophies from the Veterans from the Russian-Afghan War. They were not for lifting. They said they were for traveling so far to compete in their town. There was crazy applause. It was a very high life moment for me.

Horosho!

It’s funny, I have never talked about my numbers before. In this sport it is numbers, numbers, numbers. I have never talked about them because I have never had them. In my opinion, there is nothing more personal to me then the numbers I hit in practice. They are a reflection of my effort, my dedication. There is no excusing your way out of your training numbers. Mine are a direct representation of who I am. I share them with my friends (maybe) and when I do it is private. I don’t do the footage thing because you can stop the camera. You can try again. Footage is great for my training for analysis purposes but as for posting it I just could never do that.

You all know how I write by now. I believe that the best thing to do when you write is be honest. The reader will forgive your failures if you are honest. You don’t have to be perfect because they can relate to your shortcomings and connect with you. I write honestly and expose much of myself to you all and I still can’t expose my training numbers. They are that personal.

Again, in my opinion, what makes this a sport is getting on the platform. The numbers you put up under pressure are your numbers. In the sport, the numbers in your living room don’t count. Your blood and sweat build and prepare you. They have value beyond words but for your numbers to count you have to play the game.

The Patriots were 18-0. They were supposed to be the greatest of all time before the Superbowl. They couldn’t lose? Why even play? They had to play the game. So do we.

The footage we do have from the comp is backlit so we look like shadows (as you can see by the picture of me up top). We will throw it up if it comes out at all but you’ll never see that jerk set NEVER I SAY!!! (Update: So Rudnev posted some of my set and the Snatch and the LC from Jason as you can see above. I’m still not putting my Jerk set on here SO THERE!) Luckily, we have diplomas with our numbers on them notarized by a Russian government official; they are entered into the Russian sport record log.

So I have numbers now. They are not great numbers but they are my best numbers. They are PR’s in reps and time. I am lucky that they came in competition. I look forward to competing again. Coach says June and again in the fall. My next personal goal is to do 100 snatches per arm in competition (24kg). I saw that Will Metcalf did that in competition and I think that is pretty damn cool. I don’t know what other Americans are in that club but I want in. The Jerk is a work in progress but it is coming, slowly.

This has been such a crazy adventure and we still have tons of stories to tell and pictures to show. Thank you all so very, very much for following us and supporting us. We love lifting and training and traveling and teaching. We love being part of this community and culture. We are looking forward to whatever is next, whatever it is, and bringing you all with us.

Ochen Horosho,

Balshoye Spasiba,

Kettle,

One more thing. Thanking Sergey and Natalia Rudnev and their beautiful family will be a whole entry to itself. I can’t just say thank you on the end of a long blog like this but I can’t write about this competition without saying something either.

You have all treated us like family.  We never expected anything like this. There are no words to tell you how we feel. You have taught us both so much. We will remember this forever and try to treat the people that come into our lives as well as you have treated us.

Thank you very very much.

Love,

John and Jason