I had an opportunity to sit down with Dan John at the NAKF's National Meet earlier this month. We spoke about kettlebells and how he uses them in his PE classes at Juan Diego Catholic High School. You can read more about Dan at his website danjohn.org. Listen HereSubscribe in a reader

What a weekend. I just returned from SLC after a 10 hour drive home on Sunday. I have to say it was worth it. From start to finish the NAKF's US Nationals for Kettlebell Sport was a great event to take part it.

For starters, the event was very well planned and executed. Matt McNamera did a fantastic job as the host for the event, and Lorraine Patten and the rest of the NAKF crew did a good job running both a competitor friendly event, as well as one that covered all the bases.

The meet was held at Juan Diego Catholic School in Draper, Utah, the home of lifting/throwing guru Dan John. It was really a fun experience to get to visit with someone whose work I've read so much of. It was also nice to see Dan throw his hat into the ring and compete with the 32kg kettlebells without specific training for the event. That takes guts, , , or a lack of good judgement. In any case, I was impressed and blown away at his gutsy performance in the snatch.

I know that GS has a reputation of not being a spectator sport, and while I agree that often times watching the same movement being repeated over and over again, there is a tremendous amount of drama in the event when you see people exceeding the limits of their own ability.

There were several standout performances that I'd like to make mention of. First off, the women overall did very well and several of them are pushing Master of Sport numbers. Kelly Moore, Jen Morey and Catherine Imes all did very well. Catherine snatched the 1 pood 208 times which I believe is the American Record. I'm looking forward to the US ladies taking on the Eastern Europeans this fall.


For the men, David Zink kicked off the competition with the Long Cycle. He went the entire 10 minutes and put up somewhere near 76 reps in the event. A very intimidating way to kick off the meet! Marty Farrell followed up that performance by putting up 62 jerks. Considering his weight, it is a very impressive performance and shows us what one can do with good technique and hard work. Jared Savik hit a men's high of 78 jerks, and Ken Blackburn sprinted his way to 62 .

Finally, perhaps the standout performance of the weekend was turned in by Andrew Durniat who we believe is the first US male to go the entire 10 minutes in the snatch, hitting 124 reps! Around minute 8, it looked like he was getting close to finishing up, but after resting in the overhead position for a few seconds, he powered through the last two minutes. Once he got to 1 minute left on the clock, you knew he was going to be able to do it. Very exciting moment for GS in the US! After his set, we were able to sit down for a few minutes and talk about the set.

Some things I picked up from the competition were:

• The importance of the hook grip. I know we probably all have tried to do this, but after using it in my snatch set this weekend, I can't tell you how important it is. A little tip I got from Valery before my set is to chalk the fingernail on your index finger. Combined with the competition bell's smaller diameter handle and the chalk on my finger, I was able to accomplish this hold and keep it.


• From Jared Savik, use the first dip to "bounce" the weights off of your hips/belt/belly. In order to do this, you really need to forcibly drop your hips. I find I'm pretty soft on the first dip. Late in my set I thought about doing it the way Jared recommended, but realized, I wasn't in good enough shape to do it.


• The world of American Kettlebell Sport, is a dog-eat-dog world where its every man for himself. Well, not exactly. It is an extreme pleasure to get to spend time with other lifters who share the same passion for their sport and are willing to share what they know to help others. The amount of support and coaching that the competitors gave each other, regardless of level and experience was inspiring. It was a pleasure to be able to interact with people of such character and charity.

Really there are too many things to list here, that I picked up, and too many people that did a fantastic job to mention them all. Be sure to go to the NAKF's website to check out the results of the US Nationals.

Be sure to listen to the latest episode of the Kettlebell Lifter Podcast.

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Episode 4; April 19th, 2007; Guest Mark Boggs

Well we’re down to less than a month to the NAKF’s national meet in Salt Lake City. I’ve been trying to get my weight down to 198 for a little while and I’m down to about 10 lbs left to go. I started out Jan. 15 at 234 lbs, and I’ve seen a real improvement in my fitness levels and appearance. On today’s podcast we’re going to interview Mark Boggs who has experienced a great deal of weight loss as a result of training with kettlebells.

Of course we know that finding a plan that works for you, and sticking to it for the long term is the key to success in weight loss, whether that’s a meal plan or exercise program. I was recently listening to a program on weight loss and the recurring theme was that there are a lot of diets that provide good results in the short term, but that adherence is the key to long term results. I think that kettlebells, if used correctly, allow you to use them for a long time. Most other forms of exercise, especially ones that can be used in as intense a manner as kettlebells, usually lead to injuries that limit or end an athletes participation in that activity. You see it in a bunch of sports. If you look at kettlebells, you can see that if you use common sense and good technique you can use them long term indefinitely.

That brings me to an article that was published this past week in the New York Sun that was posted on Dragon Door’s forum this week. The article tells a short story about an 85 year old Russian immigrant who lifts 80 lbs kettlebells and gave the police more than they bargained for. Besides being funny, I think it illustrates that kettlebells can be used long term for good results.

If you have any feedback for us, please call 541-255-3713 and leave us a voicemail for inclusion on the program. You can also use our MyChingo voicemail on our website at kblifter.blogspot.com or if you’d rather Email us, you can do that by sending a message to [email protected]. I’d like to request anyone with experience using kettlebells and doing Crossfit’s workout of the day to call and tell me how you are using kettlebells and how they fit into what you do with Crossfit. Also if you have a personal transformation story in regards to health weightloss, etc because of your use of kettlebells, please call us at 541-255-3713 to share your story.

We don’t have any feedback this week, so we’ll go ahead and move into our featured interview. Mark Boggs is a 45 year old former powerlifter who has recently found his way into the world of kettlebells. In addition to a significant amount of weightloss and an impressive increase in GS numbers, he has seen his power numbers remain relatively stable even though he is only doing high rep kettlebell lifting. His coach is Jon Hoskins out of Ohio.

If you are interested in reading Mark's story, you can read it here.

Listen to the Podcast by clicking this Link or the title Above

Again, I’d like to encourage you to leave us feedback for the show. Our voicemail can be reached by calling 541-255-3713 or by going to kblifter.blogspot.com. You can also write us at [email protected]. We want to thank you for joining us today and as always keep lifting.

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MarkBogg's AKC Blog Article

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Today's Podcast features a review of the American Kettlebell Club's Coaches Certification. If after listening to the podcast you'd like to learn more about the AKC, go to the American Kettlebell Club's website.

Also on the program is an announcement from David Whitley of IronTamer.com. Be sure to click on the "workshops" icon for more info.

Remember the NAKF's National Meet is coming up next month in Salt Lake City. For more info go to their website.

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This podcast features an interview with KB Sport Master of Sport Catherine Imes. Catherine shares the story of her progress from newcomer to kettlebells to being an international competitor in GS. She will share the methods that she and other elite level competitors have used to improve their performance.

We also will announce the top placers in the NAKF's latest Crossworld Meet.

Have an opinion? Question? Comment? Announcment? Please leave us audio feedback that we can include on the program. Visit the MyChingo link to the right, or call and leave us voicemail at 541-255-3713.

To listen to this episode, click on the title above or here.


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In our first episode of the Kettlebell Lifter, we talk with Thomas Phillips about the TSC. We will have some updates on upcomming events as well as some results from past competitions. To download the episode, click HERE.Subscribe in a reader

This is the host site for the Kettlebell Lifter Podcast. This is a new podcast that will focus on the world of kettlebell lifting. Our first episode will focus on the Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) which combines KB lifting with other events. This year's competition had over 60 participants nationwide and by judging the numbers being posted, was one of the most competitive in the competition's short history. The podcast includes an interview of Thomas Phillips, who has been involved in the TSC for most of its existence. To listen to the podcast go to http://ia340919.us.archive.org/1/items/kblifterblogspotcom_0/Test_Podcast.mp3Subscribe in a reader