In September, I will hit 67. I was thinking, what do you give yourself for a 67th birthday present where you don’t need anything or have a desire to acquire more “stuff”. So I came up with this “brilliant” idea of taking a two day kettlebell instructor certification program in October. It’s not like I really “need” to take the program to learn how to properly use kettlebells; my daughter and one of the coaches at my studio are certified and I work with them regularly. I think I’m having a mid-life crisis or at my age, maybe it’s encroaching dementia. Next week I start training for the cert program. 5 days/wk, working on form, technique and goal specific strength for deadlifts, goblet squats, 1 arm presses, cleans, snatches, Turkish Get Ups and swings. All of which I must be able to do with perfect form for 5 reps using 1 or 2 45 lb kettlebells. And then there’s the final exam. Because I’m over 65, I get a real break. I only have to do 50 1 armed snatches with the 45 lb bell in 3 minutes. Yikes, I have taken leave of my senses!
@deb922 I love that quote from Des. She is one of my favorite runners. She never gives up.
@MichaelNKat That sounds like a good goal! Good luck! I’ve been tossing around ideas of what to do for my 50th in a couple of years. I’m thinking about going skydiving. For my 40th, I flew a plane. Our airport had a 2 hour introductory lesson for $100. Best self-present ever. I’d also love to hike across Switzerland, but I think that’s a pipe dream due to $$$. And H wouldn’t want to do it. He wants to go to Switzerland, but he only will hike 2-4 hours every now and then with me.
I figure I’ll get the coronavirus eventually. The disease doesn’t worry me as much as the panic surrounding the disease. I’d probably feel differently if I had a newborn or was elderly. But the last time I had to go to the doctor for being sick was 7 years ago (eye infection), so I figure I’m due eventually. Plus, H is an elementary PE teacher who gets hugged on by 500 snotty kids every day. I’d probably only skip the gym if it closed or I got sick. I just wish all these threads and constant news reports about it would cease, but it is TOTALLY stressing me out planning for younger S’ internship in Spain May-June and our summer vacation. I can’t book plane tickets until I know we can go, because we can’t afford to lose that kind of $$$. And if he doesn’t get to go this year, I’m not sure he will be able to any other year.
I had been babying my AT the last few days. Biked only on Sunday, 60 min stairmonster on Monday, a short 20 min jog/ 50 min. stairmonster on Tuesday. Today, I did a 30 min hilly run and 30 min stairmonster and it felt pretty solid. And the usual lifting/stretching each day.
I am also a big skier. I am at around 40 days so far this year. Probably 25 of those are cross country. My 11 year old is on a cross country team. I have done another ~30 ski-erg sessions this season. I am having to up my game to keep ahead of my daughter. I expect her to be faster by the time she is 13 or 14.
Out of curiosity, what’s the non-65 year old final exam? I assume it’s 25 reps per arm and not 50 reps per arm?
Lately, I’ve been thinking about learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. There’s a popular academy or school in the same complex as my gym and I often peek into the building, since the roll up doors are frequently open. I just wish I could find more time in my schedule, because I’d hate to have to carve out the time from my normal 5-day/week program plus my running.
Finally got outside for a weekday run. Four miles, but I had to stop a few times on the first mile to fix my interval timer (user error- I admit it). Last 3 were great, I ran at a good pace. I would love to keep that pace for 10 miles in this Sunday’s race, but we’ll see.
@sushiritto, here’s the testing protocol. The skills test is before the final snatch test. Where the skills tests call for double bells, it’s double bells each at the test weight for the final snatch test. The final snatch test can be all same arm or alternating arms.
Skills
Tested on these basic movements using final test weight bells
Swing (10 repetitions each side)
Double Clean (5 repetitions)
Press (5 repetitions each side)
Double Front Squat (5 repetitions)
Snatch (5 repetitions each side)(Skills Test, not final exam)
Get up (1 repetition each side)
SFG I Weights Body Weight/Age KB Weight Final Snatch Test
Women Open Class Up to 59kg/130lb 12kg 100/5min
Women Open Class Over 59kg/130lb 16kg 100/5min
Women Masters (50-64 years old) 12kg 100/5min
Women Seniors (65+ years old) 12kg 50/3min
Men Open Class Over 100kg/221lb 28kg 100/5min
Men Open Class Over 68kg/150lb and
below 100kg/221lb 24kg 100/5min
Men Open Class Up to 68kg/150lb 20kg 100/5min
Men Masters (50-64 years old) 20kg 100/5min
Men Seniors (65+ years old) 20kg 50/3min
As to the BJJ, it is a real time commitment if you want to do it seriously and really learn technique. My son trains BJJ 2 hours/day, 6 days/wk in addition to his strength training. And watch out for belt mills. My son, who competes semi-pro at a national level and was undefeated as a Brown belt in 2019, has been at it for 9 years. It took him 7 1/2 years to get his Brown belt. The school he trains and teaches at does not give out belt promotions very frequently, lol, but he routinely beats Black belts from other schools that are more “liberal” in handing out belts.
So, for me, it’s 100 KB snatches in 5 minutes. Wow, sounds nasty. I personally don’t like that kind of volume with a highly technical lift like a snatch.
CF has a workout called Randy, which is 75 snatches @ 75 lbs with a BB for time. I hate that workout.
Again, just for curiosity, do the KB’s have to touch the floor (TNG) or can you do hang snatches? Full squat or are power snatches OK?
Regarding BJJ, if I decided to join, then I’d just take a couple classes a week, if that’s possible. BJJ would be more for cross training than achieving belts. And maybe that’s not worth it to them. I was just floating the idea in my head. One of the young (32 year old) BJJ members was working out next to me in the gym and gave me a nice compliment and said I should think about joining BJJ.
I’m sure a legit BJJ school wouldn’t mind you coming only a couple of times per week and that you could pick up some basics going twice/wk and certainly would get in some good mobility training and have fun. I know at my son’s school, there are plenty of people who are not training to compete and just come because it’s a great workout and they enjoy it.
Here’s the protocol for the snatch test. While you can put the bell back on the floor after each rep, that can be a real time suck so you have to be mindful of that. One of the toughest things about preparing for it is conditioning your hands. You can tear your callouses off and end up with raw bleeding hands pretty easily over the two days and all the volume.
From the website:
Snatch Test
Candidates will complete a number of kettlebell snatches in the time allotted (see table above). Candidates must wear clothing which would allow the testing instructor to see whether the elbows and the knees have locked out, e.g. a T-shirt and gym shorts.
The candidate grips the kettlebell handle. Upon the testing instructor’s command the clock starts and the candidate swings the kettlebell back between the legs and snatches it overhead in one uninterrupted movement to a straight-arm lockout. After fixing the kettlebell in the top position until the kettlebell and the student are visibly motionless, the candidate lowers the kettlebell between the legs in one uninterrupted motion without touching the chest or shoulder. The candidate is allowed to place the free hand on the hip or waist (but not on the thigh) and move the feet. However, the student must stop all movement when fixing the weight in the top position. The knees must be straight at the lockout.
If you have a medical condition that prevents you from fully locking out your elbow you must notify your Team Leader before the snatch test is administered. Poor flexibility does not qualify as a medical condition.
The SFG technique standard for the snatch is the technique used for the snatch test. The biomechanical breathing match is encouraged, but not a standard for the snatch test. If a student does not pass their snatch technique, they will not be permitted to perform the snatch test until that technique is passed.
An unlimited number of hand switches and back swings is allowed. The candidate may set the kettlebell down and rest as many times as he or she wishes to.
On each attempt, the instructor will announce the repetition number or “No count.” A repetition is given a “No count” if the candidate has:
Failed to lock out the elbow.
Pressed out the kettlebell to the finish.
Failed to stop all movement (the kettlebell, the body, and the feet) at the lockout.
Touched the chest or the shoulder with the working arm and/or the kettlebell on descent. (The “No count” will be announced on the next repetition, for example, “Fifty … Last rep no count, fifty …”)
Placed the free hand on the knee or thigh.
The attempt will be disqualified if the candidate has:
Three incidents of “No counts.”
Touched the kettlebell or the working arm with the non-working arm, except when switching hands.
Let go of the kettlebell before it has touched the ground (dropped it rather than set it down).
The testing instructor will announce the time elapsed after 1, 2, 3, 4 min., 4:30, 4:45, and 4:55. Chalk is allowed: belts, gloves, wrist wraps, and other supportive equipment are not.
Ya, well, good luck with that test. 
This rule cracks me up. :lol: How many 65-year olds w/o flexibility issues can snatch 50 reps in 3 minutes? There can’t be too many. Besides the lifting of 44 lbs, a person will need big lung capacity too.
Be prepared to be on your hands and knees afterward. Keep a chalk bag/bowl nearby. For me, that keeps my hands in good shape.
I know when I’m tired, during high volume snatches, my last reps become “no reps” because I tend to press them out.
I’m just happy that I can do five push ups!
You all made me lift my butt off the chair and do a few exercises with my 15 lb dumbbells. Good luck with those snatches! Better you two than me.
About 1/3 of my training time, each session, will focus on shoulder mobility. And yeah, chalk will be my best friend for my hands but even with it, my hands are going to be a mess on day 2 after 8 hours each day of doing all sorts of stuff. I’ve shifted my cycling training to short rides with lots of anaerobic intervals which will hopefully help with my anaerobic capacity during the snatch test but nothing will be as beneficial as just doing the snatch test on my own repeatedly over the several months I am preparing for this. All of this is why I’m starting to train now for a cert in October.
They call soccer the “beautiful game.“ The snatch is the “beautiful lift.”
@Midwest67 How’s your deltoid doing? I’m happy to report that my left intercostal appears to have healed. Not a peep, knock on wood. I think I also wad very fortunate in that this week coincidently turned out to be a programmed deload week on top of lightening the load the prior week.
Tonight I bench pressed to 90%+ followed by a 25-minute workout of rowing, running, jump rope and air bike. And finished with 10 minutes of weighted hip extensions and planks. Easy peezy.
On New Years Day (9 weeks ago) I decided to make a few changes to my eating habits: less sugar (checking lables/staying out of the candy dish and away from treats at work), only 2 glasses wine/week, a bit smaller portions, cooking from scratch (not heating up processed foods), making healthy salads for workday lunches.
I have lost 10 pounds. Even better, it has come off at the rate of just over 1 pound/week and I don’t feel hungry or deprived. This might not work for everyone, but it’s a healthy way to eat and it’s working for me.
Wow, @FallGirl ! That’s great! What a good plan and execution.
@FallGirl that is an amazing and healthy accomplishment! A 5 pound lose impresses me, a 10 pound loss is WOW!
My deltoid feels much better! Thanks!
On Friday I could not support the empty bar in the starting press position. Skipped training that day and also skipped lower body on Saturday.
By Tuesday, I started my press warm-up sets and worked up to a working set of 65# with zero pain during or after. Yay!
Golfers elbow remains. Better but not gone. I’m limiting chin-ups to 2 sets of 3, trying to find a sweet spot of volume & intensity that will allow it to chill. I’ll confess I could be much better about icing it.
The days are noticeably longer and I have been able to walk the dog without gloves or neck gaiter. It’s so cheering!
A couple of the strength coaches I follow on IG are into BJJ.
I use a run/walk method a lot - I run with a training group, and for several years ran with one of the running paces but always fell behind near the end. I moved to one of the run/walk pace groups and found that it is perfect! I’ve varied the intervals over the years and right now am working on increasing my intervals so am doing a 5/1 interval, and increasing the run interval by 15 seconds each week. But over the years I’ve tried a ton of different intervals, so it just takes some experimenting to find out what works best for you!
There are two keys to making it work well for you if you want to run races with it:
Start the run/walk interval from the very beginning of the run. A lot of people think “well I’ll run until I get tired, then I’ll switch to run/walk”. At that point, you are worn down too much. If you start run/walk from the beginning, you are saving your legs and energy for the later miles and your overall time will actually be faster!
Race at a lower interval than you train. I train anywhere from a 3:1 to a 5:1 interval (and like I said, am actually working at increasing the run time right now). But when I race, I’ll race at a 2:1. It sounds counter-intuitive, since you are walking more, and the first few times someone told me that I didn’t believe them and went ahead and raced at my normal training interval. But then I tried the lower one and realized that it really works! The shorter run interval along with the walk breaks helps you run significantly faster. I’ll hit times on a 2:1 interval that I never see with a 3:1 or more.
Congrats @FallGirl !