CrossFit Oakland

Nice kips, Scott!

Can't wait to see those kips in person, Scott! Keep it up!

In other kipping news, Ann Kelly kipping pullups to date = 1 !!!!!

Very nice!

all right Scott! I'm diggin' the Fugazi, as well. Good choice.

ok, so here's a good video I found for the kettlebell snatch.

http://beauty.expertvillage.com/videos/kettlebell-snatch.htm

on the kettlebell video, he brings it down the way that candace and nicole seemed to feel natural doing it, unlike jonathan's swing down. it may just be a personal preference. also, we have the pavel video and whoever is interested, we could get together and learn some new skills. let us know if you're interested:)

ok, check this out. click on the video link for the certification seminar underneath the photo of pavel. I might want to do this and become rkc certified.

http://www.dragondoor.com/wpkb26.html

check the haka!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=srxEMAlZ804&mode=related&search=

Thanks Jonathan..

1. It is an army of kettlebells!! I never saw so many kettlebells in one room!

2. Pavel looks huge next to other people!! In his videos were you can see only himself, or in photos he looks like those skinny guys that have strength from no where (just like Mike!..don't kill me for mentioning that!).

3. Haha.. Pistol Box Jumping is the next thing!! Regular Box Jumps are getting old fashioned!

4. The 3rd pull up try looks rediclius!

5. I see some people took kettlebells to the next step.. kettlebell acrobats.

6. Russians have some cruelness in them.. Pavel is proving it.

7. Kettlebells can be cool and usefull, but it is just a wieght with an handle.. I don't know about paying $1,300 - $2,200 to become a "weight with an handle" certified.
But sure does sound like fun!

Ok.. that is all for my comments about that video.

That haka clip rules. I'm gonna try that before my next max deadlift attempt.

Looks like Shira gets a 5,000m row for her choice comments about skinny guys...kidding!

In all seriousness, I agree with pretty much everything she said regarding the much-revered KBs. They're just one tool among many in the toolbox. Good stuff, Shira!

Haha Mike.. I like the quaote of the day ;)

we should have a crossfit oakland haka!

so since I like kettlebells so much, I'll play devils advocate. Saying the kettlebell is just a weight with a handle is like saying the barbell is just a big heavy stick. the barbell is also just one tool among many in the box. So does that mean that being RKC (Russian kettlebell certified) is any less important than being an olympic lifting coach? both give total body workouts. you can even do a lot of the same lifts with each. i do agree that the cert. fee is totally outrageous, but I'm still considering it. Oh, I encourage anyone who thinks they're a bad-ass to try that 200 kb snatches in 10 minutes. It's rather humbling. I got 155 and didn't rest very much. Oh, Mike, it's pretty much impossible not to put the bell down.

The difference between the barbell version of the Oly lifts (let's just say snatch, for the sake of argument) and the KB version is actually quite extreme.

Both are hard and both require a good deal of skill.

But only the barbell allows for maximal loading of the hip. In which case the barbell snatch is peerless.

No matter how difficult a 88-lb KB snatch is (and I'm conceding that it's quite difficult), it doesn't require as much force production as a 200-lb snatch. You can simply load up a bar heavier than you can a KB. It's basic physics.

I think the KB is a great conditioning tool with a wide array of applications. But it doesn't train for sheer explosive power (of the hip) in the same way the barbell does.

The comparison of a barbell vs. a kettlebell is not a simple question of of yes/no (Can you do the snatch with it? Can you do it for high reps and strength endurance? Etc.), it's a question of degree, or by how much.

If you had instead framed the KB comparison in terms of KB vs. DB, you might be on to something (although I cold probably give you a case for DBs).

one.. last... attempt... before Mike.... destroys my logic... again...

http://www.dragondoor.com/success_stories/CoachBurgener.html

Nice article, J.

I tried to be very careful in my criticism. I like KBs, just so it's clear.

But it's important to note that Coach B doesn't use KBs for training his Oly lifters once they're in-season, to the best of my knowledge. He has them focus on barbell training since that's specific to their endeavor (generation of max hip power and force production). He uses KBs for off-season conditioning (same as with CF; off-season only).

BTW, I stand corrected on the 10-minute test. You can put it down to rest. But our standard is actually rather lenient (200 in 10 minutes). The SS Snatch Test calls for 250 snatches in 10 minutes:

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/369/

Hey Jonathan..

First thing.. Your 155 score is very impressive! Great effort there!!!

Second thing.. There is no dought that KettleBells are a great tool.. and if the seminar was fourth of the price I might have done the seminar with you.
However.. I thought that the crossfit certification is overly priced ($1,000).. The RKC is double the price!!! I am just saying that people are overly rating kettle bells.. Olifts seminars (I am not totaly up to date) are about $250-$350.

Anyway.. it was fun having at last one interesting arguement at the CrossFit Oakland Website..