Lifting the Great White

Lifting the Great White

I totally get that at first some might not believe I lifted the 40 last week. It’s rare for a woman to lift that bell, let alone achieve a 4 minutes set. It also doesn’t LOOK as though my arms are struggling under the weight. This is because they’re not. I regularly lift heavy. I train 6 days a week. I have the best of coaches. I do what I was taught by Valery Fedorenko and make sure the weight is carried by the skeletal frame in rack and in the overhead position, try and achieve optimal trajectory so as to save my energy, and follow the bell in the swing phase. I don’t make it harder for myself by hurling out an extremely heavy bell into the distance and wildly hope I will have the strength to retrieve it. With this weight, I follow the bell even more, and make my second dip even more pronounced. Neither can I afford to take the bell out of alignment. If I do, the lift will certainly fail. I do not have the strength to support the bell without the support of my skeletal frame. I need to take a moment before I launch the bell, to ensure the bell is connected to the hip and my wrist is in the best position, to give every chance of a successful next rep. It is a considered discipline, and every movement needs to be measured. It’s not something we should throw ourselves into. It needs to be meticulously planned.

I have watched countless lifters day after day in my work as Assessor for World Kettlebell, and yes of course we watch other lifters too. I am always really interested to see experienced lifters clean with the 48, as often they lose their technique, and I started to play around more with our club’s heavier bells, filming it and watching it back. StrongSport is ALL about technique. You can’t just muscle it out if you’re pushing yourself to go as heavy as you can. You have to get technical. Last weekend I achieved a decent set, one rep off rank, and eventually got brave and posted it. I knew there would be haters and disbelievers. I am only 5’3″ and disabled, but on the mat with the bell in my hand, those factors don’t matter nearly so much as the mechanics of the lift.

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