The Rite Of Passage: Becoming a Men Amongst Men (And a Business Man)

Pavel Tsatsouline

After I tored something in my shoulder bench pressing 85kg at age 16 I was devastated. Weightlifting is one of the things I find the most joy at. It took me 6 months to be able do anything other than running and playing football (soccer), so all I could do was read.

That was when I run into Pavel Tsatsouline, a fitness instructor from the former Soviet Union, author of the best sports book I've ever read:  

Power to the People! and Enter the Kettlebell.  

I learnt technique is everything. Had anyone told me how to pack my shoulders into my back I would have never injured myself, but past is past. I also despise bodybuilding now, but that's another story. A year after (I tried to hit the gym many times before, but shoulder still hurt), applying Pavel's techniques and workout regime it took me 2 months to bench press 100kg, compared to the 7 months it first took me to go from 60kg to 85kg. Shoulder ached again, so I decided to give up on bench press for a while.

Pavel made Kettlebells popular in the United States, and he said they were awesome, so I wanted one. Problem: International weight shipping is expensive. There was no way I could acquire one. So it clicked, I found my muse.

My current best friend

Three months later, the bells had arrive and I was settled as the only Kettlebell provider in Chile. New post incoming about it in a few days, so please suscribe to recieve an update when it's out.

Kettlebells 101 and my Experience

This cannon balls with a handle are meant to be used as a one in all fitness tool (The AK-47 of fitness) through the executions of 4 movements; the Turkish get up, the swing, the clean & press and the snatch.

These movements work strength, endurance, balance, hip drive and other good stuff that has direct carry over to sports performance.

During the January Challenge I'll be performing clean & presses 3 times a week, followed by either swings or snatches, using a 24kg bell. On variety days, aka fun days, I'll be practicing some kettlebell juggling with a 16 bell. I'm not as good as vasilinko though.

I'm following the Rite of Passage outlined in Pavel's book, which I already did with the 16 and 20kg bells. 

Some pleasant results include shoulder rehab and strengthening (Over head presses are way healthier than front presses), strength improvement (did a bench press test with 90kg comfortably without any benching in previous 2 months) and ridiculous abs, grip and back development (over head presses build iron backs).

By the end of January 2nd shipment should be here, so I look forward to pressing the 32kg kettlebell.

Future goal is performing the RKC Snatch Test, which is 100 snatches in 5 minutes with a 24kg bell, and converting myself into the leading instructor of kettlebells within my country (Another reason to cut down the body fat, fitness instructor are not supposed to have bellies).