What a Jerk!

Last night was my first real attempt at a timed set of Kettlebell Jerks.

I didn't know what to expect in terms of how long I would be able to go, so I set my sights at a low but attainable goal from which I could build on.

The Kettlebell Jerk, for some people, is a tricky move. The second dip seems to be what these folks have a hard time performing.

Personally I don't think of it as a dip. I mentally tell myself to push my body under the bell, as if the bell is fixed. I try make it feel the same as a barbell (split) jerk.

You can imitate this feeling with an adjustable pull up bar.

Set the bar to just above shoulder height.

Stand in front, facing the bar and grip it with a pronated grip.

Now, this will be hard to out into words, but jump yourself under the bar to arm lockout and remember how it feels to forcefully push yourself underneath.

Mimic this feeling with the bell, then stand up.

Get it?

Well, try it a few times and you'll know what I'm trying to say.

Anyway,

Single Arm Jerks w/ a 16kg bell.

First set was 4 minutes with one rep every 12 seconds. One hand switch at 2 minutes.

Again you need to have a
Gymboss Interval Timer
to keep your pace.

Just set it 12 seconds and every time it beeps do a rep.

It's that simple.

So, Yeah. First set 4 minutes, not bad, not too tiring. It was only 20 reps.

I took a short break and then did a 6 minute sets.

This was a little tougher. I was more fatigued than I thought and it was getting tough to hold the bell in the rack.

Oddly, my pec was fatiguing more than anything.

But I got through it.

I banged out a quick 4 minute snatch set and 12 RPM. This was OK, grip was an issue.

I had to take a 30 minute break and finished with 2 sets of one arm swings in my parents living room (see post below for explanation)

These were tough but do-able. One set of 30/30 and one set of 25/25.

I'm happy with it.

Hopefully by the end of the week our bathroom will be done and we won't have to make the night trek for a working shower and we can crank up the intensity and volume in our session.

Tonight will be CrossFit's Cindy. Now that I have my kipping down, I should add some rounds compared to the last time this test came up.

We'll see!