Have you caught a magic show?
Isn’t it captivating how we are amazed at what appears impossible?
I mean, deep down inside we know what we’re seeing isn’t real - just an illusion, but it FEELS REAL in the moment, right?
I check here think proper kettlebell training is kinda like a magic show.
We witness amazing things and want to believe they’re real, yet deep down inside we “know” there must be a “trick” or a “secret.”
So many of the results promised just can’t be real, can they?
From fewer than a handful of exercises?
Especially when we “know” that in the past, we had to do 80-plus different exercises and spend hours upon hours a day in the gym just to get anywhere.
Which is why I thought I’d show this comment with you from my YouTube channel from “@Likosak” -
(Make sure you have “enable images” turned on in your email. And if you still can’t see it, I’ll paste his comment below the image.)
Here’s his comment which you can read for yourself in the comment section on this video:
Let’s break it down so you can see his journey…
He was skilled swinging heavy KBs - 68kg 2H Swing x 10x10 EMOM fashion and 56kg 5+5 x5 EMOM
Could do a 32kg TGU with ease
Started Snatch training w/ a 16kg for a month
Bumped up to 20kg Snatch and was impressed at the difference “just” 4kg made
Moved up to the 24kg after 2 months using the 20kg
Got himself to the point where he could do 160 Snatches with the 24kg in 10 minutes
Experimented with the 32kg for 10 sets of 3+3
Gained 4kg (~9lbs) and thought it was going to hinder his running
Ran a quicker Cooper Test time (Ran 50m more in 12 minutes - without running at 5% heavier bodyweight)
Pull ups more dynamic (a.k.a. Faster , more explosive)
TGU got “sound and stable” with heavier weights
PR’d his dumbbell TGU - 40kg
Got stronger in Windmills, Bent Presses - and “obliques really popped”
His conclusion is sandwiched right there in the middle:
“It’s unbelievable how everything got smoother with snatches.”
So, if you want to feel “everything getting easier,”...
Why not begin learning and training the KB Snatch?
You can sprinkle it in with your current training as “skill work” - just remember you train skills FIRST and WITHOUT fatigue.
Or you can do a training block using “just” the Snatch.
Start easy.
Keep your reps few and precise - making each rep feel and every rep feel the same - dynamic !
Build your volume.
Then start pushing into longer rep sets.
If you want a plan to follow so you don’t have to guess or experiment, I’ll leave a link to my best Snatch program in the description below.
And just in case you were curious - the Snatch is not for beginners.
Like “@Lilosak”, you need a foundation of the following lifts:
Swings + Turkish Get Ups → Build your hip hinge and increase overhead shoulder stability / mobility so you don’t hurt your lower back or shoulders
Clean + Press → Strengthen the muscles involved in the Snatch to be able to accept the higher forces of the Snatch
If you’re not sure or don’t feel skilled enough in any of those 4 lifts, grab a copy of ‘THE BIG 6’ and practice them.
Review the videos, watch carefully, and then start with the “The Fundamentals Circuit” program.
I’ll leave a link to my best Snatch program in the description below.
Look, at the end of the day, the kettlebell Snatch isn't “magic”.
But compared to traditional forms of training, the results feel like.
Start your Snatch training here.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.