Long Cycle Championships

this weekend was the Kettlebell King IKO Long Cycle Championships! And it was a really successful competition for me!

Since Worlds, I've had a lot going on. Quit my job, took a break from training, got a new job, and then dove the heck into Long Cycle training... and then a month ago I added a snatch training cycle in on top of it. Cause I am also doing a kettlebell comp at the end of June.

SO, it's been a lot. but I did have a whole lot of focus for my long cycle sets for this comp. I worked a lot on nailing down some technique issues that I saw in my competition set in February. And I had a lot more time to really work on it all.

My goal for this competition was to break 100 reps, so then I could start lifting some heavier bells in my next competitions. (all the yellow bells!!)

some additional stuff that I had to deal with was that: 1) this was the first comp that I didn't have Britt, my coach at (@kbfitbritt) which was a change, but nothing too crazy to adapt to. 2) figuring out the weigh in the days before the comp, trying to get there before they left/getting out on time from work. 3) my brother came and I haven't had any family see me lift before so that was a bonus stress. 4) I randomly got to do an extra 5 minute 16kg one arm long cycle. 5) I had no idea when I was lifting. due to lots of circumstances, the flight schedules came out pretty late

but overall, all that worked out. I got to weigh in and eat everything I wanted the night before. the random 16kg set went well, and didn't tire me out for my 10 min set.  I had awesome support from Dan (@musclehipster) during the set, along with Gary, Marian (@marianjhart), Lolo (lolonicole13) , and my brother and Colt. But, Dan was really awesome during those last few minutes, you can hear him really coaching me through it, in the video I'll post below, and it definitely helped.

16 kg, 5 min One Arm Long Cycle

58 reps (1st place)

despite the music shutting off a couple minutes into the set, I finished pretty strong and honestly, it was just fun! got all my nervous energy out of the way, and made it happen.

2x12kg 10 min Long Cycle

106 reps (? rank)

SO, SO  proud of this set. honestly, my favorite part of this video is the last 90 seconds. it's all grit and will power and I am really proud of how well I did. I wanted 100+ reps and I did it. Max effort. and next time I get on the platform I'll be stronger for it. And I am really excited that I hit over 100 reps. My last PR was 75. That's 31 more reps added in about 3 months. That is hella progress.

Now, we're all onto all the snatches so I can be ready for the end of June! So excited!!

if you want to learn some stuff about kettlebells or take a class with me... check out edge.fitness to see what classes i'm teaching in San Marcos. Or message me on Facebook or Instagram!

I have online training and in person available to kick off your summer workout program!  

my first kettlebell competiton!

if you follow me on any of my social media (which i am gonna assume you do if you are reading this) you'll know that this weekend was my first kettlebell competition! it was SO MUCH fun and now I am so ready to do another one (once my hand is all healed up, tbh)! 

this post is basically gonna be a wrap up of my sets and how i feel about them. also i need somewhere to post all the great pictures and videos I got from it.  

all my prep for deck the bells came from my bad ass coach, Brittany van Schravendijk (i am so hoping I spelt that correctly), also known as @kbfitbritt and I did most of my actual kettlebell sport workouts at Kor Strength and Conditioning in North Park. 

All of the following pictures and videos are taken by my awesome boyfriend Colt Magana. Video is on a GoPro Hero 5 Session, pictures on a Google Pixel 2! 

Snatch Set! 

10 mins, with a 12kg bell! 

This is the event that I was really training for over the past 5 months. 

My goal was 200 reps (I hit 198! :) ) 

below is the full video if you want to watch me swing a bell for 10 mins straight 

I am outrageously proud of myself for this set, because it was my first ever competition set. I was straight up shaking when i got up to the platform... and probably throughout my first few minutes too...and maybe after. (i'm only kinda joking there)

i don't think i thought throughout this set anything other than, "breathe" and "OK" to my coach's cues. i was concerned that i was going to slip into some sort of negative self talk, but we did go through a lot of mental prep with Britt, so I had plans on plans so I wouldn't do that. and the plan A mental game plan went great. and because I had SO much adrenaline going it knocked out my cough that i has been fighting off for the last week and a half. (woo!) 

most helpful, was the cues from my coach and teammates. SO appreciated that. and by the last minute I was able to rep it out really fast that last minute. I think I hit like 25 reps that last minute which is pretty solid for me. And then I hit 198 reps! Which is a PR for myself! 

onto my One Arm Long Cycle! (clean & jerk)  12kg, for 5 mins. I hit 59 reps! First in my flight, and 3rd overall! 

Not something I really trained for as much as snatch. I did practice clean and jerk a lot on my own, with hardstyle bells more so than comp bells, but it clearly translated pretty well! 

this one I had an audience outside of my team and Colt cause my friend Josh and his lovely ladyfriend Ashley came and watched me! :) 

here is the whole set for your viewing pleasure: 

I didn't have as much coaching in this event, but i felt really solid throughout it, and it was 5 minutes, and I felt really good during the set. Long cycle is just a lot of breathing, so it was just getting into that breathing rhythm and sticking with that. 

so i was and am very happy with how that set went! 

so, all in all, i had a great first comp! i am really proud of how i performed and really excited to do another comp! i learned SO MUCH about kettlebell sport and all the scoring and just little things i didn't know and I got to see amazing lifters do amazing things, which was and is SO inspiring for me to keep on going with this sport! shout out to my awesome team and for all the awesome performances that came out of Deck the Bells! legit, got to see a woman break the world record on 2x20kg long cycle.so amazing. so excited i got to do my first comp in the kettlebell world with my home gym, full of all sorts of great people! 

onto the next! 

if you are interested in following my future kettlebell lifting comps or if you want to kick off your own fitness journey check me out on instagram and facebook and drop me a line!