Russian Champion demos 32kg Snatch
Check out Valentin’s Website on Kettlebell Sport
Our friend Valentin Egorov recently won the semi-finals of the Russian Championships in the 60kg weight class. He was gracious enough to make this video for us amongst a grueling competition schedule (the finals of the Russian National Championships begins on June 1st).
In this video, Valentin is snatching 32kg. That is more than half his body weight being lifted with one hand, for high reps. Although his technique looks different than Valery’s or Pavlos’, you will notice that the key attributes of elite level lifting are intact and quite apparent:
1) The lockout. At the top of snatch, the bell is fixed, not moving – even slightly. Many people have yet to master this most important aspect of tempo lifting. Catherine Imes discussed this issue in detail recently. Unless you have a strong lockout, you can forget about increasing the load. One can probably get away with sloppy technique with a relatively light kettlebell, but the heavier weight will injure you if your lockout is lacking.
2) Economy of motion. Valentin is using just the appropriate amount of force for his body weight to leverage the bell along the intended trajectory – any less energy, the bell will not fly; any more energy, he gets gassed out early. This skill comes from doing thousands of reps, refining technique, and developing a kinesthetic awareness that is unique to his body structure and weight.
3) Consistency. Each rep looks like the one before it. The timing of the drop and the pull are the same for every rep. There is also an internal “rhythm” controlling independent physiological components so that they work in conjunction with one another. Elements such as speed, power, muscle contraction & relaxation, and breathing are timed so that they’re synced from one rep to the next.
I hope you find this helpful.
Best,
Steven
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We will be instructing the 2nd WKC Trainer Certification Course in California on Friday June 5, 2009.
Location:
Carlsbad Police Department
2560 Orion Way
Carlsbad, CA 92010
Click here for more information and registration.
Valentin, every transition into the lockout is so lightning fast that it looks like we intentionally sped up the video. It looks like special effects!
Hey Steven,
Wow!! very impressive form. I love it!! Really, really amazing!! This guy is the real deal… It takes someone like this to put into perspective how far we need to go in this country with this sport… Very humbling.. Thanks Valentin..Hoping you do well in your upcoming competitions.
Oh yeah… Valentin is the real deal. His is my hero. 60kg body weight… Are you kidding me? Excellent technique. He tells me his typical snatch numbers are 50+50 with the 32kg. I think his going to win the Russian Nationals.
Valentin, Thanks for taking the time to make exclusive videos for the Ice Chamber community. Like CDuff said, it is very humbling to see how far we need to go. We really appreciate it!
As CDuff said, Wow! Just watching form like that, makes me want to drop back down a few bell sizes. Fantastic! Thanks for bringing this and Valentin’s link to our attention.
Yikes, we are in kindergarten, but we’re movin’ on up! Terrific video.