Kolkata Kettlebell Meet 2014

Kolkata kettlebell meet 2014 was much bigger than what I had expected! While KKM 2013 was a great experience, and was the start, KKM 2014 took things to a much higher level. It had it all, hard competition, great performances, glamour, celebs, high energy levels and everything else that you want at a sporting event. Yes indeed, Saturday the 11th of January 2014 was a special day for kettlebell lovers in the city.

This year we decided to conduct KKM as a proper competition with first, second and third places rather than just an exhibition event with no winners like we did in 2013. The scoring system was simple, the number of reps would be multiplied by the coefficient of the kettlebell weight, and the result would be divided by the bodyweight of the lifter to get the final score. We had three main lifts, 1 arm clean and press, 1 arm press, and 1 arm snatch. To keep things simple, we allowed the participants to do a push press or jerk in the clean & press and press events. Overall we had 22 participants, which is more than double of what we had last year. There were 18 male and 4 female lifters. 

Bring out the champion in you this year

With the Kolkata Kettlebell Meet 2014 just a few days away, I cannot help but feel excited at the thought of spending a day with all the kettlebell and fitness enthusiasts that will be present on the day. Even though I will not be competing, and will be there as an organizer and as a judge, I can still feel as if I myself will be there as a competitor. There is something about competitions that gets everyone present super excited!

When Ranadeep Moitra and myself were discussing about organizing competitions like the Kolkata Kettlebell Meet and Strong & Fit in 2013, the big goal that we had in mind was that we wanted to create a platform for the everyday gym trainees to come forward and showcase their skills. We wanted to bring out the athlete in those who are not professional athletes, but still love training just like a pro. And to our pleasure we got a positive response with many participants coming forward and giving it their best. Of course, in the future we will do our best to get more people involved to create a greater interest in strength and fitness in the general population.

4 healthy resolutions to follow this year

First of all, let me wish you a very happy new year, and the best wishes for 2014! No matter how 2013 was for you, you now have a chance to restart and make things better this year. Its just the start, but how you begin is likely to have a big impact on how you do from now on. And as usual this is also the time that new year resolutions become a big topic. If you believe in making new year resolutions, then I have 4 simple suggestions for you. Mind you, they are simple but not necessarily easy to follow. And while most healthy resolutions tend to be based on " I wont", I am asking you to focus on "I will".

Must read posts to help you excel in 2014

Even though new year resolutions have a terrible record in terms of success, there is still something about the new year's time that fills us up with optimism and makes us feel that "this time" all will go as per plan! And why not, a fresh start is one of the best things that can happen when the current situation is not going the way you want it to go. Sure, nothing in reality actually changes with the new year, and it is ultimately a matter of one's mental perception, however most great changes begin with the change in one's thought process. So do not be embarrassed or ashamed if you have not been able to keep your new year's resolution in the last 10 years. Atleast you are still trying to make something happen each time, when many others have given up hope.

5 common leg training mistakes to avoid

When I first started lifting weights, most of the gyms in my city did not keep a squat rack or a power rack. They all had some version of the leg press machine, and definitely the leg extension machine, but almost none had a rack. In those days, even around the world, most gyms that did have squat racks, did not have many members who would use it. Somehow most would go for the easier option of the leg press machine or the leg extension. In most cases, this was because people found barbell squats to be too hard, or had been told that squats are bad for the knees, or maybe they just did not care about developing leg strength and the leg muscles.

Cut your strength training time by 1/3 rd using alternating sets

 

For those of us who love strength training, a workout lasting an hour is something that we love and enjoy! However, just because we train for longer does not mean that the results will also be necessarily better. Infact, if you can do the same amount of work with the same weight in a shorter time, then you can actually get better results. The concern however is that trying to cut down on your workout time would mean cutting down on the rest time between sets, and thus possibly also on the weight that you can lift. But what if I told you that it does not have to be so. What if I told you that you could build more muscle, get better conditioning, and spend less time while doing so? Yes, it can be done! Let me explain how you can cut down your workout time by about 1/3 rd, without compromising on the results.

Before I proceed I would like to say that I am talking about training with heavy weights where you take about 2 1/2 minutes rest between sets. I am not referring to the "pump" style training where you take about 30 seconds between sets to maximize the pump. When you train with heavy weights in the 5-12 reps range you would usually take about 2 to 3 minutes between sets to recover.

5 strength training videos to motivate you (28.10.2024)

Its amazing how watching someone do something that we would otherwise consider impossible, can inspire us to push beyond our self made restrictions! While you may not match the numbers of the other person, you can definitely set new PR's for yourself. So with that hope, here are some videos that I saw recently, and feel that can motivate you to do better in the gym next time:

452 lb / 205 kg Strict Overhead Press (seated) - Igor Pedan