(L-R) Gunjan Ahalani, Pari Mandal and Vasudha Goenka were the “Devil Snatchers” who placed first in Women’s Snatch Relay and also won individual gold medals in other categories. “I was always into sports but kettlebell training has become an addiction,” admitted Gunjan, a 34-year-old mother of two. Pari agreed that kettlebells are addictive. “Fitness is a huge part of my life. I discovered kettlebells eight months ago and I was good at it, so now I can’t stop myself. I’m going to use my experience to help my clients at Quads Fitness Studio [4 Jatin Bagchi Road, near Vivekananda Park],” said Pari.
If you’ve been at the gym lately, you’d have noticed that the dumb-bells have been lying around on the shelf while the kettlebells get swung around a lot. Yes, they’re popular, which is why t2 trotted off to the Indian National Kettlebell Championships 2016 on February 6 at Bengal Rowing Club.
“Kettlebell sport, which is traditionally a Russian sport, is now practiced over 50 countries. The sport involves lifting a certain amount of weight for maximum number of reps in a 10-minute time limit. Keeping the bell down before the 10-minute time frame, would result in the termination of the set,” explained Samrat Sen, core team member of organising body, Fitter Strength.
Long Cycle (a combination of clean and jerk), Biathlon (a combination of jerk and snatch) and Kettlebell Snatch were the three categories. The event was a day-long affair with over 42 individual performances ending with a team relay with three-member teams.
“It’s great to see the growth of a sport in India which leads to a healthier and fitter lifestyle for people. Our participants come from all walks of life and all types of athletic backgrounds. We hope to take this sport forward and help create a healthier nation and also top level kettlebell athletes,” said Arnav Sarkar, founder, Fitter Strength.
t2 swung an 8kg kettlebell and flexed a muscle.
T2 SPOTTED
Debaditya Karar was a newbie at the Kettlebell Championships. “I’ve only been practising for a week, I’m here to see how I would fare. All this enthusiasm has me hooked to kettlebells now, so I’m definitely going to start training in earnest,” said the 20-year-old B.Com Honours student of Shibpur Dinobundhoo Institution. He’s already familiar with power-lifting in the gym.
Vinay Sangwan won the Clean and Jerk in the Amateur category. “Kettlebell workouts target multiple muscle groups and therefore yield results faster,” said the fitness consultant from Delhi.
Ramona Sen
Pictures: Rashbehari Das
THE BOY WHO SWUNG MANY BELLS
t2 catches up with Samrat Sen, a team member of Fitter Strength, the organiser of the Indian National Kettlebell Championships 2016. Samrat won the gold in the Men’s Long Cycle in the professional category.
As organiser: Finally, it’s over! Months of hard work, careful planning and meticulous detailing went into the making of the Indian National Kettlebell Championships 2016. This was the day we had been waiting for for over six months, putting into place the medals, trophies, infrastructure for lifting, arranging of sponsors, the invitee list before personally approaching them to participate. Arnav Sarkar, organiser-in-chief, and I had numerous meetings and calls to finalise everything right down to the minutest detail.
As athlete: I had other important shoes to fill, that of an athlete. Into this sport for close to three years, I was making a weight jump from double 16kg (total 32kg) kettlebells to double 24kg (total 48kg). This was more than a challenge! Hours of training went into my practice sessions. Kettlebells weighing 24kg are tough beasts and you cannot simply muscle your way through the set. The only way you can lift them is through sound skills and breathing patterns.
As an athlete, this was my third consecutive competition in four months; the first was in Bangkok, followed by Delhi. It’s not easy, as your training gets hindered when you’re travelling but then again, kettlebell competitions are so few and far between! So one really has no choice but to try and compete as ultimately we participate purely for the love of the sport, love of fitness and to represent our country, state, club. This is what drives a kettlebell sport athlete.
As judge: After a brief rest, I went to fulfil my judging duties. To be able to execute sound judging, one requires knowledge of the sport and the required movements needed to execute a legal repetition.
As coach: I had three of my students participating, of whom two secured gold and one got silver. One of them is a lady who created an Indian record with 16kg in the Biathlon discipline (combo of jerk and snatch)! For obvious reasons, I could not judge them but I gave them that extra boost of confidence. I had asked them before they started out to focus on my voice and instructions when performing. So standing in the crowd I guided them, but it was their mental strength and determination which saw them beat their personal best scores. That left me super happy!
Now that the National 2016 are over, I realise that this was more than just about competing. It brought the Indian kettlebell community closer. People who just knew each other from social networking sites met each other in person and it was heart-warming to see everyone excited and enjoying themselves! For those who may like to try out this sport for fitness or fun, my suggestion is to first find a certified kettlebell coach and take time to understand the finer technical points. Be patient and the results will follow.
KETTLEBELL TERMS DECODED
Snatch: Raise one kettlebell from between your legs to above your head, in one direct movement.
Tip: Use your weaker arm first because you’re allowed only one arm change in 10 minutes.
Jerk: With one kettlebell in each hand, the starting position is with the elbows rested on the hip (popularly know as the ‘rack position’). Lift both kettlebells above your head in one movement and back to your waist.
Tip: Use both knee dips that are allowed in this movement.
Clean and Jerk: Swinging of two kettlebells and cleaning them onto your ‘rack position’. From there on, jerking both the bells overhead, and then back to the swing and clean... and so on.
Clean and Press: This is for the rookies, where they lift one kettlebell. The movement is to swing the bell and cleaning onto the rack and then pressing the bell overhead (no jerk).
Tip: Multiple hand changes are allowed if you’re a rookie.
CHAMPIONSHIP CATEGORIES
Professional: Men can lift 24kg-32kg and women can lift 16kg-24kg.
Amateur: Men can lift 12kg-20kg and women can lift 8kg-12kg.
Rookie: A special introductory category for beginners where the rules are relatively relaxed. They can lift anything between 8kg and 24kg.
Do you have a fitness question for Samrat? Tell t2@abp.in
