A competent warm-up will add many reps to your TSC kettlebell snatch attempt—while making you suffer less. Unlike strength, both power and endurance greatly benefit from an extensive warm-up. Your circulatory system and your aerobic metabolism are slow to rev up. Skipping the warm-up or cutting it short will make you rely heavily on anaerobic glycolysis and fatigue much faster.
After your joint mobility exercises, spend 10min or so easy jogging, riding a bike, rowing, etc.
Derek Toshner, StrongFirst Certified Senior Instructor and the winner of many Tactical Strength Challenges, prefers running strides or jumping rope, 4-6 bouts of 20-30sec with a 1:1 or 1:2 work to rest ratio. “Make sure these do not create any “burn” in the muscles,” warns Derek.
Do not bother wrapping yourself in extra clothes; this will make you sweat more but will not raise your core temperature any faster. (But do dress warm later, between your warm-up and the competition attempt.)
Go very easy and take your time until you are warm and ready.
What you just did is called the “general warm-up.” Next is the “special warm-up”—the snatch proper.
There are many ways to go about it but make sure it is easy and specific. Derek likes one set of 8-10 snatches each arm, with a weight that is 4-8kg heavier than his TSC competition size kettlebell. “After the snatches, put your sweats back on, and rest 5-10 minutes. An easy set of swings, or some shadow boxing will work great during this “rest” period.” |
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