'A jolly game of taming iron': A different kind of a kettlebell challenge
Thirty nine year old police captain and professor of the Belorussian Department of Interior Academy slipped under almost six feet of water with his kettlebell. Vyacheslav Khoronenko settled in a full split and proceeded to press the 72-pounder 21 times while holding his breath. A world record has fallen.
A fat teenager, Vyacheslav turned his life around in the military when he took up kettlebells. The Russian Weightlifting Yearbook was right, "Girevoy sport turns boys into men, physically strong and full of stamina. Strength and endurance are the basis of kettlebell lifting. A blend of these attributes gives birth to a new one-strength-endurance. Gireviks [kettlebell lifters] are known for their ability to change "I can't" into "I'll take it to the limit". All these qualities are necessary in different life situations, but especially in military service."
Following his discharge, Khoronenko did not quit kettlebelling but went on to set ten world and over seventy national records. Looking for new challenges the police captain took up what Americans call 'odd lifts'. But not with logs or other impractical objects but with his trusted and handy kettlebells. Russian kettlebells offer unlimited opportunities to challenge yourself in both puker marathons and low rep strength feats such as bottom up presses, one-legged squats, and other leverage lifts.
The Belorussian athlete has been doing some incredible stunts. For instance, he has pressed a 72-pound kettlebell 56 times in five minutes while sitting in a side split (this time on terra firma)! He has done back somersaults while holding the same kettlebell in a straight arm. Spectators with weak nerves screamed as it looked like the kettlebell would crack the extreme athlete's skull. Then he lifted a 36-pound kettlebell 18,108 times in a brutal twenty-four hour marathon resting only for five minutes every hour. Another world record from a man who came to be known as 'the Belorussian Bulldozer'.
It is your choice whether to pursue the simple brutality of the classic girevoy sport, do the champion fighter variety circuit, juggle your kettlebell for hard fun, or focus on the odd or strength lifts. Or you could combine different styles of kettlebell training for a killer package of all-around strength and conditioning. Choices are many. Pain is good.
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