Training For The RKC Snatch Test!

Granted, I am not RKC qualified having chosen to go down the IKFF route. However the RKC Snatch test is a sterling test of ones determination, resilience and strength endurance related fitness.

This article makes the assumption that you are already reasonably kettlebell proficient and have a reasonable level of fitness. If snatching is new to you then check my posthere

Also, and this is stated on my ‘How to snatch article’, Make sure you can do a Turkish Get Up with the weight you intend to snatch with. I can’t emphasize this enough,  you need to have good shoulder stability to catch a dynamically moving weight at the top of the snatch movement. I advocate that you shouldn’t even press a weight until you can successfully perform a TGU with that weight first.

So, what is the RKC Snatch test? The Russian Kettlebell Certificate is a well renowned kettlebell certificate. Russian kettlebell guru Pavel Tsatsuline and his team hold the certificate mainly in the USA but also hold certifications in some European countries. Recently the UK was used as a venue for the very first time.

The Snatch test is carried out at the start of day 2. This has to be passed in order to be given the certificate. In my opinion, everybody that attends an RKC should be able to pass this test. If you can’t then quite simply, your preparation wasn’t adequate. You certainly wouldn’t want to be attempting this for the first time at the RKC!

Basic requirements are:

• Men have to use a 24kg bell
• Women have to use a 16kg bell
• Senior men (50 plus) have to use a 20kg bell
• Senior women (50 plus) have to use a 12kg bell
• You can set the weight down but if you drop the weight, you fail!
• You have to lock out at the completion of each rep
• You can change hands as often as you like.
• You are allowed multiple swings between each rep

The setting down of the kettlebell during the test is a recent revision to the RKC snatch test. Personally, I can’t see the point as I only really notice how exhausted I am when I take a break. You lose all momentum whenever you stop so train for the test with the intention of performing 100 reps non stop.

Training for the RKC Snatch test!

practicing your technique

First things first, practice your snatching technique with technique sessions. These are not workouts in themselves and it’s important that you don’t turn them into that!

Focus purely on your technique with a weight lighter than you would normally use. Keep the sessions brief and quit before you get too tired. Think about what you’re doing and try making small adjustments to your snatching style to improve its economy. Focus on your breathing and staying relaxed.
Economy of style and good breathing technique is what will get you through a non stop 5 minute snatch test, not just pure brute force.

Wear a heart rate monitor to see if you can keep your heart rate down to a certain level purely through improved economy of motion and controlled breathing.

Work in the range of 1 minute sets with a 2 minute rest period so your recovery is good, switching hands each minute. Cadence isn’t too important initially as all of your focus should be on your technique. A snatch cadence of 20 reps per minute however is clearly the minimum needed to achieve the RKC numbers.
You could try videoing yourself as this may point out obvious flaws in your technique. Or maybe seek the advise of a qualified kettlebell instructor.

Once you are reasonably happy with your technique, it’s time to get down to the hard stuff, getting your numbers up.

Test yourself
Grab a weight that you think you can realistically use to perform 100 reps in 5 minutes. This may be a 16 for a guy and an 8 for a lady. This will give you some idea what it’s like to snatch a given weight for a full 5 minutes and will give you a current indicator of your snatching level.
If you don’t succeed within the 5 minutes, it doesn’t matter, just get the 100 reps done

If you failed marginally with your initial test, then stick with the same weight. If you failed big time with your selected weight, then go down one weight.

Time based intervals to improve your numbers

Set a timer for 5 x 2 minutes. Perform 20 reps (10 on each hand or 20 on one hand alternating each time) then rest the remainder of the 2 minutes. This will give you 100 reps in 10 minutes. Snatch 2 – 3 times per week and on the second week, if you feel ready, decrease the time to 1 minute 50 seconds. Continue in this fashion, dropping the time by 10 seconds each time until you achieve your 100 reps in 5 minutes. Once this is achieved, try to surpass the 100 reps within the 5 minutes as this will prepare you more thoroughly and give you the confidence to move up to the next weight.

Here’s how it might look:

• Week 1: 5 x 2 minutes on timer/20 reps
• Week 2: 5 x 1 minute 50 seconds on timer/20 reps
• Week 3: 5 x 1 minute 40 seconds on timer/20 reps
• Week 4: 5 x 1 minute 30 seconds on timer/20 reps
• Week 5: 5 x 1 minute 20 seconds on timer/20 reps
• Week 6: 5 x 1 minute 10 seconds on timer/20 reps
• Week 7: 5 x 1 minute on timer/20 reps
• Week 8: Move up a weight and start the process again.

When you move up a weight, reassess your level. If you find 5 x 2 minutes on the timer is too easy then jump forward a bit until you find a level where you are working quite hard

When it comes to the actual test, the method I favour regarding hand changes is the following.

• 20 left / 20 right
• 15 left / 15 right
• 10 left / 10 right
• 10 left

Of course how you choose to do it is entirely up to you but bear in mind that unless you can change hands in mid flow with no break for a swing. you will always lose a bit of time.

A word on hand care

All this snatching can be very hard on your hands. Callouses can largely be avoided through a modified technique but I will leave that for another article.

Soak your hands in warm water to soften them and then gently use a pumice stone to remove any hard skin. If you allow a callous to form, they tend to bunch up due to pressure from the kettlebell  handle. Once this happens you will usually get a tear higher up at the top of the callous. This will bleed, a lot, resulting in termination of your snatching and a good few days off to recover.

Try to get ‘into the zone’ whist doing your snatches. There my favorite kettlebell exercise by far and I’ve had good success with them over the last 3 years.

Just for the record, here are my best efforts.

• 24kg x 100 reps in 3 minutes 35 seconds
• 24 kg x 140 reps in 5 minutes
• 28kg x 108 reps in 5 minutes
• 2 x 16 kg (double snatch) x 100 reps in 4 minutes 30 seconds
• 32 kg x 80 reps in 5 minutes (this was a Tabata performed as 10 x 20 seconds on with 10 second rests at 8 reps per minute)
• 24kg x 201 reps in 10 minutes (Secret Service Snatch Test)