About the USSS Snatch Test...
The U.S. Secret Service Snatch Test is the maximum number of snatches performed in 10-minutes with a 24kg kettlebell. 200 reps or 1 rep every 3 seconds is supposed to be a "respectable" number and 275 is the record. Most people are fairly comfortable around the five minute mark and then things start to get ugly.
I've never performed the USSS Snatch test and this would be my first attempt at the full 10-minutes. In the past I've performed 30 snatches in a minute with little effort, however I'm fully aware that keeping that pace up for more than a minute or two would be a feat in itself.
I took one of my 24kg kettlebells outdoors and decided to perform the snatches in the sand pit (bad idea). I set my interval timer to beep every 30 seconds so I could monitor my pace. I decided to shoot for 200 reps today by performing 10 reps with one arm every 30 seconds.
In the first minute I finished 20 snatches, 10 per arm right at thirty seconds. Very pleased with what I naively thought was a preview of things to come I set the kettlebell down and did not start again until the 1:00 minute mark. I kept this pace up very comfortably for the first 4-5 minutes. Around five minutes I noticed that I was now taking close to 40 seconds to complete 20 snatches allowing myself only 2o seconds rest. Right around the 6th minute mark my "comfort" level changed to discomfort and fatigue became a close friend of mine.
At 7 minutes I was still on pace and had completed 140 reps but I noticed that I was lucky to get 10-15 seconds rest and my calluses were irritated. In my eighth minute I completed my 20 snatches but thought that something was caught between my left hand and the kettlebell's handle... when I looked I discovered that it was a big ball of skin that had torn off below my left middle finger. I took a little too much time looking at my hand then decided to continue.
My rhythm and concentration broken I decided to switch to 5 snatches per arm with as little rest as possible. At 9:00 I had completed 170 reps, but my left hand was finished and I could feel that calluses and skin on my right hand were about ready to tear. I managed to complete 7 more reps with my right arm before the timer went off for a less than satisfying total of 177 snatches. I figured I wasted close to a minute on inspecting my torn skin.... the equivalent of wasting 20 snatches.
I decided that despite taking care of calluses the reason my skin tore was two fold: over gripping and most significantly, sand causing friction between the hand and my skin.
What did I learn:
- My conditioning was ok, but could be better. I need to get back to working on high rep sets of swings.
- My "strategy of performing 10 reps per arm was weak. Next time I perform the test I will achieve 200 reps minimum by completing sets of 15 or more snatches per arm early on and then start tapering off as needed when fatigue sets in finishing up with 5 or so snatches per arm.
- Inspect my calluses between sets
- Focus on a relaxed grip, corkscrew and hook the hand on the descent.
last but not least.... - Avoid sand.
I will re-take the USSS Snatch Test within one month's time. In the mean time... I have one week to let my hands heal and plan my kettlebell training around achieving 200+ reps.
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