Fedorenko Smashes 60kg Kettlebell Jerk Record

On Saturday the 23th October 2010 Valery Fedorenko completed 70 one arm jerks with a 60 kg kettlebell, setting a world record and smashing his last attempt by 10 reps (which is huge given the weight he's working with).

Let's put this into perspective: a 60kg kettlebell weighs as much as I do.  For most people, getting a kettlebell of that weight off the ground is enough of a challenge, getting it overhead is unthinkable.  Lifting that sort of weight overhead in one hand requires a tonne of skill, strength and shoulder stability.

The kicker, though, is the pressure on the hand and forearm.  Anyone who has held what they consider a very heavy kettlebell in rack will tell you that the discomfort in your hand and wrist is intense and your body will scream at you to put it down immediately.  Notice that Fedorenko has nothing but ordinary sweat bands to protect his wrists.

Bear all of this in mind when you watch this video, because Fedorenko makes it look easy and that's really deceptive. As is the comment that he makes at the end: "that's it".  Not much fuss for an incredible world record, but that's what makes him such an inspirational athlete.

I had the pleasure of training with Fedorenko in November 2009 and got to watch him up close.  I got to witness him bottoms up clean the 60kg kettlebell for the first time - another incredible feat.

When the week of training was over and it was time to pack the bells up, he bent down to sort of scoop up the 60kg bell with both hands as he walked past and dropped it.  He said: "Shit, it's heavy.  I forget".  Any ordinary person, even a strong one, would have approached that 60kg kettlebell with caution, squatted, braced and then if they were lucky would have managed to lift it off the ground with a decent amount of effort.  Fed, however, is no ordinary person.

For more information on Fedorenko's world record go to the World Kettlebell Club News.