Russian Kettlebells Workout: The Luck of the Draw

By David Whitley, RKC

Russian Kettlebells Workout: The Luck of the Draw — Here is my question for you: Do you feel lucky? Well, do you? Then take your Russian Kettlebell, one of the most powerful conditionings tool in the world, and try the Luck of the Draw Russian Kettlebell workout. The idea is simple, the variations are endless and it is as hardcore as a Dirty Harry movie. All you need are some Russian Kettlebells, a stopwatch or a timer, and deck of cards. A puke bucket is optional and recommended. Perform the following steps:

1. Choose a Kettlebell that you can use for 20 + reps in any given drill.

2. Assign a drill to each suit in the deck, for example, spades are right hand snatches, clubs are right hand swings, diamonds are left hand snatches, hearts are left hand swings. Write this down for reference during the Kettlebell workout. When you are sucking wind it will help you remember what’s what.

3. Decide the value of aces and face cards. I usually have aces and kings as 12 reps; jacks and queens are 11 reps. Numbered cards are self-explanatory. Jokers are a merciful one-minute rest.

4. Shuffle the deck, draw a card and begin. Take only enough time between sets to flip the next card. If you use the number scheme above, it equals 100 reps per arm, per drill. The good news is that you never do more than 12 reps in any one set. The bad news is that there is no rest.

If you cannot get through the whole deck without a rest, you can go for time. Go for 20 minutes, resting as needed and count the number of cards you got through at the end. Next time, try to get through more cards. Do this until you can go the full 20 minutes without stopping, and then increase the time.

You can also go all the way through, resting if you need to, and then try to beat that time at the next Russian Kettlebell workout. Be sure to shuffle thoroughly. Remember, changing hands or drills is a form of rest for another drill. I once drew jack, 10, 9, 8, &7 of spades consecutively. That equaled 45 snatches in a row with the same hand.  

Other possibilities include using bodyweight drills; Russian Kettlebells of differing weight or double Kettlebell drills. For example, hearts and diamonds are pushups and bodyweight squats, respectively. Spades are two-hand swings with a heavy Kettlebell, clubs are jerks with 2 light Kettlebell. Or you might try black cards as jerks with 2 Russian Kettlebells; spades as a pair of 16kg, clubs as a pair of 24kg and red cards as 2 hand swings; diamonds are a single 32kg, hearts are a pair of 24kg. How about hindu squats as red and hand-to-hand swings as black? You get the idea.

This is truly low-tech, high concept Russian Kettlebell training. Try it out, & let me know what variations YOU come up with. Go ahead, make my day.

David Whitley, RKC is a kettlebell instructor, strength coach and massage therapist in Nashville, TN.  He is the first American-born man to achieve CMS rank in Girevoy Sport and was the US Long-Cycle Clean and Jerk champion in 2005.  He conducts kettlebell workshops across the country and trains clients privately in the Nashville area. He is also available for online personalized training and phone consultation. Contact him by email at irontamerdave@hotmail.com, and visit his website: www.irontamer.com.