Amanda Soltys | Kettlebell Athlete

Welcome to the platform podcast where we talk to coaches athletes experts and real people to learn about their Approaches to training nutrition mindset and much more. I'm your host Jordan Kondirite founder and head coach of the Twin Cities Kettlebell Club. I'm on a mission to help others build sustainable healthy lifestyles. My guest this week is Amanda Soltys. She is a Kettlebell athlete from Amanda and someone who I reached out to a A few weeks ago on Instagram because she was competing in only her second or third competition at the Cali Open and I was really impressed with with her set and Wanted to hear about her journey. I knew she was relatively new to the sport and wanted to invite her on to talk about her first year training So I hope you really enjoy this conversation. She's a great, great interview and she was so much fun And she has some great insights into what the the first year is like and she's got a great coach in Amanda Levoix and part of a Really rev for a group of people up in Amanda. So I want to give them a shout out I also want to take a second to say thank you to you the listener I'm incredibly grateful that you listen to this podcast and if you haven't done so already Please be sure to leave a rating and review of the platform podcast in your app of choice and support my work by supporting our sponsors Who's affiliate links you'll find in the episode notes and if you want to step onto the platform and competing kettlebell sport Please reach out to me. I have bath leads of all levels reach their goals without wasting time using my integrated online coaching approach You can follow me on Instagram Facebook and YouTube at twinsities kettlebell club or email me at twinsities kettlebell club at gmail.com Now without further ado, let's step on to the platform with Amanda Soltys All right, welcome into this week's episode of the platform podcast my guest today is Amanda Soltys She is a kettlebell lifter from Amanda and Undercoach Amanda Levoix and part of the what have we decided to call it the Canadian kettlebell collective? the unofficial unofficial group of People across Amanda that that chat together lift kettlebells together support each other Very very communal community up there So Amanda, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate you taking the time. It's very inviting me It's very honored to be asked. Oh, yeah, thank you so much. I appreciate that so we I think we have to say this episode is unofficially sponsored by Rev4 Every time To bring our guests in on the joke We're part of we're part of the same the same Facebook group but Bobby Hicks and I really just we're like we totally We did the American thing and we just like colonialize the shit There's a group a group of us on Facebook that that chat Probably more frequently than is productive for our employers liking but You know, there's there's a bunch of us at the chat and the running joke has now somehow become Rev4 I don't even remember how that started But I think we discovered I think now that four of the 10 members are however many members are in the group have a actual Rev4. Oh yeah, so now become this bonding thing about yeah It's not become the the the riddle struck a rap 4.0 group or something like So there's a there's a whole bunch of people that have rap for so every time You these with revs. Yeah, and and every time I every time I hear it I think of the Kanye West songers who's gonna run this down where he's like what you think of rap for to push a fucking lab for Like that's what I think of every time But that's what we think of during the hard parts of our sets, too. Just rev fours. Yeah, and I think we determine it's actually now like a It's now like a verb a noun and adjective like that set was so rev four. Yeah, I read for there's the rap for out of that It's like the f word. It's kind of a swear word, but you can repurpose it and whatever was that you see I mean, whatever gets us through I guess. I mean, yeah, that's you know, that's kind of what kettlebell sport is all about whatever gets you Whatever gets you to the end of the time, right? So you're you're now you're now like a year into lifting, right? Yeah, I'm coming up a year in May actually Okay, just starting. Yeah, so who hurt you? Many people hurt me, but primarily it would be Sarah Summers and Matt Boris. They're both very good friends of mine and happened to be married and Yeah, it was kind of I just fell into it as a fluke because of COVID We were we at the beginning of COVID and ever all the gym shut down and there was nothing to do Matt and Sarah would come over and we'd have some spring drinks in the backyard and keep our social distance and we just happened to be talking about what a Bomber it was one day and that my gym shut down and I knew it's something fun to do and they had talked about kettlebells in the past with me Like oh, I've got something fun for you to do And they kind of looked at each other like yeah, we've been wanting to bring you in for a while, but didn't want to ask you So that's how I kind of started and one of us And like anybody who's obviously a non-lifter whenever they talked to it in the past it went over my head Because I had no clue what they were talking about So yeah, so they brought me over a bell that I think I they got from Eric To start with just to give it a try and Just swing in kind of get used to the feeling of the bell Which in which ended up being quite funny because I think it was a really old bell that he had and it was an old handle That was like a cheese grater So when I first started with it my hands killed all the time and I was like you people are crazy Like and yet you and yet you came back So this Eric's Eric's a Eric's a nonch right? They were talking about yeah friend of the podcast episode whatever number it was that Eric was on but Dr. kettlebell gives you like his old second hand rusted Like Yeah, yeah, and they happen to live around the corner from each other So it was actually really great that someone that I hadn't met yet was willing to you know let me their their bells to get started That does kind of give you like a glimpse into the community aspect of it all right as all kidding all kidding aside Like that somebody that you had never yet met was was so excited that there's a new person who wants to try it that they're like yeah Take my equipment, which is you know rare not rare but like it's In demand at the time especially right and they're not cheap either To be like yeah, I don't mean take my take my piece of equipment and and give it and give it a go And it probably says something about you that you're like Yeah, you know cheese grater handle. This is this is this is fun. I want to keep doing Well funny because when I said that my hands are all the time Matt and Sarah would kind of just laugh at me And be like ah sucker, but then realized when I when I gave it back to them, they're like oh yeah this handle is actually like very rough Like oh you've been lifting with this. Oh shit. I didn't feel like why are you trying to clean with this bell? I didn't I had no I had no actual idea what I was handing you Yes, so yeah after that was figured out then Sarah graciously let me her 12s to start learning with her 12s And she was working under 16 at the time So it all worked out until I could get my hands on a pair of bells for myself So now did you start with doubles or did you start with just one? Yeah, I just started with one so Sarah would just send me some videos about technique to work on when I was at home after work or something to do And then since we really couldn't be inside with one another being in COVID it lucked out that it was spring and getting warm enough to be outside So we would so spring in Amanda. We're talking like may June Yeah, so this would have been like late April early May So like I say that like I don't live in Minnesota. I'm just Yeah, for sure, I mean it was definitely chilly some of those days, but I mean we wanted something fun to do and COVID was a lot to deal with at the beginning So it was a nice escape That's fantastic. That's fantastic. So what do you do? What do you do for work? I work in the home building industry as a marketing manager for a Windows indoors company So I've been lucky enough to be working through this whole pandemic because We were deemed essential for home builders because a lot of people are relying on their homes to be built if they're vacating Old ones are just moving or whatever the case may be so I've kind of alternated back and forth between working from home and then going into the office. So It's it's worked out in the end Really grateful that I haven't really had too much of a speed bump in that in that sense Yeah, and is like in in the states It's it's actually been kind of crazy that like the the builders can't keep up with the demand for for new build in the in the states Is that the same way in in Amanda? Yeah, it hasn't stopped. I mean at the beginning February March it kind of was a little bit of a lot at the beginning because they weren't entirely sure what they were going to do with the industry if it was safe For people to be on work sites in groups settings that kind of idea But as things went on and people started staying home We provide windows indoors for both new build and for renovation So people were now stuck at home with nothing to do. Can't go anywhere So they're looking at replacing that front door that they hadn't done or the window that they hadn't done So yeah, it's been it's been insane and the building has gone through the roof for new builds and Yeah, the last year and this year already are two busiest years that we've ever had since Being at being in business Yeah, I can I can understand like when you're sitting at home like I don't know like a hundred thousand times more than you ever did before You're like I really hate these windows. Yeah, I think he's really need to replace It's amazing how how many projects you find just laying around your house when you're there all the time No, I mean like I work in the industry and if I had the option between going on vacation or replacing my window I'm gonna go on the vacation every single time So when you're faced with not being able to do that then you're like oh, I guess I should probably the be a responsible homeowner and fix this Yeah No, it's a yeah, it's a good yeah, it's a good it's a good good plan and good point is I I definitely Now there is no vacations, so you're just like okay, I guess we'll I guess we'll fix the door or the windows or You know all of the all of the other random projects Yeah, for sure and obviously like working from home and a lot of people are gonna do that permanently from now on it's gonna Change the landscape of workplaces. So a lot of people are Really vacating the GTA the greater Toronto area and moving out more into suburbia because they don't have to commute anymore So that has just driven up You know new builds all over Into small towns that Planning to do so Toronto Toronto's already like a very expensive city to live in like I don't I don't think people realize How expensive Toronto is like yeah, and they they've kind of They've limited the amount of development that can happen in Toronto proper. Is that right? Do I understand that right? Yeah, yes, no like they're still sprawling out because there's so many different municipalities that have joined And become the city of Toronto and we're doing a lot of condo building But then condo building for a little while the beginning of the pandemic wasn't very desirable for people Because you're trapped inside all day Yeah, you can really go anywhere. So a lot of people were selling and getting out of Dodge But yeah, like I think last month the average home price for residential was over a million dollars at this point because It's just become Everyone just wants to move Right now, so like the the the man is so high that is driving with the prices so Yeah, so it's I mean for people that are leaving Toronto and they know they're going to work from home for the rest of their career and you want to move to Whoever knows like small town on garyo then your money is going to go a long way when you can Can get out. So yeah, definitely yeah makes and you're seeing that a lot and and well, especially when this like the the cities are Largely shut down. So like you get the high cost of living with none of the benefits because all the restaurants are closed To see the Maple Leafs and you can't do anything So people are like people are like yeah, fuck this. I'm not gonna pay these prices to do none of the things that I was paying these prices to be able to do So yeah, yeah So you're seeing the Exodus to the to the suburbs now I can totally see that Mm-hmm So you you competed in the Cali open in February was that your first official competition or did you compete before that? No, that was my third competition. So my first one that I did was last August With West Shore warehouse Chris's competition. Yeah, um, so that was my first one and then my second one was the riddle struck open in November Who never never heard of this never heard of this person wrap for competition. Oh Oh the red for competition. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I know that one. I know that one And so and so are you strictly by Athalon or are you dabbling in long cycle two or what's so I just been strictly long cycle to begin with So that was kind of the first one that I learned With Matt and Sarah. So um, yeah, so I trained for the 12 the 10 minutes with the 12 kilogram bells For the August competition. So that was my first kick at the can at the the full 10 minutes Nice nice and you did double double bells for the full 10 minutes and how did you do? I did It was 84 reps For that one and then I did a five-minute snatch with the 12 and I think I did I think it was 96 reps I'd never really done much snatch Prior to that so it was kind of a let's just see how this goes kind of Okay, and then for talent but for talent you did by Athalon right or or did you do or did you long cycle and snatch? Yeah, I did do long cycle and snatch and so it's okay for that one was my first 10 minute Okay, yeah, because it because I I for whatever reason I had you associated as a by Athalon athlete because I always I've always seen your your snatch sets and I For whatever reason thought you started with by Athalon and then you were dabbling in long cycle But I had it I had it backwards you started as long cycle and now you're now you're flirting with Dark side of Snatch and yeah, do you like jerk? Have you done any jerksets yet? a lot I the the most I've done with jerks prior to Like starting to train with Amanda was doing one of the Kindle of sport hangouts and the guest was Ivan Markov With doing all of the nice nice easy intro I was one of the most painful days of my life Arms hurt for days So what did he have you what did he have you do because I was a Ivan's a machine Yeah, it was do we had to do I think it was one minute sets I think it was one minute on one minute off Or something like that but every time you wanted to increase your reps per Per minute or something so I did 12s for the whole thing I can't remember how many it was a month or so ago now it was the last time I did before the end of the lockdown So yeah, I think by the end of it I think I was doing like 18 or 19 reps a minute or something like I can't remember what it was But it was awful. It's just a nice relaxed pace. Yeah Oh, yeah, and so like in between he was so like barely panting and just walking around in circles and being like every time more reps every every minute more rep You're like I have no more reps to go This is this fast is like you know what he's doing Yeah, I was crazy Yeah, he's I think he's like the second generation of Russian cyborg imports I like uh or maybe the third I don't know like I but I I think Dennis Fisilov was the first You know, he was like the the Arnold Schwarzenegger model of Terminator and then now no ivens like the the new one That's like the liquid metal you know the more advanced version Yeah, he's a complete machine And he's like he's how old is he's like 25 isn't he's like he's super I think we all talked about that afterwards in our chat group and I don't think he's 30 yet I think he's maybe 25 26 maybe I don't know yeah, so I'm gonna I shouldn't say that he's not a kid But I was just saying yeah, that kid's that kid's ridiculous like because I remember like I've been around For a while now. I'm I'm old dog in the in the kettlebelly It's like I remember seeing videos of him when he was still like an 18-year-old in Russia and people being like This is the guy who's gonna take down Denysov right like this is this is the next great heavyweight lifter for Russia And I was like I was like okay, okay, cuz that's what I heard that's what I had heard before I saw any video and I was like I was like yeah sure okay everybody says they're gonna be the next Denysov and I was like okay Well, yeah, and then I saw his first video and I was like oh Okay, and he at the at the time like he's really still he was really young So he's still like very skinny, you know, you could see it was like big paws on a puppy, right? You can see he was like he was like this He was really long and you could see how long is and how big his frame was and everything and I was like I was like okay Yeah, and then and then I watched his technique and I was like okay And yes, just got the cardio for days and you know, I was just like and now he's just gotten bigger and stronger and bigger and stronger And I'm like I'm like okay. Yeah, they they called that one people knew more than me about kettlebell sport were absolutely right when they said This is this is the next great heavyweight of of Russia. So definitely. Yeah, that's I didn't I'd never get to do on the kettlebell sport hangout workouts because they're always at like one o'clock in the middle of the day for me, you know And here I was only able to start participating and then in them at the beginning of this year I can't remember when they started it, but we were in a lockdown in January after Christmas So I was able I was working from home for the four weeks during that lockdown So if my my schedule worked out to take my lunch break or on that time then I would join in on the lifts and Then go back to work in and and now and now you're like you're like I want to do jerk because No, I did not inspire me to want to get more into jerks Not even a little bit But so that respect to people who do that though. So so Cali open You came you came out and had a really really good performance in the Cali open So yeah, talk about talk about that. What would would you do in the Cali open? Well, I had the magic ingredient of Amanda becoming my coach in December, so It's amazing what a good coach will do, right? Yeah, definitely I mean like the last competition the real struck one prior to that I was just flying solo and joining in group workouts here and there and kind of got to the end of my time where Matt and Sarah were like you think you need to you know pair up with somebody that can help you If you want to continue with this kind of thing and luckily Amanda said yes to that So we started working together at the beginning of December so she programmed Me to be prepared for February To start with to be able to do a full 10 minutes and hopefully beat what I had done in the real struck open So yeah, so worked out really really well I was my goal was to hit 95 And I ended up hitting 101 Which was completely unexpected because I thought maybe I would just graze That 95 and beat the previous previous time that I the previous lift that I had done Which was 89 at at Riddlestruck So yeah, it was beyond my expectations of what I love that you're I love that you're conservative goal was you know Just like like a you know like nine and a half reps per minute right just a nine and a half RPM for the full 10 is you know That's what I'm shooting for and then you exceeded that 10 10 RPM average on on long cycle which is cruising like that's going pretty fast for A lot of it was adrenaline And near the end and obviously it's I haven't done a live competition yet So I haven't been under the pressure of you know people screaming You have been in my kitchen this whole time with my own music on and tuning everything out Like I know you had mentioned that you were listening to the commentary During the lift and I was like that would make me so nervous. I couldn't I have to block it all out and pretend that there's no one watching me I don't have to pretend that I'm just doing well just to be clear it was not intentional on the first set like the first set It was clearly it was just me being rushed for time and not realizing that like the having my headphones on and connected to my computer Where I normally listen to music and teach classes from would also mean that I could hear the commentary So like I was just having it connected to my computer so I could hear the music and then my clock up there And then I was using my phone to record myself And if I have my earbuds connected to my phone and I press record it turns off my music So I wanted to have my music But then I realized I had my music and then I hear John Wilde Buckley Teaking my form And I was like oh okay, I guess I need to I need to work on my and get work on my top fixation But like I actually liked it because it like it distracted me Gave me something else to think about and like you know John John's a great kettlebell coach So like when when you hear him talking about you know something that somebody else needs to work on like there You know, it's like oh they really need to make sure they're lower in themselves under the bells like that I'm like I took this like getting live feedback from a coach in the middle of your set, you know So I don't know I actually I'm you know, I guess a bit of a massacus. I enjoyed it So yeah, I want to complete opposite to you because it was the first day it was snatched And I was kind of like yeah, I'll just I'll it was my first time doing the 10 minutes So I really didn't have an expectation or a number yeah So I was watching people lift prior to my time slot And then I kind of just got nervous and I shut it off And I really just wanted you to get through the whole setup because that was the nervous part Like making sure that you get the right judge and yeah, it was frantic right Like like they give you like five minutes to get everything set up and it was not it was not enough time for me Yeah For that I was kind of glad that it was snatched that was first because You know, I had been really working on the long cycles. I really wanted to do well on that so yeah Getting the setup out of the way for the snatch portion made me feel a little bit more comfortable for the following day But you question on snatched too. What did you do on snatched like 189 or something like it? 207. Oh, that's right. You hit over 200. That's right. Yeah, that's right. Yeah I guess Ridiculously like 20 or over 20 RPMs in your in your like first 10-minute set on snatch is I mean, that's that's ridiculous Yeah, that was in planned. I didn't know. I don't know how that happened It's funny because Andrew my like everybody are left arm sucks when we do snatch Left arm is not your dominant side So I was really just trying to go for as long as possible my right because I was confident in my right side Oh, so you start you so you started on your dominant hand and then switch and switch to your not that's interesting Was that was that was that was that your your decision or did Amanda coach you to do that? I'm just I'm curious Talk about it today together because um, I knew I could probably get about six minutes out of my my right arm before it started to hurt and In practice, I knew that I could at least do four minutes with my left and not Feel like I was going to launch the bell already like that. Yeah, so that's kind of what the game plan was was just see how far You can go on your right hand side and if you can do less than five minutes on your left Um near the end to see what you can muscle out That's super interesting because I I coach all of my athletes to start with their non dominant hand in competition sets because it It typically means you start slower, which is good. It keeps your heart rate down right and then and then if you meet like If you can make it to the five-minute mark with your non dominant hand It's usually like oh a kind of a pleasant surprise or oh, this was great And then you get to switch to your more confident side to finish and you can finish you can finish like super strong But um, I've never I've never coached anybody to go longer than the five minutes on their dominant side And so but I've also never had somebody that only had like a month or two before they before they did a lift that they had never done the ten minutes in So I like I can totally understand why you would make that decision. I'm just it's uh I'm I'm just like working through the logic live in my hand. I wasn't sure if I'd make it the full ten minutes It was kind of just uh Let's just see what happens. Yeah, it's kind of I mean it's not a throw away But it's kind of a fuck about set right like yeah, it's just like it's just like hey Let's go for an exploration and see and see how it goes and yeah, it gives you more competition experience and like There's no expectation to it because it's not a lift that you were training for So you're just like hey, we're gonna we're gonna give it a shot and see how it goes and if it goes great awesome And if it doesn't that's okay, too. It's just another competition set under your belt And you can see for the next time that you want to do such right like the you know, yeah So I love that yeah Yeah, and the first two competitions. I only ever did five minutes Um for snatch just to you know figure it out and my technique was horrible still is not great But um like our little chat group was like you will never do five-minute sets and snatch ever You must do ten minutes from now on like no more No more to me. I yeah, I had the I had I had a kind of a similar conversation with Dennis the still of when he was coaching me Where I was I was playing with doing triathlon Which which is now kind of what I try and do Um, but I was like I think I want to do five-minute triathlon with the 24's and he was like no It was like wait, but I was like I think that's what I can do He's like you either do 10 minutes or you're not doing kettlebells first It was big like he's so much nicer than that But he was being like in the nicest way in the nicest way possible He was like five-minute sets are not kettlebell sport You know He was like he was like no no we do the 10 minutes we go if if you need if you need to go down to the 20s We do we do the 10 minutes with the 20s, but we don't do five minutes I was like I was like oh, okay Okay coach whatever you say I mean like what are you gonna do argue with Dennis just to live like Like the 97,000 time world champion like nothing. Yeah, it's gonna listen. You're like I know better Don't worry you're like you're like okay But I wonder whatever you say Just like so I was so demoralized because I was like I could do a five-minute triathlon with the 24's and he was like That's cute But he's so much nicer than that, but that's that's how I took it because you know, I'm a sensitive flower I took it I took it that I took it that way, but uh Yeah, I was I was super impressed I was super impressed with your performance at the at the Kelly open I like to to come out and just knock out 200 plus wraps And then knock out a hundred reps in the long cycle I don't know. I guess the lesson is you went too light Maybe maybe next time you need to do six to do Well, that's what I'm training for now and it's very soul sucking um, but The goal was kind of to you know, like from what I've been told is if you can hit between 80 and 100 Then you can start working up to the next the next weight or whatever Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I'm I'm of course just That's the nature of what we do. Yeah, yeah, so I kind of had in my mind that this would be my last Hurrah at the doing the 12's before moving up so yeah, I really wanted to make sure I stuck a good one for for long cycle Thanks for tuning into this episode of the platform podcast. We'll get back to the interview shortly If you're a loyal listener you know that I don't typically do interludes But I wanted to take this opportunity to share some exciting updates The date is set for the first annual Twin Cities kettlebell open on October 23rd We will be hosting at the athlete lab here in little Amanda, Minnesota in the heart of the Twin Cities And we've already got some great sponsors starting to be lined up Bellovator from Dennis Facileve has given two belts for us to give away our friend Nikolai Poochlove from the Seattle kettlebell club is providing his new Made in the USA pro kettlebells for competitors to try out and use on the platform sanctioned by the IKO Additional sponsors include barefoot athletics and inspired nutrition as well And if you have any ideas or connections to other interest sponsors, please reach out to me And also please go register for the event on our website Twin Cities kettlebell club.com And now let's get back into the interview And so now moving forward First question when is when is the next comp for you? What are you what are you prepping for? So I'm going to be doing the NOKO in May with Swanson Okay, yep on the 21st, right? Yeah over the May long weekend So that's going to be my first attempt at a 16 for 10 minutes Nice, and are you doing both long cycle and snatch? Are you just doing long cycle? I had signed up to do a five minute snatch with the 16s But after this conversation I feel like that I'm not allowed Not in your primary lift you can always do it just as an as an adjunct for training But if you if you said you were going to do a five minute long cycle set Yeah, no, I don't think Amanda would let that happen No, I am trying to we'll see if I make it the full 10 with the with the long cycle for the 16s It's been a that's been a harsh learning curve. I think you will. I think you know, it's just a matter of pacing I mean, yeah, if you can do a if you can do a hundred with the 12s You could hit 60 with the 16s in 10 minutes that that would you know, but it's You're probably you're probably not it's hard to go from that fast to that slow That's a that's a whole other that's a whole other thing But from an output standpoint right there fairly analogous right like 60 with the 16s is about the same volume as a hundred with the 12s But yeah, we've been talking about that of like having a pace in mind of six per minute So we'll see how that goes. Well, that's a whole that's a whole other like yeah The thing that yeah the thing that people don't understand is and Kim Fox actually talked about this a little bit When she went up to the 28s and went slower to do the 28s and then went back to 24s She couldn't go fast with the 24s because she had kind of programmed her Her body had adapted to that slower pace and she had a hard time Going back up to the faster pace because you get like mitochondrial level adapt You know adaptation to to that pacing so Maybe you just need to do 80 with the 16s You're funny Spoken like a coach right like just go with eight rps. See how it goes. Yeah, it goes now I'm sure I'm sure Andrew will have you have you and have you in good position for that. So that's yeah No, she's been great. We we've had a lot of really good talks about just our progress in general I know that she's working on her 24s and so Her pacing for her 24s is very similar to my pacing for the 16s right now. So it's kind of like It's a pain her pace is a suicide pace like she is like is she is like the steep pre-contain of Kettlebell sport to be like she's just like she just comes in and steals people's souls with her with her with her pacing like it's But then we laugh together and then I cry She's been a really great coach like super good support and just always there to chat If I ever want to you know, bounce ideas off of her complaint But she's like I've been there. I've done all of like I know all the emotions that you're feeling when you're doing this stuff Like I get the frustrations and so that's been really really helpful to be able to you know, commiserate with Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I'm sure I'm sure like I've got to get Amanda on the podcast you know, like we've we've connected a little bit I've got a schedule I've got a schedule time with her things are a little crazy right now in Amanda Apparently all are shutting things down again. Yeah, today was a great day We found out that we're going into full lockdown again. So I had to bring all of my stuff home and Set up my you know my office in my dining room again and Do it all over for the next four weeks. So hopefully this will be the last one fingers crossed Yeah, and how like how are you guys doing on on vaccinations because it's not great Okay Yeah, is it a supply thing or is it a logistics thing or a little bit of all third? Yeah, at the beginning it was a supply thing They really had a hard time bringing them in and having the orders be fulfilled that they had They had put out with all the different vaccination companies So they're slowly trickling in and they started with you know like the essential workers like doctors nurses People on the front lines and then they went straight into all the nursing homes because obviously that's where a lot of the devastation happened It's pandemic so they've been able to get that area down and now they're working backwards through ages And I think I think they just announced today that they're doing 60 plus For Pfizer and Moderna. I'm pretty sure and then I think it's 55 for the AstraZeneca So they're slowly working their way down, but the problem was last week when they announced that there was a lockdown They hadn't really put in It became a lot of controversy because they're closing businesses without a plan to get people vaccinated in the hot areas where the a lot of the cases are So today the announcement was yeah, we're locking down, but now we're going to send up mobile units to the high areas like in the surrounding GTA where there's a lot of manufacturing plants and you know places that people have to go into every day and work in congregate settings and So that's that's their next goal, and I think they said by the end of this lockdown They're hoping to have 40% of the population vaccinated by the end of next I've really just kind of come to the conclusion that that Very few countries have managed it really well some have managed it better than others, but like I as as an American seeing the the group chat going like my My heart goes out to Y'all when when you have to lock down and I understand the like whiplash of like we're open. No, we're closed We're closed. No, we're open close But then I'm also like there's part of me that's like hey at least at least their government is responsive to new data Because like we had a very long extended period of time where it was like no matter what the numbers say We've got pockets that are like no we're open We don't care how many people are dying and like there's a reason why there's a lot of American deaths and you know, so there's part of me that's like yeah, I understand how how devastating and back and forth that that that is and how challenging that can be but Like the death rate in Amanda is significantly lower than than America. So there's part of me that's like oh well, maybe they're You know, they're being more conservative or aggressive with the intervention You know, however, you want to look at it right and you know, so that's not a bad thing either But it's super disruptive at the same time so I don't envy I don't envy any of the politicians jobs right now I mean when you have to choose between your economy and deaths You know, like what number is acceptable? Yeah, what's the value of a human like that's a it's a super I would want to be you know responsible for no give me a number, I mean No, I refuse I just want to keep lifting bells. Yeah, okay, so we'll get back we'll get back to a let we'll get back to a lighter a lighter topic Oh, pardon the point. We'll get back to a lighter topic of lifting 16 kilo bells Yeah, that's a joke in itself So what is your goal for for noco and then and then what's next um to try to hit I really just Primarily want to survive for the 10 minutes Yeah, that's pretty much a big goal and if I hit six rpm, I'd be pretty pretty stoked about that I don't even know what rank that would be I'd probably like want to I think it's two or one Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, somewhere around there. I think three is 38 or something like that and then 50 something so I think it's between two and three where it's between 50 and 60 Something around there. So that's kind of the goal to hit hit that and survive and Not keel over kind of idea you'll keel over but yeah for the time expires That's when you lay on the ground and someone takes your bells away for you Last week I did a Amanda programed a five-minute Just to see where I was at yeah with the 16s and I hit 38 But that was rough like it was roughed at the end. I remember like passing like laying on the floor afterwards being like I don't know how I'm gonna sustain this. This is crazy. Well, that was seven rpms. That wasn't six That was over seven that was seven point two so for sure and then of course you programmed a three-minute two-minute one-minute afterwards with the 14 So I was you know She's not merciful No, I totally think that was the hardest one that you've given me yet like that was painful. I was weezing for like 20 minutes when that was done You know, but then you get to eat tacos or gummy bears or whatever. So what is your what is your your preferred post-workout fuel? Um, I love having well in the summertime. We would always have a beer of some sort and maybe order in Some lunch from around the local restaurants around town where I am and it's normally like burgers or tacos Um, yeah Can't go wrong with that So yeah, like Matt and Sarah would come over quite a bit in the summertime And we would lift in my backyard because I have a lot of space So we'd spread ourselves out and and then like hang out and have drinks in the yard afterwards if it was a nice day and Yeah, nice. That's that is that is awesome. That is awesome So So as a as a new lifter and I say new now like as somebody who's who's relatively new, but now Now you're getting into now you're getting into like you're no longer a new lifter You know, you're like a toddler lifter. I don't know if you're not a newborn lifter now you're in your toddler phase But uh, what would what would be your like your biggest lessons from the first your first year, you know, uh lifting bells Um, well, I was in pain like The first thing I learned was like the amount of pain that your body is and when you first start training Hold on. Let me let me propose a specific we're trying to recruit new lifters I mean, it's painful, but it prepared to suffer Pretty much like I really do think it's a special personality of person that gets into this sport for sure We joke about that a lot with our group, you know, we're all bunch of crazy people that Just love lifting bells and then talking about how much our body hurts afterwards So It's like yeah, we just can miserate together about how awful the set was, but then we're proud that we did it. So I mean So be prepared to suffer Lesson lesson number one Be prepared to suffer, but you know what it is very it is very rewarding to get involved in a sport I mean, I've always been a very competitive person So the part of the sport that I really like about it is that as much as you're competing against other people You're always competing against yourself primarily because you always want to do better than you did the time before that So, you know, like I have always had that competitive drive And uh love love a good competition between other people and That kind of idea, but primarily you're just working on yourself every single time. So yeah, what is your athletic background? That's actually something I usually ask people and we got so rev forward in a different direction that I forgot to ask What is your what is your athletic background where where how did you how did you grow up? Um, I grew up in a very sporty family So we always kind of dabbled in a little bit of everything, but I've played softball since I was four I've never missed a year. So I was always playing in the while I started as T-ball worked my way up I played rep for a lot of years position So when I was when I was younger, I was a back catcher and I also played shortstop and then I was always an infielder. I was never an outfielder. I don't have the the arm to throw it that far But um, yeah, I don't have the speed to run Yeah, yeah, except to the kitchen Yes, so after as I got older into my later teams, I kind of got into like the first and second base That was kind of my sweet spot So I played for some women's leagues in the area Like traveling around Ontario a little bit into the US joined a couple wrecked wrecked teams So I played that until I was women's leagues that traveled over the weekends until my early 20s And then once I got out of university and Started working. I couldn't really you know be going everywhere every single weekend and That was kind of the end of that journey and then since then I've been playing um in a competitive slow-pitch beer league But it actually is great because a lot of you're doing competitive in air quotes for people who get When we go when we go to strictly to strictly audio Is doing competitive and in air quality a competitive beer league does that mean that like everybody else is drinking beer and you're like come on take second A little bit of that probably we all have our moments of being like ultra competitive alpha people But uh, yeah, it's a mixed co-ed league but a lot of people in this league have come from a competitive background Um, so it's not like um, I've never played baseball before I've made it go play for this league It's a lot of men and men and women who have done you're not like the one person that's taking it really serious while everyone else is there just to drink beer and have No, I've been that guy No, I filled in for the leagues like that before what a friend's like can you fill in for us tonight? And then I find out that people have like less than a year of playing baseball and I was like I can't come back This is gonna be okay for you're like two down two down two down here. We go here we go I just take over and coach the Yeah, that is fantastic Yeah, so that's the majority of it Okay So what have what have been your what have been your big what have been your big lessons that you've learned uh yourself Because the thing I love I think the thing I love most about cat about sport is how much it it teaches us about ourselves So what have you learned about yourself in the first in the first year competing? Um, I would have to say like primarily that I'm stronger than I thought that I was The because I remember when I first started thinking I don't know how these people do this for five minutes ten minutes This amount of reps, you know without like killing over and passing out and you know The first time when I did the the August competition with West Shore I had barely been doing long cycle for a few months and Really hadn't had like super formal training I learned a lot of it just from you know with being with Matt and Sarah or like watching people online and you know Kind of studying their form and then practicing it myself and seeing if it works You know you record yourself you rewatch yourself and see how it goes so Like that that part of it I think you know realizing that I was able to do The full 10 that was a pretty big accomplishment for myself um In comparison to you know a lot of other thing I I just uh I really like the idea that you can challenge yourself and set a goal and really try to achieve it That's really been the one of the biggest lessons that I've learned and I mean Joining this like kettlebell world during COVID was also like a huge savings for my mental health Because I mean when you're closing down Gems and you're not allowed to go anywhere and you can't do anything and parks were closed You couldn't go hiking, you know, it's the perfect time to join a new club Yeah, and you know eating lots of really cool people and being able to connect with people from all over the world I even know that this whole community existed on Instagram and on Facebook when I started because I didn't even know anything about this sport So that's been a really Huge positive that's come out of it as well That's awesome So what's uh What's like your big picture goal for for where like where do you see where do you see yourself trying to go and kettlebell sport like how are you trying to get CMS ms or you like what's what are you thinking? What's your what's like your Where how far do you how far do you think you can go? I have no clue honestly I never thought that I would make it past 12s when I first started because it's like that seemed like a huge feat And then you're able to do that and you look back on it and I know I feel like that with the 16s right now Like how am I ever going to manage this full 10 minutes and then thinking back Well, you managed to do 10 minutes the 12s and you didn't think you could do that. So I mean ideally like as a Short like a long-term go I'd love to hit CMS with the 16s. That's going to take quite a bit of time I think in order to get there But that's my my big goal at the moment if I managed to make it beyond that That's amazing. So it'll be awesome and I obviously love the challenge to be able to do that I mean We kind of screw around with the heavier bells every once in a while and we did that last night actually when we were working out in the backyard We kind of just tried to see what how far we could go and lift and I managed to do one One arm long cycle one wrap with the 32 and I was like this is nice But also how do you people do this There's like new people are crazy To manage yourself with that so That does take a it does take a special human to decide I'm going to throw around the cherries for Yeah For for for more than for more than just a rep or two is definitely definitely a little crazy I could I could definitely see like I can I can definitely see you crushing the 16s and I can honestly see you on the 20s and within Like a year And I know I know you're I mean I know you think I've been saying but like like you said you're strong You're stronger than you then you think you are and I think it's like you're still In the new the newbie gains phase right like sure like you're you're progressing so rapidly like yeah Because you're still in that you're still in that phase where you're still sharpening your technique and yeah And you're going to get so you like you get so much stronger in the first like two years that you're doing it Like I could I could legitimately see you on the 20s and like a year or two I know you probably think that that's crazy man. That's crazy like that's crazy talk But See if I'm right or wrong I mean like I was warned at the very beginning, you know Like the learning curve is quick and be prepared to you know be in a long-term relationship with the yellows for a little while and yeah Yeah, it's not so it's not something that you want to rush like I just I just I just know how strong you Because I've seen you lift And yeah, I can I can just I can just I can just see that's how tall or how tall are you? I don't know how tall you I'm five six. Okay, not very tall You're not very short either You're not like five foot nothing, so like you know, yeah, I'm gonna stand by that I think I think within within I'm gonna say within two years you'll you'll be on the 20s All right for for long cycle. I won't I won't I won't I won't put that evil on you I was saying which you know for jerk or for jerk for jerk or snatch Ages ago when we were first starting out and I was at Montserro's place and they have all the bells and I think I was able to do I think it had three or four reps with the 20s at the beginning just to see if I could do it And I remember thinking like This is this is nuts But like it was cool to be able to do four reps with it So I've never really tried it since then. I've only really done the one arm stuff with you know different Online but at that but at that point that was like just pure strength And now you understand the concept of counterbalance and momentum and and destruction and all of those things So like you'd probably manage the 20s a lot a lot easier, you know, now then you would oh yeah You've been just looking back at old videos you you kind of You know that you're learning that you also cringe at Yeah, you're like how was that now? I know why I was so sore all the time like Looking at my hair styles from Like I mean, well, I look at those still like wistfully because I'm like, oh, I had hair That's a whole other thing I'm not mad with his with his luscious helmet You're still like oh god, that was my style choices at the time I look back at those old videos and I'm like With snatch I mean like I really haven't it's my technique is getting better And I feel like I'm getting that groove, but I remember at the beginning like barely bending my elbow on the drop And just like having such sore shoulders the next day being like what am I doing like this is why am I trying to learn awful But now I kind of like it because then like you you hit that when you get into that groove and you have that good mindset for the day Or you have that nice music on that you can kind of just like get lost in and like I like snatch for that For that reason and also kind of same with the whole long cycle with the grind at like that you just kind of zone out Just do your thing and it's nice to like not have to think about anything else around you during the day just focus on that one thing and it's you know Yeah, I love I love the moment when the mind goes quiet like yeah, it kind of it I mean it kind of sucks that you have to get to the point where you can't breathe and your your brain is deprived of oxygen before the mind actually goes quiet But uh that is my favorite part of it is when like all you have to think about is the next rep the breath the rhythm Yeah, you hear the clink of the bells like you know, I love I love that part when it like at all The rest of it the rest of it fades away But you mentioned you mentioned music and and you and I have very similar taste in music Yeah, so I'm gonna for for the listeners What are what are your favorite what are your favorite anthems for for lifting right now? Yeah, um, I mean I love listening to I love anything and everything It really just depends on my mood the one um the ones we were talking about spotify playlists a while ago The one that I really love lifting to right now is heavy queens and it's just a bunch of female rockers that Just giver and hailstorm is on there and there's so many other bands that I've never even really heard of before I have to I have to check that out because I have a playlist called rock chicks or hot That's all that's all just like female lead rockers. Yeah So I'm in a heavy queen. Yeah, I mean like I'm gonna have to check out Yeah, there's a few bands that I followed that I really liked on there and also a night wishes on there I like lifting to them, which is a female Brock kind of metalish band LeCune coil I think is on there. There was Italian metal band from I love LeCune coil. Yeah Yeah, so and like the kind of stuff I was listening to like I'm still a creature of habit I love listening to old bands that I you know, I'm stuck in that era So I always will have like the recycle of like playing the death tones one day or then playing you know Hailstorm one day or lifting to raging some machine one day or Prophets of rage like all the spin-off kind of stuff And my mood for that day, but if I'm doing snatch I always just try to put on something light and fun and Like listening to chemical brothers or like something with a good beat so that you can kind of get like that nice kind of groove going Get that flow going. Yeah, just to kind of do you ever put the same song on repeat and Like and just listen to the same song for the entire But I have made I made playlists for in competition because I have been at home this whole time and I can put everything I have nothing else to do Yeah, I can put my all like in competition You know you have like all your devices set up to go live or take your set or whatever And I would just like mute everything and put on a 10 minutes set that I've played So I knew that like if I had three songs to last the 10 minutes like in my mind that like you get through that first song Okay, you're through through the through the first third Of your left and then you kind of like put the next song into like pump you up a little bit more and Yeah, so fear and fear an oculum by tool is like 10 10 minutes and 17 seconds So it's like it's like you you start you started up like Right before your set starts your whole song as your whole set, you know That's that's one way you never go wrong with tools especially for like they're long like musical Oh, yeah, and well, and then the nice thing about that song actually though is is it start slow Okay, and then it builds Yeah, and then obviously it finishes really strong So like it's so it's like it's kind of like perfect for what you want to do in a 10 minutes set because like the tempo of it is like Fairly mellow and instrumental and rhythmic at the start and then it starts building and you know So it's actually a really good song for catapult sport because it's one of those that just like And then by the end of it, it's like, you know, your typical tool like You know, yeah big finish you're you're adrenaline is like You know, you're going crazy Trying to finish it while your while your brain is telling you to quit You know, it's yeah, it's a good one. I know like voody child slight return by Jimmy Hendrix I think there's like five minutes and 17 seconds or something like that's another one the like Is kind of perfect if you put it on twice, you know, you know that you're like halfway through yeah That's one of those Yeah, I used to do that when I used to live in the country where I grew up And so I would always go for like cross-country bike rides after work for like an hour And I used to listen to slipknot Slipklimal verses the whole album because it was like a full hour and every song like kind of broke into like Oh, you're coming up on a hill and the good start like the you know, the heavier song goes and it always was the perfect Like full album to be able to do the whole hour and just kind of like worked your way down And that was always one that I always listened to when I was working out nice. So so You've got my we've we've well before we were recording we were talking about Hale Storm And that's like Lizzie Hale is my number one favorite current rock star in Cory Taylor CMFT is my is my number two like I like I love Cory Taylor and those are those are my two So I sing I sing I sing Hale Storm to my daughter And then there are some ballads from Cory Taylor that I So I've actually like wicked wicked game by by stone sour the cover of wicked game. Oh, yeah I've been singing that to my kids since they were born So that's like that's another one that's it's that one is actually like The first time my kids heard it on the radio. Okay, they're like daddy. They're singing your song Like I was like no, no, I've I've been singing their song to you your entire life But you know, they associate that song with me. So it was like you did it was the yeah I take credit for this I wrote it Yeah, I totally yeah Chris I know Chris I think I don't know what you're talking about now. This is yeah, you're right This is daddy song. He owes me royalties All right, well Amanda I want to be respectful of your time. I know we're I know we're we're running up on the hour So I'm gonna finish with the the question. I love to I love to ask people so it's the if you could tell any new lifter One one tip For somebody that's starting on their their first day. They're they're decided. They're gonna start kettlebell sport What would be the one thing that you've learned over the last year that you would tell somebody who is brand new? Um, that's a good question. I would say uh don't get discouraged Um off the hop because it is such a huge learning curve with the technique Because I remember feeling so frustrated Just to figure out you know the hand insertion or you're timing of everything or there's so many things that you think about Or that there are to think about when you're putting it all together That it becomes overwhelming sometimes if you're like okay, I have to do my heel my heel stop here and put my arms up here Like do my bump here that kind of like that can be pretty overwhelming. I think to somebody that's new So if you you know trust the process and have some patience and you know surround yourself with a good Crude a hang out with and bounce ideas off of and get help with then um, I think that's the first step to Being able to kind of break through that first few months of You know figuring figuring it all out. That's awesome. You you're the you're the first person You know, I've asked that question to a lot of people and you're the first person to say don't get discouraged Yeah, it's like I've heard be patient. I've heard hire a good coach. I've heard you know I've heard I've heard those but you're the first person to just say Don't get discouraged Keep your chin up Yeah, I mean like I said everything hurts at the beginning your hands hurt your body hurts You know, I don't remember it's been so No, I don't remember what it felt like I heard my hands just burning and I remember feeling like when I tried learning guitar years ago My fingers killed me all the time because you're building up calisers on your on your hands and stuff And I remember thinking oh man like every day like I just like I feel like I'm ripping skin my hands are killing me I don't want to do this and you know you kind of just have to You know hunker down and push through those that those you know first growing pains of Getting into the sport. Oh, so I lied I said that was the last question But I just remembered one more because I was gonna ask I was gonna ask how do people follow you? How did they get at you if they want to see how you're doing? And I know that the handle is Kevla Calise right so I fucking love that handle I always have I would have the fluke To be honest with you because I didn't even know that this whole community existed on here And when I first started I just wanted to get help with my videos and I have an iPhone that has zero storage on it So I just created it as a fun thing And dumped my videos on it And then asked Matt and Sarah would or Steve would give me like technique feedback and That was pretty much what the whole reason was for it And then I realized oh, I can follow all these cool people and like really famous letters and like Check things out. So are you are you a big game of thrones fan or I was a big game of thrones fan And like working and marketing I was like something that snappy and witty like I Yeah, and got the got the alliteration Yeah, that's that's really the whole reason why I came up with that name I love it though like You know mother of mother of dragons You know, I love it. It's it's it's fantastic You're absolutely not what I think I am It's just a complete fluke Well, I told you I was like I would love to have the handle of like kettlebell call But I know we're near good enough to claim To claim that to claim that title So you know Switch over Twin Cities to the kettlebell cow No, I love it. I love that I love that handle though. So so kettlebell callisa is is the handle is the handle on Instagram If you want to if you want to give them and follow she is You know, she's humble, but she's she's a badass lifter especially for somebody who's only a year in so I'm really I'm really excited to see to see what you do in the next You know in the next couple of years especially since now I've predicted that you're gonna be on the 20s and in two years So You know, that's that's fine. I'll take I'll take the I'm sure you're gonna continue doing doing awesome. I mean you've got the whole rev four support group behind you So it's it's gonna be it's gonna be great. So thank you so much for taking the time I really appreciate it. Thanks for coming on and We'll talk we'll talk soon. I hope to see y'all in October. I know it's kind of depends depends on whether or not you guys can get vaccinated Oh, yeah, I agree with all of those things, but yeah, you know if if you can We're gonna we're going to lift bells and drink beer and eat delicious food and hang out So yeah, yeah, absolutely. So thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on and we'll talk soon. Okay, sounds good. All right Yeah Thanks for listening to this episode of the platform podcast. I'm Jordan kundi right If you have a question, please email me at twincities kettlebell club at gmail.com Follow us on instagram and facebook at twincities kettlebell club on twitter at tckb club Online at twincities kettlebell club.com And please help us grow our reach and give us a review on apple podcast spotify stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts Until next time