Denis Vasilev, 11x World Champion, MSIC & Coach (Part 1)

Kettlebell Drengir Rating Season will commence next year on October 14th. We will be once again at the Athlete Lab in Little Canada, Minnesota, for the third annual Twin Cities Kettlebell Open. Registration is now available. The lowest price it will be $60 until December 31st. For those of you brave enough to sign up now, you will be rewarded. Raffle prizes will once again be given to all participants and there will be a cash prize for those who wield the steel with great vigor. Come, fight for your clan, fight for yourself, and may your name forever ring out in the hall of champions. 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 Kundey, founder and head coach of the Twin Cities Kettlebell Club. And I'm on a mission to help others build sustainable healthy lifestyles. Before we jump into the episode, I want to let you know that registration is live for the third annual Twin Cities Kettlebell Open. We are moving it up to October 14th. This year, it will be on the second Saturday in October and will once again be hosted by our friends at the Athlete Lab in Little Canada, Minnesota. And right now, it is the lowest price that it will be. It is $60 for early bird registration. You can go to our website TwinCitiesKettlebellClub.com for all the details. And just like we did last year, we will accept video submissions. And there will be a massive group of prizes as well as a cash purse on the line for all of our competitors. So don't delay. Go sign up now while it's the lowest price that it will be. I hope you are excited because this week, my guest is none other than the legend, Denis Vasilev. I am incredibly excited that he agreed to come on. And I'm actually going to be making this into a two-part episode because we talked for almost two hours. The first part is really going to be focused on his background and how he got into kettlebell sport and some of his achievements. And then the second episode is going to be more focused around his approach to coaching and some of those pieces of his knowledge. So thank you again to Dennis for coming on. And I really hope you guys enjoy this episode. Please be sure to share it with friends and let me know what you think of it. And of course, I'm incredibly grateful that you listen to the podcast. And if you would leave us a five-star rating review on your app of choice and help us spread the word, I would greatly appreciate it. And of course, if you want help reaching your goals without wasting time, please fill out the coaching interest form linked in the episode notes. I help athletes of all levels using my integrated coaching approach. You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at Twin Cities kettlebell club or email me at Twin Cities kettlebellclub at gmail.com. Now, without further ado, let's step on to the platform with Denis Vasilev. Alright, welcome into this week's episode of the platform podcast. This personally is a big one for me. I have the man, the myth, the legend. Denis Vasilev, he is a world champion many, many times over. Master of sport international class, the greatest of all time kettlebell lifter in my humble opinion. And he is also happens to be a fantastic coach and just a really generous human being. So, Dennis, thank you so much for joining me on the platform podcast. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, that's a pleasure. That's on there. Yeah, I've listened to some of your previous podcasts. You're doing a beautiful or interesting work. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, if you've listened to the podcast, you know that there is a rumor that I may or may not have started that you are in fact not human and you are actually a Russian cyborg of kettlebell lifting who has been sent here to destroy us all on the platform. True or false? False. Yeah, I'm the one who decided to completely opposite. Yeah, my doing was to make it well, it's make make our sport. You know, even even bigger, even more fun and positive and I really wanted to do my best to share my experience here in states. Well, in all over the world. But that's for you guys to judge how well I'm doing. Well, actually, I will I will say you've been you've done a really good job of actually putting on some of your old some of your old videos of your of your early technique and everything. And it's honestly, it's reassuring to those of us who are who are striving to get better to see that as good and as precise and as clean as you are now. When you look back at some of your old videos, there were times you were cleaning the bells, you know, up high on your chest and then rolling down into your rack position. And like it wasn't like every single rep was clean right to the right to the rack position right onto the lay at crest and then ready to go. Like to see that your form has evolved over the course of your career as you've continued to refine your craft is honestly reassuring to the rest of us. I mean, tell us a little bit about your your journey. When did you actually start kettlebell sport training because you you didn't start as a kettlebell sport athlete in Russia, right? You started like track and field and then got into bodybuilding and some other things. So tell us a little bit about your your journey like growing up and when you kind of got fully into kettlebell sport. I'm beginning with a mix martial arts actually my parents signed me up. What what what they were saying is that I was a way to an object at home, you know, knocking in a place down and running around and just active kid. And they saw that it's kind of you know let my steam go out a bit to follow working out you know, at least few times a week. So like this kid's breaking stuff. We need to make sure he knows how to punch and kick things. So yeah, and started what what was first. Yeah, it took a little bit of a time to really find classes that I like and I think first it was karate. And yeah, it's kind of just I think it was like in behalf of months or sorry, half a year, a few months and then in a switch to boxing. Also, I think was just a few months, but it just like classes wasn't consistent really and then and then we found a kickboxing coach and that was a good one. I still remember the last name of the coach and he was like super charismatic man, I think for me personally that was the experience that made me like outlet. And then from from a key that was consistent workouts and lots of motivation, GDP. And yeah, so I was doing this for maybe three years, three, four years and then. How old were you at this how old were you at this point, how young were you when you started when you started karate and martial arts and then you know eventually kickboxing six. Okay, so we're talking that we're talking young Dennis. Yeah, little kid. Okay, that my son is six years old. So I can I can relate having a six year old that's like bouncing off the walls and you're like, oh my god, we got to do something to get this energy out. So you transition to kickboxing, you've been you're about nine years old and then then go from there. Yeah, and then after your boxing, it just was like we move on move to different apartment, different part of the city. So it was hard to follow, which was a sad moment. I really like this coach. I said that like I was just like maybe for three years and yeah, we started like about seven and I think up to like 10 years old or so. I was doing the kickboxing, but then we find this class of hand to hand to hand combat or in Russian is called a rock-a-pastny boy. It's basically kind of like a fight sample or it's still it's still a rock. It's like full contact. Sambo basically. Yeah, for contact, you're wearing the kimonos, you're wearing this mixed five gloves like open finger. Well, competitions, you're wearing helmet, helmet also helmet and actually like a chest protection and like this plastic pants underneath the kimonos and then even for shanks protection. Well, it's probably was a kids thing because I was still very young. I never made it to pro, so which I actually grateful for because when you like if I would be that level of a fighter, well, I probably was richer, but you wouldn't be nearly as handsome. No, you'd probably have a bust it up, bust it up face and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then kettlebell sport started from last year's of school when I started attending gymnasium in the school and then one day just our teacher showed up and said, hey guys, that will be how I'll be putting the school team together for kettlebell sport competitions in a few months. Let's go. Best, best work. Best you can get. I'm not recall any any technique instructions or any. So you're like, you're like 14, 15 years old and coach just shows up. It said, here's 224s. We're going to do kettlebell sport go. Yeah, it was very, what could go right? Roar, very raw approach because well, I think he's figured out your guys in gym, lifting ground weights. They should, they should do good enough. And well, he was, of course, he was washing and he just basically pointed direction. He said, bail should be there overhead. So I've done 25 jerks with 24 and about like 25 snatchers per arm. He said, okay, that's still work. Good enough to make the team. But all the way up, it was 1999, but up till 2001, I wasn't receiving any coaching or technique advises. When you sort this this first two years was just experience exchange, whatever experience was that I'm on car as teammates. Yeah, all of us was pretty much just brand new kettlebell lifters like, I don't know, I'm not sure that even any of us had any sport rank at all. Well, in 2000, when I start the institute, so there was a little bit more experienced guys like rank one. CMS, I think was just the highest rank, but I'm a common call. And I think that's probably was the reason of such poor technique at the beginning because was a lot of wheel, lots of desire, but no knowledge at all. Rec position, the elbow into stomach, I called it like or or stretching drills, no, nothing, nothing like that. And I remember that like the way I figure out the rec was on the middle of competitions. The beginning of the jerk said about me that between number five and number six. When your shoulders finally got so tired, you couldn't you couldn't actively hold them up anymore and you just like you just happened to find rack as that. Well, it was like, I don't know, maybe I kind of saw that it's part of a deal, you know, that it should hurt, you know, and it should be painful. When always, you know, at the beginning, starting with nerves with elbows fairly narrow, but the end was, you know, with the elbows far out, also the chest, kind of downhill. And even with this style, I was able to progress from this 25 reps to like about like 80 reps or something. In York, 24 and that was my kind of pre-competition test was 100% test. There wasn't such methodology back then or at least share with me that, you know, you shouldn't do 100% like 70 or 80. Yeah, no such thing as a test. Yeah, like also, of course, okay, guys, let's see what you're ready for. And like, basically, you just do your best in jerk and your best and snatch and yeah, I think I did like something like 80. I remember exactly like was it 76 or 86 reps and then we went for competitions, but the team was great. It just was such a great guys. We was a great friends and well, in general, just, you know, healthy, athletic guys and was really pumped about these competitions and somehow I remember that it was going pretty well for our team. Like we've had this like a pre-competition test a week before and then I wasn't the first I was going to close it to last to compete. And like all of the teammates, they were doing great. Like one guy, he stepped up and he hit a PR and kind of, you know, it never seemed one great and the other guy came and he also did great. And I kind of, okay, my turn kind of, you know, was like really excited to go with it. And as I said, like some are the middle of this set, like I just was trying to once again save the right position. And I was able to stack one one nail. The side wreck, because wasn't able to pull both at all. And I stuck one and it just gave this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're muscles go. It's no problem. Just get 120 jerks. Huge PR like more like 30, 40% and hit CMS, which I wasn't expecting at all. And that was probably like the first this flesh of light where it's okay. It's not just a pain, it's the way to figure it out. After that, actually was the first time while after this competition, when I start to like trying to clean 32s or, you know, maybe do a couple of rest before, because before that I wasn't even trying because it seemed just way too difficult and too hard. Yeah, they're intimidating those 32s. They're, they're scary. I mean, they just sit there taunting you, but they're, yeah, they're, they're, they're scary. So basically, first two years was just pure. So when you hit CMS, when you hit CMS, did, did was there, I mean, you mentioned the light bulb of like you found rack position, you realize it didn't always have to be so hard, but was there, was there a moment when you're like, I might be good at this. Like when did when did you realize that you that you either might be good at it or that you just really love it and you want to kind of that it was the thing you wanted to pursue, like when did when did that when did that light bulb kind of kind of happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's and it was about the end of the first year of the of the studies and I actually had a break from mixed martial arts. Because while you needed to commute like to the other side of the city and you know was just this pressure to make it sort of first year of studies. And I was a CMS and miss mixed martial arts by the end of high school and like so this first year I was able to made it to CMS and kettlebells and that sexual was kind of a moment for me of dilemma. Okay, you know, because okay, that second year seems like things you know starts to is that a little bit and seems like I able to get back and it's okay. So what will I do should I come back to mixed martial arts, but I kind of haven't done it for a year. Kind of a little bit out of shape, needs to catch up. Or I should stick with this kettle sport, the kettlebell sport where I just freshly made CMS and you know seems like just start to get you know this whole momentum going and yeah, I just decided to stick with kettlebells. The rest is history as they say. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was the beginning. And anyways, in the other like a few years, well basically as the whole studies, I was and always invited to join once in a while this mixed martial arts competitions because I've done it before. So I had like a few competitions mixed martial arts wasn't anything extra ordinary. Well, it wasn't a rough beating, but wasn't victorious fights either. So just was and it felt humble. It's hard to dabble in being a fighter. It's that's a hard thing to just kind of like not be fully committed to and then show up and fight like that's that stuff. Well, well, again, I have done it for almost like 10 years and it was only a year break. So I mean, it still was quite a fresh fresh in my mind. So I said I wasn't complete little, but well wasn't wasn't excellent wasn't wasn't perfection then and was doing some arm wrestling also. So kind of was a period short years of time where I kind of was, you know, like basically three sports, you know mixed martial arts once in a while. And then kettlebell sport and then some arm wrestling and in kettlebell sport, I was getting closer to MS, you know, start lifting 32s and turning starts to be really hard. And also like around like 2003, yeah, I said, okay, that's probably time to focus, you know, and just stick with something one. Yeah, so yeah, well, I hit them less early 2004. And was that was that your first MS was that in Biathlon or had you transitioned to long cycle at this point? No, it was Biathlon and this this first two years and up till the first CMS, it was Biathlon only was long cycle wasn't around at all. Yeah, long cycle wasn't a thing until what like mid 2000s, is that is that right? Like 2005, 2006? Well, it wasn't like it wasn't, it wasn't exist, but it was, it wasn't spread. Well, I believe, I believe the very first time it was introduced to like national competitions was 1999, maybe or 1998. And I was in a smaller city back then in the Caledonian red. So, yeah, it wasn't there. And then over once went to competition to some Petersburg. And this was a long cycle, competitions, 32. And my first result was, I believe, 14 reps, I think of one cycle. That's the best I've got, but then I get back and next year I showed up, it was 44. And then, yeah, and then next year, it was like 50s, high 50s, low 60s. And I actually, my first shot for MS was in long cycle, but I failed. Well, I mean, I didn't hear the numbers. My CMS was, I think, I think 63 reps. And I end up with 57, which still took me to the sort place of junior championship of Russia. But I missed CMS. And then while it's in back then, it was kind of interesting calendar. Long cycle competitions and, and, and biathlon competitions was half year apart from each other. So, it was like a two championships of Russian one for long cycle, one for biathlon. And so, when, when basically, basically, no one had real specialization in all being more excited, like, at least for biathlon, at least they're because, like, well, you have long cycle competitions coming and nothing for biathlon. So, yeah, you could, you could, you could, you could kind of naturally allow you to, to period as your program, where it's like, I'm going to focus on long cycle for five months, compete. And then, take a small break and then start doing biathlon training. And I can compete in that championship too. That's, that's actually pretty cool. If you have, for example, exactly, like, so basically everyone will have this, like, see the switch. Once a year, half year, long cycle, half year of biathlon. So, I didn't, wasn't able to get it in long cycle. And I started biathlon preparation. And I, I made it in biathlon, yeah, my first MS was a biathlon. I did, I think, 94 jerks and something like 114, 118 snatches. And so, in my biathlon score, I think, like a mess was something around 140 points. So, I've made it, I made it just exceeded by a few points, maybe by five points. Nice. So, so you've now, you've been world champion now. How many 11 times, 12 times? More than that, I can't, I can't, I can't remember. You've been, you've been world champion, basically, every time you've entered it. Since, since you, since you hit, since you turned pro, really. Well, to be, to be totally honest with, kind of a count of a victories, I think kind of it's, well, I feel honest, you know, to, kind of just draw the line or at least mark the period of time where I move to states. Because, well, I feel like, you know, a first period of a career was this kind of duty, a national team. And that's where I was like, wow. I think probably the top of a period where I was working on get qualified to national team was a huge level of hervality in the Russia. Like, you really need to, like, sometimes it's championship of Russia. It's harder than the world championship because it just lots of professional guys. So, it was like, I've heard that before that, that it was like, that was the actual world championships was just making it on the Russian team because guys that were left off of the Russian national team would have gone and beaten some of the people from other countries that were, that were representing at the world championships. Yeah, so I've, I've got seven world championships for Team Russia in IUK. Well, plus IUK also famous, you know, for this toughest judging and fixation. So, it's, it's really was, you know, feeling of a fight, you know, when you step on the platform because, you know, that's well with, with no offense, you know, I don't have any hard feelings. I think that's what made me, why am I actually motivate me to work on my technique, but I mean, I know that this judges, they don't want me to or at least they don't care, you know, about my, you know, PR or whatever, you know, they're just doing their job. You know, cold blooded, you know, and it was like up to 2000, maybe 1340, there was for sure at least one knockout, you know, ever competitions. I've had so it was just this work on get all of the reps done and at the same time try to progress in results. And to the level where the difference was basically 10%, when, like, let's say, at IUK World Championship, my best effort, 91 reps. And same year of season, I just did 100 and two in one quarter past 10, you know, 12 reps last minute with, well, let's say, a bit more, I'll say. Most perfect, most perfect long cycle set I've ever seen, it's still, it's still the best, it's still the best performance I've ever seen in long cycle, like to this day. If you guys don't know where it is, it's in Vancouver and what, what 2014 was it? Was that there right here? 2015, in Vancouver, yeah, Dennis hit 102 long cycle reps with double 32s and you were 95 kilos at that point. Was that the weight class or 85 kilos? 85 kilos. The 85 kilo weight class hit 102 reps on long cycles with double 32s. It's on YouTube. It's, it's an amazing, it's an amazing set. Kettlebell Drenge, thank you for rating with me. You wielded the steel with honor, grit, determination and bravery. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Twin Cities Kettlebell Open. Thank you again to our sponsors, Barefoot Athletics, Pro Kettlebell, Kettlebell Kings, Living.fit, Sorenson Strong, CK Maceworks, Belovator, and Verizon Home Internet. Prepare yourselves for rating season to come again in 2023. Keep your steel sharp, keep your body fit and your mind ready. And I will be back to tell you when it is time for rating to commence. Would you, would you say that's your best set you've ever done? Was it, is that like your, your most perfect set you've ever done? Yeah, that's what was the tip, the peak, the peak of the area that was absolute best performance that's not only by result, but the way it went. So just space wise, this space stand was just never tight in any single minute. It was like 59, 58 seconds. And then last minute was kind of this natural in a bit of a adrenaline acceleration. Well, for apps, last minute. Yeah, it was, was a beautiful set. And is that, is that, I know it's your best result? Is it also the one that, is it also the one that you're most proud of? Or is there another set that maybe didn't go as well? But like, when you think about like all of your accomplishments, I'm going to make you pick one. Like, what's your, what's the, what's the one that you're most proud of? Well, obviously one or two is the highest score. So I'm super happy with, with result, but mentally wise, it wasn't the toughest set. And actually, I kind of let's say cheat myself, my brain, because it's not supposed to be a 10 minute set back then. It's supposed to be a five minute set. And when I, so I just haven't this pressure of, okay, this is the day, there's the day when I do 100 reps. And I actually, 100 reps said supposed to be a week after in San Pete, where my coach Sergei invited like a coach of a team rush. Sergei, Sergei Merkel and correct? Rajanski. Oh, Rajanski, yes, sorry. Yeah. So he invited like this official figures to this like a year of fitness competition for this sort of demonstration. That's what we were working for. But, um, well, you hit 100 reps there, too, didn't you? Or did you hit 99? I can't remember. You hit 100 right or 101? Yeah. So you did it twice and you did it twice in two weeks, not exactly, not exactly easy. Well, basically, yeah, in one week, like in 10 days, uh, and actually right after just I catch my breath, Sergei, my course set, okay, this thing, it's going to be repeated. But, uh, you will never, ever will be able to do something like that again. He said that you probably was ready like 110 reps based on, you know, the fires that you crush 100 twice, you know, with just, uh, just a one week apart. But it just was, it's mental. It's so, uh, so mental, this kettlebell sport, I'm sure even, you know, guys was proficient a lot of sports, they probably can tell the same because it's all about, you know, our doubts for, you know, um, confidence. And of course, you need to, first of all, be physically ready, but that's kind of obvious part. But then, you know, actually it's better prepared. You are more, you understand the responsibility of, you know, this like weird sorts in your head, you know, especially if it's something great, you kind of just not, not willing to accept it and you start to fear, you know, this great success. And it might affect your results. So it's very important to get into your set for, you know, one target, you know, to win and, and to get what's yours. So that, so, so that you think, so you think that part of the key to that, to that set was because you came into it, thinking it was a five minute, it was just going to be a five minute day. You're, you're prepared for five minutes, you're going to hit your pace, you're going to stay nice and relaxed, you're going to put them down and you're going to be ready for your 10 minute set, you know, you know, with, with coach and all of the officials there. So it kind of took the mental pressure off of you, like thinking about that, that, that pressure of hitting a hundred reps and because. So then tell you, you hit the five minute mark and when, when did you decide that you were going the full 10 minutes, like you hit five minutes and it just felt good or was it, or was it earlier in the set? Like I'm curious, when did, when did you just decide, like, no, I'm going for it. Yeah, so it's, it was, in general, it was very well, it was great, but very busy time. It was, it like it almost the same months in just a few weeks earlier. I get graduated from this last university, physical education and culture. So it was, you know, my, like I was getting ready for my final. Also, this qualification work. And then your thesis, like by that time, yeah, I was quite busy teaching and I was just running out of time. To apply for two visas for embassies is just I basically had a schedule and now I'm applying to English embassy and then no, I'm applying like to. So it was my very first visit to Canada embassy and to Australia embassy and it just takes time and it's like at some point we were chatting with Trisha, don't she was trying to. I thought I would not make it because I applied and it just was delays delays and delays and it just was literally like it's like flight is tomorrow and I still don't have my passport. I basically said, Trisha, that's, you know, probably I just, I just probably not have that. I received a call. Hey, hey, then it's okay. Your passport is ready, but it's in Moscow. And my flight tomorrow, like 10 am and I said, well, it's okay, like the earliest hour career can make it to office as 9 am. And I kind of calculated it's okay to make it to flight like the night, you know, if I will be like super fast, I need to leave this office like 9 15. And I just, well, I I pack all of the bags, but I don't really actually start packing the bags this evening before because when they said the passport is ready before I saw it just not happening. And then, okay, I'm at like 8.55, you know, I'm standing in this office waiting for this career now 8.59. 9. This guy running with my passport like that to me. I opened it, okay, visa is there and now I start rushing to airport. I just made it basically like a last guy to check in on the flight. And I said, okay, that was a victory right here already sitting on the plane that we made it. And it was, you know, like a long, you know, trans-ocean flight. I arrived like, I don't know, 2 am late. Sleep just, I don't know, 4 or 5 hours, but just energy level was just so great that everything working out. So I get graduate of university, you know, made it to Canada, well made, well, just it was just a development of our friendship with the OQC and John Wild. So I've made Jason there and John there was there and waiting, you know, triggering the app also, you know, lots of laughs jokes, just, you know, feels so great. Well, yeah, start my warm up. So if I talk myself, if I will do 5 minutes, say it, nor acceleration last minute. And if it will feel like it's always feel this training cycle that just, you know, fairly comfortable kind of no rush and no pressure, I will just be editing like 1 minute extra. Like it's long as I can hold pace 10. Yeah, you're just going to keep adding another minute for as long as you can hold pace 10. Once you fall off pace, you're putting them down and that's the end of the day. Yeah, and I kind of started, like really relaxed, like trying to really just be super smooth about this pace 10 kind of, you know, really paying attention to breezing and I made it to 5. And you know, that was fine. So okay, 6. And I did 7 and when I did 7, I said, okay, that it's happening. Yeah, that's it. Now I'm finishing it. And that minute number 8 and there was 9 minutes, well, it's, I've started breezing hard, of course. But basically, you know, I wasn't dealing with all this, you know, struggle of thinking, oh, it's 9 minutes of head of pace 10, you know, it's 7 minutes of head of pace 10. So I basically did 5 and then even me in the number 6 and 7 and still was kind of just, you know, one extra minute and then I basically was working on the last 3 minutes, you know, hard, where I already had 70 reps in my pocket and I basically said, okay, did just 30 more. And it went great and it went so great that I said, okay, I call Sarah, kind of apologizes and said, coach, sorry, I made it without you, but I will come back and I will do it for you one more time. I'm sorry, this is killing me because because you just crushed the world record, one of the all time, like one of the all time, you put up almost a perfect set. And then your first thought is I kind of apologize to coach Inski because he's going to be so pissed at me if I don't do this again next week. Well, I feel like, you know, I cut him out of the show, you know, he's the one who really wanted to watch it because he is the one who was put to get our coaching. And I just did it so our way, so I really feel better about it. And what did he say? I'm curious, what did he say when you call them and told them your result that you apologize to him for your result? What did he say? Well, I don't remember exactly the conversation, but general altitude was like he was, of course, very happy for me and congrats and so then it's amazing. And he's actually, he wasn't the one who's really was supporting my idea about, you know, the second shot is just when I told it, he said, well, okay, he feels all let's do it. And you know, we flew back to some people and then well, he just programmed me just I think just a no one like easy, easy workout, just, you know, sets of like two or three minutes to basically basically make me rest. Yeah, for whole week and I, well, before I pick up the belts again, I thought I feel just great and fresh. Emerson Quinn. Well, only I cut my elbows a bit because in all the sorts that I, you know, hold this rush. I forgot my belt. I arrived to Canada. I forgot my belt. I don't even have a belt and I kind of know my set and I ask John student, I said, Ty, can you please borrow me a belt? I forget my, because he was done after he said, and it was like was like different belt. We said a little bit of kind of a sharp edges and I, you know, well, my elbows and well, it was it was fine to roll this. So late, late, late flight or like stressful getting to the flight later rival four hours of sleep, somebody else's belt, no coach there. 102. But best mindset ever, fresh, fresh, excited, happy, not even so it's about dogs or any negative. No, no pressure, no doubts mentally, they're physically obviously ready. It's just that's fantastic. Yeah, but well, training cycle was good. Yes, all workouts was done. So again, it was seems a little bit of a crazy of actual arrival, but of course, you know, it's like, I was, I was going for it. And so now you've got cuts on your elbows and you've got you from somebody else's belt and now you've got to hit 100 reps again because you promised your coach that you would do it, that you would do it again. And there are, there are people there to watch officials are their government officials. I'm assuming your military officials are there to watch you perform. And so how did that, how did that one go? So speaking of my, you know, memories of, you know, most, I don't know, said I proud of. So that's probably was the most painful set I've ever done because the moment I clean the belt into the wreck, the first clean. I realize that I mean, I'm in such a deep trouble, such an idiot. I was swearing into myself in my mind. So what's going on? Like, what the fuck are you thinking? Just made all of this promises. And it's, it's really happening that I see. Sergey Rachensky, Sergey Kirillov, like teammates from national team, and they all came to watch 100 reps. Okay, let's go. And that was like tights. I know maybe a few or two minutes was kind of kind of on pace, but then I was squeezing this rep number 10. It's like this 59 switching to zero. And it's like 10 barely 10, barely 10, barely 10. Oh, man, that was really hard, really hard. And then, well, in Canada, there was a, I believe, like, fit the rainbow bells. And in Russia was this oral bells. Yeah, the Eurobells, yeah. The official bells. And I start to feel like on the ninth minute that my grip starts to go. So, well, it's like, I start to feel it, you know, like, middle of the minute number nine. And so minute number nine, I actually, I did nine reps, because I feel like I need to sacrifice this one rep if I want to survive through last minute. So it kind of was good, but like, I haven't felt like acceleration at all. It feels like downhill, but I feel like at least, you know, just I will catch one extra breath and just. We'll see what happened in the last minute. And I was able to squeeze 11 reps at the last minute, but wow, it just then took me almost a half year to recover after this double shot. I was wiped out after this two sets of damages. And naturally, and naturally, your coach says, well, if you can hit 100 twice in in 10 days, you must have been able to do 110, if you just want to listen to me, you could have hit 110. Yeah, that's what I sort of felt that probably base 11 might work based on how well this hundred and two went, but never happened. And well, I think that's, you know, something to do with honest motivation. Yeah, because for me, like I've started my career, you know, like, okay, one, your championship of Russia, your European championship because world championship. And we kind of when I start working with Sergei, it's kind of like pace nine was right away around. And then in a few years later, I think somewhere like 2012, we start the real work on past 10, and, you know, it feels felt like, you know, everything will go really great, you know, through my career, you know, if it'll be no injuries, if it'll be just consistent workout or any cycle after training cycle, so seems like this number is doable, you know, this three magic three digits that can be that can be done. And it was just this big dream. Yeah. Has anybody has anybody else hit that in the 85 kilo weight class sense? I don't have, I don't think anybody's touched 100 in long cycle sense. I'm still still the youngest hope or form. And by the time I perform, I actually was on the disorder out that ever done it. And first two was I see legal and I went to miss them. And they both are there in my way class. They're in they're in the open 102 plus kilo. Well, they both had like above 100 by C. Lee Ginkgo. He had one of five I believe. Yeah. And he's the very first one whole whole correct this number. And I believe it was made. I haven't saw his performance, but I think it was 100, 105, but then I want to get 116 in 2010. He's a different animal. And that's actually like I'm curious. I never asked Ivan this question. I had chance and I'm curious what he think about all what he thought about it, because well, he's especially his peak. He was dominating all three lifts in all three lifts looks kind of evenly crazy. He was alongside with his 100, 116 long cycles. He had 176 jorks and way above 200 snitches like to weigh into or something. And I'm curious which result seemed crazier to him because actually right now we can see the one mark of this last weekend. 181, 181 jerks. Yeah. Yeah. So that's it. He opened this totally new era. We can say of a of a jork in a break this, you know, 180 and, you know, guys getting closer to, I don't know, 200. And then in snitch also, Nikolai Kichumai, he did like 250 snitches, some crazy numbers. It's kind of he may he perform it in official. Now you get competitions, but it's video you can see him literally going past 25 with 32. But no one even close to Ivan's long cycle PR. I mean, I get this 101 2015. And then actually this Nikolai Kichumai, if he hit 100 exactly, I think 2017, but he's also heavy. Yeah, he's he's he's a heavyweight. Yeah. And then right now we have two guys, Kolakov and Balabanov, who's both above 100. I think Kolakov's best. Actually, like I will send you a video later. You know, I know that you are curious coach. Yeah. Like he get he get two no counts for like it's perfect 104 reps by for a championship of Russia. And he had like two no counts last minute. I mean, I cannot see any single reason why it can be no count. He's holding them on the top. It just they basically kind of, yeah, I don't know. So so he's he's 95 kilograms. And Balabanov is a bit heavy. His 100 kilograms and one one or one reps. But I mean, that's 100 plus, but from 100 to 116. That's just yeah, that's a yeah, that's a whole thing. But it's to me, it's it's one of those like it honestly, it kind of reminds me of the the four minute mile. Like for for a long time, it was just considered not possible, right? Like nobody's going to hit it. Nobody's going to hit it. And then somebody does it and shows that it's possible and suddenly in the next in the next couple of years. There's a whole bunch of people that have done it. You know, I'm like it feels it feels kind of like it feels kind of like that. Like that once you and Denisov, you know, kind of showed that it was possible to go over 100. Then people started going for it, right? And like like it's like you were kind of alluding to it. A lot of the limitations are just products of our own brain that we don't realize that we can and we can do it. And then once we see that we can, it's like, oh, the constraint goes away. And suddenly the level of human performance goes like just another another tick higher than we thought possible. Thank you for listening to this episode of the platform podcast. We'll be back with a new episode soon. Please be sure to leave a rating and review of the platform podcast and your app of choice. Support our work by supporting our affiliates. And of course if you have questions or you want help reaching your goals reach out to me. Until next time, thanks for listening.