Ivan V. Lebedev: The One-Arm Kettlebell Snatch [1916 & 1928]

Snatch of the Standard Weight Kettlebell

Starting position—Fig. 101. Place the kettlebell ¼–½ arshin [approximately 18–36 cm] in front of your feet, with the handle of the kettlebell parallel to the line running between your feet.

Grasp the handle of the kettlebell from above with an overhand grip and quickly snatch the kettlebell overhead (dotted position in Fig. 102), keeping the kettlebell very close to your body throughout the movement and without bending the wrist (Fig. 102). The wrist is bent backward only when the kettlebell has reached almost overhead (dotted position in Fig. 102). The backward extension of the wrist must be performed very smoothly and instantaneously, so that the entire movement becomes one continuous action; otherwise, the kettlebell will strike the forearm.

– Lebedev, Ivan Vladimirovich. Тяжелая атлетика: Руководство, как развить свою силу, упражняясь тяжелыми гирями [Heavy Athletics: A Manual on How to Develop Your Strength by Exercising with Heavy Kettlebells/Weights]. Petrograd: V. I. Gubinsky, 1916.

Notes and Comments

This is a true one-arm snatch (вырывание одной рукой, vyryvanie odnoy rukoy). Literally, вырывание (vyryvanie) means “tearing out” or “ripping upward”; in weightlifting terminology, it means the snatch, or, in today’s kettlebell terminology, the dead/power snatch.
Весовая гиря (vesovaya girya) literally means “standard-weight kettlebell.” This refers to the traditional cast-iron commercial weighing weight used for training, distinguishing it from adjustable kettlebells, pyramid weights, and other implements.
An arshin (аршин) was a traditional Russian unit of length used from the 16th century until the adoption of the metric system after the Russian Revolution. 1 arshin = 28 inches (71 cm).

A short demo from Kettlebell VIP — Vintage Iron Power for All-Round Strength [ONLINE COURSE]

The full Kettlebell VIP Online Course kettlebell snatch module contains:

Lebedev’s Assisted Snatch
Power Snatch
Imperial Swing-Snatch
Demo: Dumbbell Overhead Swing
Dead Power Snatch
Bottom-Up Swing-Snatch

Old-time strongman variations of the Tsar of all kettlebell lifts – running time 19 mins 40 secs!

Lebedev expanded on the instruction dozen years later:

One-Arm Snatch

The starting position is shown in Fig. 11. Place the kettlebell 20–30 cm in front of your heels, with its handle parallel to the line running from one heel to the other.

Grasp the kettlebell handle with an overhand grip and snatch it quickly upward overhead, at the same time bending the knees slightly and driving with the hips so that the kettlebell finishes above the head on a fully straightened arm.

Pay particular attention to the path of the kettlebell as it travels upward.

Throughout the entire movement you must keep the kettlebell very close to the front of your body, strongly bending the elbow upward and out to the side (Fig. 12—shown by the solid line), while supporting the wrist from below. The wrist should extend backward only when the kettlebell is already almost overhead (Fig. 12—dotted line), as it rotates around.

At the top, the wrist must extend very smoothly but extremely quickly so that, while rotating, the kettlebell does not strike the forearm but instead slides gently into position.