Interview with StrongSport Champ Andy Fitting

This interview was originally posted on the Australian Kettlebells Blog.

StrongSport is a relatively new addition to the kettlebell sport scene.  StrongSport is based on heavy single arm lifts with the maximum set time being 4 mins instead of 10 mins as in traditional kettlebell sport.

A 72kg Competition Grade Kettlebell

Because of its shorter duration and more emphasis on strength than endurance, StrongSport is a great option for those who have a strength training background who want to get involved in kettlebell sport but are put off by the longer sets.  Men work with 32kg and upwards for StrongSport, while women use 20kg and upwards.  The ranking system for StrongSport can be found here.


Andy Fitting is the man when it comes to StrongSport.  Andy holds several world records with the ultra heavy bells, including the 72kg bell.  The following interview with Andy gives some great insights into his training and competing in StrongSport.

1. What are the current kettlebell lifting records that you hold?

Well the record that people might be most familiar with is 24 total one arm jerks (11/13) with a 72kg (159lbs) regulation sized kettlebell.



Valery [Fedorenko] said that he wants to see me do 15/15 with the 72kg for 30 total reps as my next goal. You know we are always preaching balance hahaha. I also hold a record of 10 balanced one arm long cycle reps with a 72kg regulation sized kettlebell.



The highest rank I hold in StrongSport is in one arm long cycle with the 60kg kettlebell. I also am ranked in the StrongSport biathalon with a 52kg kettlebell.




2. How did you find out about kettlebell training and kettlebell sport?

I discovered this wonderful Sport we call kettlebell lifting a few years ago at the Arnold Classic in Columbus OH at the World Kettlebell Club booth. I was walking around in circles at that damn convention center all day, tired, dehydrated, and excited all at the same time talking to everyone about their training and what they do. If you get a chance to go to that Arnold Classic thing, definitaly do it, you won’t be let down. From a distance, I saw the kettlebells set up in a big ass circle on the floor with a rope through them and everyone lookin’ all proper in their WKC t-shirts. At that moment I said to myself in my head “oh cool kettlebells”. When I get to that isle I’m gonna talk to these cocksuckers.

I knew what kettlebells were and all, but had absolutely no freaking idea what kinda proverbial weightlifting revelation I was about to experience. Now right around that time I wanted to expand my weight training regimen into other areas and not be so close minded by banging out endless sets in a gym type setting of the same ol' shit. The same shit I’ve been doing for years and years.

Summer was coming, it was march and the weather started to ease up a bit. So I am at work, not working of course and I’m reading away about how these guys take their weightlifting equipment outside and train in the sun. They got all these strange apparatuses used for running with and holding shit on there backs while water inside it is throwing them off balance while pulling a 3 ton milk truck with like spandex on. Now I wasn’t about to do anything like that. However it got me thinkin’. I was interested in doing some training outside, when the warm weather comes back again. Well I need to come up with a plan here. I got at least 2 months or so before this is even remotely an option right now. The weather here in Buffalo NY is not pleasant year round.

Andy with Andrew Durniat

As I approach the WKC booth I go and talk to the biggest guy there. Andrew Durniat.  I said hi ya doin’ obviously kettlebells are really important to you guys so tell me..... what is the purpose of kettlebells? After that question I asked him, life for me would be changed forever. He spoke for about five minutes or so about everything related to kettlebells and this and that and the main thing was I was believing everything he was saying.

Andrew has an amazing ability to articulate with words and lift heavy shit. I asked him about 50 consecutive questions, we spoke for about 45 mins straight, my friends I came with left me for dead with these strangers I just met I had to go pee but I was so damn enthralled in the conversation I was willing to risk pissing myself at the reward of gaining years worth of knowledge from this guy.

At the end I said ok give me your phone number your email address and I am 100% going to get a hold of you and do this. I’m ready. There was no doubt in my mind this was something I was going to do. I literally lost sleep thinking about how fast I could get started with the training. I now have my tool I will need to train with outside. I have my desire to succeed. I’m all in. The rest is history to date.

3. When did you start lifting kettlebells?

I started lifting kettlebells the moment my local weightlifting supply store opened at 9am the very next day after Andrew and I spoke on Sunday at the Arnold when I returned from my trip from the Arnold Classic on Monday. I bought two 20lb kettlebells that cost me $80. I got a hold of Andrew and he suggested I get a 16kg and a 24kg kettlebell from the WKC. I put in my order immediately.

4. What was your sporting background before you took up StrongSport?

I played American Football in high school all four years and one year in college at Buffalo State before I injured myself very badly in the gym of course, performing the deadlift improperly, before going into my sophomore year. I did wrestling my junior year in high school and tried out for pitcher in baseball my junior year. In baseball, I was throwing the ball so hard I actually did suffer some kinda long term damage to my elbow area. I had to stop. The tendonitis still gives me problems to this day occasionally.

I have always been interested in athletics and sports of all kinds. My parents never pushed me to do sports or anything like that. I sorta took it up on my own. In gym class at a very young age, we would play dodge ball and t-ball. At the YMCA we would play soccer things like that. I always found myself being able to throw a ball much much farther and faster than any of the other kids. The same with t-ball or kickball.

I started to really get into football watching the Buffalo Bills. I was at a good age to learn these sports right around the time when the Bills were really really good. I had fantasies of playing professional football and being a quarterback in the NFL. We would play tackle football around the local schools with the other kids in the neighborhood. There was a lotta kids my age in the neighborhood I grew up in. I had a concrete front lawn at my parents house growing up and my father put up a basketball hoop. Dammit man the games we had there wow. 8, 10, 15 people. Guys and girls ages all varieties. I had the only basketball hoop around, so it attracted a lot of attention. The neighbors hated my guts. We would close off entire school parking lots and set up full blown hockey games sometimes.

I could never do the rollerblades thing though. I fell on my ass so many times I just never cared to put enough effort into it to learn how to do it well enough to hang with everyone else. So I knew Hockey wasnt gonna be for me. I mean its physical as hell and all, just not violent enough for my taste. Im only like 5'10" and not super fast, so basketball isn't my thing. Fuck baseball it takes too much time. Im a kid dammit, I aint got the patience to be standing there picking my ass waiting for a pop ball to go straight up in the air, get lost in the sun, and it come down and land directly on my teeth. You ever been hit with one of those baseballs?

Andy's Awesome Lockout Position

Don't get it twisted, I'd play these sports when they are available, its just football I really had a passion for. I almost went to the national finals at the pro bowl with the Punt Pass and Kick competition when I was 12 and 13 years old. I missed by 19 inches. Its a cumulative score of distance and accuracy of your best punt pass and kick of a football. They take the top five in the country and I landed at 7th place in the nation when I was 12. As I got older and didn't play sports for any schools, I still continued to weight train as if I was training for football.

Eventually when playing football wasn't really something I had desire to do anymore, I really just trained for strength. I've never had "abs" so I don't really "eat clean". I find it to be extremely difficult to keep your strength or even harder gain strength also while loosing weight. So doing weight training for puposes of getting lean also wasn't really my thing. I occasionally try to lose weight, but my problem has always been and always will be when I start to lose large amounts of weight and strength at the same time, I panic. I can't get over that mental block of losing my strength. My brain will not let me comprehend this notion.

I am not going to go from benching for example 315lbs down to 275lbs. What's the point of lifting weights when you are not getting stronger but yet weaker? I am the boss of this wavelength, this is how "I" think. Not everyone else does, I get that. Besides, I move a lot better than what people would think I do. BUT...... with kettlebell lifting, this is not necessarily the case. So, one day I might try to really trim down. We will see. My father didn't "start" weight training until well into his 40's, so I know I've got a shot at longevity in this lifetime. I only got time to get better.

5. What attracted you to StrongSport over traditional kettlebell sport events?

When I first started kettlebelling, I only lifted with one kettlebell because I didn't have two. So I never really had the opportunity to use two bells. First time I was ever exposed to StrongSport was the next year at the Arnold Classic again. I had never lifted a kettlebell over 32kgs ever. So I went back to the WKC booth again and Eric Liford was like well we got a kettlebell challenge going on if you wanna try it.

Actually the official challenge was with the 48kg kettlebell for guys that proved they were strong enough and wanted to try it. He told me I could try the 60kg bell. I laughed and said yeah no thanks. I compared it to kinda like working the squat with 225lbs for reps, then trying to jump to like 455lbs for reps, even though you never squated anything over 225. It's not gonna happen.

Andy Impressing Spectators at the Arnold

Then after like one minute of thinking about it, curiosity got the best of me and I had to try it. I didn't know that I could do as well as I actually did. I did 27 jerks with the 60kg bell on saturday and then came back on sunday and did 25 reps with the 64kg bell just to prove it wasn't a fluke. Eric Liford shit his pants. Twice. He told me right then and there that he was going to take me under his wing and guide me, if I am interested.

We hit it off really well. I cordially accepted his offer. First thing he told me is I am going to lift heavy kettlebells very often. I am however not going to ever be lifting two kettlebells, "I" would be wasting my time with two kettlebells.

So to answer the question why StrongSport over GS? Because the experts told me so.

5. Who is your coach and how are you coached (in person or online)?

Eric Liford is my coach. He is the full package and a total professional. Fucking consistant man. Never misses an email from me, never has a bad attitude, never gives me negative feedback. He is very patient, he is always focused. If I am having an issue that we need to go into more detail about, I can call him anytime. If something isn't right, he always has the answer even before I go into exact detail of the issue. He can read minds, he can predict the future, I call him "The Oracle" in our emails. A modern day kettlebell Nostradamus. He lays low, minds his own business, only speaks when spoken to, master of observation. I have said this before, no one has had more one on one training, coaching, teaching, advice from Valery Fedorenko than Eric Liford. I would recommend him to anyone. People blow his inbox up like crazy asking for his coaching. I know he's like a super busy guy and he tells me he has to turn people down most of the time. It's ashame actually.

5. What does a typical day’s training look like for you and how many days a week do you train?

I am doing volume training right now. I training five days in a row with the same weight the same number the same time the same pace. Next week increase one of those things, either an extra rep per min, or another set, or the length of time, or occasionally increase the weight. Consistancy. Then I am allowed two days off in a row. If it were up to me, I literally would train every single day. I was advised by Eric two days in a row off is ok.

If it weren't for a second job I that work that translates into about a 22 hours straight work shift one day a week, then I probably would go at it everyday. Eric has told me many times I don't have an off switch. He said it's a good thing, but at certain times it could work against me. We totally switched it up from the regular training I've been doing with the volume stuff. The most work I've done in recent times, for example, I build up to with 12 sets with the 44kg kettlebell.

5. What kettlebell weights do you mainly use for training?

Andy Makes it Look Easy

It all depends on what I am trying to accomplish. I never go lower than 40kg in my training and never higher than 52kg. I have everything in between that.

Eric will not allow me anything over 52kgs right now. He doesn't trust me. He said that if I had a 60kg bell I would use it everyday and I would kill myself. I'm not sayin he's wrong, but I'm not sayin he's right. He did give an indirect hint that he would have something special for me if I made rank StrongSport 60LC in New York City.

The bastard officially still hasn't told me what it is yet, even though after he reads this he's gonna know that I know he's talking about giving me a 60kg bell.
 Right Eric? Hahaha.


5. Who are your sporting heros?

Well heroes are something you think of more when you are younger and not as much when you get older. So I guess I could give you a short list of my heroes when I was growing up. I really liked Jim Kelly the Bills quarterback in the 80's and 90's. I remember liking Arnold a whole lot. I like Ray Lewis from the Ravens. I had the opportunity to meet him at the Arnold Classic this year but I shit the bed. He was at the bar at the convention center. He didn't look like he wanted to be bothered, so I never approached him.

I like Dan Marino even though he played for the Dolphins.

Valery Fedorenko with the Inch Dumbbell

If I have a modern day hero, I can wholeheartedly say it's Valery Fedorenko for sure. I have expressed my man crush on him many times. He is not human. He's just the epitome of cool ya know. Grew up poor, earned everything he's got through hard work, granted he's not like a millionaire.

He loves his job and he extremely good at it and a super down to earth kinda person. I love the fact I am one of very few people that is able to bust his balls with very few repercussions. Chris Duffey may have me edged out by a little bit and I think it's only because he's older. There is so many people that have so much talent out there in so many different areas, it would be difficult to list them all.


5. Who do you think can do StrongSport?

Im sure anyone can DO StrongSport, it just depends on the person. I happen to be stronger than most kettlebell lifters, so I am prone to being good at StrongSport. Other people are good at endurance things, so I feel they might be less likely to achieve a high rank. Of course there are always exceptions to all general rules of thought. If you aren't mentally strong enough to do what you do, then it's not going to go well for you. I think everyone who lifts any kind of weight would like to be stronger. I think if you interested enough in StrongSport, then YOU can do StrongSport.

6. What do you hope for the future of StrongSport?

Right now I want more people to participate in it. I think a few people have given it a shot, but not enough people have given it a serious enough thought yet. It's still in the infancy stage as it stands today. I have laid the ground work, I have set the tone for future competitors to come. Now we need people to start putting in some hard work. Anyone involved in a sport should catch wind of some StrongSport training and get their ass in gear. There is a saying that Im not sure I thought of first or even said first is, after kettlebells everything else is easier. I would like to add upon the existing saying, after StrongSport everything else is a lot easier.

7. What are your goals for the future?

I would say to not just become a better lifter but a better father to my two amazing children, a better man for my girl, and a better person to everyone else around me. This lifting shit is really cool and all and I love doing it, but there are so many other aspects of my life that I am always trying to improve upon. It's all apart of a long term plan I'd like to think. It's a culmination of everything I do to better my life and more importantly better life for my family. I want everyone to benefit greatly from what I bring to the table on a day to day basis.

I haven't really focused any energy into training people because I am so involved in the training aspect of kettlebells. I want to succeed so damn badly as a lifter that I feel like coaching would take up too much time right now. When the time is right, I will take coaching more seriously. I am building my credentials now, so when the time is right, I won't need to recruit people. I think of it like being Valery or Denisov or Fuglev (and all the other great ones I'm unbiasedly not mentioning). They don't need to recruit people for coaching anymore. They say they are ready, boom all done.They give you advice not based on what sounds good, but off personal experiance from being in the trenches and being the best.

I think some people are motivated for all the wrong reasons. Money being the biggest one. If you are only doing this for money, you'll never be happy. Not only will you not be happy but your lifters will suck too. Double whammy. I think that's bullshit and shame on you you greedy bastard. I'm not doing this for money I can say confidently. I haven't made a single dime from anything kettlebell related yet. That's fine by me. I love that ball with a handle on it that much.

However, after making my StongSport rank with the 60kg bell in one arm long cycle, the WKC has told me that I have shown consistant improvment and distinct lifting ability, I now have the title of Master Trainer Andy Fitting. To answer the question directly... My goal is to be the best heavy kettlebell lifter that has ever existed. But I'm not there yet and I have a long way to go. It's gonna be a fun ride.