Recently, Ruben Galvan broke an American kettlebell
sport record in biathlon at the Crazy Monkey USA Kettlebell Sport Championship.
At the same competition, Galvan also achieved his first CMS (Candidate for Master
of Sport) which is not too bad for someone who was training with 8 kg weights
when he first gave kettlebells a swing just over 3 years ago.
“After they said that I hit a US record, I was like
‘Oh my goodness. That’s not even me, who is that?”’ Galvan said. “I’m the worst
at self-doubt, so I walked in there not knowing how I was going to do and shoot
for as many reps as I could get. I was assuming I was going to do good, but I
didn’t know I was going to do this good.”
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| Photo Credit: Truong Nguyen |
During his set at the competition, Galvan recalls the
encouragement from the crowd as they chanted his name in celebration.
“I had to shake away all my anxiety, fear, and doubt
as soon as I started lifting,” Galvan said. “I had to clear my head of
everything, and I had to make it happen.”
Galvan says that his diet has improved greatly over
the past few years but leading up to this competition, he made a huge effort to
cut down on beer, pasta, bread, and sugar, dropping not only 15lbs, but also moving
down a weight class for the competition.
Galvan first started showing interest in kettlebells when
he was working out at Ridge Fitness, where SKC was holding classes prior to
opening their own gym.
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| I ride bikes more. I’m
starting to run and row more. It gives me more energy at work, too. If you want
to think of it in a mental way, it lowers my stress.” Photo Credit: Matt Burns | | | | |
“I’ve tried a bunch of CrossFit gyms. I’ve done LA
Fitness, 24 Hour fitness, and I just never got in the kind of shape I am now,”
Galvan said. “The heavy weight lifting mixed with pure cardio and a good diet
really helped turn around my physique.”
Straight from the get go, Galvan appreciated SKC's professional
environment, lack of gymtimidation, and how encouraging all the coaches were.
In fact, he was so encouraged that it didn’t take him long to get the urge to
compete.
“Everybody’s super helpful and supportive unlike what
you get at any other gym,” Galvan said. “Keep an open mind. That’s what I did.
When I first started with the 16’s [kg kettlebells], I thought there was no
freakin way I could go to 20’s.”
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| Photo Credit: Matt Burns |
Like many members at SKC, Galvan notes that many of
his friends and family misconceive what kind of workout he’s doing.
“They think it’s heavy weight lifting training, and
it’s not. It’s a whole body workout mixed with heavier weights, but only if you
choose to use heavy weights,” Galvan said.
Galvan’s future kettle-goal is to start competing with
the 28 kg and 32 kg bells, but his dream is to rival Coach Misha and be able to
snatch the 40 kg.
“I want a shirt that says Misha Jr,” Galvan jokes.
-Camille Borodey
