General Physical Podcast · Gregory Dzemaili

From Bodybuilding To Kettlebell Sport - Dana Zornes | Kettle Knights #74

·1 hr 50 min·5 clips

Dana argues that kettlebell sport and Steve Cotter’s method reward softness, not “full tension all the time.”

The host opens by linking Dana Zorns to the kettlebell world through Steve Carter and the IKFF certification path. He says he had heard the Raise Bells name for a while before meeting the person behind it. Dana comes in from Baltimore and starts with his background. He is 37, an Army vet, and first got introduced to kettlebells in 2010 while stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The conversation then shifts into the mechanics side of the sport. The host asks about snatch style and whether there is a single sweet spot. Dana says it is mostly preference. He points to a Russian lifter whose snatch has a very deep bottom position and uses that as an example of how body angle can vary. He also notes that he has heard coaches advise against hinging too far over. Over time, he says, he has adjusted his own shape, but he still cares most about whether the bell stays quiet in the backswing. That is his main marker of a good rep. The pair talk about rewatching video and checking whether each rep looks the same. They also dig into hand position. Dana likes a deeper backswing and tends to turn the thumb back. The host agrees and explains that the thumb-back position lets the bell travel a little farther and gives the pull more room. They contrast that with thumb-up positions used in the jerk and double clean. Dana says that in those lifts he likes feeling tension in the biceps like a spring. The episode keeps returning to the idea that different lifts ask for different setups. It does not flatten everything into one universal cue. Instead, it treats style as something tied to the actual goal of the movement. The conversation stays loose and technical at the same time. It sounds like two people who have spent a lot of time training, coaching, and rewatching their own work. The practical point is not perfection for its own sake. It is repeatable movement that fits the lift and the goal. The episode also keeps an accessibility thread running through it. The host and Dana want kettlebell work to feel usable to more people, not locked behind a single idealized model. That gives the technical talk a clear purpose. The result is a long, specific coaching conversation that rewards listeners who like to think through details rather than just hear motivational language. It ends with the sense that this kind of exchange will keep going, probably in a roundtable format next time.

As heard by us

A technical kettlebell conversation about backstory, preference, and the mechanics that make reps repeatable.

The episode follows Dana Zorns through his backstory and into a practical kettlebell conversation. Dana is presented as an Army vet who says he first picked up kettlebells in 2010 while in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the discussion stays close to what matters in practice:…

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Why you'd press play

You want kettlebell technique talk that stays grounded in real coaching choices.

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