29 Jan
Blog

This Kettlebell Grip Cue May Change Your Training for the Better

#kettlbell has garnered over three million posts on Instagram. Your favorite fitpo is probably (definitely) overhead swinging and lifting kettlebells, and you've been officially convinced to swing and lift kettlebells. If this sounds like you, you've probably encountered an annoying and unexpected problem: your grip is bad.

Man grabbing a kettlebell in a turkish stand up position

Kettlebells aren't the easiest tool to grab, and the ballistic nature of many kettlebell moves makes them even more difficult to hold on to. what's more Your ability to grab and hold tight actually makes it easier stronger and more powerful elevators. And it all starts with your muscle fascia.

The importance of the handle

The fascial lines of the body are diverse. This article is not meant to be an introduction to fascia, but rather a better understanding to improve our training. The arm lines are particularly relevant to our grip needs. There are four of these lines and they all play some role in grip and its impact on increasing our performance.

This experiment uses the principles of irradiating muscle tension to demonstrate the importance of grip:

  1. Let your arms hang loosely at your side and be aware of any tension. Now make a fist. Notice that it's not just the hand muscles that are tight. The tension travels up your forearms.
  2. Get your grip even tighter now. Notice that the abdominal muscles are tight. Notice how the tension is now not only in your shoulders but also in the muscles within your shoulders. How You Grip The grip has the potential to activate every muscle in your body.

Let's try our experiment again, this time to demonstrate the importance of the arm lines:

  1. grab as tight as you can However, focus on squeezing your thumb and forefinger the hardest. You should feel the pectorals and deltoids tighten powerfully.
  2. Now focus on gripping hardest with your pinky and ring finger. This time, you should feel the muscles in your back—the lats, rhomboids, and rotator cuffs—tense.

Applying this knowledge to exercises is common sense, but few people do it. The conclusion from these tests is that when the body is ready to push (via the pecs and shoulder muscles), your grip needs to involve the index finger. The opposite is true for pulling movements, where we want to make sure the pinky and ring finger are in direct contact with the bar or bell.

Hand position for smarter grip

The most common hand position when using kettlebells is a grip, sliding the wrist into the corner of the bell where the handle and body of the bell meet. This allows the handle of the bell to run diagonally across the hand and minimizes discomfort on the back of the wrist.

Then most people wrap their index finger and thumb around the handle. You might mistakenly believe that this grip is acceptable. It's not acceptable. This grip will actually decrease performance while increasing the risk of injury.

Man squeezing a single kettlebell over his head outdoorsMDV Edwards/Shutterstock

Here's why: When you press, you need to address not only shoulder flexion but also shoulder stability. If the pinky doesn't grab the bell, the rotator cuff will not fully engage. And when it comes to swinging or squeezing a heavy object overhead, you definitely want all of your shoulder muscles engaged.

A better way to To squeeze (or stand up or snatch) a kettlebell, hold it so that the handle of the bell goes directly over your hand, in line with the calluses. This handle enables both the use of the prime movers and the optimal functioning of the stabilizers.

Stronger grip for better movement

If we extrapolate this to other kettlebell exercises like squats or swings, we can see that these fascia lines connect the fingers to the muscles around the shoulder and also become muscles of the core on either side. The front and back feature lines form two large Xs, one on the front of the body and one on the back.

Proper use of the grip will engage our postural control muscles and enhance all of our larger lifts. Again, for kettlebell squats, the flat grip (as opposed to the diagonal grip) is a better option because it activates most of the supporting muscles.

Once you get used to gripping this way, you'll find that your performance improves while your risk of injury decreases. Changing your hand placement might make a difference in how much weight you can lift, but that shouldn't be a problem unless you're a powerlifter. Focus on how well your body can move and function as a unit.

More on muscle loss:

23 Nov
Blog

Keep a Kettlebell by your Desk: The Four Alarm Kettlebell Program

When do you train Anyone who trains consistently has an answer to this question. The people who build sustainable health and fitness are not the ones who jump into exercise classes on casual evenings and comfortable long weekends. These people have a plan. Ask them when they train and they will tell you:

When do you train Anyone who trains consistently has an answer to this question. The people who build sustainable health and fitness are not the ones who jump into exercise classes on casual evenings and comfortable long weekends. These people have a plan. Ask them when they train and they will tell you:

  • "The first thing in the morning before the family is up."
  • "On my way to work. I shower and get ready for work in the gym."
  • "On my lunch break."
  • "Right after work, before I come home."

Those who have difficulty exercising regularly will usually cite the reason that they are too busy. It is obvious. Even if you do a very efficient HIIT routine of 30 minutes or less, the time it takes to prepare for going to the gym, driving to the gym, locking your valuables in, and having small talk will typically increase well over an hour . But you can work out much more efficiently if you quit the gym and break your workout up into a few short chunks throughout the day. We are human after all. Like all animals, we are made to move more than once a day.

I've advocated this approach in my five alarms and four alarms workout articles, but these plans both assume that the exercises must be device-free if you want to fit them fluently into the opening of your day. Bodyweight exercises are great, but the options get even more fun and varied once you master the kettlebell. This simple tool offers unprecedented effectiveness. Keeping a kettlebell next to your desk can hugely help you achieve all fitness goals. In fact, spreading your workout out over a few quick kettlebell-centered blocks can be an even more effective training method than the standard all-at-once approach

As I argued in Learn the Kettlebell to Unlock Freedom, the kettlebell is the most effective, efficient, and portable tool in the fitness arena. It tightens, promotes endurance, improves mobility and builds functional strength and strength. Its unique design brings a strong training effect and enables the fun of continuously improving skills. Of course, it's still a great tool for those simple, easy meat and potato exercises.

Make your plan

Once you've mastered the kettlebell (I recommend my full kettlebell program) all that's left to do is figure out:

Which three or four times of the day work best?

  • The first thing in the morning, before lunch, before going home
  • Just find a fourth time or settle down three times
  • Set phone alarms or other predictable cues to trigger the exercise. Consistent action is based on habit and the science of increasing willpower. You can find more help on this in my free e-book The Essential Guide to Self-Mastery.

How do you plan to store your kettlebell at work?

  • Under your desk
  • In the car?

In which work clothes is it easiest to train?

  • For your gender, find work clothes that you can exercise in. There are innumerable options for women. Men, it gets better too. Thank god for stretchy golf pants.

How can you reduce the confidence that comes with being the weirdo who works out?

  • You can close the blinds if you have an office. You could step outside or identify an infrequently used room. Or you just might not care. You are great after all.

What kettlebell workouts can you do and how will you structure your plan?

  • There are tons of options. Once you've mastered the basics, try combining the following six- to ten-minute blocks.

Options for kettlebell practice block 1

Each block should start with this very quick kettlebell warm up:

  • 5 per side kettlebell halos
  • Kettlebell Squat Pry series
  • 3 per side 1-leg kettlebell RDL
  • 5 pushups

This block is ideally done first thing in the morning. Since this is before getting dressed for work, it gives you a chance to get a little dirtier. I recommend taking this opportunity to do Turkish Get Up (TGU), the king of all exercises.

Options include:

  • Set a timer for six to eight minutes and continuously switch between the right and left TGU
  • 3 rounds of 1 right hand and 1 left hand TGU with 10 kettlebell rows per side

Kettlebell exercise block 2, 3 and 4 options

Option 1

3 rounds:

  • 5 per side kettlebell 1-leg RDL rows
  • 3 per side Kettlebell Snatch or Kettlebell Strict Press

Option 2

  • Six to eight minute kettlebell swing intervals with two hands. Start with 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest, and work towards less rest.

Option 3

  • Six to ten minutes of constant carrying of suitcases.

It is well documented that outdoor breaks increase energy and work productivity. Go outside and do this one-armed farmer walk twist. Just grab your shoulder down and back and grab the bell tightly. Walk. When your grip comes off, switch hands. Keep doing this until you run out of time.

Option 4

  • Six to ten minutes of one-armed kettlebell vibrations – 10 left, pause, 10 right, pause, repeat until time has passed.

Option 5: the glove

  • 15 per side 1-arm kettlebell clean, reverse lung, press (alternate hands after repeating all three exercises.)
  • 20-30 double-handed rowing

Option 6

Five to ten minutes of AMRAP:

  • 10 kettlebell goblet squats
  • 5 pushups

Option 7

Tabata with two exercises:

  • Choose any two kettlebell exercises to switch between and do eight rounds of 20 seconds of work / 10 seconds of rest.

Kettlebell fitness is good for you

There are plenty of other options, but these practice blocks should be more than enough to get you started. Any day that has three or four of these options included would be an extremely active, healthy day. That's the benefit of learning the kettlebell – the most portable and powerful tool in the fitness field. It is a skill that provides a lifetime of fun in fitness.

18 Nov
Blog

The Beginner’s Guide to Competing in Kettlebell Sport

When your love for a sport consumes everything and you live and breathe it with passion every day, It is easy to forget that not everyone understands what it is about or even knows about it. It happens to me a lot. Kettlebell sports are deeply rooted in my life.

When your love for a sport consumes everything and you live and breathe it with passion every day, It is easy to forget that not everyone understands what it is about or even knows about it. It happens to me a lot. Kettlebell sports are deeply rooted in my life.

I train for the sport of kettlebell, train my athletes in it and write about it. My wife is also a kettlebell lifter and trainer. So you can imagine that I can still be surprised when someone tells me that they have no idea about kettlebell. But I always like to explain it.

Me at a kettlebell sport competition.

Kettlebells: Not just for fitness

Most gym goers and trainers are experienced with kettlebells. These weird looking weights are no longer the novelty they were ten years ago and now have their place in many exercise facilities. However, most people have only seen and taught these handle cannonballs as a fitness tool. Many athletes are unaware that they have been used as an integral tool of a full-fledged sport for over sixty years.

"The two main disciplines in the sport are biathlon (which is made up of two separate disciplines, the jerk and the snatch) and the long cycle, which is clean and jerky."

The first official Girevoy sport (the sport's original Russian name) was held in the old USSR in 1948, and developed from there in the 1950s and 60s. This advance came mainly from the military, who had seen this form of training benefit the troops. In the 1970s, Girevoy sport was included in the National Sports Federation as the official ethnic sport of Russia.

It started gaining popularity in the UK in the second half of the 2000s, and after being an underground sport for a few years, now has competitions organized and approved by national bodies such as the Girevoy Sport Union and the Organization of Kettlebell Sport England. In the USA, the United States Girevoy Sport Federation was founded in 2003.

What is kettlebell sport?

The best way to describe it is "endurance weightlifting". The two main disciplines of the sport are biathlon (which is made up of two separate disciplines, the jerk and the snatch) and the long cycle, which is clean and jerky.

“The training methods vary greatly from athlete to athlete and from coach to coach; The only principle that does not change, however, is the requirement for maximum efficiency. "

All exercises are performed for a maximum of ten minutes, during which the athletes try to complete as many high quality repetitions as possible without placing the kettlebell (s) on the floor. Whoever has the most repetitions is considered the winner. In biathlon there must be a break of at least thirty minutes between the jerk and the tear.

Men complete the jerk portion of biathlon and the long cycle with two kettlebells, while women traditionally only use one kettlebell, although more and more women are choosing the two-arm lifts these days. The snatch is played with a kettlebell in both the male and female categories. When using a kettlebell, be it in the snatch (for both gender categories) or in the jerk and long cycle for women, the athletes are only allowed to change hands once during the set.

The best way to describe the kettlebell sport is “endurance weightlifting”.

How heavy are these things?

Kettlebell weights used in the men's category are typically 16 kg, 20 kg, 24 kg, 28 kg, and 32 kg. Women use 8 kg, 12 kg, 16 kg, 20 kg and 24 kg. These apply to local events in the UK and to national events.

The choice of kettlebell weights is decreasing dramatically on an international level. Here the lifters are divided into two categories, amateur and professional. Male amateurs use the 24 kg kettlebells while women use the 16 kg kettlebell. Professional male athletes compete with the 32 kg kettlebells, while the professional women use the 24 kg bell.

"All lifts are carried out with the aim of using only the required amount of energy and using the momentum during the concentric phase to the advantage of the lift."

In international competitions there is usually also a veteran category. The weights used may vary depending on the bandage under which the meeting is taking place and also depending on the age of the lifter. Typically, veterans use 24kg and women use 16kg.

The international competition for women is all about snatching at the moment. Given the rapidly changing landscape of the sport, that could change soon. It's also important to note that athletes compete in body weight categories. Men start at 63kg and go up to 95+ kg and women start at 53kg to 68+ kg.

Preparing a kettlebell athlete

Training methods vary widely from athlete to athlete and from coach to coach; However, The only principle that will not change is the requirement for maximum efficiency.

Without efficient technique, it is impossible to achieve the high repetitions necessary for success in sport. All lifts are performed with the aim of using only the required amount of energy and using the momentum during the concentric phase to the benefit of the lifter. To achieve such an efficient technique, the jerk, tear, and long cycle must be patiently and consistently drilled.

"Sport requires specific flexibility, muscular endurance, strength endurance, and well-developed aerobic capacity, so all of these components should be present in some way in the athletes' GPP program."

The eccentric part of the stroke is reduced to a minimum. This also explains the relatively low hypertrophy in kettlebell athletes compared to powerlifters or Olympic lifters, despite the enormous amount of weight lifted in each session.

When it comes to GPP, every athlete's needs will be different. Sport requires specific flexibility, muscular endurance, strength endurance, and a well-developed aerobic capacity, so all of these components should be present in some way in the athlete's GPP program.

Tips to get you started

I recommend anyone interested in competitions to look for a reputable trainer so that you can get to know the technical details of the lifts and can best program the training cycles. If you can't find a coach near you, find a coach who offers online training. Just make sure he or she has a proven record on the platform, either in person or through athletes.

The best way to get involved in the sport of kettlebell in the United States is to check with the United States Girevoy Sport Federation to see when and where competitions are taking place. A great first step is simply to watch a competition and get a feel for the sport. Good luck and see you on the platform.

More like that:

Photo 1 courtesy Laurence Clemente.

Photo 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

06 Aug
Blog

A Biomechanical Comparison of Kettlebell Snatch Styles

What lessons can we learn from world champions in a biomechanical comparison of different kettlebell snatch styles?

This article takes a close look at the difference between kettlebell snatch styles. No, I'm not going to compare hardstyle to kettlebell sport, but instead I'll take a look at some of the different styles of kettlebell sport.

Kettlebell sports

Kettlebell sport includes a variety of styles, although some are similar to hardstyle. I was lucky enough to test a number of elite kettlebell lifters.

Nevertheless, I chose these two because I think they are exemplary of what GS World Champion Arseny Zhernakov calls classic and modern style. These athletes are not kidding; Both took more than 200 snapshots with a 32 kg kettlebell in 10 minutes!

Below you will find some images of the trajectory of the kettlebell from the front view of these two athletes. You can see that Athlete A's path has a larger side-to-side movement.

In contrast, Athlete D appears to minimize side-to-side movement (just move between your legs directly over your shoulder). This contrast embodies the differences between these two styles. In my opinion, the classic was an adaptation of the barbell snatch technique (mainly moving through the sagittal plane).

Over time, people started using the kettlebells to increase mobility and allow greater lateral movement.

In summary, classic and modern snatch styles have a clear difference in their trajectory. The following illustration shows the path of athletes A and D. If you want more information about the trajectory of the kettlebell snatch, you can read my article: "Snatch trajectory of elite girevoy athletes (kettlebell) and their effects on the Strength and fitness training. "1

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

Classic versus modern KB snatches

The classic style of the kettlebell cunt is the approximation of the two to a barbell cunt, in which both legs drive and brake the kettlebell together.

In contrast, the modern style has a somewhat asynchronous movement pattern in which the strength increases on one leg and decreases on the other. This movement is caused by the displacement of the body to balance the kettlebell.

As such, the trajectory of the kettlebells begins to move sideways.

The following table shows the individual phases of the snatch and some of the differences:

PHASE

CLASSIC STYLE

MODERN STYLE

Fixation

Fall

Backswing

  • During the back swing phase, the force from the ipsilateral side slows down quickly and the weight is shifted to that side

End of the backswing

Accelerating train

(Second move)

Manual introduction (Catch)

Fixation

and kettlebell

In the graphic below you can see how the strength of each leg changes during the repetition (the higher the line, the higher the strength).

The stick figures above the trail of the ground reaction force begin in fixation on the left side. This phase is followed by the drop phase, in which you can see the differences within the styles. The line in the middle breaks up the down and up phase.

GRF Snatch

The upper figure is Lifter A in the classic style and the lower figure is Lifter B in the modern style. In the examples I did not give any numbers because these athletes have different body shapes and strength levels.

If you are interested in an in-depth reading of the power associated with kettlebell snatch, read my article "External Kinetics of Kettlebell Snatch in Amateur Lifters". 2nd

Below are graphics of my own classic and modern snapshots. I did this on the same day. I'm fine doing 200 reps with a 32 kg snatch. However, I can do a 10 minute set with it.

Again, we have to recognize the ground reaction force as a unique signature and can almost see it.

My classic kettlebell cunt::

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

My modern kettlebell snatch::

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

The following graphic shows a comparison of the strength of the left and right leg side by side, a line for each style. Interestingly, the floor reaction force is very similar for each style when I combine the force from each leg.

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

It is difficult to make general style recommendations (from force measurement data). However, it is individual and you need to use the safest technology that can optimize your performance.

It is important to remember to switch with one handEndurance of grip strength is typically the limiting factor in the performance of kettlebell sports.

The trajectory is different

The big insight from this is that there is a difference in the development of modern and classic kettlebell sports styles. This difference can affect the ground reaction force and weight shift.

The modern style accelerates the kettlebell with one leg (possibly to rest the other leg up to the hand switch), while the classic uses both legs to accelerate the kettlebell (possibly half as much with each leg).

Both modern and classic kettlebell sports styles have their merits, and you can achieve excellent performance with both.

References::

  1. Ross, James A., Cameron J. Wilson, Justin WL Keogh, Kuok Wai Ho and Christian Lorenzen. "Grab the trajectory of elite-level Girevoy (kettlebell) athletes and their impact on strength and conditioning training." International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching 10, No. 2-3 (2015): 439- 452.

  2. Ross, James A., Justin WL Keogh, Cameron J. Wilson and Christian Lorenzen. "External Kinetics of Kettlebell Kidnapping in Amateur Lifters." PeerJ 5 (2017): e3111.

05 Aug
Blog

A Biomechanical Comparison of Kettlebell Snatch Styles

What lessons can we learn from world champions in a biomechanical comparison of different kettlebell snatch styles?

This article takes a close look at the difference between kettlebell snatch styles. No, I'm not going to compare hardstyle to kettlebell sport, but instead I'll take a look at some of the different styles of kettlebell sport.

Kettlebell sports

Kettlebell sport includes a variety of styles, although some are similar to hardstyle. I was lucky enough to test a number of elite kettlebell lifters.

Nevertheless, I chose these two because I think they are exemplary of what GS World Champion Arseny Zhernakov calls classic and modern style. These athletes are not kidding; Both took more than 200 snapshots with a 32 kg kettlebell in 10 minutes!

Below you will find some images of the trajectory of the kettlebell from the front view of these two athletes. You can see that Athlete A's path has a larger side-to-side movement.

In contrast, Athlete D appears to minimize side-to-side movement (just move between your legs directly over your shoulder). This contrast embodies the differences between these two styles. In my opinion, the classic was an adaptation of the barbell snatch technique (mainly moving through the sagittal plane).

Over time, people started using the kettlebells to increase mobility and allow greater lateral movement.

In summary, classic and modern snatch styles have a clear difference in their trajectory. The following illustration shows the path of athletes A and D. If you want more information about the trajectory of the kettlebell snatch, you can read my article: "Snatch trajectory of elite girevoy athletes (kettlebell) and their effects on the Strength and fitness training. "1

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

Classic versus modern KB snatches

The classic style of the kettlebell cunt is the approximation of the two to a barbell cunt, in which both legs drive and brake the kettlebell together.

In contrast, the modern style has a somewhat asynchronous movement pattern in which the strength increases on one leg and decreases on the other. This movement is caused by the displacement of the body to balance the kettlebell.

As such, the trajectory of the kettlebells begins to move sideways.

The following table shows the individual phases of the snatch and some of the differences:

PHASE

CLASSIC STYLE

MODERN STYLE

Fixation

Fall

Backswing

  • During the back swing phase, the force from the ipsilateral side slows down quickly and the weight is shifted to that side

End of the backswing

Accelerating train

(Second move)

Manual introduction (Catch)

Fixation

and kettlebell

In the graphic below you can see how the strength of each leg changes during the repetition (the higher the line, the higher the strength).

The stick figures above the trail of the ground reaction force begin in fixation on the left side. This phase is followed by the drop phase, in which you can see the differences within the styles. The line in the middle breaks up the down and up phase.

GRF Snatch

The upper figure is Lifter A in the classic style and the lower figure is Lifter B in the modern style. In the examples I did not give any numbers because these athletes have different body shapes and strength levels.

If you are interested in an in-depth reading of the power associated with kettlebell snatch, read my article "External Kinetics of Kettlebell Snatch in Amateur Lifters". 2nd

Below are graphics of my own classic and modern snapshots. I did this on the same day. I'm fine doing 200 reps with a 32 kg snatch. However, I can do a 10 minute set with it.

Again, we have to recognize the ground reaction force as a unique signature and can almost see it.

My classic kettlebell cunt::

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

My modern kettlebell snatch::

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

The following graphic shows a comparison of the strength of the left and right leg side by side, a line for each style. Interestingly, the floor reaction force is very similar for each style when I combine the force from each leg.

A biomechanical comparison of the kettlebell snatch styles - fitness, fitness, strength and condition, ground reaction power, mobility, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell clean, girevoy sport, hardstyle, kettle bell training, KB swing, barbell cycling, sagittal level

It is difficult to make general style recommendations (from force measurement data). However, it is individual and you need to use the safest technology that can optimize your performance.

It is important to remember to switch with one handEndurance of grip strength is typically the limiting factor in the performance of kettlebell sports.

The trajectory is different

The big insight from this is that there is a difference in the development of modern and classic kettlebell sports styles. This difference can affect the ground reaction force and weight shift.

The modern style accelerates the kettlebell with one leg (possibly to rest the other leg up to the hand switch), while the classic uses both legs to accelerate the kettlebell (possibly half as much with each leg).

Both modern and classic kettlebell sports styles have their merits, and you can achieve excellent performance with both.

References::

  1. Ross, James A., Cameron J. Wilson, Justin WL Keogh, Kuok Wai Ho and Christian Lorenzen. "Grab the trajectory of elite-level Girevoy (kettlebell) athletes and their impact on strength and conditioning training." International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching 10, No. 2-3 (2015): 439- 452.

  2. Ross, James A., Justin WL Keogh, Cameron J. Wilson and Christian Lorenzen. "External Kinetics of Kettlebell Kidnapping in Amateur Lifters." PeerJ 5 (2017): e3111.

28 Jul
Blog

5 Kettlebell Exercises That Don’t Swing

Kettlebells are basically giant metal balls with a handle. They go back to Eastern Europe, the word girya (kettlebell) actually occurs in a Russian dictionary around 1704 (1).

In fact, the popularity of kettlebells in the West is largely attributed to Russian emigrant Valery Fedorenko, a world champion in kettlebell sport (Girevoy Sport), and Pavel Tsatsouline, a former sports training instructor and master of the sport of Soviet specialists, the Hardstyle Russian Kettlebell Certification ( RKC) and now heads StrongFirst.

The extent of kettlebell's popularity is more of a 21st century phenomenon, thanks in part to the popularity of its use in CrossFit and the many cases that it is used by online trainers on social media, but it still remains a niche activity.

This may be due to the technical difficulty of performing kettlebell movements correctly, in particular the mastery of the 6 kettlebell basics: swinging, swinging in, cleaning, getting up Turkish, snapping and pressing.

So let's focus on 5 kettlebell exercises that should be fairly easy to master, can be quite challenging, and are great moves in your exercise toolkit.

In some places, carpets, kettlebells and flat screens are among the great shopping spree of the pandemic. We may continue to see an increase in demand for kettlebell that will survive the pandemic as more and more people choose to exercise alone and at home.

Kettlebell halo

Kettlebell deadlifts

Clean and press the kettlebell

Kettlebell Biceps Triceps Extension

Kettlebell sumo deadlift

References

1. N. J. Meigh, J. W. L. Keogh, B. Schram & W. A. ​​Hing (2019). Kettlebell training in clinical practice: a scoping review. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 11 (1), 19.

27 Jul
Blog

5 Kettlebell Exercises That Don’t Swing

Kettlebells are basically giant metal balls with a handle. They go back to Eastern Europe, the word girya (kettlebell) actually occurs in a Russian disciple around 1704 (1). In fact, the popularity of kettlebells in the West is largely attributed to Russian emigrant Valery Fedorenko, a world champion in kettlebell sport (Girevoy Sport), and Pavel Tsatsouline, a former sports training instructor and master of the sport of Soviet specialists, the Hardstyle Russian Kettlebell Certification ( RKC) and now heads StrongFirst.

The extent of kettlebell's popularity is more of a 21st century phenomenon, thanks in part to the popularity of its use in CrossFit and the many cases that it is used by online trainers on social media, but it still remains a niche activity. This may be due to the technical difficulty of performing kettlebell movements correctly, in particular the mastery of the 6 kettlebell basics: swinging, swinging in, cleaning, getting up Turkish, snapping and pressing.

So let's focus on 5 kettlebell exercises that should be fairly easy to master, can be quite challenging, and are great moves in your exercise toolkit. In some places, carpets, kettlebells and flat screens are among the great shopping spree of the pandemic. We may continue to see an increase in demand for kettlebell that will survive the pandemic as more and more people choose to exercise alone and at home.

Kettlebell halo

Kettlebell deadlifts

Clean and press the kettlebell

Kettlebell Biceps Triceps Extension

Kettlebell sumo deadlift

References

1. Meigh, N.J., Keogh, J.W.L., Schram, B. & Hing, W.A. (2019). Kettlebell training in clinical practice: a scoping review. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 11 (1), 19.

22 May
Blog

Swing to Win – Kettlebell Swings Better Than Olympic Lifts?

Olympic weightlifting derivatives have long been celebrated as top exercises for strength training in strength and condition. There is evidence now that is probably wrong. For most people, a simple kettlebell swing is usually a better power move than any Olympic lift derivative.

Sport happens with full hip extension

The sprinting, hitting, throwing and swinging of a racket or racket is driven by your hips with full, powerful hip extension. The full hip extension is the part of the movements of the lower body in which you stand up fully and approach and reach fully stretched.

You have to catch the bar in Olympic lifts. Beginners and advanced users almost never achieve a full hip extension because they are already preparing to dive back in to catch the pole. With a kettlebell swing, it's easy for even beginners to get a full, snappy, and powerful expansion.

If you look at the end position of each repetition in the video, you will see that the body position also mimics the drive phase of a clean wood or stone load in Strongman, in which you vigorously drive your pelvis forward under the device.

In the swing you "catch" the weight with your hamstrings

One of the biggest risk of injury in sports is tearing an Achilles tendon. Recent research has shown that developing stronger and longer hamstrings is one way to minimize this risk of injury. 1

In the swing video above you can see the kettlebell coming back and I brake it, which ends the catching phase in a position where the hamstrings are on a stretch.

This strains the Achilles tendon when it is stretched, while strengthening and lengthening the muscle, just what has been shown to reduce the risk of hamstring rupture. It is also a movement that strengthens the inner Achilles tendon more than the outer hamstring2, which could also reduce the risk of hamstring. 3

No Olympic lift derivative has this weighted advantage of hamstring stretching. Therefore, no Olympic lifting variant helps to reduce the risk of hamstring injuries and at the same time train strength like the kettlebell swing.

Horizontal work

Swings have an obvious horizontal drive aspect that Olympic lifts don't. In a swing you drive the kettlebell forward powerfully, away from you, as you cannot with the pole in Oly lifts. If you did, you would not be able to catch the bar and exit the elevator.

This horizontal aspect is important for sports because the hips work the same way when sprinting, hitting, swinging, throwing, etc. There is evidence that training horizontal strength movements rather than vertical strength movements is more effective to improve sprinting. 4

This study compared barbell engines to barbell squats and the engines were more effective. It was suspected that the horizontal nature and the larger hip extension area of ​​the engines could be the reasons why the engine was more effective.

The effect of the kettlebell swing, unlike the Olympic lifts, is that kettlebell swings have these horizontal and larger hip extension features in an explosive lift, suggesting that they are more applicable to sprint and horizontal sport movements than a vertical power lift like the Olympic lifts.

Kettlebells are easier to learn

Anyone who has ever tried to teach beginners the Olympic lifts can tell you how difficult it is. Those of us who have tried Olympic lifting can all testify to how technically demanding it is.

This can be very fun and rewarding as a separate sport, but unfortunately it massively reduces the value of the Olympic lifts for strength and fitness. A kettlebell swing is fairly simple and easy to learn until you unlock the benefits.

When compared directly in a study with participants with more than a year of lifting experience, kettlebell swings performed well compared to power cleaning and high pulling forces. 5

Although the kettlebell group used much lighter loads, their vertical jump and power clean improved at the end of the study, as did the group that trained the power clean!

Not only that, the barbell group squatted and the chalice of the kettlebell group squatted, so that the barbell group became stronger through a stronger force movement.

This raises the question of whether the barbell group squatted heavier and became stronger, but the kettlebell group still improved in vertical jumping and power clean, although it was weaker and did not practice power clean. How much more effective was the kettlebell for power development? Swing as the Power Clean and the High Pull ?! The Kettlebell group has more power from less power, so that's relatively more power!

I think the relatively greater performance advantages of the kettlebell group were due to how much easier it is to learn and train the kettlebell swing to achieve physiological benefits while the barbell group was still trying the technical aspects of the Oly-Lift – Master derivatives.

The overall conclusion from the study is that a heavy barbell movement in combination with a kettlebell movement could be the optimal combination for strength and conditioning purposes.

The reduced risk of injury

When you prepare yourself or a team to perform better in a sport, it is your focus and not the tools you use for strength and conditioning. Nobody cares how well you clean and jerk off when you're a boxer who gets knocked out in every fight.

A major disadvantage of Olympic lifts is the risk of injury that they themselves have. Even the simpler fluctuations in performance disturb the wrists of many athletes, if nothing else.

Sometimes the risk of injury that we have from working in the gym is intentionally risked to protect the athlete from injury in sports. Unfortunately, some of the risks of Olympic lifting don't go over to much else, so they only affect their value as a strength and conditioning tool.

Kettlebell swings have no such problems. As mentioned earlier, the stretched strain they create from the hamstrings is beneficial for most sports and they don't put a lot of strain on your wrists.

A lower risk of injury from the lifts themselves, a higher injury potential and a higher return through less time invested make it child's play to choose kettlebell turns as strength and fitness training.

Program kettlebells

When it comes to integrating the kettlebell swing into your workout, I have a few preferred options. Explosive exercises can have a PAP effect 6, which means that they “wake up” your nervous system and facilitate the recruitment of muscle fibers.

This makes kettlebell swings a good choice to switch between general warm-up exercises and your first main lift. If you do, go to low volume. Work through the weights with sets of 5 or 6 reps as quickly and snappily as possible. When you get to a weight that slows you down and no longer feels snappy, stop there and ride your primary lift for the day.

The other way I particularly like is to take a kettlebell with you wherever you take your primary lower body lift. Whether it's squats, deadlifts, engines, or trap bar lifts, once your set is ready, hit a series of kettlebell swings without a break.

The weight does not have to be massively heavy as long as it is heavy enough that you feel like you have to work to move it quickly. Then rest as usual before the next sentence. This is contrast training.

However, if you incorporate kettlebell swings, this combination of research should clearly show that they are not a fad. A simple and effective movement that can help your hard-earned strength to transform into powerful sports movements cannot be ignored. Swing to win!

References

1. Short bicep femoral fascicles and weakness in the eccentric knee flexor increase the risk of thigh injury in elite football: a prospective cohort study

2. Kettlebell Swing Targets Semitendinosus and Supine Leg Curl Targets Biceps Femoris: An EMG study with effects on rehabilitation

3. Biceps femoris and semitendinosus – teammates or competitors? New insights into mechanisms of thigh injury in male soccer players: a muscle-functional MRI study

4. Effects of a 7-week hip push compared to squat resistance training on youth football performance

5. Effects of weight lifting vs. Kettlebell training on vertical jump, strength and body composition

6. Ballistic exercise as a stimulus before activation: An overview of the literature and practical applications

21 May
Blog

Swing to Win – Kettlebell Swings Better Than Olympic Lifts?

Olympic weightlifting derivatives have long been celebrated as top exercises for strength training in strength and condition. There is evidence now that is probably wrong. For most people, a simple kettlebell swing is usually a better power move than any Olympic lift derivative.

Sport happens with full hip extension

The sprinting, hitting, throwing and swinging of a racket or racket is driven by your hips with full, powerful hip extension. The full hip extension is the part of the movements of the lower body in which you stand up fully and approach and reach fully stretched.

You have to catch the bar in Olympic lifts. Beginners and advanced users almost never achieve a full hip extension because they are already preparing to dive back in to catch the pole. With a kettlebell swing, it's easy for even beginners to get a full, snappy, and powerful expansion.

If you look at the end position of each repetition in the video, you can see that the body position also mimics the drive phase of a clean wood or stone load in Strongman, in which you powerfully drive your pelvis forward under the device.

In the swing you "catch" the weight with your hamstrings

One of the biggest risk of injury in sports is tearing an Achilles tendon. Recent research has shown that developing stronger and longer hamstrings is one way to minimize this risk of injury.1

In the swing video above you can see the kettlebell coming back and I brake it, which ends the catching phase in a position where the hamstrings are on a stretch. This strains the Achilles tendon when it is stretched while strengthening and lengthening the muscle, just what has been shown to reduce the risk of hamstring rupture. It is also a movement that strengthens the inner hamstring more than the outer hamstring2, which could also reduce the risk of hamstring. 3

No Olympic lift derivative has this weighted advantage for hamstring stretching. Therefore, no Olympic lifting variant helps to reduce the risk of hamstring injuries and at the same time train strength such as the kettlebell swing.

Horizontal work

Swings have an obvious horizontal drive aspect that Olympic lifts don't. In a swing you drive the kettlebell forward powerfully, away from you, as you cannot with the pole in Oly lifts. If you did, you would not be able to catch the bar and end the lift.

This horizontal aspect is important for sports because the hips work the same way when sprinting, hitting, swinging, throwing, etc. There is evidence that training horizontal strength movements rather than vertical strength movements is more effective to improve sprinting. 4

This study compared barbell engines to barbell squats and the engines were more effective. It was suspected that the horizontal nature and the larger hip extension area of ​​the engines could be the reasons why the engine was more effective.

The impact of the kettlebell swing, unlike the Olympic lifts, is that kettlebell swings have these horizontal and larger hip extension features in an explosive lift, suggesting that they can be better translated to sprint and horizontal sport movements than a vertical power lift like the Olympic lifts.

Kettlebells are easier to learn

Anyone who has ever tried to teach beginners the Olympic lifts can tell you how difficult it is. Those of us who have tried Olympic lifting can all testify to how technically demanding it is. This can be very fun and rewarding as a separate sport, but unfortunately it massively reduces the value of the Olympic lifts for strength and fitness. A kettlebell swing is fairly simple and easy to learn until you unlock the benefits.

When compared directly in a study with participants with more than a year of lifting experience, kettlebell turns performed well compared to power cleaning and high traction.5 Although the kettlebell group used much lighter loads, their vertical jump and power cleaning improved at the end of the study as much as the group that trains the strength cleanly! Not only that, the barbell group squatted and the cup of the kettlebell group squatted, so that the barbell group became stronger through a stronger force movement.

This raises the question of whether the barbell group squatted heavier and became stronger, but the kettlebell group still improved in vertical jumping and power clean, although it was weaker and did not practice power clean. How much more effective was the kettlebell for power development? Swing as the Power Clean and the High Pull ?! The Kettlebell group has more power from less power, so that's relatively more power!

I think the relatively greater performance advantages of the kettlebell group were due to how much easier it is to learn and train the kettlebell swing to achieve physiological benefits while the barbell group was still trying the technical aspects of the Oly-Lift – Master derivatives.

The overall conclusion from the study is that a heavy barbell movement in combination with a kettlebell movement could be the optimal combination for strength and conditioning purposes.

The reduced risk of injury

When you prepare yourself or a team to perform better in a sport, it is your focus and not the tools you use for strength and conditioning. Nobody cares how well you clean and jerk off when you're a boxer who gets knocked out in every fight.

A major disadvantage of Olympic lifts is the risk of injury that they themselves have. Even the simpler fluctuations in performance disrupt the wrists of many athletes, if nothing else. Sometimes the risk of injury that we have from working in the gym is intentionally risked to protect the athlete from injury in sports. Unfortunately, some of the risks of Olympic lifting don't go over to much else, so they only affect their value as a strength and conditioning tool.

Kettlebell swings have no such problems. As mentioned earlier, the stretched strain they create from the hamstrings is beneficial for most sports and they do not strain the wrists very much.

A lower risk of injury from the lifts themselves, a higher injury potential and a higher return through less time invested make it child's play to choose kettlebell turns as strength and fitness training.

Program kettlebells

When it comes to integrating the kettlebell swing into your workout, I have a few preferred options. Explosive exercises can have a PAP effect 6, which means that they “wake up” your nervous system and facilitate the recruitment of muscle fibers. This makes kettlebell swings a good choice to switch between general warm-up exercises and your first main lift. If you do, go to low volume. Work through the sets with sets of 5 or 6 repetitions as quickly and snappily as possible. When you get to a weight that slows you down and no longer feels snappy, stop there and ride your primary lift for the day.

The other way I particularly like is to take a kettlebell with you wherever you take your primary lower body lift. Whether it's squats, deadlifts, engines, or trap bar lifts, once your set is ready, knock out a series of kettlebell swings without a break. The weight does not have to be massively heavy as long as it is heavy enough that you feel like you have to work to move it quickly. Then rest as usual before the next sentence. This is contrast training.

However, if you incorporate kettlebell swings, this combination of research should clearly show that they are not a fad. A simple and effective movement that can help your hard-earned strength to transform into powerful sports movements cannot be ignored. Swing to win!