Three Tips to Improve Your KettleBell Swing
Three Top Tips to Improve Your Swingby Jamie Lloyd CKT. The swing often gets overlooked as kettlebell students move too quickly to more advanced moves like the snatch. The problem is that if you progress without your foundation in place then you are gonna find it tough. Learning to swing properly will help you to master all other kettlebell moves and make make more difficult moves like snatches seem like a walk in the park . So here are three easy to implement tips that will accelerate your progress on the swings.
Tip #1 — Stay connected. Stand upright and stand tall and hold your arms out in front of you — now bring the arms down to connect to the body — you will find your arms glued to your rib cage (keep it tight to the body on the ribs not the chest). Keep your arms there and push the hips back like you are riding a broomstick. Then snap your hips and leave the arms pinned to your ribcage until the hips finish — then allow the hips to pop the kettlebell off the body. Then repeat.
Tip #2 — Ride The Kettlebell Like A Broomstick. If you have pinned the arms to the ribcage then riding the kettlebell like a broomstick will come natural to you. On the downward swing with the kettlebell do not let it pull out away from you — stay connected so that your arms are glued to your body and sit back through the heels and ride the bell like a broomstick by sticking you butt out behind you which will give you more momentum to perform the swing with less effort.
Tip #3 — Lead With The Hips. Once you have pinned your arms to your body and you are riding the kettlbell like a broomstick, you begin the swing again by extending the hips. Obvious right? However, you should finish the hip snap long before the kettlebell reaches the top of its swing. Once the kettlebell is descending again and you are reconnecting the arms to the body it is the hips that push back first. The knees do not bend down first. Push the hips back first — the knees will bend as a result of the hips moving. So the hips lead the race to the top of the swing and they lead the race to the catch at the bottom of the swing.
Implement these tips on two-arm and one arm swings and you will gain noticeable power and coordination with the swing. Then after practicing the swing use these same tips on your snatches and you will find the kettlebell floating to the top easier than ever.Jamie LloydKettlebell and Strength Coach http://www.russiankettlebellsuk.ning.com/
Crossfit Radio interview with Shawn Mozen
On Sunday the 21st I had the pleasure of being a guest on Crossfit Radio. You can listen to a recording of the show here http://journal.crossfit.com/audio/
Check out Episode 14 the free clip link is to the right. Neil and I talk about Kettlebells, functional training and I break news on a HUGE Kettlebell event that will be taking place in Canada in May.
New Dragon Door Newsletter Article!
Getting Back To Basics
By Shaun Cairns, Senior RKC
As a South African rugby player the basics are drilled into us. When the going gets tough the team call is "basics", meaning do the basic stuff right, don't over think it, and don't complicate it, just concentrate on the basics. Any team and any player that focuses on getting the basics right becomes a formidable opponent regardless of the level of competition.
In every sporting endeavor we constantly want to improve, and for many people progress means moving away from the basic drills and doing more esoteric drills as seen on the world wide web. Too many novice gireviks are turning on their computers and trying to imitate some dude on YouTube. Let's get one thing clear here, just because it is on the Internet does NOT mean that it is safe or effective to do. Anybody can post a video on the web; it doesn't mean they know what they are doing.
Ok, so you are not naive and think that every posting on the web is made by an expert, but you still want to progress to doing other exercises. No problem. It has been said that if you don't know what to do with a kettlebell then you have no imagination. This is still true, there are just two pre-requisites. You must first master the basic drills before engaging your imagination, and secondly basic drills should be the bread and butter of your workouts no matter how advanced you are. Do not confuse "basic" with "beginner". When a kid is taught to box they are taught how to throw a jab. You will see many beginners throwing jabs, but you will also see every world champion boxer, since Cane fought with Abel, throw jabs. The only difference is in the execution.
In kettlebells there are two basics you need to master; how to generate power with your hips and how to control a weight overhead. The two basic exercises to teach and to continually reinforce these basics are the swing and the Turkish getup. Never forego these exercises or their many variations in your weekly workout plan; never think you are too good to perform these basics. A while ago my fellow Senior RKC, David Whitley, posted a great workout starting with Turkish getups as the grind exercise for the day, and then moved on to swing and body weight squat ladders. Done with the correct weight and the correct hard style technique this workout will smoke you while at the same time taking care of your strength and endurance requirements.
The next level up in basic exercises will include the clean, squat, snatch, press and row. The first three exercises build on the swing because without the correct power generated from the hips safety and performance will suffer. The last three build on controlling the weight overhead. No typo there. Without either the hip thrust or the ability to handle a weight overhead the snatch performance will suffer. The press is obvious, but maybe the row is not. To correctly control a weight overhead one needs to connect ones arm with ones torso by engaging the back, specifically the lat muscles, thereby pulling the shoulder into its socket and stabilizing the shoulder joint. In the same way when you perform any variation of the row (including the pullup) stabilization of the shoulder joint by the activation of the back muscles is extremely important in performing the movement safely and effectively.
There are seven exercises, swing, Turkish getup, clean, squat, snatch, press, and row, each with multiple variations. Master these basic exercises and keep your workouts simple, safe and effective. Pavel has said it many times, a good General Physical Preparedness program is most times more beneficial than a Sport Specific program. This thinking should be applied to the various kettlebell moves; a good basic exercise program utilizing at least one pull and one push movement is most times more beneficial than a complicated, multi-move program.
Don't confuse basics with beginners. Get back to basics.
Shaun Cairns, Senior RKC is a former competitive swimmer and rugby player, who now holds the honour of being the original "Beast Tamer". Shaun and his wife Marlise own Kettlebells for Africa, the only pure kettlebell instruction facility in Africa. Currently there are 2 training locations, one in Edenvale, Johannesburg and the other in Somerset West just outside of Cape Town. Contact Shaun at shaun@kettlebellsforafrica.co.za
CARMEL VALLEY, CA RKC prep course. 4 Saturdays. Com. RKC Team Leaders Franz & Yoana Snideman. revoinfo@revolutionlajolla.com
CLOVIS, CA KB holiday bootcamp. Com. Dina Juve, RKC. dinajuve@kettlebellsoffresno.com
MODESTO, CA KB workshop. Com. Chuck Halbakken, RKC. chuckh@mac.com
VENTURA, CA Ongoing KB classes at the Gracie Barra Ventura BJJ Academy. Com. Doug Nepodal, Senior RKC. classicironkb@gmail.com
WHEAT RIDGE, CO KB classes starting Jan 7. Com. Jason Wood, RKC. apwjwood@yahoo.com
ATLANTA, GA RKC2 prep course. Jan 10. Com. Delaine Ross, RKC. delainerkc@gmail.com
ATLANTA, GA KB seminar. Jan 24. Com. Brett Jones, Master RKC. appliedstrength@gmail.com
MINNEAPOLIS, MN Ongoing KB classes. Com. James Neidlinger, RKC. jbuddhaneid@gmail.com
ST. PAUL, MN Ongoing KB classes at Lifetime Fitness. Com. John Rock, RKC2. jrock@lifetimefitness.com
BRYN MAWR, PA KB workshop. Jan 10. Com. Gary J. Berenbroick RKC. gary@kettlebells4u.com
JOHNSTON, RI A KB gym by RKCs Coms. Pete Vieira and Charles Bergeron. bodyarmourfitness@yahoo.com
Merry Christmas!
Comrade Pavel http://www.powerbypavel.com/
Hello I encourage you to register online for this event. We have been receiving paid registrations already for this event in Feb. Go to our website to see the link and pay on line to avoid disappointment.Happy Holidays.
Marty Hansen http://m-2sport.ca/
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