RKC School of Strength

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Andrea Du Cane

The Deadlift Row With Andrea Du Cane

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I hope you enjoyed my last post and video on the low or pendulum swing.

The second exercise I came up with during my knee re-hab was the kettlebell deadlift row. This is an incredible back and lower body exercise that again anyone can do. It follows the deadlift/hinge pattern, the key to a lower body killer workout is to keep the shins as vertical as possible and yet drop your hips down as low as possible.

 

 

This exercise really targets the mid-back muscles, like the hard to strengthen Rhomboids, as well as lower trap, lats, triceps and biceps. The key here is to keep your chest facing toward the ground at the bottom of the deadlift to be in the proper position for the row.

The secret to a proper row, is to initiate the movement by depressing the lats first. I think of it as pushing my shoulders down away from my ears. This will prevent the movement from being a trapezius exercise.

Then I pull my scapula together and drive my elbows back. The inside of the upper arms should “scrape” against the ribcage and the elbows should pinch together at the top. The chest will naturally push out and forward at the top of the pull. Keep the neck and head neutral.

Slowly straighten the elbows and then stand up from the deadlift. Pause a moment and tighten the glutes, legs, and abs while keeping your shoulders down and and shoulder blades pinching together.

You are ready for another rep. Lower down to the bottom of the deadlift with the kettlebell a couple of inches from the floor and perform the row again. Always straighten your arms completely before standing up again.

I do these as a superset with the low pendulum swings covered in the previous post.

Again I do intervals of :30 work to :25 rest. I’ll also add in dead swings, or single rep swings and regular swings as well.

You’ll love how this drill really targets the upper and mid-back while you are still working your hips and legs hard!

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Andrea Du Cane is a Master Kettlebell Instructor, CK-FMS certified, CICS certified, Primal Move National Instructor and RIST, ZHealth certified, and has a BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota.  She is featured on Breaking Muscle website as the February 2012 coach of the month. She is also a Pilates instructor. She has over twenty years of aerobics, weight training and fitness experience, with an additional background in… Read more here.

 

 

 

 

Pendulum (Low Swing) Workout

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I’d like to share with you a little story about myself.  Last September while traveling in Scotland I fell down an escalator and dislocated my left patella.  Not fun! Especially since it was the 4th time it had happened to my knee since my teens and I was on the road instructing at workshops.

Obviously, all squatting and ballistic movements were off-limits for a couple of months.  Yet I still needed to keep my strength in my glutes , legs and back as much as possible.  So I came up with a couple of exercises (along with my “go-to” knee rehab exercise the single-leg deadlift), the pendulum swing and the deadlift row.

Today I’m going to talk about the pendulum swing.  This exercise is one of the progressions we use in the RKC for teaching the swing.  It is used to teach the idea  that the lats are very active on the backswing and are necessary to help fully load the hips and glutes at the bottom of the swing.

This exercise reinforces the loading of the butt and legs and the activation of the lats. When done in an interval, your back and butt will be screaming for mercy!

I usually perform them with a :30 work/:25 rest interval.  I superset pendulum swings with the Dead Swings,  and the Dead-lift row.

To begin, start in your swing stance, using a heavy kettlebell.  A heavier kettlebell is easier to use during the pendulum than a lighter bell, the more weight the more it counterbalances your hips. Trust me, if you go to light you’ll end up on your butt!

Grab the kettlebell with 2-hands and “hike-pass” the kettlebell explosively between your legs. Your upper arms will make contact with your ribcage on the backswing.

Just let your arms relax and “float” forward, do not use your arms to swing it forward.  As the kettlebell swings to the front stay low and sit back and down.  Tighten your glutes and keep your shoulders packed, the kettlebell should still be able to float straight forward.  Just do not let your shoulders shrug up or out as the kettlebell swings to the front.

The focus is on the backswing with the arms doing a lot of the work, your lats, triceps and back will really get a great workout.  It’s super important to remember you MUST keep a neutral spine throughout the entire set. If you lose the spinal position, immediately put the kettlebell down and rest, before starting again.

As the kettlebell floats/swings forward, the emphasis should be on sitting back and down, not on the kettlebell moving forward.  There is a natural rocking motion you’ll achieve as you do this.  Rocking slightly from the heels to the balls of the feet. BUT, make sure to keep your feet as rooted as possible while doing this exercise.

Your butt and legs, lats and triceps should be on fire when you’re done.

As I mentioned feel free to superset these with any other swing or deadlift exercises. And use any interval timing that suits your needs and fitness level.

For those with knee problems, this is a excellent alternative to full explosive swings.

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aducane Contributors

 

Andrea Du Cane is a Master Kettlebell Instructor, CK-FMS certified, CICS certified, Primal Move National Instructor and RIST, ZHealth certified, and has a BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota.  She is featured on Breaking Muscle website as the February 2012 coach of the month. She is also a Pilates instructor. She has over twenty years of aerobics, weight training and fitness experience, with an additional background in… Read more here.

 

 

The Metabolic Punch-Up Workout by Andrea Du Cane, Master RKC

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A quick and effective workout to burn off the holiday fat and get your heart pumping.

14 kg kettlebell

I don’t know about you, but I never seem to have enough time during the busy holidays to get my regular time in the gym. I’m over committed, and trying to squeeze the most out of my precious workout time.  After the fun is over, I’m left a bit tired, perhaps with an additional pound or two on the scale and playing catch up at work.

To combat this dilemma I came up with this brutal and efficient workout.

Feel free to mix it up as you see fit.

You’ll notice how I start with the ballistics, and end with the grinds during the first few rounds.  Towards the latter part of the workout I switch the drills around and put the grinds first and end with the dynamic lifts. It is significantly harder starting with the explosive lifts, by the time you get to the presses and squats your heart rate is already high and it’s much harder to control your breathing for the slow lifts.

The key is that at no time during the round to you put the kettlebells down. Not until the entire round is over.  The other key ingredient is using double kettlebells throughout the workout.  Double bells means a lot more load per round.  It’s just more bang for your buck!

Double kettlebells are used for entire workout:

Ladies:  18lbs,  10kg, 12kg, or 14kg  (for strong ladies)

Men:      16kg, 20kg, or 24kg (for strong men)

Rest in between rounds just long enough to catch your breath.

It is imperative that you do active rest between sets and grab water as needed.

Once you begin the next round, there is no putting the kettlebells down!

Round One:

10       double swings

8          double cleans

4-5      double presses

4-5      double squats

REPEAT for round Two

Round Three:

8          double cleans

4-5      double presses

4-5      double squats

10       double swings

REPEAT for round Four

Round Five:

4-5      double presses

4-5      double squats

8          double cleans

10       double swings

REPEAT for round Six (you can stop at round five if needed)

Note, this workout sneaks up on you! You may need or want to drop down to lighter bells or drop a rep of each exercise.  Many will just get through rounds 4 or 5.

ALWAYS work at your own HONEST pace. If you are gassed or losing form stop before things go bad.  There is always tomorrow!

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Andrea Du Cane is a Master Kettlebell Instructor, CK-FMS, CICS, Primal Move National Instructor RIST, ZHealth certified. She is the Author of The Ageless Body, and The Kettlebell Goddess, The Kettlebell Boomer and Working with Special Populations DVD’s. She has been featured on the TRX-Kettlebell Power DVD, Breaking Muscle website, From Russia With Tough Love book and DVD, Best Body Magazine, and  Oxygen Magazine.
Andrea Du Cane
Master RKC
CK-FMS, CICS
ZHealth, R.I.S.T.