core stability

Deadlift Variations with One Kettlebell

November 18, 2020 By Ryan Jankowitz Leave a Comment

Even though I’m writing this blog post during a global pandemic, I’m not trying to scare you into working out with kettlebells. However, kettlebell training will make you stronger and more resilient. My goal with this post is to give you a few new ideas for your kettlebell workouts because kettlebells and other fitness equipment have been hard to find recently. You may have just one kettlebell or several kettlebells and no matching pairs—but you can still do kettlebell deadlifts.

The deadlift is arguably the king of strength building exercises. Not only is it great for getting stronger, but it can improve your posture and strengthen your hips. When performed correctly, the deadlift can alleviate back pain.

Additionally, mastering the kettlebell deadlift will allow you to transition to the Hardstyle kettlebell swing. From there, a whole world of kettlebell exercises await.

First, you must master the standard kettlebell deadlift and understand the hip hinge.

The hip hinge means that you move from your hips, the strongest set of muscles in your body, while keeping your spine straight or neutral. Once you’ve mastered the standard kettlebell deadlift, you can begin training with a number of exciting variations. Here are a few to get you started:

Let’s Get Asymmetrical!

Now we can unevenly load the body—for greater core engagement—by learning two different one-arm kettlebell deadlift techniques.

1. The kettlebell suitcase deadlift places the kettlebell outside one of your feet. This deadlift variation is great for grip strength because you’re only using one hand to grip the kettlebell handle. Make sure that you don’t lean or rotate toward the kettlebell as you move in and out of your hip hinge. Stay square all the way through the movement.

2. The kettlebell one-arm deadlift is fairly self-explanatory. The kettlebell will be between your feet but toward the hand that will be grabbing it. Stay square all the way through the movement and don’t lean or rotate toward the kettlebell. Again, grabbing the kettlebell with one hand will improve your grip strength and the offset load will really engage your core.

3. The kettlebell staggered stance deadlift is a unique variation because you use one hand—and also load one leg more than the other. You can practice this move with your opposite arm and leg, or by holding the kettlebell with the arm on the same side as the loaded leg.

Ryan Jankowitz Staggered Stance Deadlift — Staggered Stance Deadlift

4. The last variation I want to share is the kettlebell single leg deadlift. This deadlift is performed while balancing on one leg. The kettlebell single leg deadlift improves balance and is great for your feet and ankles. This move is challenging, so take your time when performing it and move slowly with purpose. You can hold the kettlebell in the opposing hand, or on the same side as the working (standing) leg.

Watch this video for demonstrations of each kettlebell deadlift variation mentioned in this post.

Stay Strong and Safe!

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Ryan Jankowitz, RKC II lives in Maryland with his wife and two dogs. They love to go hiking and spend time on the beach. When he’s not telling his dogs to stop chasing squirrels, Ryan enjoys spreading the RKC message and teaching others how to train with kettlebells. He’s got a 90-day kettlebell transformation program that helps busy adults lose 10-15lbs., shed their spare tire and build lean muscle so that they look great naked and move like they did in their 20’s. Click here to schedule a free call with Ryan.

How and Why to Practice Slow Motion Kettlebell Get-Ups

June 13, 2018 By Shari Wagner Leave a Comment

Shari Wagner Slow Motion Get-up

At a Dragon Door workshop back in 2010, a Senior RKC taught us how to do slow motion get-ups and my life was forever changed!

In theory, slowing down a get-up sounds simple enough—but you know what they say about “simple but not easy”! When I tried a slow motion get up for the first time, I noticed that I wanted to go through it way too fast. At the workshop, we were instructed to try and take a full minute to get from the floor to standing, and then another full minute to get back to the floor.

I was amazed. Simply slowing down the pace of the get-up amplified every nuance of each step and each movement. The weight is also amplified. At the time, I was able to do a solid get-up with a 16g kettlebell—and sometimes a 20kg. I scoffed when they told the women to use an 8kg kettlebell. Quickly, I realized that when moving slowly, an 8kg kettlebell is no joke! Time under tension is increased—and the whole move is much more difficult.

I found that certain parts of the get-up were excruciatingly had to do slowly—and that the steps requiring mobility in areas where I was tight were the most difficult of all. This slow motion drill was a great lesson. It taught me where I needed to improve my mobility, and where my strength and movement quality needed help.

Shari Wagner kettlebell Get-up Slow motion get-ups are different than doing a get-up at a regular pace and pausing at each step. Perform a slow motion get-up as though you’re watching yourself on video, frame by frame. Definitely pause at each step to check yourself (just as you would in a regular get-up) but move in super slow motion from one step to the next. At first, you may want to try slow motion get-ups with no weight. It’s surprising how challenging this drill can be!

If you find a step where you aren’t able to move in slow motion or where you naturally speed up, then that’s an area that needs some work. You may need to mobilize your hips, shoulders, and/or your thoracic spine. Or, it may be that an area needs more strength and stability. Attack the issue from all angles, but if you feel like your body is stuck, then it’s usually because of a mobility issue.

Another way to improve your technique is to take note of asymmetries in your movements from left to right. These movement asymmetries can also be caused by immobility or lack of strength and/or stability.

Improve Mobility Challenges With These Drills:

When practicing the half get-up (at the elbow or posting to the hand) insufficient thoracic mobility can cause people to slump forward or be unable to get into a tight position with the shoulders packed and the side of the body straight. Another compensation for poor thoracic mobility is compensating by arching the lower back.

Here’s one of my favorite drills to improve thoracic mobility:

Rotational thoracic mobility is also important for the get-up, since the half get-up and half windmill phases are in the transverse plane. Here’s a helpful drill:

For shoulder stability, I love the simplicity of a good waiter’s walk. During the drill, really focus on using your lats to hold your arm overhead. Think about drawing your entire arm and shoulder down into the socket.

The “standing bird dog” is a great drill that delivers a double whammy of shoulder stability, core stability and strength in both areas. Dan John describes it in detail in the Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge. Start by pressing the kettlebell overhead. Set the arm and shoulder in place, as in a waiter’s walk. Then, lift the leg on the same side (raising the knee up) and hold. When you can no longer keep your balance, put your foot back on the ground and then raise the other leg. Hold then switch the kettlebell to your other arm and repeat the drill.

Good luck with the slow motion get-up and these mobility drills. Please leave your comments below if you’ve tried them before, or if you try the drills for the first time now!

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RKC Team Leader Shari Wagner, RKC-II, PCC, CK-FMS owns Iron Clad Fitness in Denver, Colorado. She can be contacted through her website at IronCladFit.com, email: info@ironcladfit.com or by phone 720-900-4766. Follow her on Facebook: facebook.com/IronCladFitness and Twitter: twitter.com/IronCladFitness.

Why We Grunt

February 25, 2015 By Felix Sempf 6 Comments

RKC Instructor Felix Sempf

When entering a room where RKC kettlebell training is in progress, one quickly notices the characteristic way people breathe while performing the exercises. Although this “grunting” may sound unfamiliar and disconcerting at first, breathing in sharply through the nose and breathing out slowly while gritting the teeth should become a part of everyone’s training routine.

In order to understand why we use the “biomechanical breathing” method for improved performance and safety, we first need to talk about the anatomy of the trunk and core. Today, most researchers agree that the lumbar region is an area that relies heavily on stability and where excessive range of motion should be avoided (Battie et al, 1990; Biering-Sorenson, 1984; Cuoto, 1995; Saal & Saal, 1989; McGill, 2010). In the original sense, the widely-used term “core stability” describes “the ability of the lumbopelvic hip complex to prevent buckling and to return to equilibrium after perturbation” (Wilson et al., 2005). In other words, core stability is the ability to produce and maintain a neutral lumbar spine (Gottlob, 2001). According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, keeping a neutral spine is recommended when lifting something heavy off the ground or being under load…

Several muscles, such as the latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, quadratus lumborum, multifidii, and obliques—but also the glutes and adductors contribute to the stability of the core (Filey, 2007). More importantly, most of these muscles are connected via the thoracolumbar fascia, thereby forming a natural weightlifting belt around the lumbar spine. In conjunction with the diaphragm and the muscles of the pelvic floor, they help to maintain or build core stability by forming a shell around the lumbar region. Contracting the core and hip muscles leads to muscular stiffness and therefore the flexibility of the shell decreases and becomes more rigid. Filling the rigid shell with air by sharply inhaling through the nose will increase the so-called intra-abdominal pressure, leading to greater compression of the spine and consequently higher intervertebral stiffness (increased lumbar spine stability).

diagram of human breathing

A sharp inhalation has the advantage of automatically contracting the core muscles, which does not happen during slow breathing. The same effect is observed when exhaling while gritting one’s teeth—sufficient intra-abdominal pressure is maintained because more air will remain in the respiratory pathways while air flow is constricted. Continuous breathing allows continuous spine stability and is therefore preferable to the “valsalva maneuver”, when performing a task for more than one repetition. In support of this theory, Stuart McGill (2007) reported that using this breathing technique—known as “kime” in martial arts—when performing swings lead to a significantly greater contraction of the obliques. Thus, safety and performance can be enhanced by just breathing the right way.

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Felix Sempf M.A. Sportscience, RKC, FMS, PM trains and instructs at the FIZ in Göttingen, Germany. He can be contacted by email at: felix.sempf@sport.uni-goettingen.de and his website: http://www.kettlebellperformance.de