RKC School of Strength

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The Happy Challenge

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Suzanne Bos-Betlem, RKC

Two things I am very passionate about are music and kettlebells. They both cheer me up incredibly and I cannot imagine my life without them. But, bring these two together… and that’s when the magic happens!

Music can be a great stimulus during a workout. It’s a powerful tool that can take your training to the next level. For quite some time, I’ve been looking for a good song-based kettlebell workout. I specifically looking for a cheerful tune—an upbeat song that could effectively brighten up your day. Even more importantly, I needed a song that would respect the kettlebell principles I strongly believe in. So, there would be no rushing or pushing through with sloppy technique, definitely no reps over form. I was looking for a happy song that would help you rather than hurt you while working with kettlebells. And I found it! The universe gave me…. “HAPPY”, the Pharrell Williams song that was released in 2013 and featured on the soundtrack of Despicable Me 2.

Here’s the workout I designed to go with the song, AKA The Happy Challenge:

Start off with double kettlebells in the rack position. This is your basic position throughout the song.

Each time you hear the word “Happy,” you perform a military press on one side. Alternate sides with each “Happy.”

No need to rush. The “Happy” part (including “clap along…”) allows plenty of time to press your kettlebell up and bring it back down to rack. That’s the beauty of the song!

Between the presses, maintain the basic position (double kettlebells in the rack position) solid and strong. At Trainingscentrum Helena, we also call this double kettlebell rack position the Trojan Pose.

At the song’s bridge, Pharrell sings “Bring me down”. When you hear this part, perform a double kettlebell front squat. This will come to eight squats in the first bridge and four more during the second.

At the end of the song (in just under four minutes) you will have done 24 military presses (12 on each side), 12 squats and a lot of static rack holds. That doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Give it go and let me know what you think in the comments below!

P.S. In my classes, I give my clients the option to switch to push-presses if they lose form on their military presses. If they fail a press entirely during the workout, I’ll tell them to put the kettlebells down and continue with “imaginary” heavy kettlebells.

 

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Suzanne Bos-Betlem is a PCC, RKC and Trojan Workout certified trainer in Haarlem, The Netherlands. In addition to bodyweight and kettlebell training, she is an enthusiastic Krav Maga practitioner and yoga-lover.

Two Quick, Easy and Effective Kettlebell Exercises for Any Population

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Andrea Du Cane, Master RKC

There is something to be said about simplicity of movement and reinforcing the fundamental patterns of our kettlebell lifting.

I’ve taken two basic exercises and by using two kettlebells and focusing on the correct alignment and movement, I have turned them into simple and effective exercises for all populations—including your brand new clients, older clients and those recovering from certain injuries.

Double Kettlebell Deadlift Drag

The first drill is a double kettlebell deadlift drag. Normally we do this exercise with one heavy kettlebell. By using two medium to heavy kettlebells (heavy enough to complete the movement correctly with each arm), you open up the upper body kinetic chain. This will illuminate asymmetries from one side of the body to the other. It also allows you to strengthen the weaker side. Start with the same size kettlebell in each hand and then use a kettlebell one size larger on the weaker side.

For the purposes of this article and video, I will be using the same size kettlebell.

Get into the set up position. The kettlebells are approximately an arm’s length in front of you. Grab the kettlebells and pull yourself back toward your heels. You should feel as though you would fall back on your butt if you let go of the kettlebells. Lock your lats down into a packed position and maintain a long and neutral spine. SLOWLY drag the kettlebells back towards your heels with your elbows straight. Feel how the movement is initiated by the lats and the triceps. Do not let your hips drop below your knees, and do not let your spine flex at all!

The key is to not use any momentum. In fact, it is best if the floor you are using is sticky or rubber—the more resistance the floor offers the better.

If you feel most of the tension in the quads, then you are not getting your hips back far enough and are trying to hold your position with your quads instead of your glutes and hammies. The abs must be braced the entire time, and you should use a long firm exhale as you drag the kettlebells back. Release, step back, and re-set for the next rep.

I go the length of my gym, or at least 8-10 drags. Repeat for 1 or 2 more sets as desired. Remember, never let your back round into flexion at any time during this exercise!

Double Kettlebell Straight-Leg Deadlift

The double kettlebell straight-leg deadlift, is another simple but effective exercise to challenge the posterior chain. It is an excellent exercise for the hamstrings and glutes. And as in the deadlift drag above, it utilizes the lats.

There is an interesting difference between these two exercises. The deadlift drag uses the lats to do the work by pulling the kettlebells back toward the heels, while the hips and legs maintain stable strength. With the straight-leg deadlift, the lats are held stable while the hips and hammies initiate the movement through hinging. In other words, the movements and stabilization are reversed, but both are working the same muscles. Pretty cool huh!

Here’s how to do the double kettlebell straight-leg deadlift:

Pick up two moderately heavy kettlebells using good deadlift technique. Stand with your feet between hip and shoulder width apart. Keep your elbows straight and locked, and your lats retracted and contracted. Begin to send your hips back into a hinge. Keep your knees as straight as you can manage while maintaining a neutral spine at all times.

The amount of knee flexion and the depth of your torso forward relate to your hamstring flexibility. The more flexible you are, the straighter you can keep your knees and the lower you can fold forward without any flexion in your spine.

Inhale into your belly as your chest comes forward. Pause briefly at the bottom, keeping the glutes and hamstrings contracted. Tighten a little more and then exhale as you come back up to the starting position.

You will feel a deep stretch/contraction from your glutes down through your hamstrings. This exercise can be considered a loaded stretch for the glutes and hamstrings. It is a very powerful hamstring developer.

As usual, there should be NO flexion in the spine. Start with a limited range of motion until you can use the full range of motion with a neutral spine. You can adjust the amount of knee flexion as well—just don’t allow yourself to turn it into a regular deadlift, you’ll be cheating yourself out of the main benefit of this exercise.

As I mentioned above, the lats, back and core are working very hard to stabilize during this exercise, so they are benefiting too!

Start with 3 sets of 8 moving slow and controlled.

 

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Andrea Du Cane is a Master RKC Kettlebell Instructor, CK-FMS, CICS, and RIST, ZHealth certified, she has a BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and is also a Pilates instructor. She is the author of several books and dvds including The Ageless Body, The Kettlebell Boomer, and The Kettlebell Goddess Workout.  She has over twenty years of aerobics, weight training and fitness experience, with an additional background in… Read more here.

Why The Double Kettlebell Push Press

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aaron_pierson_dbl_kb_pushpress
Aaron Pierson performs a double kettlebell push press.

The double kettlebell push press may easily be one of the most under-used skills when it comes to training clients. In many circles it’s become known as the “cheater” press or the equivalent to a kipping pull up. For some individuals the push press may not always translate over to a stronger strict press and because of that, many people feel it’s a skill not worth working on.

Most people would agree that the best way to improve a strict press is to work the strict press on a regular basis. What about those who are not concerned with max strength or those who have a history of shoulder injuries? How about the athlete who needs to focus on strength endurance or power rather than raw strength? For those people, the push press may be the perfect answer.

The push press and the strict press have similarities. Both require an appropriate degree of shoulder mobility as well as core and shoulder stability. However the push press offers many qualities the strict press does not offer.

  1. The push press allows a heavier working weight and/or higher repetitions. Consider a person working the strict press with a basic ladder of 3 x (1-2-3-4-5) for a total of 45 reps with double 24kg kettlebell. That same person can nearly triple the amount of work completed with the same weight using the push press ladders of 3 x (2-4-6-8-10).
  2. Another benefit often forgotten about with the push press is the utilization of the legs. Instead of initiating the movement from the upper body, the push press utilizes the legs as it’s driving force. Add a clean between each push press and you have a very powerful full-body workout.
  3. The third piece the push press can offer is shoulder protection for those with a history of shoulder problems. Obviously this is dependent on shoulder mobility and injury history but let’s face it, not everybody is built to overhead press. In this case the push press may be the better alternative considering it bypasses the most risky part of the overhead press.

When building a program for yourself or clients, keep the big picture goal in mind. If the goal is to improve GPP, lose weight, increase muscle mass or increase power, the double kettlebell push press should be considered a top candidate for exercise selection.

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About Aaron Pierson RKC Team Leader: Aaron has been apart of the RKC since 2010. He currently works full time as an EMT and owns Fundamental Strength in Fort Collins, Colorado. He can be reached at [email]aaron@fundamentalstrengthllc.com[/email] or by visiting www.fundamentalstrengthllc.com