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Swinging Through Pregnancy, Prenatal Kettlebell Training – Part 2

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Kathleen Walters RKC Kettlebell Snatches

This is the second part of a two-part series about top tips for trainers working with expecting mamas. In part one, we covered the first 3 tips for training pregnant women, and today we take a look at three more important points of advice for coaching women during pregnancy.

  1.     While each client’s needs will be individual, know what to look watch out for with exercise choices for pregnant women. Each pregnant woman will have her own limitations, but there are some common issues to watch for with your prenatal clients, such as Diastasis Recti or DR. DR is a separation between the right and left sides of the rectus abdominis muscle that affects approximately two-thirds of pregnant women. Unfortunately, most will not know that they have this problem, and most trainers do not know what to do about it.

Early in my pregnancy, I noticed that my belly was “coning” when I performed exercises like push-ups and planks—even though those are commonly recommended moves for pregnant women. After doing my own research, I realized that this was a sign of DR. When I mentioned this to my doctor, he told me not to worry about it since there was nothing I could do to fix it until after I had the baby. While my research confirmed I could not fix the problem during pregnancy, it also revealed that I could prevent making the problem worse by avoiding certain exercises.

When working with an expecting mom, assess her for DR several times as her pregnancy progresses. Avoid incorporating exercises in your programming that strain or twist the abdominals which can worsen the abdominal separation. Examples of exercises to avoid are: the get-up, windmill, push-ups, and traditional core exercises such as standard planks, sit-ups, crunches, Russian twists, v-ups, leg raises, etc. Additionally, clients should steer clear of exercises that create a risk of falling, such as box jumps. They may also not feel comfortable doing other “jumping” exercises like jumping jacks or jump rope, since these movements can cause increased pressure on the bladder.

Kathleen Walters double kettlebell Front SquatBeginning in the second trimester, it is also important to avoid exercises that require your client to lie flat on her back. This precaution can prevent the weight of the uterus from compressing the vena cava—a major blood vessel—potentially disrupting blood flow to the baby and leaving mom dizzy and short of breath. An easy way to work around this issue is to instruct your client to do these prone exercises, such as floor presses, on an incline instead.

Some of the best exercises to incorporate into a prenatal client’s programming include: goblet squats (which help prepare for labor), seated one-arm military presses, kettlebell deadlifts, suitcase deadlifts or sumo deadlifts, kettlebell swings (as the belly grows, single arm kettlebell swings may be more comfortable), single arm bent-over rows, and alternating reverse lunges. Single-leg deadlifts may also be appropriate earlier in a pregnancy, but it is best to avoid exercises that require great balance as the pregnancy progresses since balance will become compromised as the belly grows.

 

  1.     Remind your client that pregnancy is not the time to pursue personal records, instead she can work on improving her skills or beginning her journey with kettlebells. Prior to my pregnancy, I had never done a kettlebell snatch, but I spent a lot of time studying and practicing the movement while I was pregnant. My training focused on perfecting the movement’s form, and I never used a weight heavier than 8 kg. I also kept my training lower in volume.

Pregnancy is simply not a time to try to pursue a weight or endurance PR. While there are lots of photos and videos online of women who are nine months pregnant squatting and deadlifting very heavy weights, I discourage clients from doing these types of feats. Very heavy lifting can put unnecessary pressure on their pelvic floor, which can cause complications both during and after pregnancy. Pregnancy is also not a time to try to beat your previous times in high endurance sweat sessions. I remind clients that when it comes to strength and conditioning, the goal during pregnancy should be “to maintain and not gain”. Focus on skill development and form.

Kathleen Walters Kettlebell Hike

You might have a new client who is expecting but who was not physically active prior to pregnancy. It is still possible for this client to begin a training regimen, as long as she consults with her doctor, and you avoid programming strenuous and complex exercises. Instead, focus on foundational movements such as bodyweight squats, bodyweight stationary lunges, kettlebell deadlifts, seated military presses and bent-over rows.

Walking is also an excellent exercise to add to an expecting mom’s program, whether she is new to exercise or an advanced athlete. Walking is a full-body exercise that is generally safe to do throughout pregnancy. The intensity can be adjusted based on the client’s fitness level. Additionally, walking has been shown to lower the risk of certain complications such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. Walking can also help to relieve stress, elevate your client’s mood and give her some much-needed “me time.”

  1.     Encourage your client to listen to her own body. Training while pregnant requires a woman to be more in tune with her own body than ever before. When I was expecting, I avoided any movements that felt uncomfortable or strained, and I never allowed myself to become overheated or dehydrated. Prior to getting pregnant, I was always eager to push myself to exhaustion. After learning I was having a baby, I prided myself on taking it “low and slow”. Ultimately, this change allowed me to train consistently 4-5 days a week up until the day before I gave birth. I kept my weight gain within a healthy level, which helped me return to my pre-pregnancy weight less than a month after giving birth. Additionally, although I had never formally trained with kettlebells prior to pregnancy, my focus on skill and form prepared me earn my RKC certification just 7 ½ months after giving birth.

I look forward to sharing the knowledge I gained through this experience to help other expecting moms swing through pregnancy and beyond.

 

Be healthy, happy and strong,

Kathleen Walters

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Written in collaboration with Master RKC Michael Krivka

Kathleen Walters, RKC is known as the “Kettlebell Mama”. She is a lifelong athlete based in Washington, DC, who specializes in coaching busy moms and moms-to-be in-person and remotely, helping them incorporate healthy fitness and nutrition habits into their chaotic “mom life.” To learn more about Kathleen and her coaching services, email her at kathleen@bellsandpeppers.com, or visit her website and popular blog at http://www.bellsandpeppers.com.

11 Specialized Variety Methods For Blasting Through Overhead Pressing Plateaus

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Matt Beecroft BU Press

A heavy kettlebell press—or any overhead press for that matter—will always be a super impressive feat of whole-body strength. For some, getting heavy things overhead is the meaning of life, and I can understand why! There are few better feelings than locking out a heavy overhead grind.

You have probably heard the phrase, “To press well, you have to press a lot.” Technically, this statement is true. But, when you regularly work heavy grinds like the press, or any high tension, high threshold lift for high reps like ladders, it can be pretty unforgiving on the body—especially the shoulders. Like many in our RKC community, I am a big fan of push-presses and jerks, especially since they seem to be a little more forgiving on the shoulders.

Enter one of the programming principles taught in the RKC: specialized variety. This important concept allows us to avoid plateaus, improve a skill (like pressing), and can also help us avoid injury.

The biological law of accommodation holds that the more you repeat a given movement, the less effective it will be for achieving your goals. A biological object’s response to a given constant stimulus decreases over time. Accommodation is your body’s decreasing response to a constantly continued stimulus—so, we will need to vary our training a little.

Another training principle—which seems to be the opposite—is the SAID principle. The specific adaptations to imposed demands (SAID) principle states that the more something specific is practiced, the more that specific skill will improve. In other words perfect practice makes perfect when it comes to developing skills.

With specialized variety, we want to choose exercises that are very similar, but are slight variations so we can keep training a movement without reaching a plateau.

Principle One: Change Your Foundation

Changing your lower body position is a simple way to add specialized variety to your pressing. With the regular press we usually stand in a bilateral stance with our feet square and roughly shoulder width apart. But, when we change position?

In real life and especially in sports, we’re very rarely in a perfect bilateral stance. More often, we’re in lunge like or single leg stances. Some of these variations can also have crossover for better sports performance.

  1. Feet Together

By narrowing your base, your body really has to zip everything up. Pressing with your feet together ensures that you think about drawing everything into your center, while stopping any tension “leaks” of throughout the body.

  1. Inline Lunge

Similar to pressing with the feet together, but place one leg behind the other (kettlebell on same side as the rear leg). This stance introduces a lateral balance demand and forces the body to zip everything up. You can self-limit the balance demand of this technique—make it harder or easier—by changing the distance or width between the two feet.

  1. Contralateral and Ipsilateral Stances

Even though these stances are very rarely seen or used, I love using them to strengthen the body contra-laterally (think of an X across the body from shoulder to hip) or ipsilaterally (shoulder to hip on the same side). If you are interested in fascia and slings (see Thomas Myers) then this will be right up your alley. These press variations are done on one leg and can be really challenging. For the contralateral version, the kettlebell in the opposite hand of the foot you are standing on, and for the ipsilateral version, press and stand on the same side.

  1. Tall Kneeling and Half Kneeling

Without going down the rabbit hole of corrective exercise, both the tall and half kneeling positions give us great pressing options. By taking the knees and ankles out of the movement, we can focus on letting the hips and the core do their work. The goal of the tall and half kneeling positions is to help us create more stability and control while pressing. They can prompt us to tie the upper and lower body together as in the two previous options. The half kneeling option is also self-limiting. Narrowing your base of support (as in the inline lunge press) in the kneeling lunge position creates more instability—and an environment where you will need to stabilize more to keep your balance—just like the standing inline lunge. If you decide to work from a half or tall kneeling position, you really need to make sure your set up in these positions is spot on—a poor setup will not allow you to gain the benefits of these movements.

  1. V-Seated Press

One of my all time favorite all pressing positions is sitting down in semi side split/pancake position with my legs in a V. This is an amazing variation that really helps to tie in the core with the shoulders, lats, and triceps. Watch your lumbo-pelvic positioning in the V-seated position, so your back and lower back stay in a neutral position.

Matt Beecroft V-Seated Press

  1. The Sots Press

The Sots press is a tough variation for those with great squatting technique and good overhead shoulder mechanics. The press is performed by cleaning the kettlebell, pulling yourself down into a squat, bracing, and then pressing from the deep squat position.

  1. Side Press

Often overlooked as an option to improve the basic press, the side press is an awesome variation that again can really challenge the core. It also requires crazy lat firing, or creating a “shelf” with your lat behind your elbow. This tough variation starts with the feet in a windmill position. The press begins at the bottom position—or after coming down to the bottom position—of the windmill, pressing to lockout and then standing up with the bell just like in the windmill. The windmill is taught at the RKC-II with the kettlebell in the top hand already in lockout and then descending up and down—there’s also a version with kettlebells in both hands. If you are not proficient with the windmill yet, I would suggest waiting to try this press variation until you have trained with an RKC-II instructor.

The setup for this lift is the same as the windmill style setup for the bent press (as opposed to the squat variation of the bent press) taught at the RKC Level-II. Unlike the bent press, where you press your body away from the kettlebell, when performing the side press, you are actually pressing the kettlebell away from you.

  1. The Get-Up Press

Want to strengthen each position of your get-up while training for a stronger press? Try pressing at each stage of the get-up for a real challenge. Even in the half kneeling/windmill position, you can bring your elbow behind your body to the lat, as a progression to help your bent press and kettlebell windmill. The get-up press will really highlight any weakness in your get-up, it will really force you to be more stable in each position.

Principle Two: Change Your Grip

  1. The Bottoms-Up Press

If you’ve seen Master RKC Max Shank perform a bottoms-up press, it’s easy to see that it’s a great pressing variation. While the kettlebell’s groove and body positioning are slightly different, the benefits of this pressing variation are huge. Not only does this variation improve your grip strength, core activation, and reflexive stability, it can also be the safest way for those with troublesome shoulders to press a kettlebell without discomfort or pain. Set up for this lift by placing the webbing of the thumb and first finger in the middle of the kettlebell handle so you can balance it on the heel of your palm. Even though the groove of this press is different, it will encourage you to keep your forearm vertical, which can be helpful for improving your regular press. Since you can’t press very heavy kettlebells with the bottoms-up press, it is a great variation to use when you don’t have a heavy kettlebell to press.
Max Shank Bottoms-up press in Master the Kettlebell

  1. The Stacked Press

The stacked press variation really changes the center of gravity—the position—of the weight/load. To perform this lift, stack a lighter kettlebell on top of a heavier one by carefully cleaning both together and around the wrist. The grip requirement for this variation is huge. You have to crush both handles to complete the press. This is also an awesome option when you only have access to smaller kettlebells or if you only have a few big kettlebell sizes, and want to work on something in between. Because the center of gravity of the load and grip are different than a regular press, you probably won’t be able to press as much with this lift.

Matt Beecroft Stacked Kettlebell Press

Side note: there is a bottom’s up stacked press where you can do a bottoms up press with another kettlebell sitting on top. While I like variety, this is probably taking it a bit too far, and is usually only manageable with very light weight. Even then, it’s a very risky lift, and you probably don’t want to be remembered as an epic “gym fail” on YouTube after a kettlebell falls on your head.

  1. The Waiter’s or Palm Press

When performing a waiter’s press (palm press), you hold the body of the kettlebell, not the handle in the palm of your hand. Your palm is facing up, just like a waiter’s when carrying a tray on the palm of the hand. This variation feels really weird, but encourages surprisingly strong shoulder “packing” and lat activation during the press.

Matt Beecroft Waiters Press

Lastly, it can be really cool to pick an option from principle one and combine it with an option from principle two. For example, you could try a bottoms up press from tall or half kneeling, or a stacked press from the V-seated position. The options are endless and they all lead to a better press.

Don’t forget to base your rep ranges on your goals:

For strength aim for total 6-20 reps and 1-5 reps per set: 3 x 3, 3 x 5, 2 x 5, 5 x 3, 10x 1 etc.

For strength and muscle mass aim for 20-40 total reps and 3-8 reps per set: 7 x 3, 8 x 4, 4 x 8, 5 x 5 (my favorite), 6 x 4, 10 x 4, 6 x 6 etc.

When it comes to pressing, apart from the regular single, double or alternating and see-saw pressing with the feet square and roughly shoulder width apart, these two principles will really help you burst through your current plateau without hours and hours of pressing ladders. Especially when there are no heavy bells to press, we can make the press more challenging and get gains in strength by using complexity instead of load and volume.

 

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Matthew Beecroft is a Master RKC, PCC Instructor, and CK-FMS certified instructor. He is also a GFM and Animal Flow instructor and Expert Level 2 instructor with Krav Maga Global and a Muay Thai coach who has trained amateur and professional Muay Thai champions. He can be contacted through his website www.realitysdc.com.au or Facebook page: facebook.com/MeetLifeHeadOn/

How to Build Muscle Mass with Kettlebells

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Robert Miller Beast Kettlebell Press

The number one rule for lifting—since lifting is life, it’s also the rule number one for life—is always look cool. This accounts for every variable of the workout and all the choices which come with it. Looking cool requires flawless technique, accounting for all safety points, and training with intention.

Training with purpose is the only way to get your peak physique. Let’s face it, we got into training to get jacked and stacked. Improving your physical appearance is an important exercise goal. Strength is a skill, sure. The stronger you become, the more you will get out of life. It is pretty safe to say we can accept this as a universal truth. However, since strength is a function of mobility and stability, we must pay homage to the details of healthy movement.

No other tools in modern history have offered more for dynamic strength gains than kettlebells. For some people, strength is a side effect of training. For others, strength is their only goal. Certainly there are trade offs in training which must be considered when setting goals, and more strength should always be a top priority. But, wanting to look like the prototypical athlete isn’t vanity—it is strength on display. And it takes a truck load of work. When we’ve put in the work, our bodies show it. People will check us out or size us up. How we look communicates our work ethic, discipline, overall health, confidence, and other aspects of our character. This is the cover of the book by which every other human judges our stories.

Robert Miller Kettlebell RackedOn some level, we all try to make ourselves more presentable. We’ve bought designer jeans from boutique stores and tried designer workouts at twice the price for half the results. If you haven’t reached this conclusion yet, let me help enlighten you: it’s not the clothes on your body that matter, it’s the body in your clothes. So, let’s tune up our bodies and spend our time wisely. Male or female it is important to maintain our muscle mass as we age and the kettlebell gets results. That’s why we train with kettlebells for massive shoulders, thick arms, solid legs, ripped abs and athletic skills for any task.

It’s grind time! Kettlebell ballistics are fun and one of the best ways to increase your conditioning and stamina but if you’re looking to bulk up, then kettlebell grinds are the answer.

Two key variables in the strength and hypertrophy equation are “X” (the speed of the work) and “Y” (time under tension). We want to simplify this equation and solve for X and Y. Every rep of our hypertrophy training program, becomes about decreasing X and increasing Y as we increase the resistance across the sessions. This is why kettlebell ballistics take a back burner during this period of training. To grow our muscles, we also need to choose the right movements. We don’t want to isolate the targeted muscles, because that approach doesn’t yield as much mass. Compound exercises are universally accepted as the most effective way to build muscle and strength. This still holds true at universities and “bro-science labs” around the world. Luckily for us 99% of kettlebell exercises are compound exercises.

Compound movements involve more than one muscle group, and usually use two or more joint systems. With all this tension, we won’t need much variety in our program. Since each exercise supports the next, there isn’t much need for accessory drills. With double servings from a simple menu of exercises, we will stimulate the growth environment.

These eight kettlebell drills are essential for building mass:

Kettlebell Front Squat:

Double Kettlebell Deadlift:

Military Press:

Renegade Row:

See-Saw Press:

Weighted Pull-up:

Back Lunges (Kettlebells Racked):

Single-Leg Deadlift:

Bent Press:

To keep growing muscle while combating training plateaus, we must attempt to master the training tactics of irradiation and lifting tempo. The concept of irradiation is important for creating tension and linking tensing muscles together. Strongly tensing a muscle will recruit nearby muscles to assist and support. However, this does not happen automatically. One must force neuromuscular activity to call as much of the muscle fibers into the workload through a full range of motion.

By making light training weights feel heavier during your reps, you force more supporting muscle tissue into activation. This is one of the central themes of the RKC. This type of training takes more focus, more attention to detail, and it isn’t easy—but training isn’t easy, nor should it be. We demand results, and that’s why we crush the handles tightly for the entire set. That’s why we force our inhales and exhales on time. That’s why we flex our glutes, quads and abs as we stand through the top of our squats. When we make our training more difficult by adding tension, we will force more hypertrophic adaptation with 85% resistance for sets of eight to twelve reps.

The tempo of the lift and instructions for maintaining tension throughout the set are the missing pieces from most mass building plans. We must focus during all three phases—eccentric, isometric, and concentric—of the working muscle’s stretch-shortening cycle to maximize growth.

The tempo of the lift is the amount of time spent in each phase under the added tension of the load. Add tension and stay active as the resistance is loaded through the eccentric or “negative” phase. Don’t rush this part, stretching the muscle combined with overload is the most effective stimulus for muscle growth. Pause and hold at the fully loaded position for at least one full second, sometimes up to five. Exploiting this isometric position under great resistance yields significant results.

Robert Miller Straddle See-Saw Press

The concentric phase of the lift is usually the most difficult phase since the muscle fibers are shortened under the resistance. When the muscles shorten, they get dense and pumped from the work. People often confuse this phase as the growth phase because it is difficult, but many studies have shown that it is not the most important phase for hypertrophic response. To make the muscles grow, place great emphasis on the negative phase.

A lifting tempo of 5-2-2 is a five second negative, a two second isometric pause, and a two second focused contraction until there is a full squeeze of the working muscle groups. That is how every rep is executed. A tempo of 3-2-1 is quicker: three second eccentric, two second isometric, and one second on the concentric phase. Your breathing may need to change with the longer duration lifts, but never lose your structure. “Breathing behind the shield” is an important cue to remember, especially when briefly holding those isometric positions.

What about the get-up and snatch? The get-up is a great drill to set up a strong and stable body. I would never discount the get-up. I think it’s the best exercise in the history of fitness. It will get your shoulders fully functional, fortify strength, and build coordination throughout the entire kinetic chain. This is why I prefer to use the get-up in beginning of my workouts. Instead of a warm-up, I call it a gear-up for getting everything grinding at the right speed.

I also love the kettlebell snatch. Throughout this muscle-building program, the snatch is best used as a workout finisher. Since we’re striving to train the muscles to generate more force, maintaining tension through the concentric phase, and especially the eccentric phase is the best way stimulate muscle growth. The snatch does a great job of eccentrically loading the posterior, but it happens so quickly that barely any time is spent under that tension. This is why it is not the greatest “muscle building” exercise even though what it does for the glutes, legs and abs is incredible. The snatch still is the Tsar of kettlebell exercises, but use it at the end of your session.

Having a wide range of kettlebells is necessary for double kettlebell drills and heavier progressions. Heavy weights will be necessary. As I mentioned earlier, strength will always be a central focus of all our programming. To achieve this most effectively, training weights should be in the calculated ranges of 80%, 90-95% and even beyond 100-105% efforts. It’s great that Dragon Door manufactures the “in between” weights in increments of two kilograms. Having these options will help smooth out the growth curve so the jump up to a bigger kettlebell won’t take nearly as long as before.

RobertMiller Kettlebell Overhead PressWith strength on the rise, it’s time to volumize. So, double up every workout. Sets of double military presses will make your upper body, shoulders and arms more massive than single kettlebell work of the same volume. The same will hold true for all of your kettlebell skills and progressions. Two kettlebells are greater than one. Studies have shown that bi-lateral exercises are best for stimulating the most muscle hypertrophy. The beauty of training with kettlebells is that asymmetries are attacked since each weight must be unilaterally stabilized. Using a barbell can hide some of these asymmetries which can become imbalances over time. Using double kettlebells balances both sides of the body. With that said, I would still recommend barbell training at other points throughout the year. After all, we still want to follow the principles of The Purposeful Primitive.

Always train to improve your lifting technique. Perfect technique doesn’t just make you look cool, it is also the only way to achieve your strength or size goal. Your strength will build as you slowly increase the resistance, but be smart, if there is pain then stop. Check the ego. Technique is not about mental toughness. Good technique ensures that every increment of the movement, at every moment of the rep, for every rep of the set is intentional. The focus is on flawless architecture of the body; the machine as it moves. Marty Gallagher says, “We worship at the altar of technique.” If your technique is flawed with your training weights, then you may never reach your goal weight.

Training with a coach is the surest way to get rock solid technique in the shortest time possible. Other ways to check your technique are training with a partner or taking video of your lifts. You can learn a lot from an outside perspective. No matter how heavy the resistance or how fatigued your body, form and focus matter above all.

To force the muscles grow, this program will call for “heavy” lifts. Anything above 80% of your max is heavy, and ideal lifting technique must hold true on those heavy attempts to maximize muscle growth. Don’t sacrifice your results just to complete a rep. You’ll need to shore up your technique under these loads for even heavier loads in the future. This is the basic concept of progressive overload.

Finding the right work / life balance in a lifting program is important for continued progress. I recommend hitting a hypertrophic training plan twice a year. I like to split the year up in four periods and let my fitness goals change with the seasons. It is a harmonious to try to gain size in the fall, strength in the winter, hypertrophy in the spring, and then get ripped for the summer. For mass gaining programs, I would recommend lifting four days a week.

Organize the workouts in opposing modalities and muscle groups. For example, pair upper body pushing exercises with lower body pulling exercises. The next training session should look like the opposite with an upper body pull paired with a lower body push exercises. For mass, it’s best to do 4-6 sets organized into strength pyramids. Rep ranges should stay around 6-12 to optimize the growth response. Rest periods between sets are important for growth and can last from 1-4 minutes. It’s ok, breathe!

This template demonstrates the simplicity of working opposite modalities to push and pull your way to a bigger, stronger body. Increase the weights weekly as progress dictates.

Robert Miller’s RKC Mass Template:

Click here to download PDF

**Workout finishers are high intensity intervals for the last 10 minutes of the workout. Use a 0:50 second work period and a :10 rest period. Organize 5 opposing drills and do 2 rounds.

Example:

  • Jump lunges :50
  • Push Ups :50
  • Plank :50
  • Snatch (left) :50
  • Snatch (right) :50

Last, but equally important is recovery. You must focus on this phase of your training as well. After making progress with very rigorous training days, it’s necessary to bounce back. Size gains are made because the work causes microscopic tears in the muscle fibers; then the muscle fibers rebuild thicker and stronger. This rebuilding process takes proper nutrition and rest. Recovery grows muscles like rain grows flowers.

Here are a few simple tips to help shorten recovery time between training days: set a bed time, eat for recovery not flavor, drink a gallon of water everyday, stretch twice a day, nap daily, limit inflammatory foods like sugar and alcohol. Keep your eyes on the prize. Results are cool. Vices are not.

The only thing missing from this mass building plan is eating, abs and arms. In our training it is best to keep things simple and eliminate excess. Nutrition should be no different. I don’t really subscribe to fad diets. I just stick to a few simple principles to fuel muscle growth while keeping me lean in the process.

1) Drink a lot of water. Don’t drink calories. No more soda, beer, or juice. Just drink water and black coffee.

2) Eat leans, greens, fruits and nuts. Nourishment as nature intended.

3) Start every day with breakfast.

4) Eat frequent meals. Up to 6 small meals a day within your caloric ranges.

5) No excess. Garbage in is garbage out.

To make the abs visible, clean up your nutrition. Instead of ab isolating exercises in this program, the drills we chose are also some of the best core exercises out there. The abdominal muscles will grow in size. Many professional bodybuilders don’t do “ab” exercises. The heavy squats, weighted pull ups and other such drills require so much abdominal recruitment that accessory work is not necessary. A careful approach to nutrition is what makes the abs really pop.

While there are many diets and guidelines you could follow, most well-studied diets follow the aforementioned principles. Even though it is difficult to balance gaining mass and strength while keeping a lean physique, it can be done masterfully. This is also why it is important to periodize your programming throughout the year and eat to nourish your lifestyle. Focus on long term gains and sustainability—we must do this work for the rest of our lives.

There aren’t many accessory arm exercises in the program since the arms are integrally important to every compound drill. Similar to the abdomen, the arms are always working, so making them grow is as easy as adding a few extra sets and reps before or after your workout finishers. The two drills below do a great job of isolating and adding volume to the biceps and triceps.

Alternating Kettlebell Curl:

Kettlebell Skull Crusher:

Rome wasn’t built in a week, so take time building your physique. While there are many muscle building techniques and strategies out there to sort through, every expert I have asked for help has employed the principles in this post on some level.

This is how to grow muscle: lift heavy kettlebells, eat, sleep, repeat!

 

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Robert Miller, Senior RKC trains individuals and groups at www.kettleprt.com 1750 n. Kingsbury Ave. Chicago IL 60612. Be sure to listen to his podcast StrongArguments.com

Swinging Through Pregnancy, Prenatal Kettlebell Training – Part 1

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Kathleen Walthers Kettlebell With Baby

“You need to avoid any high-impact exercises, running, and lifting heavy anything heavier than about 10-15 pounds.” As an avid CrossFitter, Boston Marathon-qualifier and finisher, triathlete and fitness enthusiast, these words from my doctor were difficult to digest. But having just confirmed I was pregnant at nearly 43 years of age, and with multiple high-risk factors, including two miscarriages within the prior two years, he did not want me to take any chances. I decided not to take the advice—or spend my pregnancy—lying down. Instead, I set out to find a way to stay fit and active within these safety parameters.

I had first been introduced to kettlebells a few years earlier at my CrossFit box, but the only formal training I had was a 90-minute seminar taught by an RKC-certified instructor at another fitness certification earlier that year. The seminar showed me the power of the kettlebell and sparked my interest. But after the seminar, I went back to my regularly scheduled programming—CrossFit and running, until my doctor put the kibosh on both of these activities. I asked my doctor what he thought about kettlebells, and he admitted to not knowing much about them. He asked if they were a high-impact activity (no) and whether I could keep the weight low (yes, I could). So, with his blessing, I picked up a kettlebell and started swinging.

Eight months later, I gave birth to a gorgeous, healthy baby girl. My love for her and for kettlebells continues to grow every day. Throughout my pregnancy, I spent my free time reading, researching and following experts on kettlebells and prenatal fitness. I focused on learning the proper form of the six foundational RKC moves, while designing a balanced program that took into account the limitations associated with my pregnancy.

It is likely you have or will have a client who is pregnant, and I want to share the top six lessons I learned through my own trial-and-error. Hopefully this will help you coach them effectively and safely throughout their pregnancy while avoiding the common pitfalls even top trainers make when working with moms-to-be.

Kathleen Walthers 3 days before giving birth
Kathleen Walters, 3 days before giving birth.

1. Encourage your client to partner with her doctor about fitness and nutrition. Doctors are medical professionals; most are not fitness or nutrition professionals. As a Precision Nutrition Level 2-certified nutrition coach and lifelong athlete, early on it became clear that I was more knowledgeable about fitness and nutrition than my doctor. He also admitted it! While respecting my doctor’s advice and prioritizing my own health and safety and the health and safety of my baby, I challenged some of his fitness recommendations, providing research and data to support my position.

Because of our back-and-forth, I was able to create a pregnancy fitness program that satisfied my own needs and interests but addressed my doctor’s concerns. It is critical that your client has clearance to train from a medical professional prior to beginning a prenatal program. Partnering with the doctor can help you and your client navigate pregnancy in a way that keeps her healthy, happy and fit.

2. Keep the workouts short and simple. Pregnancy is not the time for lengthy and complicated workouts. Throughout a pregnancy, women often experience bouts of fatigue (particularly in the first and third trimesters) and nausea (most prevalent in the first trimester aka “morning sickness,” though mine hit in the late afternoon and evening). Expectant moms are also usually juggling numerous career and household responsibilities while preparing for the baby. I programmed workouts that lasted as little as 15 minutes, and supplemented these sessions with daily walks with my puppy. This allowed me to easily fit 4-5 workouts a week into my busy schedule.

3. Stay flexible with your clients’ programming and give them options for when they are not feeling 100% or are stressed. My workouts during pregnancy followed my “3S System” of programming: include skill, strength, and sweat in each session. Instead of a specific number of sets to complete in a workout, each workout section was time-based (As Many Rounds As Possible or AMRAP-style). This allowed me to adjust the length of my workouts according to my schedule on any given day.

A typical workout looked something like this:

Warm-up:
Squat-to-stand: 5
Bodyweight single-leg deadlift: 5 R/L
Light halo: 5 R/L

Skill Work:
(5-10 minute AMRAP)
Bodyweight single-leg squat-to-box (pistol practice): 2-3 R/L

Strength Work:
(5-15-minute AMRAP)
One-arm rows: 6-8 R/L
Double kettlebell suitcase deadlift: 6-8
Seated one-arm military press: 6-8 R/L

Sweat Work:
(5-10 minute EMOTM Every Minute On The Minute) complete:
Two-hand kettlebell swings: 5
Double kettlebell farmer’s carry: 20 seconds

Cool Down:
Hamstring stretch
Hip flexor stretch
Diaphragmatic breathing

Stay tuned for part 2, where I will cover the next 3 tips for trainers working with expecting mamas.

Be happy, healthy and strong,
Kathleen Walters, RKC

 

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Written in collaboration with Master RKC Michael Krivka

Kathleen Walters, RKC is known as the “Kettlebell Mama”. She is a lifelong athlete based in Washington, DC, who specializes in coaching busy moms and moms-to-be in-person and remotely, helping them incorporate healthy fitness and nutrition habits into their chaotic “mom life.” To learn more about Kathleen and her coaching services, email her at kathleen@bellsandpeppers.com, or visit her website and popular blog at http://www.bellsandpeppers.com.

How Well Do You Move?

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Master RKC Phil Ross, Kettlebell Pullover

How well do we—as humans—move? When we move are we trying to avoid or minimize pain? There seem to be three major areas of pain, have you wondered why these areas are so afflicted, even with people who are “in shape”?

The low back (lumbar region), the knees (distal femur, proximal tibia, fibula and patella) and the shoulders (glenohumeral and sterno-clavicular joints) are the pain points for many people. Why?

Two words need to be considered: stability and mobility. Certain joints of the body prefer stability and others favor mobility. Feet, knees, the low back and scapular regions favor stability. Ankles, hips, the thoracic spine (middle back) and glenohumeral joints (shoulders) flourish with mobility. The joints need to do what they are designed to do. If not, then asymmetries and injuries occur. And here’s the double whammy—not only will the misaligned joint be affected, the ones above and below it will too! For example, if a person has tight hips, their hip movement will be compromised. The movement will need to take place in other parts of the body, usually the knees and low back, both of which are stability-favoring joints above and below the hips. This creates instability in these joints, resulting in pain and anomalies.

Many people have low back pain. They might stretch their backs, get chiropractic adjustments, or take pain pills, but the issue will still not be addressed. The real issue be that the hips are tight and immobile, and/or the hamstrings are too tight. They may also have immobility issues if their thoracic spine (t-spine) is not strong enough or mobile enough to move safely. Are the erector spinea and the multifidi muscles (muscles that connect the vertebra) strong and engaged? Are the rhomboids, trapezius and other muscles of the scapula developed? Does the individual know how to keep them engaged? On many occasions, low back issues really lie in the areas above and below. Addressing the strength and flexibility of these major joints often significantly relieves back pain.

How do we address and avoid these issues? First, if you are not training, start. You’ll move better, feel better and live a longer (and often more productive) life. Next, consider that type of training, is it cardio, mobility or strength based? Are you getting the correct balance for optimal health? With your strength training or resistance training, are you using closed chain or open chain exercises? Closed chain movements involve more joints of the body and tend to be better for you. Open chain movements are more isolated and can have a shearing effect on the joint.

For example, let’s compare bodyweight squats and leg extensions. Bodyweight (or weighted for that matter) squats are a closed chain movement. The major joints and muscle groups addressed are the hips, knees and ankles, and the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocs (calves) are on the muscle side of the equation. Other muscles and stabilizers are involved at lesser degrees along with a good deal of core engagement for bracing. When performing squats, the feet are firmly planted and positive joint compression is employed. In contrast, leg extensions only address the quadriceps with concentric and eccentric contractions. The other leg muscles are virtually dormant and only the knee joint is involved. There is a shearing effect on the knee joint which may cause injury over time. In my estimation, this machine should be disassembled, melted down and repurposed as something useful, like a kettlebell! Just ask yourself, when you walk, run or jump, do you isolate a muscle or use your whole limbs and torso? In a rehabilitation situation or in bodybuilding, then muscle isolation may be appropriate, but otherwise multi-joint movements are superior.

There are many reasons why kettlebell training is my central mode of training. With kettlebells, all of the facets of fitness are addressed: strength, explosive power, flexibility, durability, muscular endurance, cardiovascular training, and mobility. Let’s consider mobility. Outsiders (I’m referring to those not acquainted with bonafide kettlebell training), only view kettlebell training as strength, explosive power and muscular endurance, but not necessarily promoting healthy mobility.

Along with the bo staff, freehand mobility and calisthenics I lead on a daily basis in my classes, there are three kettlebell based complexes we use to prepare for the rigors of the training session. We execute 10 repetitions of each movement on each side, or in each direction where applicable. The first complex is figure-8, then low, middle, and high halos. The second complex is bottoms-up crescent swings, kettlebell good mornings, and goblet squats. The third complex is the RKC armbar, lying side swings, and kettlebell pullovers.

Let’s discuss the third complex: the RKC armbar, lying side press and the kettlebell pullover. Generally, we do 10 repetitions of the armbar, 10 reps of the lying side press on both sides, and then 10 reps of the kettlebell pullover. Two sets of each.

The Armbar packs the shoulder and prepares the participant for overhead work. Lie on your side in the fetal position as if you were starting a get-up. Grasp the kettlebell by the handle, bring it to your shoulder, then roll onto your back. With two hands, press the kettlebell upward. Make sure that your wrist is straight, your elbow is locked, and your shoulder is packed. If the kettlebell is in your right hand, take your right leg and bring it to the other side of your body so that your hip is facing the floor and most of your anterior is in the prone position. Do all of this while maintaining a relaxed neck and while rotating kettlebell in space. Attempt to bring your right hip as close to the floor as possible as you keep your arm and wrist locked. Once you’ve settled into the bottom of this movement, bring your right leg across the body until you are supine with the kettlebell above. This movement needs to be performed slowly, to maximize the opening of the hips and packing of the shoulders. Relish the time under the kettlebell as your thoracic region savors the mobility!

The Lying Side Press is to be done as soon as you have completed the armbar. As you are on your side, press the kettlebell upward. It is imperative to maintain a straight wrist and vertical forearm throughout this exercise. Pull the kettlebell down so that your elbow is slightly behind your hip. Keep the kettlebell steady and feel your rhomboids working. If you feel stress in your anterior deltoid, you are doing the movement incorrectly and most likely not keeping your forearm vertical.

Phil Ross Lying Side Press Sequence

The Kettlebell Pullover is a movement that’s very easy to cheat! Don’t be “that guy” or “that girl”. The kettlebell is on the ground above your head as you lie in the supine position. Grasp the kettlebell in both hands at the horns and bring it overhead. Now, lock your arms. While you lower the kettlebell, remember the phrase “sometimes, always, never”. Sometimes your thoracic region comes off of the ground, Always have your head and cervical spine off of the ground and Never let your lumbar spine or hips come off of the ground. So, lower the bell with your head off of the mat and do not allow the kettlebell to touch the ground. As you keep the bottom of the kettlebell facing away from you, raise it so that it is perpendicular to the floor. Pause. Next, contract your abdominals as you bring the kettlebell straight upward while keeping your lumbar spine on the floor. Repeat this process for 10 repetitions.

PhilRoss Kettlebell Pullover Sequence

If you have any questions regarding this RKC blog post or any other kettlebell or fitness related matter, please feel free to contact me.

Strength and Honor!

Coach Phil 

 

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Phil Ross Master RKC, 8th Degree Black Belt, CK-FMS, PCC and ACE Certified. Author of Ferocious Fitness and Survival Strong, producer of The Kettlebell Workout Library. He is also the Chief Instructor at American Eagle MMA & Kettlebells

How to Run Injury Free Using Kettlebells

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William Sturgeon running and kettlebell training

Let’s clear this up right now, strength training and running go together, it’s not one or the other. Most runners avoid strength training for fear of being bulky, or because they’re afraid it will decrease their run time. Runners need to understand that strength training can improve their run time and increase their work capacity. If that’s not convincing, then consider that runners are prone to injuries such as patellofemoral pain syndrome, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, as well as hip, low back, and shoulder pain. Quite an extensive list. We can prevent these issues by introducing kettlebells into our training.

Why Kettlebells?

The kettlebell is the Swiss Army knife of fitness—you can train for strength, conditioning, mobility, power, etc. with just one tool. A tool that serves multiple purposes is great if you have limited time or not enough space for bigger equipment like barbells or racks of dumbbells. Kettlebells give you the ability to exert a maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive power burst. Using exercises like the kettlebell swing or kettlebell snatch will train you to build a lot of power. The amount of tension, speed, and force needed to complete a swing or a snatch is very high, and the benefits carry over into the production of power. Kettlebell exercises have been known to help athletes improve their performance by increasing their power output—this also allows runners to excel in their races.

When training with kettlebells, we are often barefoot or wear minimalistic shoes. At my facility Restored Strength, we highly recommend that our members do not wear shoes. We are in shoes all of the time, and wearing shoes while training puts the foot in a plantar flexed position because the heal is elevated. Because of compression from the shoes they can also restrict the range of motion in the ankle. The freedom of being barefoot allows the ankle to have a greater range of motion. Training barefoot will also raise your kinesthetic awareness by allowing the proprioceptors in the foot to have greater exposure. The benefits can transfer over to your running, when you are not constricted by your shoes.

William Sturgeon Kettlebell Swings

Why Strength Training Can Prevent Injuries

The RKC is well known for being The School of Strength. We promote the importance of strength in a purposeful manner. While strength training has many applications, let’s discuss why it is essential to be a strong runner. When you begin to introduce strength training into your program, you get physically stronger and there’s a physiological aspect as well. Strength training promotes greater bone density which reduces the likelihood of hair line fractures. You will also strengthen the ligaments, tendons, and muscles—which hold and secure joints in proper alignments. If you are not strength training, the certain areas in the body will become weak. Being weak is dangerous since weak muscles and bones are fragile and susceptible to injuries.

Strength training can increase your muscular work capacity, which can improve your running technique. You’re less likely to fatigue, and when your muscles are stronger, you can maintain proper mechanics for longer periods of time. Stronger muscles will decrease the likelihood of fatigue during a race, and strength training helps increase the type 2 (fast twitch) muscle fibers. Focusing on the big five major muscle groups—knees, hamstrings, glutes, trunk, back—used when running will make strength training less daunting.

What to Train

Glutes: The glutes are the key muscle group in the mechanics of running. The gluteus medius will be the main focus, as this muscle is the rotator cuff of the lower body. When you move, it’s the first muscle to quickly contract, and it stabilizes your body when you are on one leg. Running is a unilateral activity—a single leg is in motion—which is why it’s crucial to strengthen and stabilize the gluteus medius in unilateral exercises.

Hamstrings: These bad boys strengthen your lower back. When they contract, they flex the knees, the repetitive motion in running. Your heel should reach your glutes during the back-swing motion, this allows for greater power output when running. With stronger hamstrings, you will be able to produce greater force output when running. Having strong hamstrings will complement your glutes—the two together will prevent low back pain and allow your running to be less strenuous on the posterior chain.

Quadriceps: Runners usually have overdeveloped quadriceps, but it is still worthwhile to train them. The quadriceps are responsible for two major movements in running, knee extension and hip flexion. These actions cause the leg to swing forward when running. The insertion of the quadriceps is located on the tibial tuberosity, the boney projection below the knee. Having stronger quadriceps will assist in maintaining knee position. One muscle of the quadriceps, the vastus medialis, helps stabilize the patella and the knee joints when we run.

Trunk: The trunk is a fancy word for abdominals. The trunk maintains your posture and keeps you upright. When we run, we want to maintain a tall posture and make sure that we are as tall as we can get, allowing us to have a greater range of motion through the hips. We won’t be able to maintain that tall position while running with a weak trunk. Strengthening the abdominals will allow for greater stability. Stronger abdominals also reduce the wobbly feeling when running. If you are wobbling from side to side when you run, then you have an energy leak slowing you down.

Back: The back is the last key player for strong running. Like the trunk, the back has the same role of keeping your body upright. Having a stronger back will help retract the shoulder blades, which prevents the shoulders from rolling forward. Good posture carries over to proper mechanics when running. If you find it difficult to maintain your posture, then you will need to improve your back strength. A strong back can prevent energy leaks through the upper body, and make sure you’re carrying your arms in an optimal way while running. A strong spine complemented by strong mid and lower backs will stabilize the spine and the pelvis.

How to Train

When we train, we want to train movements rather than muscles. The big movements are lower body pushing and pulling, upper body pushing and pulling (vertical and horizontal), trunk work, carries, and unilateral upper and lower body movements. I make mobility training a staple in my programming as well. It is a mixture of movement and strength—you need to be mobile to be strong and you need to be strong to be mobile.

In my opinion, the push/pull upper body/lower body approach is the most optimal way to train. It conserves time and targets every area. Using this type of training will also reduce the amount of training sessions each week. I recommend two to four days each week, depending on your training.

Training day example:
Kettlebell Running Training Day Chart

Conclusion

Strength training can undoubtedly improve your run time and prevent injuries if done correctly. There are many different modalities of training, and kettlebells have been the most useful for me. To help your athletic performance, make sure to include kettlebell training in your program. If you are unfamiliar with kettlebell training, find yourself a certified RKC instructor to take your training further.

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William Sturgeon, RKC II trains clients at his gym, Restored Strength. Contact him through his website at RestoredStrength.com or follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/restoredstrength

Getting Strong Fast: Four Effective Overhead Kettlebell Exercises

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Sebastian Muller Overhead 40kg kettlebell press

Kettlebell exercises are much more common in fitness these days because of the RKC, CrossFit, strongman and functional training. But, only truly strong athletes will be able to lift heavy kettlebells overhead without risking injury.

When I began my training a few years ago, I hated it. No matter where I looked, everybody was stronger than me—at least that’s what I thought when I saw what others were lifting. But, the further I went down the path of strength training, I discovered a real secret. I learned why—after months of training—I still lifted lighter weights than the other guys (and girls).

The difference was that I pressed the weights with very strict form. I would clean a kettlebell and then press it until my arm was straight overhead. While this is an extremely effective way to train your body, it is not really useful for lifting very heavy weights.

If you want to move big kettlebells, you have to be creative. You’ll need to look for effective exercises and movements that allow you to use more of your muscles. This post will outline the four best exercises I’ve found for this purpose.

1. The Get-Up

Turkish wrestlers and aspiring athletes who trained with them used this exercise to prepare for the hard and demanding sport-specific wrestling training. If an athlete couldn’t “get up” with at least half of his body weight, he wasn’t allowed to participate in wrestling training. Being able to lift a lot of weight is just one advantage of the get-up. Your body will learn to work as a unit, and every muscle is involved with this movement. When I first did the get-up with a kettlebell, I chose the same weight I was using for strict presses. After a few weeks, I increased that weight by 100%.

Since one arm is holding the weight straight overhead during the entire get-up exercise, it strengthens and stabilizes your shoulder muscles. When you’re able to do the movement correctly and smoothly, then the goal of using half your body weight is absolutely realistic.

Sebastian Muller 40kg Get-Up

Performing the Get-Up

  • Start on your back, lying on the ground.
  • Safely pick up the weight, and extend your arm to press the weight overhead.
  • Push with your supporting leg to the side and roll up on your elbow.
  • Sit up straight.
  • Bring the knee of the extended leg under your hip.
  • Be sure your upper body is upright, and rotate it straight forward.
  • Stand up into a shoulder-width stance.

2. Bent Press (Advanced)

Old time strongmen and athletes of the 19th century did tremendous feats of strength with this exercise. You don’t see it very much these days, despite its many advantages. (The bent press is a very advanced exercise and should only be attempted when the kettlebell lifter is ready. Find an RKC-II instructor near you for help and coaching with this movement.)

But, if it is safe and appropriate for the trainee, the carryover from the bent press to other movements is gigantic. It also enormously improves hip and thoracic spine mobility. Another special thing about the bent press is that it has no “perfect form”. Everyone does it a bit differently. Although the process is always the same, there are three options: hip dominant (similar to the windmill), thigh dominant (closer to a squatting pattern), or a version that incorporates both movement patterns.

Sebastian Muller Bent Press 40kg

Performing the Bent Press:

  • Bring the weight up to the chest safely (the “rack position”).
  • Position your arm onto your big back muscles and let it remain there.
  • “Sit” under the weight by opening or hinging the hip and rotating the upper body until the arm holding the kettlebell is completely straight.
  • Straighten the hip and legs to return to the standing position.

3. Push Press

The push press bears the most resemblance to the strict press. But with the push-press, the upper body muscles only start to work when the kettlebell is already on its way up. The force of the push press comes from the legs and the hips. A small knee dip followed by an explosive hip extension transfers the force to propel the kettlebell overhead.

Sebastian Muller Push Press Bump with 40kg kettlebell

Performing the Push Press:

  • Bring the weight up to the chest safely (the “rack position”).
  • Hinge the hips and bend your knees slightly (about one quarter of a squat).
  • Explosively extend legs and hips (“bump” see the photo above).
  • Straighten the arm. After the bump, the handle of the kettlebell should be at about the height of your forehead, before you straighten the arm.

4. Jerk

The jerk is an exercise to bring up the most weight overhead with two kettlebells. It takes the upper body muscles responsible for the press almost completely out of the game. Everything in the jerk is similar to the push press up until the bump. When the kettlebells are forehead height, you have to do another dip with the knees and hips—and simultaneously extend both arms.

This exercise is super complex, but also allows you to use a lot of weight.

Performing the Jerk

  • Safely clean the kettlebells up to the chest (the “rack position”).
  • Hinge the hips and slightly bend your knees (about one quarter of a squat).
  • Explosively extend your legs and hips (“bump”).
  • Bend your knees and hinge your hips again when the kettlebell reaches your forehead. Simultaneously extend your arm.
  • Extend your legs and hips to stand up straight with the weight overhead.

Prerequisite Requirements for Safely Lifting Heavy Kettlebells Overhead:

Before you try these exercises, there are prerequisite requirements for lifting heavy kettlebells overhead—which include a certain level of mobility and stability to prevent overtraining or injury.

Sebastian Muller Overhead Reach Test

Test your overhead lockout position:

  • Stand with your back facing a wall with your heels about 5cm (about 2 inches) from the wall.
  • Your buttocks, upper back, shoulders and back of your head are touching the wall.
  • Hinge the hip so that you ‘’pinch’’ your hand to the wall. The pressure on the hand should be there during the entire exercise.
  • Put your other hand straight up overhead.

When the wrist of your fully extended arm touches the wall while your back remains stable, you will have fulfilled the mobility requirements. If you’ve run into trouble here, first work on your thoracic spine mobility and shoulder joints. To safely lift heavy kettlebells overhead, you will also need stable shoulder joints and a strong core musculature. You should have also mastered the basic kettlebell movements: swing, get-up, clean, press, squat, snatch.

The get-up is the best exercise to prepare your shoulders for heavy weights. When you master the get up, you will build a strong foundation for lifting heavy kettlebells. You can even increase the effectiveness of the exercise by adding overhead walks to your get-up sessions. For example, walk with the kettlebell overhead every time you are in the standing position of the get-up.

When a get-up with half your bodyweight is no problem for you anymore, and you are safe in the kettlebell basics, you are ready for the bent press, push press and jerk.

When Training with Heavy Kettlebells, Movement Quality is Essential

The movement patterns of the get-up, bent press, push press and jerk are complex. Many joints and big muscle groups have to work together perfectly. Before you can load these movement patterns with heavy kettlebells, you should master the movements. You simply can’t afford to stop and think about what you have to do next while you are holding a heavy kettlebell. The best way to avoid mistakes is to do everything correctly from the start. Be a professional and learn the exercises from a qualified coach.

Sebastian Muller Rack Position 40kg

How to Use These Exercises:

The movements we’ve discussed in this blog post can be divided into two categories: skill and power. Skill and power exercises belong at the beginning of your training routine. They require high focus, and we want to lift heavy kettlebells with these exercises. It’s a bad idea to tackle this combination while fatigued.

The get-up and bent press are in the skill category. They are complex movements that involve many muscle groups and joints. They are also performed slowly and under high tension. After warming up, do perfect repetitions in turns, always starting with your less strong side. One to a maximum of five sets will do a fine job. After ten total repetitions (five for each side), move on to other exercises.

The push press and jerk are power exercises. While these movement patterns are less complex, you need a lot of explosiveness and power. After warming up, do perfect repetitions in turns, always starting with your less strong side. One to a maximum of five sets will do a fine job. After ten total repetitions (five for each side), move on to other exercises.

Important Rules:

  • Be sure to fulfill the stability and mobility requirements for the overhead movements before attempting them—especially with heavy kettlebells.
  • Master the basics!
  • Learn all of the described movements from a qualified coach.
  • Always practice while fresh, with high focus. Aim to improve a little at every training session.

If you follow these rules, you will surely draw the admiration of others and have the best workouts of your life. Now that you know four exercises for lifting heavy kettlebells, go and lift your training skills to the next level.

 

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Sebastian Müller, RKC Team Leader, and PCC Instructor is a personal trainer in Erfurt (Germany) and teaches seminars all over Germany. After 16 years of training he founded the first kettlebell studio in his federal state. He is the head coach of KRABA Erfurt (“Strength and Movement Academy”) and a passionate blogger. His focus lies on what he enjoys the most: to inspire people for simple training and making it an important part of their lives!  Translation by Martin Breternitz HKC, KRABA Erfurt

Does the Snatch Test Really Matter?

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Every RKC instructor has gone through the rigorous snatch test. This is five minutes of full effort—snatching a kettlebell for 100 repetitions. Ask anyone who has done it and they will tell you the joys of the test. Many RKC candidates are nervous and frightened when it comes to the snatch test. They end up putting so much effort and stress about test that they miss the big picture of what the weekend is really about—learning.

William Sturgeon Kettlebell SnatchesThe RKC is known as the School of Strength because we educate candidates on how to teach strength to others. As we all know the title of RKC instructor is not given, it’s earned. One of the requirements is the snatch test and it’s part of the right of passage to earn your title as an RKC instructor. But, I want to bring this to everyone’s attention: your ability to safely instruct kettlebell training is not related to how fast you finish your snatch test.

The biggest test that many people underestimate and under-prepare for is the coaching aspect of the certification. I can say that I fell into this when I first got certified. I put so much effort in preparing for the snatch test that I didn’t want to focus on anything else. I passed my RKC that weekend, but I wish I would have put more effort and focus on the coaching part of the weekend. As candidates, you are surrounded by other fitness professionals with years of experience—many people also undervalue this aspect of the weekend. Taking in all the cues and corrections the instructors have to offer is so important for growth as teacher of strength.

One year after my certification, I was able to attend another RKC as a volunteer. The candidate coached me though the swing and the plank. And while he used good cues and good progressions, he ultimately did not pass the snatch test. But, he wasn’t bothered by that, his focus was on passing the other two tests—the coaching test and the technique test. This was a good candidate who had his priorities straight. A year later I was able to assist at an RKC Workshop, and this was my opportunity to share with the candidates the importance of coaching. I assured them that the focus for the weekend was to learn how to teach and perform proper kettlebell technique, not to finish the five minute snatch test in four minutes. Knowing how to properly progress and regress a client means you are competent in coaching while keeping your clients safe.

William Sturgeon Get-Ups

Safety is our number one goal when we working with clients. Making sure that you put a bigger focus on the learning aspect of the weekend will lead you to a successful career in coaching. The RKC is more than just a certification, it’s a system that has principles that apply to all areas of fitness. If you place priority on passing your snatch test and not your ability to coach, you are doing yourself a disservice. Focus on reading your manual and taking notes, I have had the opportunity to assist at an RKC and an HKC, both times I advised the candidates to grab their manuals and write notes. The master instructors have been teaching for years, they will often give cues or corrections that are no in the manual that will be beneficial to remember, so make sure to take notes.

Passing your certification comes with three big tests, your ability to perform the exercises with proper technique, your ability to coach, and your snatch test. This should be the order of importance when you are preparing for your RKC. You will become a teacher of strength, and will show your clients what you learned with proper coaching. Take time to understand that the snatch test is not the most important part of becoming an RKC instructor.

Here are some of my favorite coaching cues to correct the swing:

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William Sturgeon, RKC II trains clients at his gym, Restored Strength. Contact him through his website at RestoredStrength.com or follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/restoredstrength

The Road to the Iron Maiden Challenge

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Katie Petersen Iron Maiden Challenge Kettlebell Press

I did it! I finally did it! This was all I could think for at least a month after completing the Iron Maiden Challenge. For anyone unfamiliar with this challenge, an Iron Maiden must complete a pistol, pull up, and strict press with the 24kg kettlebell (Beast Tamer: 48kg). I struggled with each of the lifts in different ways over the years; but did not understand my greatest obstacle until the day of reckoning, when I missed my first pull up. When all the training was done, I had one more beast to defeat and it was not in the shape of a kettlebell. It was the voice inside my head…the mean one…the one that self-sabotages, doubts, and makes me feel small. As defeat loomed, I had to find a way to cross over the dark swamp of uncertainty holding me back from everything I had worked toward. I had to rewrite my belief system; to accept my own moment of greatness; to open my heart to myself and let it shine brightly in the world. Here is my story.

In April 2013, I was doing a kettlebell workout with Rob Miller in a Chicago park. I performed a 24kg get-up for the second time ever, precariously balanced on uneven terrain as the sun’s blinding rays sealed my eyes shut. Ecstatic, I expected to revel in my unprecedented success and call it a day. Instead, Rob says “nice” and “you will have to do the Iron Maiden in October.” Excuse me? A pull up, one-arm press and pistol with a 24kg? I barely got a get-up with the 24kg, which took every ounce of effort I could muster. Was he serious? My final figure competition season had just closed and left me extremely depleted. I was not at all confident that I would regain the strength I’d lost, let alone surpass it. To give you an idea of where I started, I had just worked back up to 5 bodyweight pull ups; was very new to the pistol; had I not pressed anything heavier than the 16kg kettlebell.

My Iron Maiden trajectory began on a slippery slope of disbelief, intrigue, and dare I say, annoyance. Yep, annoyance was probably the biggest driver: annoyance that Rob thought it could be so easy for me;  annoyance that there were 4 or 5 women out there who had done it and here I was doubting myself; annoyance at how incredibly far-off this goal felt. And Rob just decided I would do it at an RKC Workshop in the next 6 months. Most of all though, I felt annoyance at my annoyance…who was I if I wasn’t willing to become greater than this moment? Those questions spun me down a path I did not expect. And so the journey began.

October 2013 simply was not a realistic goal date. But I did step forward with a new sense of discipline. That Summer/Fall I followed a Triphasic program focused around barbell squats and deadlifts to rebuild my strength base. About 4x/week, I worked on my kettlebell technique to prepare for the RKC.

By October, 2013  I attained the following:

  • Pull up: 12kg (26lb)
  • 1RM Pistol: 18kg (40lb)
  • 1RM Press: 18kg (40lb)

Although my baseline was a far cry from a 24kg, it was progress. It didn’t matter how long it would take. After five years of grueling off-season training, an unapologetic in-season diet, endless travel to national stages only to come within two places of professional IFBB status, I desperately needed a goal to fill! I had just gone fifteen months without entering so much as a 5k and had all of this pent up competitive-energy stirring. I was not going to quit until it was done.

I began learning from every blog post I could find about achieving the Iron Maiden or Beast Tamer and/or improving 1RM’s in these movements. Unsure of my next steps, I read Andrew Read’s Beast Tamer, which offered an excellent jumping off point with tips and routines. I discovered much of the material in the book roots from the RKC Level II curriculum. As intelligent and well-written as the book is, mastery of these movements meant experiencing the education for myself. My next move was crystal clear. I signed up for the RKC II in April 2014.   After going through the certification, my body awareness and neuromuscular connection around the pistol, press, and strict pull up grew exponentially. If you have any desire to be stronger these movements (especially if you want to be an Iron Maiden/Beast Tamer), learn from the countless months I spun my wheels with far less progress than I was capable of achieving.

From the beginning, the pull up was my toughest lift. Every week was jam-packed with heavy lifting and a consistent yoga practice—yet, I still managed to avoid my weakest link and didn’t even know it. Sounds naïve, I know, but I was doing them every week with negligible progress. As I look back, though, I can see how they were grossly deprioritized.

I overvalued how much deadlifts and ancillary back exercises would contribute to my pull up game. They inarguably help with strength; but the truth about getting better at pull ups is that you have to do more pull ups. After 8 months, doing low volume/heavy weight (2x/week) increased my 1RM to a 16kg; but I hadn’t added a single measly rep to my bodyweight max. My nervous system was missing literally hundreds of reps needed to genuinely fortify enough pull up strength for a 24kg.

I dug through the Dragon Door forum and found a plan that looked incredibly smart. I later found out, this program is actually in the RKC II manual!   It was time to ramp up the volume and get my baseline strength in order. This plan promised to bring a 5RM (bodyweight) to a 10RM in 1 month…sold! As you can see in the Pull-up Program below, you are supposed to attain a new max rep set every 6 days. It seems like such a tall order that I was shocked and impressed by how well the plan worked. About half-way through, a wrist injury sent me on a 2 week hiatus and I feared major regression.   Not a single rep was lost. I saw clear evidence on how much better a 10-15 min daily practice could preserve my strength than hitting it once or twice a week.

5 RM Pull-Up Program Chart
If needed, add 1 rest day/week. It will take 5 weeks to complete. For results, prioritize the pull up program. If you are not recovering well enough, scale back other training before increasing rest days. (Note: if you have a 9RM, begin there, i.e. Day 1: 9,10,11,12,13 and adjust accordingly).

Over a 6 week period, I glided from a 6RM to an 11RM. After a small recovery period, I attempted my first weighted pull up in 2 months. The 16kg max moved up to an easy 3 reps, as well as earning a new 1RM with the 20kg. Huge progress! I began reintroducing weighted pull-ups in a variety of routines; but gravitated most toward a 5-3-1 model. After years of dreading the pull up, I flipped the script on my “weakest lift” and it has remained one of my most proficient movements.

Katie Petersen Iron Maiden Pull Up

One of the greatest lessons I learned was to not get bullied by my own limiting beliefs. I didn’t feel strong doing the pull up so I unconsciously avoided them. I had become fixated on feeling strong in every workout. That sticking point with my ego had me devoting more time, attention, and planning toward the movements eliciting more progress. Physical weakness is just like any shadow inside–we might ignore it, justify it, or worse yet, accept it–but it will relentlessly beg for awareness in one way or another. Those weaknesses are here to teach us something, not to break us down. Ignoring the hard stuff just equates to a more strenuous lesson down the road, in far more areas than just training. Some of my best advice roots from this realization.

As it applies to training, if you are preparing for the Iron Maiden or any goal, pick your worst/least favorite movement and begin there. Do it every day. Nurture the movement. I no longer viewed the pull-up as part of my workout, the meat of my workout, or as a workout at all. For a measured amount of time, they became a daily practice that needed to feel as routine in my awareness as brushing my teeth. My body began to feel “off”, like I was missing something, on the days I rested. This created a higher degree of “habit” that was needed to groove the movement pattern deeply into the brain synapses, let alone muscle fibers.

Practicing everyday does not mean over-training, however; it also does not need to be a progressive-overload like this pull-up program. It does mean organizing and prioritizing around the goal. For example, if I was struggling with the pistol, I might follow something like this:

Training chart for pistols

In order to follow the pull up program, I had to face down another ego-check. I was accustomed to using weight in every pull-up session and didn’t want to be seen doing only bodyweight reps. That little brush of arrogance zapped pretty quickly as the daily work began. I couldn’t have managed weighted reps with the volume each week required. The beauty of de-loading is an allowance to drastically intensify volume and frequency without getting injured. Every rep is done to perfection or not counted. I can’t emphasize enough how beneficial it was to revisit the proverbial baseline, a.k.a. bodyweight reps vs. weighted reps. If you are stuck on a 1RM, re-programming in a similar system may just blow you away. Take yourself back to the oh-so-humbling 60% max and practice with it. Train with it regularly throughout the week rather than max out every set or every workout. Do something to improve the movement daily, including mobility drills and rest.

I practiced mobility not only on “off” days but also between every pull-up set (scapular pulls, wheel pose, foam rolling, crow pose, wall glides, pec stretches, etc.). In this way, everything I did spoke to my goal. Boldly set your intention: write it down, live it, know the outcome is already happening, and don’t let anything get in its way.

Now let’s talk about the other two lifts. Presses probably got the most attention in my Iron Maiden training. The press wasn’t as defeating as the pull up but it was a greater challenge than the pistol; so it made for the most fun in “seeing progress”.

I approached the press with a three part awareness of the movement:

  • The body has to sense the pattern of movement with total automation
  • The body has to sense the intensity of the goal load to lockout overhead (2nd half of press)
  • The body has to sense the intensity of the goal load to initiate out of rack (1st half of press)

Here’s how these three parts translated unto my training:

A. Patterning/Volume for Automation

Similar to my advice with the pull up, automation requires the pattern of movement to be a deeply rooted habit. With a max rep, not a nanosecond can be wasted for the body to “think” about what’s next. It just fires.   Ladders are a perfect way to pick up volume in a short period of time and jump start strength gains. Below is an example ladder. I followed something similar to this pressing routine 1x/week up until about 6 months out.

Patterning Volume For Automation
1:1 work to rest ratio (You go-I go, if you have a partner). If body is recovering well, add a few single rep sets after the indicated ladders.

B. Desensitizing Goal Load+ at Lockout

Drilling familiarity, stability, and strength with a 24kg+ in the overhead lockout. Below are some ways to make it fun. Adjust the weight according to your current state and goals. As a reference point for the tables listed, goal: 24kg, current max: 20-22kg, snatch test kettlebell: 14kg.

Getting up the Ladder

Each time I did the set of presses, it felt much lighter than expected after holding the heavier load for the duration of a get-up. You can skip rungs on the ladder if you are not making this the core of your workout.

Press Ladder Chart

Each time I did the set of presses, it felt much lighter than expected after holding the heavier load for the duration of a TGU. You can skip rungs on the ladder if you are not making this the core of your workout.

Overhead Walks Chart
Whenever possible, slow the negative/lowering of bell to rack at the finish of the OHW.

Dropset Chart

C1. Desensitizing Goal Load+ into RACK

This speaks to improving the proficiency and load with the clean. The clean bottles all the potential energy necessary to explode into a press. When I am maxing out, there is not a moment’s pause transitioning from clean to press. They blend into one fluid movement. Under this technique, if the clean is sloppy at a max load, the press isn’t going to happen. The practice is to clean heavier than necessary to convince the body of competence at the goal load.

Heavy Cleans Chart

Heavy push presses helps link the transition from rack to press, even with the use of momentum. I would often pair both the heavy cleans and heavy push presses into the same workout.

Push Press Chart

C2. Enhance firing out of RACK

Continuing the current from the clean into a press relies on whole body linkage. Squeeze your quads tighter then tight and push the floor away with your feet immediately upon pressing the bell. Do not let go of the legs. On a 1RM, my quads fatigue, not my shoulder. Below are two ways to practice speed out of the rack position, as well as leg/hip power production:

  • Hold kettlebell or barbell in the rack for 5 counts, then explosively press, singles @ 80%
  • Speed presses with 2 count pause in rack AMRAP @ 60%

I find an explosive clean and press technique can leave the bottom range of the press remarkably weak if slowed down. This is not to be overlooked and can be acknowledged by “revisiting baseline” and grabbing those lighter weights. Here are a few creative ways to pick up strength awareness through that first half of the press:

  • Bottoms up clean and press
  • 1 ½ reps: press halfway up, pause 2 counts, lower to rack; then press all the way up and lower to rack—this is one rep. Move SLOWLY through all portions of the rep.

I incorporate barbell presses to assist with A-C. While it is not an exact match to kettlebell pressing, the pattern is similar. In this way, you can train your body’s leg power, press initiation and lockout under a much heavier load than possible with double bells.

The final piece of the puzzle for both presses and pulls, is to consistently work on shoulder stability and mobility. This includes all the same stretches from the pull up section and adds the following:

  • Bottoms up cleans, racked carry, overhead walk, press, squat, pistol (single and double kettlebells)
  • Arm bar
  • Broken arm bar
  • Get-ups + shoulder circles
  • Windmill
  • Farmer’s walks
  • Racked carry

Once again, so many of the mobility drills, desensitizing techniques, and understanding of body linkage are attributed to the wisdom shared in an RKC-II Workshop.

The final lift, the pistol, was not as difficult to attain but absolutely needed work. I mostly needed to increase strength in the bottom range, as this is where I teetered most. The Beast Tamer book offered useful guidance in this area, too. A few of my favorite tricks:

  • Descend into pistol, hold for 10 seconds; replace the other foot to ground and stand from a close stance squat. Advance to stand up from 1 leg after the 10 sec hold.
  • 1 ½ reps: lower to bottom of pistol, rise halfway, lower back down, stand all the way up. This = 1 rep. Alternate sides at first, and work up to 3-5 consecutive reps each leg.
  • Bottom range reps: lower to bottom of pistol, rise several inches; lower again to repeat for reps.

I had achieved the 24kg pistol but was not rock solid. Back to baseline. Just like pull ups, I set a goal to achieve 10 unbroken bodyweight pistols before returning to weight. I purchased Paul Wade’s Convict Conditioning, which was equally entertaining as it was intelligent. Even though I felt skilled in this movement, I didn’t want to skip any steps only to reveal a weak point under heavier load. The book lays out a tier system of movements that must be completed to advance into the next tier. I followed his pistol progressions from beginning to end and the so-called regression work proved unexpectedly challenging!

Once I added weight back to the pistol, I followed a 5-3-1 or 3-2-1 sequence with at the finish of deadlift days. One other day/week, I continued to do a few high rep sets at bodyweight and the bottom range drills listed above.

For many people the difficulty of the movement begins with the mobility. Luckily, I have had a regular yoga practice for over 15 years and did not need to condition this area.   If you cannot easily squat below parallel with your feet touching together, focus on mobilizing. You don’t have to do yoga, but you will need to put calculated effort into improving hip and ankle mobility. It is also important to get comfortable with spinal flexion (practice plough pose + related variations in the side bar). On the other side of that flexion is creating and maintaining a strong, hollow ab position. The RKC II dissects how to conjure maximum cores strength and introduces many unique variations. I strongly recommend attending the Level II; but if you haven’t made it yet, Keira Newton delivers a helpful hollow plank series in this 5-Part Video Blog.

When accomplishing a long sought after goal, in this case about 2 ½ years, I almost forget where I started–the programming, the “un-programming”, the books, advice, practice, injuries, frustration, and oh yeah, life itself getting in the way. My journey was not a straight and narrow path, but I can say one thing for sure; if it was, I would have learned nothing. I ran into many walls and gained insight from each. As lengthy as this article has become, I believe the most valuable part of my achieving the Iron Maiden is the ability to share the inner intricacies of my experience.

So how did my story end? After all of this preparation, I unmistakably veered toward failure and had to conquer one last lesson…

I am staring down defeat, once again. What is it about this moment? It keeps showing up as if I have a choice. There it is…don’t I have a choice? I have just failed my first pull up attempt in the Iron Maiden Challenge and panic is rising in my chest. I gave it EVERYTHING I have and barely got my nose to the bar. I can’t begin to explain how shocked I felt in this moment. I had effectively turned the 24kg pull-up from my most challenging adversary into my most certain lift.   The press, on the other hand, had been tormenting me with a come-and-go as it pleases reliability along with a very fresh trap strain. Yet, somehow, I easily speared that kettlebell overhead several minutes earlier. I was literally in a state of confusion. How did I not do that?   I hear an echo of John Du Cane’s voice, “You have two more attempts. Take as much time as you need.” Half-dazed, I nod and crouch back to the ground, as if to clean my wounds.

Hovering above that bell, the faces, voices, and objects began to fade from the room. In one mosaic flash, 5 years of national figure competitions flooded my mind…predicted to win by national judges, websites, even myself…and year after year, defeat. I could hear my coach’s pep talk, telling me I gave it everything I could; it just wasn’t “my time”; it wasn’t “my turn to be on top”.   Maybe it’s like that today…it’s just not “my time”. It’s OK if I don’t have it today. I can do it at the next RKC… There I was again, feeding it, accepting the failure. Was it really that easy to let it all go?  Those once comforting words of the past were now freezing me in time. In all those years of competing, maybe it was me who wasn’t ready to win; maybe it was me who kept myself flying below the radar; and today, maybe it was me who kept my chin below that pull up bar. The moment staring me down wasn’t defeat. It was opportunity. This pull up will decide whether or not I become an Iron Maiden today. You only have one attempt….that’s all you have, that’s all you need. Pull it together NOW…an unwavering confidence rushed over me… It IS my time to shine. And as it turned out, I did have a choice that day.

The whole world is you vs. you. When I look back to where it all began, standing in the park, shaking my head ‘no’ to Rob’s seemingly absurd suggestion, I knew I was losing. That frustration powerfully transmuted into passion and determination. I have much gratitude for Rob stoking this fire and Dragon Door presenting this intensely rewarding challenge. Ultimately, I want to relay that anything is possible. Cliché? Maybe. I’ll say it again. ANYTHING you DESIRE and CHOOSE to stay COMMITTED to achieving, no matter what the obstacle, is possible. The seed was planted when I first heard about the Iron Maiden. Though, it took days to feel, weeks to want, months to believe, and years to harvest. For me, the road to the Iron Maiden is about so much more than building strength or staying devoted to a goal. Whether you are going after a max lift or simply looking for some motivation, remember that you are infinitely more powerful than your strongest moment and called to learn from your weakest.   I hope something written here might resonate with you and reflect your own inner strength.  Like any worthwhile journey, when you stand up to the struggle, you stand in your truth to embrace everything you can become. And somewhere in this space, you learn that you are becoming everything you always were…a star in your own story. I walked a long road of competitive endeavors in order to finally “see” that greatness is a part of me. It is a part of all of us. Now go out there and shine brightly in the world!

 

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Katie Petersen is an RKC Team Leader, PCC Instructor, and also holds nutrition/training certifications with Poliquin, Precision Nutrition, and NASM.  She owns Active Evolution, a successful training and nutrition counseling business in Chicago, working with both online and local clients.  Katie also has a niche clientele of fitness competitors (bodybuilding, bikini, figure), as she has several years experience as an nationally ranked NPC Figure Athlete.  For online or personal training, visit her website, www.activeevolution.net or email Katie directly at petersenkatie1@gmail.com. Subscribe to her YouTube channels, Katie Petersen RKC and We Train Chicago to follow her training videos and tips.

Try This Solo Version of a Classic Kettlebell Corrective Partner Drill

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Shari Wagner RKC Team Leader Swing Setup

I was working with a personal training client who was having trouble packing his shoulder in the one-arm kettlebell swing, particularly in the hike pass position. He had no problems with this in his two-hand swing, it only happened when he switched to the one-arm swing. So, I used the RKC towel pull drill with him and voila! It taught him the feeling of properly loading in the hike position and it improved his shoulder packing when he went back to swings.

This client trains with me once a week to learn proper kettlebell technique, and the rest of the time he trains on his own at home. How could he duplicate this drill on his own when he didn’t have a training partner or qualified instructor to train with him at home? We needed a solution so that he could practice the drill prior to each set of one-arm swings, at least until he was able to groove the pattern in his swings.

The deadlift drag is a wonderful exercise and I use it quite often. In this drill, you set up as if to swing, but instead, you drag the kettlebell on the floor very slowly, keeping yourself in the hike position and loaded up through the posterior chain the whole time. However, I sometimes find that the deadlift drag doesn’t have the same carry-over into the swing itself. Not every drill will work for every person to correct the pattern they need to correct. In this case I wanted my client to be able to really load up in the same way we do with the towel pull drill since it really worked to help his one-arm swing. I wanted him to have his arm connected to his body as if the kettlebell were behind him like it is in the hike position of the swing.

I came up with a similar drill using a resistance band. I used a band that was about 1/2” wide, that provides about 15-30 lbs of resistance. Keep in mind that you’re using a double thickness of the band when you set it up as I have in the video below. The loading in this drill happens from the front as you are pulling the band behind you, rather than loading from the back in the towel pull drill. But, the drill still worked really well for my client. He got his shoulder packed in the hike position and felt the loading and support that comes from the shoulder position in the in the swing.

We did one set like you’ll see in the video below and it had the same positive effect on his one-arm swing technique as when we did the towel pull drill together at the gym. The best part is that he can now do the resistance band drill when he trains by himself at home. I prescribed for him to do about five pulls of the band, followed by one 10-second static hold before every set of one-arm swings.

I did experiment with this same idea, and we turned around to try and load up from the back, in order to really try and emulate the towel pull. I personally didn’t like this as much as pulling from the front, because I felt like the resistance of the band wanted to pull me backwards and without a partner to brace against in the pull, I didn’t feel like I was in control of the movement as much. I also didn’t feel like I could engage the lats and the hips in the same way or to the same extent.

I invite you to try this drill both ways and let me know what you think in the comments section below!

Here’s a quick workout you can do using this resistance band drill, the deadlift drag, and the all-important single rep swing. Hopefully the combination will really help your one-arm swings.

  • 5 1-arm deadlift drags, left side
  • 5 single rep swings, left side
  • 5 band pulls, left side with :10 hold on last rep
  • 10 1-arm swings, left side
  • Repeat on the right

Repeat for 5-10 sets, resting as needed between sets

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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.