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RKC School of Strength

Official blog of the RKC

kettlebells

The Journey Doesn’t End with the Title

March 30, 2016 By Shari Wagner 11 Comments

Shari Wagner RKC Team Leader
My RKC workshop was in April 2009, and I didn’t pass at the workshop due to a failed snatch test. I submitted a video one week later to earn my RKC title. I recently stumbled across that fateful video and of course, I watched it.

I watched it with a little bit of shock and awe at the poor technique I displayed. I also watched it with a lot of pride. Pride for the hard work I have put in to improve my technique since then and pride for all I have accomplished over the years.

When I first learned the snatch, it was in the days of first learning the high pull. This caused me to have a very significant corkscrew. I worked and worked at fixing this corkscrew before attending the RKC to no avail, and it was one of the biggest worries I had going in to the workshop. It wasn’t the typical worry of not completing the reps, my worry was all about the technique.

I did improve my technique at my RKC workshop, but I still had some of that darn corkscrew. At the time, while not ideal, it was still considered passable technique. I kept plugging away at the technique, but that corkscrew still remained.

I eventually sought out some additional instruction, which helped quite a bit. I also started watching videos of other instructors doing the snatch. I watched the timing very intently, along with the arm position and the path the kettlebell took. I noticed that when they snatched, you could see the bottom of the kettlebell as it flipped over and it looked so smooth and effortless. When I snatched with the corkscrew, my arm was turning out the side, therefore the bottom of the kettlebell was turning out to the side. It also looked anything but smooth and effortless. It certainly felt like a lot more effort too.

I took all of these visual and verbal cues and turned them inward, so I could feel it and visualize what it should look like. I snatched in front of the mirror because at the time I didn’t have a way to video myself. The short story is that it worked! I was finally able to snatch without a corkscrew. However…

I still had work to do to improve my technique. I was now keeping my arm a bit too straight and casting the kettlebell out a bit too much. More training and more work ahead, but I took it all in and worked hard because I was determined to get better. Being a type-A perfectionist and a Capricorn served me well in this case. Not only would this extra work help me get better, but it would help me help my students.

I later assisted at an RKC for the first time and it was the first time with the new RKC. When I tested my requirements for Keira Newton, she gave me a few additional tips that added to the improvements I had already made.

Then I witnessed how we now teach the snatch from the top down. I was amazed at its simplicity, yet it was extremely effective. It seemed so much easier to learn and to teach others this way. I even told the participants how lucky I thought they were to now be taught this way.

Each of these improvements I learned and made over the years has helped make the snatch feel more fluid yet more powerful. My big a-ha with the cumulative effects of each of these improvements is in how much it has helped the efficiency in my movements. I was expending so much additional energy in the way I was snatching before. Watching that video from 2009 now, I can see that so clearly. It honestly looks painful to me.

My moral of this story is that our journey of learning and improving doesn’t stop once we earn our RKC. The RKC helps give us our foundation and our starting point for teaching. But there is so much more to learn and so much more to do after we become an RKC. What makes us really good instructors is our quest to always do more, always be better and always serve our students.

Keeping our certification current is not about paying money to re-certify and keep the letters behind our name. We must improve our own skills, which in turn helps make us better instructors. We can only help our students improve when we help ourselves improve. We can also better help our students when we have access to the most current teaching standards, combined with all the tools we learned before.

If I had never learned the current way of teaching the snatch and if I had never corrected my own technique, I certainly could have still taught people. But I believe that I wouldn’t be serving my students to the best of my ability. That is, after all, the reason why we seek out those 3 letters in the first place, right? Never give up, never stop trying to improve and don’t let the journey end with the letters.

****

Shari Wagner, RKC-II, 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.

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training, Motivation Tagged With: Kettlebell, kettlebell certification, kettlebells, RKC, RKC Workshop, Shari Wagner, Snatch Test, workshop experience

The Clean Viking Salute, a New Spin on a Kettlebell Classic

March 16, 2016 By Ryan Jankowitz 5 Comments

Ryan Jankowitz Kettlebell Clean Viking Salute

As a kettlebell instructor, I love performing kettlebell complexes and chains. I also enjoy putting my clients through complexes and chains—though they may not love them as much as I do.

Complexes and chains allow you to string several movements together without putting the kettlebell down. Complexes and chains create a very time efficient, heart-pumping workout that hits many different movement patterns. Not only do we train several different movement patterns, but we are also able to explore the “time under tension” concept. The more time we spend holding tension, the stronger we become.

With that being said, I want to share one of my favorite chains. Gus Petersen’s “Viking Salute Workouts”, from the RKC Book of Strength and Conditioning, inspired this chain.

Gus Petersen’s Viking Salute Chain:

  • Snatch x 1
  • Overhead Lunge x 1
  • ½ Kneeling Press x 1
  • Overhead Lunge back to standing x 1
  • Repeat

If you have not read the RKC Book of Strength and Conditioning, I highly recommend you pick it up. It contains some really great programs and workouts that will spice up your training.

Gus Petersen’s “Viking Salute Workout” is great for intermediate to advanced kettlebell practitioners, but what about beginners?

My variation may work very well for those new to kettlebells, or instructors working with beginner clients. Instead of performing a snatch to start the chain, we begin with a clean.

Here’s the Clean Viking Salute chain:

  • Clean x 1
  • Rack Lunge x 1
  • ½ Kneeling Press x 1
  • Rack Lunge back to standing x 1
  • Repeat

I have used this chain successfully with individual clients and classes alike. With this chain, we explore a pull, hinge, lunge and vertical push all within one workout. I usually have my clients perform 5 reps on each side and anywhere from 3-5 sets in a training session.

Feel free to get creative with this chain and turn it into a complex or even add some rack carries. Give this workout a whirl and let me know what you think.

Stay Strong.

****

Ryan Jankowitz, RKC-II Instructor, CK-FMS, is a life-long athlete who can’t imagine sitting behind a desk. He enjoys sharing his passion for fitness and spreading the RKC knowledge. Ryan operates a remote fitness coaching service and is available for private kettlebell workshops as well. You can reach him at ryan@rjkettlebell.com or through his website rjkettlebell.com. He also works with clients and teaches kettlebell classes at Fitness on the Run in Alexandria, Virginia. If you’re in the area, visit fitnessontherun.net and come swing some bells with Ryan.

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training, Workout of the Week Tagged With: Gus Petersen, kettlebell chain, kettlebell complex, kettlebell video, kettlebell workout, kettlebell workout video, kettlebells, RKC, Ryan Jankowitz, video, viking salute

Discover the Greatness that Lies Within You

February 10, 2016 By Lori Crock 12 Comments

Lori Crock Movestrong Kettlebells

This is the time of year when people adopt new healthy habits.

Gym owners and fitness professionals see an increase in inquiries, and we make an effort to differentiate ourselves from others.

In reflecting on this, and thinking about those of us who teach the RKC System of Strength, I believe it boils down to this: we are on a mission to help you…

Discover the greatness that lies within you.

Your greatness is already there. No matter where you are on your fitness journey.

It’s our job, as coaches, trainers, teachers—whatever you want to call us—to help you manifest this greatness in your training because this greatness carries into everyday life in many ways. Here are some examples:

  • Learning to bend and move using your hips to protect the lumbar spine.
  • Keeping tension out of your neck as you move and lift.
  • Engaging the strong back and abdominal muscles to ease the load on your shoulders.
  • Lifting, carrying and putting down heavy objects safely and efficiently.
  • Moving with ease in positions like the squat and lunge, before loading up with weight.
  • Understanding good posture and how to maintain it in your daily activities.

Lori Crock coaches a kettlebell student at MoveStrong Kettlebells

We coaches are challenged to create meaningful opportunities for you to learn, excel and reach past what you thought was physically possible. Here are some examples:

  • Guiding you from the hip hinge to the kettlebell deadlift, to the swing, to the snatch.
  • Challenging you to set up and finish every movement with the same mindfulness and attention to technique.
  • Helping you learn to listen to your body and understand the difference in feeling fresh, safely challenged, or fatigued. Then we teach you how to applying this to your daily training.
  • Regressing and progressing your training so that you look at your fitness journey in terms of months and years, rather than days and weeks.
  • Teaching you about mobility and recovery. And making it as high a priority as strength and conditioning.

Every time you train it’s a time to discover something new about you.

We who are coaches, trainers, teachers see it every day. We see smart training transform peoples’ lives. They soon have more enthusiasm, confidence, freedom, and joy in their bodies—in addition to the physical results. We see this as greatness and we want this for you.

Greatness has many faces. It’s showing up. It’s learning to move in new ways. It’s lifting heavy, heavier, heaviest. It’s a finding new grace and ease in your body. It’s listening, feeling, understanding. It’s getting up and down off the floor. It’s going faster and farther. It’s moving slower and more methodically. It’s trying something you feared.

Acknowledge improvement and celebrate this as greatness every time you train.

For the seemingly ordinary experience of moving and lifting, learning and practicing, training and recovering, whether alone or with others, touches not only the physical, but also the mental and emotional side deep inside us. This keeps us coming back for more.

For many of us, the most profound moments of discovery occur when we find a weakness, address it, then seek to rise up and defeat it.

Discovery takes courage. Discovery takes mental focus. Discovery takes patience.

We know that some physical skills take years to achieve, let alone perfect. Some physical skills might not be achievable because our bodies are different than they once were. How we respond to this can speed up or slow down the discovery process.

RKC snatch test John at Movestrong Kettlebells

We have imperfections and limitations that have stories behind them. Genetics, athletics, relationships, work, play, and life all impact how we move and feel. However, this shouldn’t stop us.

Stories mean we lived a little or maybe a lot. Some of us have been in harm’s way. Our movement and life stories might not be what we’d like them to be because things are not always within our control … but we can still make progress.

Our everyday lives, and our physical lives, intertwine and support one another.

The coach, trainer, teacher is challenged to work with you in a way that honors your past, guides you in present, and prepares you for the future so that you discover the greatness that lies within you.

 

****

Lori Crock is an RKC Team Leader, PCC, and FMS-II strength and movement coach who owns MoveStrong Kettlebells in Dublin, Ohio. Lori teaches small group strength classes where she is inspired by her students who see their training as vital to their productive and happy lives. You can reach Lori at lori@movestrongkbs.com, her website, and follow her on Facebook.

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: Coaching, discovering greatness, fitness motivation, kettlebells, Lori Crock, Motivation, training motivation

How to Become a Kettlebell Professional

December 16, 2015 By Shari Wagner 4 Comments

Shari Wagner Double Kettlebell Swing Setup

A recent conversation with a client went something like this, “Of course you can do [insert exercise]…you’re a professional.” A little while later, a prospective client asked, “Do you think I have the potential to be good at kettlebells?” Combine that with another amazing weekend hosting an RKC workshop, and this blog post was born.

Of course I can do all of these kettlebell lifts, I’m a professional. But how do you think I became a professional? I certainly didn’t come out of the womb able to do all of this stuff. I had to learn it and practice it, and be open to more learning and more practicing. Every. Day. Every day until I earned my RKC and every day since I earned my RKC.

I didn’t just pick up a kettlebell and magically start using it perfectly. I was once in exactly the same position as anyone who comes to my gym to learn kettlebells. I had to learn each exercise from square one, just as all of my clients do. Truth be told, it took me a long time to learn a proper swing! That deep hike and explosive hip snap was as foreign to me as it is to you. After lots of dedicated practice and consistency, it’s now feels so natural it’s hard to remember how awkward I once felt.

Even after 6+ years of being an RKC, I still don’t just pick up a kettlebell and magically start using it perfectly. Every time I pick up a kettlebell, I focus on all the components that I know make up proper technique.

I make sure I set up with proper form and I make sure I swing, clean, press, etc. with proper form. I think about making every rep the best I can make it. I concentrate on how each rep feels… “That one needed a little more tightness in my snap, I need to make sure I keep my back flat when I hike.” I video myself now and again to check and hone my technique. I never approach or pick up a kettlebell on auto-pilot.

I’m better able to recognize and make micro adjustments, but that certainly didn’t happen overnight either! It took a lot of time, patience, practice and consistency. It sometimes took losing my patience a bit. It certainly took lots of coaching and the ability to be coachable.

At an HKC workshop several years ago, after all the other participants and instructors introduced themselves and told about their vast athletic backgrounds, I said “I have a background in nothing.” I wasn’t an athlete and I didn’t participate in any sports. I had a history of being sedentary and inactive or yo-yo exercising, until I found kettlebells in my late 30’s. That is when I found the athlete inside me.

Shari Wagner Kettlebell Press and Strength Quote

Some people are more naturally athletic and can learn technique more easily than others. I’m not one of those people, but that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of learning a new technique. For me, it just means that it might take me a little longer to learn something new, and I might have to put in a little more time practicing a new skill but I’m okay with that. I allow it to leave me with a bigger sense of accomplishment.

I believe that anyone can become an RKC, and the recipe is simple. Start with a dedicated mindset to your training practice, add to it lots of hard (but smart) work and consistency, and sprinkle in some patience and time. Yes you; the one who picked up your first kettlebell today! Or you;  the one who’s been using kettlebells for a few years. ANYONE willing to put in the time and dedicated effort to good technique can achieve RKC status, or any goal you set for yourself. Some of you may be like me and might have to work a little harder or a little longer than others, but either way, I truly believe that anyone can do it.

The way the RKC course is structured, everyone learns the progressions and regressions for each exercise so that you are able to teach people of all fitness levels. In the process, you are learning what you need to improve your own technique. The structure of the course also allows you to constantly practice coaching others, so you can hone your teaching skills while you’re learning everything. Combine that with the plethora of valuable resources offered by Dragon Door, titles like Master the Kettlebell, Strong Medicine and Mental Muscle and you have everything you need to succeed.

Over the years I’ve participated in several RKC workshops. Whether the participants are seasoned athletes or new to training and whether they do or do not pass the requirements, the one common theme I see among them is that the RKC was the best course they have ever attended and many report that it was life changing. It certainly was for me!

So, what’s stopping you? Go sign up for those kettlebell lessons or for an RKC workshop!

****

Shari Wagner, RKC-II, 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.

Filed Under: Coaching, Kettlebell Training Tagged With: becoming an RKC, Coaching, how to become an RKC, kettlebell training, kettlebell training principles, kettlebells, RKC Workshop, Shari Wagner

Why The HKC Is The Answer To (Almost) Everything

November 11, 2015 By Dan John 10 Comments

HKCKettlebellGetUp1

Sometimes, when I repeat the same answer to a question more than a few times, I begin to wonder why people even ask me questions.

Exercise for Fat Loss?
“Swings, goblet squats and Turkish get-ups.”

Elderly clients?
“Swings, goblet squats and Turkish get-ups.”

Travel related issues for elite athletes and collision occupations?
“Swings, goblet squats and Turkish get-ups.”

Most people come to coaches and trainers wanting a magic wand treatment, Harry Potter and the Six Pack Abs, but what they NEED is hip flexor stretching, t-spine mobility, rotary stability and basic movements. They NEED to move. They NEED to open the hips and spine and shoulders.

They need the information from the HKC.

I have spent my life trying to understand weightlifting. It seems to me that there are three important keys:

  • Fundamental Human Movements
  • Reps and Sets
  • Load

Sadly, I think this is the correct order that we should approach weightlifting. First, we need to establish the correct postures and patterns, then work around reasonable “numbers” of movements in a training session. Finally, we should discuss the load. Sadly, the industry—and I am guilty of this as well—has switched the order and made a 500 pound deadlift the “answer” to improving one’s game or cutting some fat.

And, please note, I said “training session.” Oh, I can work you out:

“Hey, go run to Peru!”
“Hey, go do 50,000 burpees.”
“Hey, go swim to Alaska.”

But, please don’t think any of that is going to improve your skill set or your long term ability to do anything from sports to simply aging gracefully.

At the HKC, we learn what I consider to be the key patterns to human movement: the swing, the goblet squat and the get-up. The “Hip Displacement Continuum” (HDC) is a term I invented to discuss hip movement. The HDC has two ends: the swing and the goblet squat. The swing demands maximal hip hinge and minimal knee bend while the goblet squat demands maximal hip hinge along with maximal knee bend.

HKCNicoleKettlebellGetUp

They are the same—but different—in their ability to remind the body of the most powerful movements it can perform. The get-up (not the “Turkish sit-up” as I often note) is a one-stop course in the basics of every human movement from rolling and hinging to lunging and locking out.

So, the HKC covers basic human movements in a way that is unlike any other system or school. As I often argue, add the push-up and, honestly, you might be “done.” Here are the basics of proper training:

  1. Training sessions need to be repeatable.
  2. Training sessions should put you on the path of progress towards your goals.
  3. Training sessions should focus on quality.

So what it the key to quality? I have a simple answer for most people: control your repetitions.

In teaching the get-up, or when using this wonderful lift as a tool to discover your body, keep the reps “around” ten. Now, you can think about this as a total of ten with five on the right and five on the left, or you can try ten right and ten left. But, please don’t make a war over the numbers. Do the get-ups, feel better and move along.

I have noted that if I do get ups as part of my warm up along with some get up drills for “this or that” (the highly technical name I use for correctives), I am sweating and pushing into a “workout” around ten total reps. Certainly, at times you can do more. But, week in and week out, think “around” ten reps for the get-up.

The goblet squat seems to lock in around 15-25 reps per workout. I offer you the “Humane Burpee” as a way to try this concept:

10 Swings
5 Goblet squats (put the bell down between your feet under control)
Inchworm out to the push-up position (walk on your hands)
5 Push-ups
Inchworm back to starting position
10 Swings
4 Goblet squats (put the bell down between your feet under control)
Inchworm out to the push-up position (walk on your hands)
4 Push-ups
Inchworm back to starting position
10 Swings
3 Goblet squats (put the bell down between your feet under control)
Inchworm out to the push-up position (walk on your hands)
3 Push-ups
Inchworm back to starting position
10 Swings
2 Goblet squats (put the bell down between your feet under control)
Inchworm out to the push-up position (walk on your hands)
2 Push Ups
Inchworm back to starting position
10 Swings
1 Goblet squat (put the bell down between your feet under control)
Inchworm out to the push-up position (walk on your hands)
1 Push-up
Inchworm back to starting position

Finished!

That’s 50 swings, 15 goblet squats and 15 push-ups. 8-5-2 will give you the same results with less swings, if you need to do less (Only 30!).

One of the great insights, among many, that I picked up at the RKC is the idea of doing twenty swings with one kettlebell and ten swings with two kettlebells. After doing literally hundreds of swings a day, I noted that my technique held up fine in that ten and twenty range. It is the basic teaching of sports: don’t let quantity influence quality. In other words, ten good reps is far better than dozens of crappy reps. If you want more volume, just do more sets.

Absolutely, there are times when you should do more than twenty. There are times when you want to do all kinds of things. But, most of the time you just want to keep moving ahead. I usually call these the “Punch the Clock” workouts and I think they are the key to staying in the game.

So, you may ask, is this enough?
Over time, yes!

Tim Ferris, RKC-II, tells us in his excellent book, The Four Hour Body that there is a minimum effective dose (MED) of everything fitness related. Although the number I am about to share has a bit of wiggle room, it seems that 75-250 swings a day is the “wheelhouse” for the swing MED. Yes, you can do more, but you want to be able to do it literally day in, day out, year in and year out.

Finally—and don’t take this as a joke, I mean it—if it is too light, go heavier. And, if you went too heavy, try a lighter bell. Doing the little “Humane Burpee” with a big kettlebell is a killer workout. But, it is simple to scale it up or down by simply changing the kettlebell, it’s that simple. When you look at movement first, then reps, then for whatever reason, the loading makes more sense too.

This is the essence of the HKC and I love it. In a one-day course, we learn and do (a lot of “do”) the three core movements of the kettlebell world.

Prepping for the HKC is not as complex or deep as the three-day RKC. Showing up “in shape” and ready to learn would be ideal, but I would also recommend include some additional mobility work and perhaps some work on the hinge, squat and some basic rolling to prep for the event.

The time you spend prepping for the event pales in comparison to what you do AFTER the HKC. I always send along the following Twenty Day Program to guide our attendees deeper along the RKC path.

(One note: during the HKC, I always include waiter walks and rack walks as part of the get-up section. From there, I show the one arm press and introduce the kettlebell clean. This way, the participant has the tools to prep for the RKC. I trained for the RKC with clean and press, swings and what I thought were snatches at the time. So, I ask people to press as soon as they can with kettlebells.)

HKCKettlebellGobletSquat

The First Twenty Days

Fresh from a new learning experience, there is always a tendency to want to do everything at once. But that approach is tough to do and fraught with long and short term issues. The first twenty days after the HKC experience should be a time to strive for mastering the movements and training the positions. Don’t add speed and volume to poor movements—take your time to practice.

These twenty workouts can be done five days a week (for a total of four weeks) or three days a week (sneaking up on two months) or any way you choose. These will provide the ground work for a solid base. Strive for mastery.

Daily Warm Up

It is generally a good idea to go through some mobility drills especially for these areas:

  • Neck
  • Shoulders
  • Thoracic mobility
  • Hips

Each week, take one day to do a full “toes to top” mobility workout.

It is recommended that you do the hip flexor stretch during each warm up and cool down period; it can be done very well with an easy set of goblet squats. Many find a few easy sets of swings, a few goblet squats and a weightless set of one to five get-ups on both sides to be enough of a warm up.

Day One

3 Get-ups right, 3 Get-ups left

Practice hip hinge

Goblet squats: 2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3-5

15 Two hand swings
1 Goblet squat
Ten reps of high knees “March in Place” (Each time the right foot hits is “one rep”)
Recovery breathing (up to two minutes)
Do this for a total of 3 rounds.

5 Minutes of pressing practice.

Day Two

2 Get-ups right, 2 Get-ups left

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3

Day Three

1 Get-up right, 1 Get-up left

30 Seconds of two hand swings/30 Seconds of “Fast-Loose” drills
20 minutes total time

Practice goblet squat

Day Four

10 Minutes of get-ups (alternate right and left)

15 Two hand swings
1 Goblet squat
10 Reps of high knees “march in place” (each time the right foot hits is “one rep”)
Recovery breathing (up to 2 minutes)
For a total of 3 rounds

Day Five

5 Get-ups right, 5 Get-ups left

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

Day Six

3 Minutes of get-ups (alternate right and left)

30 Seconds of two hand swings/30 Seconds “Fast-Loose” drills
10 minutes total

Goblet squat: Several sets of 5 with a pause at the bottom

Day Seven

1 Get-up right, 1 Get-up left

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3-5

Day Eight

10 Minutes of get-ups

Practice hip hinge

Practice goblet squat

Practice press

Day Nine

15 Two hand swings
One goblet squat
10 Reps of high knees “march in place” (Each time the right foot hits is “one rep”)
Recovery breathing (up to 2 minutes)
For a total of 5 rounds

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

Day Ten

5 Get-ups right, 5 Get-ups left

30 Seconds of two hand swings/30 Seconds “Fast-Loose” drills
5 Minutes total

Goblet squats
2-3-5-2-3-5

Day Eleven

5 Minutes of get-ups (Alternate right and left)

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
1-2-3-5-1-2-3-5-3

15 Seconds of two hand swings/15 Seconds “Fast Loose” drills
10 Minutes total

Day Twelve

1 Get-up right, 1 Get-up left

30 Seconds of two hand swings/30 Seconds “Fast-Loose” drills
5 Minutes total

Goblet squats
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

Day Thirteen

10 Minutes of get-ups (Alternate right and left)

15 Two hand swings
One goblet squat
10 Reps of high knees “march in place” (Each time the right foot hits is “one rep”)
Recovery breathing (up to 2 minutes)
For a total of 10 rounds

Day Fourteen

1 Get-up right, 1 Get-up left

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3-5

Day Fifteen

1 Get-up right, 1 Get-up left

30 Seconds of two hand swings/30 Seconds “Fast-Loose” drills
5 Minutes total

Goblet squats
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

Day Sixteen

15 Two hand swings
5 Goblet squats
1 Push-up
10 Reps of high knees “march in place” (Each time the right foot hits is “one rep”)
Recovery breathing (up to 2 minutes)
For a total of 10 rounds

Day Seventeen

5 Minutes of get-ups (Alternate right and left)

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3-5

Day Eighteen

3 Get-ups right, 3 Get-ups left

30 Seconds of two hand swings/30 Seconds “Fast-Loose” drills
20 Minutes total

Day Nineteen

Goblet squats
5-10-5-10-5

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3-5

Day Twenty

1 Get-up right, 1 Get-up left

30 Second of two hand swings/30 Seconds “Fast-Loose” drills
5 Minutes total

Goblet squats
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

One hand press (Start with “less strong arm” and alternate arms. “One rep” is one arm right hand press and one arm left hand press)
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2

HKCKettlebellSwing

So, there you go! The HKC is more than just the entry into the kettlebell world. It is the foundation of everything you will learn. The three movements of the HKC are the core to conditioning, mobility and goal achievement.

Welcome aboard.

***

Master RKC, Dan John is the author of numerous fitness titles including the best selling Never Let Go and Easy Strength.

Register for the Upcoming 2016 San Jose, California RKC taught by Master RKC Dan John with Senior RKC Chris Holder, and RKC Team Leader Chris White

Dan has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.

Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. For more information visit: http://danjohn.net

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training, Workout of the Week Tagged With: 20 workouts, Dan John, hkc, Humane Burpee, kettlebell training, kettlebells, post HKC, RKC, RKC Prep

Regress to Progress—Why Patterning is the Key to Fixing Your Swing

October 28, 2015 By Matt Beecroft 5 Comments

Matt Beecroft Swing Setup
Matt Beecroft demonstrates the incorrect (left) and correct (right) position for starting a kettlebell swing

Movement quality underpins any good strength training system. The RKC has never been just about the kettlebell, it’s always been about learning to move better. And the key to moving better is often knowing the right time to progress an exercise—and when to regress. It can be challenging to know when to increase the movement challenge, complexity or difficulty of an exercise if you don’t have an RKC instructor to coach you. Fortunately, the RKC system also includes an awesome system for teaching the movements progressively and safely.

Sure, you could go out and learn 17 different techniques in other one or two day workshops… But not only will your personal proficiency in those lifts be suspect (unless you are an athletic freak, like our own Master RKC, Max Shank) but more importantly your ability to communicate and teach the information to others will also be questionable. This is especially true when attempting to coach someone who is new to training efficiently, safely, and effectively.

Also, the skill set of an athlete and a coach are very different. Many of your clients aren’t really interested in your amazing athleticism, they are much more interested in how amazing you can make them. We all know great athletes who are terrible coaches and vice versa.

The intelligent progression of exercises which teach how to get from “point A” to “point B” is what sets the RKC apart. If someone is having trouble mastering the swing, you probably know by now that trying to correct it is difficult. Because swings are ballistic, they’re fast, so trying to correct a client (or yourself) during an exercise like a swing can be almost impossible.

The first thing I want to emphasize that you must be patient with the steps leading up to the kettlebell swing. You will know if you have successfully completed the steps if you finally pick up the kettlebell and swing it with some grace and efficiency. But, if you have sped through the progressions too quickly, your swing will be ugly and dangerous. And then more problems will arise when you progress to the clean and the snatch—which should look exactly like a swing in many ways since your arms simply guide the kettlebell to these other positions while your hips do all the work. These more sophisticated exercises will amplify and illuminate all the flaws with your kettlebell swing technique.

Many people speed through the progressions in various exercises thinking that if they have to be patient and spend the time mastering the basics (note: basic doesn’t mean easy) or need to regress the exercise, then they have somehow failed or gone backwards. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

A few things happen when people try to outsmart the process, or jump ahead in the progressions:

  1. They find out that their swing is terrible and have many things to troubleshoot.
  2. They get injured.
  3. All of the above.

Either way, they will end up spending much more time ironing out their kettlebell swing issues. Hopefully they will go to an RKC Workshop to learn the “a-ha drills” we teach to troubleshoot and save time. Otherwise, they risk getting sidelined by injury instead of patiently mastering the progressions and enjoying the journey. Speeding ahead with load and intensity usually causes limited or dysfunctional movement patterns, if adequate mobility and motor control (stability) aren’t achieved beforehand.

So, how should you fix your kettlebell swing?

Embrace the suck and regress to progress. One reason the swing is taught through a progression—at least in my opinion—is because of the patterning. In many respects, it’s similar to some of the ideas in the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). By the time you pick up a kettlebell, after all the correct patterning you have practiced , it shouldn’t look like you are trying to hump the bell! Instead, your kettlebell swing will be a thing of power and beauty.

The general rule is to only use techniques that improve form, quality of movement, and quality practice while reducing compensations. Unfortunately, many trainers don’t have a system for teaching the swing, they just pick up the kettlebell any way they can and then try to get it to move!

The FMS and the RKC teach patterning in this order:

  1. No load, pattern assistance.
  2. No load, no pattern assistance.
  3. Load, with pattern assistance.
  4. Load, with no pattern assistance.

In the RKC, we begin by teaching the hinge unloaded. This is often assisted in a variety of ways – either the student uses the blades of their hands in their hips to help find the hip crease (sometimes coined “chopping and popping”), they might push their butt back towards a wall, or use a dowel touching three points along the spine (head, between the scapula, and the sacrum) to teach how to maintain a neutral spine.

Next we would aim to do this without load, but with no pattern assistance. Our goal is to remove the pattern assistance and do the movement unloaded with perfect form. If the form breaks down we can go back and return to the pattern assistance method (dowel, wall, etc.) until the right movement becomes what we do every time. Old strength coaches were renowned for not letting their athletes pick up a bar until they could first do the movements correctly with a dowel or a stick.

The third stage is load with pattern assistance. In the RKC curriculum, this is the kettlebell deadlift. Placing the kettlebell in line with the heels also places the shoulder blades over the kettlebell. This makes for a foolproof deadlift when we simply stand up with the bell. If you can’t do it slow then you probably can’t do it fast—this is what grinds like the deadlift are all about. Slow is smooth, smooth will become fast later. If the deadlift lacks stiffness or tension, we can use the static stomp deadlift or Hardstyle plank to link the body with tension and to keep midline stability and posture.

The next step is using the deadlift drag or pendulum swing to teach the backswing and the start of the swing—pattern assistance with load. At the final stage we will do dead swings or the proper two handed swing, which is the load with no pattern assistance. If we have adequately mastered the first three steps, the final stage, load with no pattern assistance, will be solid.

Every time I progress a client who isn’t ready, I find that I spend a lot of time trying to troubleshoot their swing. Regressing these clients back to one of the first three stages of patterning was the fastest way to actually help them master the swing.

So relax and enjoy the journey. Be patient in your progress and understand you don’t have to master everything immediately. Basic doesn’t mean “easy”. Spend more time on patterning and you will likely spend less time with the difficult task of troubleshooting swings at full speed. This approach also works with more advanced exercises, for example if your clean isn’t great, your one arm swing probably will need work. If your press isn’t great, your clean will need work. If your kettlebell snatch isn’t great, then your one arm swing, clean, and press probably all need work too.

If you find that your swing isn’t great, don’t think of regressing to an earlier step as failure, or that you’ve made a mistake. You are still traveling in the right direction. Regressing to progress is an amazing strategy that will still have you traveling in the right direction.

***

Matt Beecroft, RKC Team Leader, PCC Instructor is the director and head coach of Reality Self Defense & Conditioning in Adelaide, South Australia. He can be contacted through his website at realitysdc.com.au email: matt.beecroft@realitysdc.com.au or follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/MeetLifeHeadOn.

Filed Under: Coaching, Kettlebell Training, Tutorial Tagged With: clean a kettlebell, how to learn kettlebell swing, how to teach the kettlebell swing, how-to, kettlebell squat, kettlebell swing regressions, kettlebells, Matt Beecroft, movement patterning, movement patterns, movement quality, tutorial

How to Turbo Charge Your Big Six

September 23, 2015 By Phil Ross 4 Comments

Master RKC Phil Ross Kettlebell Split Squat

There are so many workouts, so many movements, and so many choices… So, what’s the best way to train? Variety is the spice of life, but is it necessary for achieving optimal fitness levels? As humans, we tend to get bored, so we are on a continuous quest for something different, something better. But on the other hand, we are also creatures of habit. We tend to go to the same restaurants, buy the same type of car or get the same breed of dog. We like a certain level of comfort and familiarity. Yet, we still yearn for the exotic, the different. This is part of the Human Condition. What does this have to do with training? Everything. 

We can achieve both with our training and quench the desire for both the exotic and the basic. I wanted to shock my system (and my students’) with the basics. Most people might think, “WHAT? With the basics? To shock our bodies, we need variety! We need to keep it off-guard! I’ve been doing kettlebells for years, show me some new moves!” Au contraire my friends, try the workouts below and treat yourself to some very basic movements performed in a method that will blow you away!

Even though the movements on the whole are very basic, the delivery and the proper execution of the sets require a great deal of skill. Due to the density and intensity required, these workouts are designed for a more experienced Girevik.

You have to be prepared to challenge yourself weight-wise as well. Your snatch test size kettlebell or heavier is required as a starting point for the workouts. Get set to challenge yourself with these basic routines… or are they really so basic???

We start all of our classes by jumping rope for 3 to 5 minutes. Then we perform a myriad of mobility, stretching and tension movements with the bo staff (dowel). After that, we perform some freehand stretching, crawling patterns or primal movements. But even then we are still not ready to put some iron in our hands.

Instead, we will generally perform three sets of three different bodyweight exercises. Some examples would be as follows:

  1. Scapular push-ups (20 reps), thoracic bridge (5 each side) & deck squats (10).
  2. Deep squats (20), pull-ups (80%), planks (various)
  3. Handstands or crow stands (1 minute), Table top bridges (10), Skewed squats (10 each side)
  4. 10 Ninja push-ups (push-up, table top bridge and frog squat)

When starting the cycle, I begin with the overall basics tested in the RKC Level 1. Then I move to the next workout and so on. Do them in the order prescribed for the best results.

Workout 1: RKC Basics:

Armbar, Lying side press and kettlebell pullover, 2 sets, 10 reps of each (each side, when applicable).

Now we perform the RKC Basics Complex. Do anywhere from 3 to 5 sets.

Phil Ross BackswingPerform these as one big complex, moving from one exercise to the next without rest. Take a one minute rest period between the rotations. This is a great method for prepping for your RKC Level 1, a re-certification, and it is also a good way to prepare for part of your RKC-2.

RKC Basics Complex: Use RKC Snatch Test sized kettlebells or larger

  • 1 Heavy get-up each side
  • 10 Double kettlebell swings
  • 5 Double kettlebell cleans
  • 5 Double kettlebell presses
  • 5 Double kettlebell front squats
  • 10 Snatches each side

Once you are done (with your 3 to 5 sets), do 3 sets of the following:

10 reps of single kettlebell split squats, followed by 10 reps of single kettlebell rows. Finish one side and then do the other. Rest for one minute between sets.

Cool down and stretch

Workout #2: TGU Pyramid and Swing Ladder

Once you have completed one of the warm-up circuits, preferably one including arm bars, we need to make certain that our shoulders and hips are prepped for the task ahead.

Phil Ross Get UpGet-Up Pyramid. Begin with your snatch test size kettlebell. Perform 5 reps on each side. Move up to the next sized kettlebell and do 4 reps on each side. Repeat this with 3 reps at with a heavier kettlebell, 2 reps with the next heavier kettlebell and then one rep with the heaviest kettlebell you are able to use. Once you’ve gone up, go down repeating the sequence in reverse. This will yield 60 repetitions. If you are not able to increase on every set, use good judgment and only use a kettlebell that you are able to safely perform the get-ups with proper form.

Next, we will perform a swing ladder. 5 reps of each, for 10 sets. Start with the snatch test sized kettlebell and move up each set while maintaining the same amount of repetitions.

I happen to have a plethora of kettlebells (well in excess of 100), so it’s easy for my students and I to change kettlebell sizes. Depending on your circumstances, you may have to improvise by doubling up kettlebells (double kettlebell swings, for example) or doing two sets at the same weight before moving on.

We will now work on our push-ups to round off the session. We do one set of standard push-ups, generally between 20 and 50 reps, depending upon your fitness level. Follow this up with 2 sets of plyometric push-ups, anywhere from 10 to 20 reps.

Cool down with some restorative stretching and you’re done.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Turbo Charged Series…..

Strength & Honor,
Coach Phil Ross

****

For more information on Master RKC, 8th Degree Black Belt, and Bodyweight Specialist Phil Ross’s strength and conditioning programs, videos (including The Kettlebell Workout Library), and workshops, please visit www.philross.com.

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training, Workout of the Week Tagged With: double kettlebell workout, Kettlebell, kettlebell workout, kettlebells, phil ross, RKC 6, Turbo Charge Your Big Six Series

Find Your Passion

August 5, 2015 By Jay Armstrong 2 Comments

Jay Armstrong Split Press

I love training with kettlebells. The swing and kettlebell snatch are drills that help improve grip strength and increase cardiovascular capacity. The getup can improve core strength and balance. Regular training with a kettlebell can increase strength in a wide variety of areas and increase your functional mobility.

I also love the martial art of Tae Kwon Do. Regular practice of Tae Kwon Do will give you self-confidence and improve your ability to keep track of where you are as you move in 3-dimensional space. The ability to defend ourselves will allow us to face many of life’s challenges without undue fear of failure. We learn that we are capable of much more than we ever thought possible through the application of perseverance.

Jay Armstrong with KettlebellHaving a genuine love of kettlebell training and Tae Kwon Do makes it easy for me to find the time to practice these activities. In fact, I feel that an essential part of me is missing if I can’t find time for what I love. Yes, I am addicted. I must have air, water, food, love for my family, and I must move. Yes, I am a very lucky guy. But, what about you? Why are you exercising? What do you want to accomplish? How are you going to get from here to there?

Most people don’t want to dig deeply for the answers to these questions, but that is a very important part of the process. Some new clients come to me because their doctor or loved ones have told them that they “need” to exercise. Other people are hoping to find the magic bullet, pill or potion that will help them lose weight and look good naked. Many of these people are unaware that you simply cannot out-exercise a bad diet.

If you “need to”, “have to”, or “must” exercise then this activity or any other activity may soon start to feel like WORK. And as you probably already know, we tend to avoid things that we don’t enjoy. It will be difficult to incorporate an exercise program into an ongoing lifestyle change if the only reason is that we “ought” to do it. We will very often fall off the wagon and stop doing what we “should” be doing. Perhaps we should call it training or practice so that it can be something we “want” to do.

Enjoy physical activitySeek out a physical activity that is enjoyable, and therefore sustainable. Perhaps kettlebell training is such an activity. Kettlebell training can be done in a group class setting. This will allow you to share energy with others in the class. Spending time with other like-minded people can take an exercise program out of the “have to” category and turn it into something you want to do.

This is the first part of integrating a successful exercise program into your lifestyle. Make sure that the physical activity you choose as “exercise” is enjoyable, so that you will stick with the program. Exactly what will make it enjoyable is solely up to you. It can be camaraderie, competition or stress reduction. For most people, incorporating an exercise program into their lifestyle will bring their lives into a better balance and make life more enjoyable.

Here are a couple of things that make kettlebell training so appealing to me:

Jay Armstrong Kettlebell Get-UpFirstly, the kettlebell swing (when done correctly) provides an incredible number of health, strength, and endurance benefits for a relatively short investment of time and equipment. This means that I don’t need to do 50 exercises for each individual muscle. The kettlebell swing gives me a lot of bang for the buck. If I want more of a strength challenge I can simply increase the weight. If I want more of a cardio effect, I can increase the length of the sets or decrease the rest periods.

Secondly, the kettlebell provides a wide variety of training options. From halos, rows, getups, curls, squats, presses, and even kettlebell juggling, you can always find a fun and challenging drill. This is important, because boredom is the enemy. Whenever the brain checks out and we lose focus, we might as well be walking on a treadmill while reading a book and putting on makeup (no offense ladies). But, we can develop and improve skills, practice more safely, and enjoy our training sessions more when we are engaged and having fun. Yes, hard work can be fun! Yes, you can and should be improving your athletic skills.

Seek out a qualified kettlebell instructor who will insure that you are following the important, underlying principles. A good instructor will help keep you engaged, excited, and inspired to make progress.

Kettlebell training may be exactly what you need to add a sustainable physical challenge to your lifestyle.

Get up and move.

 

***

Jay Armstrong is a Senior RKC, 6 Degree Black Belt TKD, and Master Z-Health Trainer.  The past 30 years have been dedicated to helping others develop confidence through increased strength and pain-free, exceptional mobility.  His quest for knowledge continues.  He runs The Kettlebell Club in Houston, Texas.

 

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training Tagged With: how to enjoy exercise, Jay Armstrong, kettlebell training, kettlebells, lifestyle change, physical activity

3 Ways to Get More from Your Kettlebells

July 15, 2015 By Josh Henkin 3 Comments

Master RKC Josh Henkin Overhead Press

Kettlebells were a big change for me—far beyond just adding swings, get-ups, and squats to my training. The whole concept of kettlebells made me re-evaluate the tools I used and made me reconsider how many tools I really needed to accomplish a specific fitness goal. In many ways, kettlebells got me thinking more about the big picture. Soon, I was solving fitness needs more effectively. I remember when Dragon Door kettlebells only came in three sizes—16kg, 24kg, and 32kg. Back then, most people didn’t consider switching to a lighter or heavier kettlebell to be the default way to make an exercise harder or easier. That’s what I loved about kettlebells in the first place—we were taught to think about them a bit differently, and I want to share that with YOU!

Many people think they will outgrow their kettlebells as they work through various movements and progressions, but I have yet to see that truly be the case. In fact, by not automatically jumping to a different size kettlebell, you will find yourself breaking plateaus and feeling stronger much faster. The following three kettlebell techniques will show you how!

Dead Stop Anything

Since cleans, snatches, and swings are essential in kettlebell training, it’s important to note how to progress these movements. Time after time I am shocked to see how dead stop progressions can change so much about someone’s movements—and how many strengths and weaknesses are revealed.

While the dead-stop technique is definitely beneficial for swings, I find it has the BIGGEST impact on cleans and snatches, because they don’t have any pre-swing to build from the powerful eccentric pre-load. Ironically, since many people love deadlifts for the same reason, I am surprised this technique is not more popular for kettlebell ballistic training. Personally, I have found VERY few people who can double clean two 32kg or bigger kettlebells from a dead stop for sets of five. But, every time I do meet someone who can, the strength transfer to other lifts is pretty amazing!

Stop!

Since many popular fitness approaches are based on completing a workout in a certain amount of time, we often overlook the value of adding specific pauses. The great thing about pauses is that they can add challenge to any kettlebell lift from snatches to get-ups to squats.

It is amazing what the addition of a few seconds pause can do to the weight of a kettlebell. Suddenly, a somewhat light kettlebell can feel MUCH heavier!

But there are more reasons we should use pauses. On a basic level, pauses give us an opportunity to look at our positions and alignment. When people try to fly through their workouts, it’s common to see a loss of proper posture and cheated ranges of motion. Pauses help prevent technique breakdown and also accomplish some of the benefits we discussed in dead stop training. And with pauses, we can hold in a wide variety of positions. There is great value in holding the catch of a clean or snatch, the bottom of a squat, or even specific phases of the get-up. All of these pause examples can help build untapped strength.

Finally, pauses are an opportunity to work on isometric strength, which is valuable but often difficult to add to most fitness programs. Since isometric training is typically only effective in about a 15 degree range of the action, it may not seem worthwhile. But that limitation is a GREAT reason to work on it at both the bottom and top ranges of motion of a given exercise. At the top, isometric strength can do wonders for building great core strength. And the bottom the range of motion is typically where we need the most strength in a lift.

Perform the Underdog Movement!

Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to teach an RKC Workshop in China. During the course we always demonstrate and teach “accessory” kettlebell drills. These drills aren’t tested in the RKC, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable. In truth, many of these additional kettlebell drills are just as important as the more popular and tested exercises.

For example, the kettlebell single leg deadlift has amazing transfer to swings, cleans, and snatches. Many people would benefit from performing the single leg deadlift because it builds greater stability and strength in the lower legs, hips, and trunk. It is so easy to catch and correct compensatory movements with drills like the kettlebell single leg deadlift.

Master RKC Josh Henkin Coaching One-Leg Deadlifts at the China RKC
Master RKC Josh Henkin Coaching Single Leg Deadlifts at the China RKC

Bent rows also make this list of “underdog movements”. I’ve heard some people say that bent rows are “too hard” on the back, but I think this row variation is a great foundational drill for all our ballistic kettlebell exercises. Think of the bent row as an alternative plank—if you can’t hold the position with the right posture, then you may not be really ready to produce power.

Rows also help the shoulder joint with all the overhead work involved with kettlebell training. Due to the typical modern lifestyle and training, the muscles on most people’s back sides are typically weaker. While some trainers will say that you just need to include pull-ups in your training to fix this imbalance, our lats are internal rotators of the shoulder and can actually increase the shoulders’ tendency to round forward. Think the shoulders of elite swimmers. Fortunately, bent rows can help many of the muscles which pull the shoulders back.

But there’s a crucial trick—while many people can lift a kettlebell when they row, they might not actually get their shoulder blades to move. We need to see and feel the shoulder blades coming together as you bring the weight upwards. When this happens, we will also sense if you have scapular movement. If you do not have this movement, it can impact your overhead strength and performance.

Since they are important, I don’t want you to just add some of these “other” kettlebell movements, but instead, PRIORITIZE them in your training. The benefits will include increased performance and resistance to injury.

Just Three?

Adding three things might sound easy, but they all take discipline to perform. You may honestly feel humbled by some of the lighter kettlebells you thought you’d bested. But if you truly have the desire to get better, you will never feel like you’ve grown out of your kettlebells after you experience the amazing benefits from these three simple strategies!

***

Josh Henkin, Master RKC, CSCS has been a RKC instructor since 2003 and has implemented kettlebell programs for major Division I programs, SWAT teams, and many different general fitness programs. Josh is also the creator of the DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training system where he is a highly sought after presenter worldwide. He can be reached at info@ultimatesandbagtraining.com or http://DVRTFitness.com. Josh Henkin is also the author of DVRT, The Ultimate Sandbag Training System now available in paperback and ebook format.

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training, Tutorial Tagged With: Josh Henkin, kettlebell drills, kettlebell technique, kettlebells

The Single Rep Dead Stop Swing, Clean, Snatch Workout

July 1, 2015 By Andrea Du Cane 13 Comments

Master RKC Andrea Du Cane and Senior RKC Timothy Spencer Demonstrate the RKC Arm Bar

As I travel around teaching HKC and RKC workshops, I notice a common problem (theme – challenge), the sloppy start/stop of a kettlebell ballistic lift.

Imagine this scenario: someone is getting set up to swing; it doesn’t matter if it’s 2-handed, single arm or double. They stand over the kettlebell, lift it up, and rock it back a couple of times between their legs and THEN swing it back far enough to load their hips and explode up.

What’s wrong with this picture? The set-up was not correct. It was not focused or properly executed. There must be an intention and preparation before the start of the pull—before anything happens.

I like to say in regards to all kettlebell lifts, “You’re only as good as your set-up”.

Here is the correct way to start a swing (clean or snatch):

  • Place the kettlebell a foot or two in front of you.
  • Bend forward and grab the kettlebell handle.
  • Pull the kettlebell slightly toward you, while engaging your lats.
  • Set your weight way back on your heels, while keeping your feet planted & spine neutral.
  • “Hike” the kettlebell back behind you—fast.
  • Explode your hips forward and feet down into the ground. Let your arms be propelled forward by the force of the hips.

That’s it. Simple. No lifting the kettlebell up and rocking it a couple of times before hiking it back and exploding up. One crisp explosive hike pass and forward movement is all it takes!

This is the same for ALL the kettlebell dynamic lifts; including double kettlebell swings and cleans.

Scenario #2: someone has just finished a great set of swings, but on the last rep they fall forward while rounding their back and then dropping the bell down in front of them.  They nearly topple forward.

No further explanation is needed here, this is simply dangerous. The most common time for an injury to occur during any kettlebell exercise is on the last rep or while the kettlebell is being set down.

In both cases—the first rep or the last rep of a set—the lack of focus, intention and safety is to blame.

The answer to this problem is to training your single-rep or dead-stop swings. In essence that is what the single-rep is: the start and end of a swing, clean or snatch.

Programming single-rep sets is an easy way to reinforce good technique throughout a set of any ballistic lift.

The truth is, they are HARDER than continuous reps because you lose the assistance of gravity during the backswing. With single-rep workouts, each rep is initiated by the power of the lifter. The hips and lats have to work that much harder to generate the force to project the kettlebell up. Hence, an additional bonus is increased force production and explosive power. So this type of training is perfect for any athlete.

You can also modify single-rep workouts for any level kettlebell lifter.

Single-rep 2-handed swings are a progression to learning continuous swings, but for the advanced lifter, doing single rep heavy cleans or snatches or double swings and cleans, puts the burn in your butt!

Here are some workout examples (note: “SR” stands for Single Rep):

Beginner:

SR-Swings:   2-handed for 5 reps

Continuous:   2-handed for 10 reps

Repeat as long as you wish

OR use timed sets for 25-30 seconds of work to equal rest

 

Intermediate: (proficient with cleans and snatches)

SR-Swings 1-arm   5-10 reps left/right

Continuous 1-arm   10 reps left/right

SR- Cleans 1-arm   5-10 reps left/right

Continuous 1-arm   10 reps left/right

Repeat as long as desired or timed sets

 

2nd workout

SR-Swings 1-arm   5-10 left/right

SR- Cleans 1-arm   5-10 left/right

SR-Snatch 1-arm   5-10 left/right

Repeat as long as desired or timed sets

 

Advanced

SR-double swings   5-10 reps

SR-double cleans   5-10 reps

Repeat as desired or timed sets

***

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

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training, Tutorial, Workout of the Week Tagged With: Andrea Du Cane, dead stop swing, dead swing, hkc, kettlebell swing, kettlebell technique, kettlebell training, kettlebell workout, kettlebell workouts, kettlebells, RKC, RKC kettlebell training, workout of the week

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Dragon Door Publications / The author(s) and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may occur through following the instructions or opinions contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described herein for informational purposes only, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.