Category Archives: Kettlebell Training

The Jerk

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If you know me you know I love the Big Bang exercises, starting with the Shoulder Press. One of the cousins of the press and another Big Bang movement is the Jerk. But for some reason, this movement scares people. They over analyze until they are paralyzed and ultimately never learn the movement. Here is how I break the Jerk down to make it simpler for my athletes. The biggest thing to remember is: Dip, Drive, Dip, then you Stand tall. It really is that simple.

*****First you need to have your mobility worked out… especially your thoracic mobility. Any ankle, hip, or shoulder issues and this move will make them worse. I require at least an FMS score of 2/2 in the shoulder before we begin to practice the Jerk.*****

These are the steps and movements I use to lead up to the Kettlebell Jerk.

Step One:
Loaded Holds. Clean a pair of heavy ‘bells and hold them in the rack position for time (30 secs, 1 min , 2 min). Here you’re learning to get comfortable under some heavy weight.

“Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” ~ Pavel Tsatsouline.
You’re also learning to brace -to really brace- your midsection. At this point you really want to spend some time  finding your Center of Gravity ( CoG ).
As with any rack position, root down, draw up your knee caps, glutes pinched, abs braced, lats flexed, shoulders in the back pockets.

Step Two:
The Dip. This is what really gets people frustrated with this lift. I think of the dip as a short squat or quarter front squat. This is a weightlifting FS not a powerlifting FS ( think more of a Goblet Squat). If your dip is too short you won’t move the ‘bells high enough to lock out. If your dip is too deep, you lose the mechanical advantage of the knee. You have to find that sweet spot (to get technical, Russian science says 11% of the height of the lifter is the depth).  As you practice this, think of compressing a very powerful spring that you’re going to let go. DO NOT hold/pause at the bottom of your Dip. Again find your CoG while moving.

Step Three:
The Drive. Start adding a bounce to your first Dip, while keeping the CoG between your mid foot and ankle joint. Start with your dip then explode out of the hole! The ‘bells should float at the top. Ride them back to your rack position and as soon as your arms contact your rib cage,  dip again to use your big muscles ( legs ) to distribute the force and repeat.  Here, again, you’re getting used to the weight and finding your CoG. Once you have a solid controlled bounce where the ‘bells reach at least parallel to your forehead, it’s time to move on.

Step Four:
Overhead Holds. Similar to the above but with a moderate set of ‘bells. Again you are getting comfortable with the weight overhead. Shoulders packed, hold for time. Start adding in your dip, with control, no explosion yet. Here your looking to groove your CoG with the weight overhead.Hand position is important here. Your going straight up from the rack.  There should be no outward motion of the arms. The closer to mid-line the safer you are.  One of my rules of thumb is when you look up at a ‘bell over your head you should be able to see the fat part of your thumb. If you only see iron you have issues ( this works for Pressing, and TGUs as well ).  This hand position has minimal movement in the shoulder joint keeping it in a safer position. And since the body of the ‘bell wants to come straight down if its over your face, it’s harder to bail out if things go wrong. 

Now to put it all together:
Get your mind right.

Clean your ‘bells. Root down, get comfortable.
First Dip
Drive, this is that ‘all or nothing’ point, you’re fully committed here… explode!
Second Dip, drop below the ‘bells to lock out your arms to catch weightless ‘bells overhead. In Kettlebells the start of a movement looks a lot like the finish, so this dip should look like the first.

Stand

You’re finished. Simple right?

We’ll add one more “D” the Drop. This is how you get the ‘bells back to the rack.  Ride the ‘bells back to the rack position and once your arms come in contact with your ribs, add a third dip, that looks like the first and second, to use your legs to catch the weight.

Return to the start position. You’re ready to go again.

Heels, up or down… this is always up for discussion.  All our Kettlebell movements drive through the heels, so, In my opinion, you should drive through the heels for Kettlebell Jerks. Just know that heels up or down are acceptable within the kettlebell community. Find what works best for you.

Don’t avoid this Big Bang movement, for for hip and leg power, shoulder stability and strength and to turn you body into a fat melting machine, Jerks are hard to beat. Enjoy..

Simple and Sinister

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Bringing the focus back…pavel1

Justin brought the sexy back,

now Pavel has brought the focus back.

In our world of strength we push the issue of; Patterning, Drilling, and Rep-ing. This being done until the pattern is no longer feed fwd thought process but the automatic “go to” movement, so the exercise can be done when fresh or dog tired without diminishing safety.  A simple example would be the Swing.. This movement ,” simple in its complexity, yet beautiful in its simplicity, ” is a BIG Bang for your buck movement. So much so it is called the “Center of the Kettlebell Universe”. Swings are the Foundation of many programs, we have 10000 Swing Challenges, we see 1000 Swing days, throughout the year and other great challenges.. But the question comes, from those Swings is How many are solid Swings? How many of those 1000/10000 Swings are just mailed in? In our world of Patterning we tend to get lazy and just let the body take over. I’m guilty of this myself, been there done that..

 But now, enter  “Simple and Sinister”. Pavel’s new book on what else, the BASICS.. He takes our beloved Program Minimum, adds a few warm up tweaks, flips it around then calmly demands FOCUS. Gone are the get what you can get done reps in “X” time.. Now your limited, 10 sets of 10 solid Heavy, Hardstyle/Strong/Pavel Swings anyway you want for 100 total quality reps. You notice right from the cover, Pavel’s free hand is used in the single hand Swing. It’s not off to the side, it’s tense right in front of him. You can see the irradiation being used to produce “Total Body Tension” in that Swing. FOCUS.  Patterning is great, but without focus they just become, reactions, add focus, they become intentions, intentions lead to more. More; strength, power, fat loss, cardio, flexibility, mobility. And isn’t that what we want?

Now the Get Up gets knocked around a bit as well. Gone are the time of just getting up. Now the heavy weights come out. I believe it was Jeff O’Connor who I first heard say ” We use light weight for corrections, but heavy weight corrects you’. Get Ups with heavy weight really grab your attention. You will focus on owning each position when there is a heavy iron Bell over your head.

And of course where would we be without a test to find baseline?

5 minute Swing test. As many Heavy one arm Swings in 5 minutes. Switch and rest as much as you want.. As you move through “Simple and Sinister” program you will see this number go up…

I recommend it..

Return of the Kettlebell…..

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OK so I'm on RoTK to unload my Brain.. Again great thing about it, is its all done for you.. Simple right... So we know if you want to improve something you have to practice it. But what happens to everything you're not focusing on while your practicing the one thing.. You'll lose it? No but it will diminish. Enter the Block System, various Scientists who are cited in the book, come to find that short blocks keep all skills moving in the right direction. (Blocks, being a measure of time. How much time you spend on any specific movement.) RoTK uses two-week blocks of Grinds and Ballistics. Focus of the Program is Muscle size and strength. This is where the Grinds come in. The Ballistics are use for cardiovascular endurance and power, but really are unloading weeks for the Grinds..

Ballistic Block- Here we break out one of the Big Dawg movements, Clean and Jerk.. Yes you could call these Quick Grinds if your going real heavy, but these are for endurance in RoTk, so you back off the weight and look for volume.. I’m running 32kg on the medium days and 40kg on the heavy. Now the light day is the Viking Press, which is only a Push Press started from the top.  That Day I spend time with the 24kgs. The light day shouldn’t be skipped. You are to use the Push Press as a way to get your hips moving fo rthe Jerk.

Those that ran “Enter the Kettlebell” know you had all day to enjoy that program, not so with RoTK. Your on a time limit 45 min. Nice huh, quick get in get out. Yeah but its an all out 45min. But so worth it.. SO three days of practice and two of variety you’re looking at about 2;30 hours per week. And that is for everything.. Not bad.. Who needs to spend three hours a night in the Gym, who has the time?

Unloading

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If you’re pushing heavy weight for and extended period of time you know this is tough on the body. This is where an unloading phrase should come in to let you recover/rest to keep moving forward.  I am currently on one of these phases, so I’ve switched over to ROTK for a couple of rounds. Those of you who are familiar with Return of the Kettlebell may be wondering how this is an Unloading phase. Good question, I’m using ROTK to Unload my Brain.. Yes my brain. Being a Professional Strength Coach I am programing day in and out. So when it comes to my own weightlifting/movement practice programing is the last thing I want to do. If you’re in the field you know the worst athlete/client you can coach is yourself. ROTK lays it out for you on a silver platter, sets/reps/day/percentages and ever base weight. Simple, direct to the point, all you have to do is Get your mind right and show up. So remember you not only need to unload your muscles but your mind as well.

But this phase of my programing isn’t just for the brain, I am unloading the muscles as well. I’m starting in the middle of the cycle, since I have done this program several times ( if you are in your first couple runs or never have used ROTK I highly recommend you start from the beginning ) . And will be running the cycle that doesn’t use tweenies. My starting Kettlebells will be 40/24kg, which is less weight than I’ve been using but will increase the volume.. Actually looking forward to the ballistic phase of this. It’s curious that Pavel smiles almost chuckles when you mention you’re doing ROTK, He is not called the “Evil Russian” for nothing..

Pre Swing

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Pre-Swing

Clean
Set up; Position yourself 1-1.5 feet behind the bell, head neutral,
pack the shoulders. Using the Lats, hike the bell back between the
legs with a purpose to load up the posterior chain (hamstrings,glutes ),
getting the forearms high and tight up in the groan area. As the forearms
leave the inside of the thigh, pop and lock the hips and knees with a hard
exhale, back strike the elbows and punch through to the rack position.

The key part to this movement is loading up the posterior chain, with
the forearms high and tight to the groan area. This puts you in a safe and powerful
position. But, what happens when you start getting real heavy bells and
can’t get to that high and tight position? You may not be able to rack
the weight or if you do you may find yourself dipping under the Bells
to catch them. This is more of an Olympic style catch, which is fine,
but its not Hardstyle and you will leak energy and power.

Enter the Pre-Swing. Hike the bell(s) as normal but swing instead of
clean. With a couple of swings you should be able to move the kettlebells
from a low to high swing, and get to the high and tight position on
the back swing, As soon as you feel you’re in the right position, clean.
If you have stayed in your safe power position with the swings, the
bell(s) should roll right up into the rack.

Drill
A simple drill to build the strength of your clean: start with
3-5 heavy swings. Once you feel you’re in the right position, clean the
bells. If you feel yourself trying to dip under the bells, get rid of
them. (This drill is best done outside, since you will be digging
hole.) The idea is to complete the RKC clean, so don’t practice
dipping, only practice the movement at hand. Enjoy!

*** Yes there are some changes in the hand position of the clean that
can get you some more power but here I’m just focusing on getting into
the high and tight position.***

So why no shoes?

Think of it this way shoes are like mittens. Go around all day with a pair of mittens on your hands.. You’ll find things are harder to pick up, your fingers may get claustrophobic, and everything you touch will just feel wrong. Same goes for shoes. But shoes go even farther, the mittens won’t affect the rest of your body ( yes unless you strain something while reaching ) When your toes are confined and you feet are floating ( as they do in these high tech shoes ), you lose the ability to feel the ground. Nerve endings, motor sensors don’t work properly, bones and joints don’t line up right. Enter Kettelbell Training….

At Fit Camp we work from the ground up.. Starting with Rooting of the feet ( you can’t do this properly with shoes on ).. Rooting is awareness and influencing how the body aligns through contact with the ground and your feet. Three key points connect the barefoot with the ground; 1. under the big toe, 2. under the small toe, 3. the heel. Stand barefoot and shift your weight to find these points and pay attention to how each feels.Once you master this step try it with your eyes closed. many different things will be happening now. Finally when you feel comfortable with your new solid rooting technique, grab a kettlebell by the horn and perform several Goblet Squats, shifting your weight though out the movement to find the balance point and solid root position..

Once you can establish a solid base, can properly root your feet to the ground and can brace your abs ( hands on a kettlebell abs tight ) you will find your press, squat and swing movements will have more control, feel much more powerful and become more efficient. Less not forget safer

Week Three

OK little late on the post.. But here we go..

So in talking with Geoff Neupert, Master RKC inventor of the Kettlebell Burn.. Geoff suggested not doing the Double Get Ups. Main reason, you lose “the asymmetrical-loaded rotational benefits of single arm version”. Explanation, with double TGUs your doing what ever it takes to get up. With a Traditional Turkish Get Up or Kalos Sthenos ( Beautiful Strength ) you work each of Our/RKC 7 steps specially to increase joint mobility, stability, and symmetry.

So now moving back to the single arm Get Up, Session A doesn’t suck as bad..
So this week Zeke jumped in on the single arm Get Ups ( Zeke is my 40kg/88lbs ). And with this move on Tues.( Session A ) some of my symmetry problems came into play. So Thurs. ( Session A ) I went down to a 32kg/70lbs to work on some of my issues..

Session B was great….

On to Week Four..

Week Two

This week I changed work days to Tues, Thurs. Sat. Sessions will be B-A-B.

Session B

Double clean and press ladder,

Double Get-up sit-up 24kg,

Double Suitcase rev. lunge , 24kg

Double kb Swings for time, 24kg ( each week the time changes, just 10sec dif. makes a huge difference )

Thurs.
This was A session not a big fan of the Double KB get-ups. They are murder.. But getting them done.

Sat.

B session again. I must say out of the two this is the one I like best.. Must be the pressing.

Slight twist. I ran this session with my Fit Camp. They all did single bells, and really seemed to enjoy it. I had some slight distractions but got mine done with them.

Kettlebell “Double Bell” Burn.

Ok so I’m not great with the writing thing but I think I found something that will help. I got a new kettlebell workout program from Geoff Neupert, Master RKC. kettlebellsecrects.com called “Kettlebell Burn”. So I will work on my writing while taking you through my little adventure..

“Kettlebell Burn” is a COMPLETE 16 week fat loss, strictly kettlebell, workout plan derived from Master RKC Neupert’s years of kettlebell and competitive power lifting experience.

You get everything you need:
1. Supportive Nutrition
2. Resistance Training
3. Metabolic Training
The only thing missing is stress release/ meditation. ( I’ll tell you what I went with later. )

You can get a copy at kettlebellsecrets.com.

OK so my deal.. I’m going Doubles.. This to show that Double Kettlebells are not just for mind blowing brute strength anymore. I’ve got clearance from Mr. Neupert to Guinea pig myself with his program and double bells.
The Program is simple, three days a week 45 minutes each training session. So you have a breakdown of A,B,A,B,A,B, etc..

Session A: TGU’s,
Goblet Squat/ single arm rows
Two hand swings for time..
MINE: Double 16kg no hand shin roll TGUs. ( first time ever trying it but )
Double 32kg front squat
Double 32kg Swings for time ( get the program and you can see the times )
** note** Shin Roll TGU’s followed by Front Squats are not very nice to the adductors.

So I finished up feeling whipped but still alittle froggy from being so amped ( you know that feeling you get from a strong workout ) So I added some bent presses.. 2/2 44kg, 2/2 44kg, 1/1 52kg and jumped, but just missed 1 64kg. These were all with stacked bells, the 32’s moved about half way up and that through me off..

Now my Meditation came from reading Psalms 91 (fear) with 10min. of quiet reflection. ( Tonka even laid down and relaxed )

Now Geoff wants you to do NOTHING else while working this program. But I have been working on the Dave “Irontamer” Whitley, Master RKC’s Women Press. Irontamer.com So I need to practice.

You can see the Irontamer in action here, http://www.youtube.com/user/davewhitley#p/u/29/PxQEg2vbTj0 its worth a look.

More to come.

1200 Kcal

1200 Kcals with Kettlebells in an Hour???..

Josh Hillis losestubbornfat.com posted a great article about an ACE (The American Council on Exercise) study done to prove our ( kettlebell enthusiast ) belief that Kettlebells burn the most calories in half the time..

ACE (The American Council on Exercise) Dubbed the “workout watchdog” by The Wall Street Journal in 1997, ACE has established a reputation as a consumer advocate. Since 1995, ACE has enlisted the expertise of top researchers at major universities across the country to conduct studies on fitness products and trends.((ACE website))

The study was held at UW La Crosse with 10 volunteers. Using a Max Ex. test on a treadmill to get a baseline. They moved to the Kettlebell, the Snatch being the exercise of choice. ( Its doesn’t say but we need to guess all the volunteers where proficient in the Snatch before the study. ) Using the

Viking Warrior Conditioning
The Scientific Approach to Forging a Heart of Elastic Steel By Kenneth Jay Master RKC.. 15/15 protocol for twenty minutes.

You can read the full study here;
http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/Kettlebells012010.pdf

They found after 20 min. the aerobic burn (O2 consumption) was 13.6 calories per min. Then adding the anaerobic (Blood Lactate) 6.6 for a grand total of 20.2 calories burned per minute. That’s equal to a 6 min. mile running pace.

Now the kick is this study was not done by any Kettlebell Guru or to sell a program. Just the facts….