Kettlebell World Champion Ivan Denisov Teaches Proper Form

World Champion Kettlebell Sport athlete, Ivan Denisov demonstrates the proper form for the long cycle kettlebell clean and jerk.

Patience

by Shaun Cairns, Senior RKC

There are MANY ways to swing a kettlebell but only a few principles. The ONE principle often ignored is PATIENCE. Patience is needed while building mobility, and creating stability before developing strength. But patience is ALSO needed in executing the SWING.

We talk many times about “punching” the bell with our hips and driving our heels into the ground while powerfully and fully locking our hip and knee joints (in that order); yet we don’t talk a lot about what we do between the “punch” and the “catch”. I have seen many people rush this phase of the swing, they don’t ALLOW the bell to float, and they don’t RELAX their swing.

What I mean by that is they don’t relax their arms (without losing the locked elbow) thus allowing them to float up with the bell as it follows its trajectory. They are so busy staying tense (often confused with hardstyle) and “getting their reps in”. A good swing requires patience; once we have done all that we need to do to correctly “punch” the bell, we need to wait for the energy that we have imparted to the bell to naturally dissipate before returning the bell to the “catch” position and repeating.

Even if we are doing overspeed eccentric training and pulling the bell down, we still need to WAIT until the bell has been “fully punched” otherwise we cheat ourselves and create negative tension in our bodies. When “catching” the bell we also need to practice patience; waiting in the upright plank position for the bell to return and only at the last second shift our hips explosively to “catch” the bell with our hamstrings and glutes.

If you are having trouble with the swing or want to improve your swing, apply a little patience to your practice…

Article courtesy of Power by Pavel.

Time is of the Essence

One of the aspects of my strength and conditioning training that changed when I began using kettlebells was my entire approach towards working out.  Before kettlebells, I had pretty much been using a bodybuilding type approach with some powerlifting thrown in for good measure.  Meaning, I performed the typical 10-12 reps for 3-4 sets targeting specific muscle groups like my biceps or quads, etc.  For the most part, this approach to strength and conditioning doesn’t work unless you are in fact a bodybuilder trying to look stronger then you really are.

Since employing kettlebells into my workouts about 7 years ago, I have seen massive gains in both my strength and conditioning that I never saw  in almost 20 years of weight training.  The kettlebell itself has a lot to do with that but probably more so is the training philosophy that I practice.

Long gone are the 2 1/2 to 3 hour workouts employing isolation type lifts for high reps and the use of machines.  I now use kettlebells, free weights and odd objects only.  For strength training I do no more then 5 reps and practice multi-joint and full body lifts.  I also have focused a lot on strength endurance, or the ability to generate a massive amount of force and sustain it for a long period of time.  Meaning, not only do I want to be able to, lets say snatch a ton of weight, I want to be able to do it over and over and over again.  In order to complete the RKC Snatch Test, the athlete must be able to snatch a 24 kg kettlebell 100 times in 5 minutes.  The Secret Service snatch test is similar, but instead of 100 reps in 5 minutes, its 200 reps in 10 minutes.

To accomplish both those feats, one must be very strong and be able to maintain that strength for several minutes.  This has applications in many different sports as well as real life.

The firefighter carrying a victim out of a burning building or the police officer fighting off an assailant who is trying to take his gun and kill him would certainly benefit from strength endurance.

A great way to train for strength endurance is to forget about reps and pull out the stop watch.  A kitchen timer also works for this.

Pick a lift, lets say the kettlebell long cycle clean and jerk.  In the first example, set your timer to 30 seconds and start performing the lift until the buzzer rings.  Rest a minute to catch your breathe and repeat.  Don’t worry so much about the reps but rather keeping good form and pacing yourself.  Do not park the kettlebell during the 30 seconds.  Should you need to rest, do so in the racked position.

Once you are comfortable with 30 seconds, go to a minute, 2 minutes and beyond.  Again, never park the kettlebell during the set.

Another variation of this is to pick several different lifts, up to 10 if you want and perform each for 30 seconds.  Rest for 30 seconds and then perform the next lift.  Once all lifts are completed, you have performed 1 cycle.  Strive to complete 3 or more cycles.

Another option is to choose a grind type movement like the double kettlebell military press.  Pick a weight that allows for maybe 4 or 5 strict reps.  Perform 2 reps at the 1 minute mark and park the bells.  When the second hand gets to the 2 minute mark, perform another 2 and then park the bells.  At the 3 minute mark perform another 2 and so on.  Sounds easy but if you are using enough weight, at around 10 to 12 minutes, you will be struggling to get your 2 reps.  Stop once your form is shot.

The above examples are great starting points but the only limits really to what you can do is the limits on your imagination.   As long as the basic principles are always adhered too, you can’t screw this up.

Dennis

Before entering into a fitness routine, especially one that incorporates kettlebells, be sure to consult with your physician or medical professional to be sure you are healthy enough to begin a strength and conditioning regimen.  Be sure to learn the proper way to perform each lift and complete each exercises in strict form employing a spotter when applicable.  In other words, if you hurt yourself, it’s your fault.

Practice Makes Perfect?

You have heard it before, “practice makes perfect”.  Bull shit!  If your practice is wrong, then what it does is makes you perfect at doing it wrong.  What good is that?  Perfect practice makes perfect, period.  This is certainly true when it comes to kettlebell lifting.  There is a right way to do it, a wrong way to do it and a lot of in between.

I have seen a lot of people lifting weights the wrong way over the years.  I have seen some things that I can’t even begin to describe.  Most of the time these people are only hampering their progress by doing a particular lift wrong but in some cases, they are creating an environment in which the chances for injury becomes a serious concern.

I take the view that kettlebell lifting is as much an art as it is an exercise.  Seeing somebody perform a proper bent press with a significant amount of weight is a beautiful thing, almost like a perfectly choreographed dance routine.  Proper form not only looks good but it allows the athlete to lift overhead a tremendous amount of weight safely which will add to the enjoyment of working out.

Learn how to properly perform the fundamental kettlebell lifts, swings, snatches, overhead press, get-ups and cleans.  If you are already a “seasoned lifter”, go back and relearn each one of the lifts every so often to ensure that your form is still correct.  I don’t care how long you have been lifting kettlebells, we all need to go back to school once in a while.

Dennis

Got Soul?

90 percent of the battle in anything we do in life is simply just getting up and doing something, anything.  Most people, and I do mean most people never even bother to get up off the couch.  Achieving your fitness goals is not different.  Doing something, even if it’s not perfect is better then not bothering to even try.

We all need to be motivated from time to time and when I’m feeling like I just don’t want to hit the gym, I watch a video like this one and I’m up and hitting the gym hard in minutes.

If this doesn’t do it for you, I’d check your pulse.

Be inspired!

Dennis