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May 30, 2006
How to stretch your back after a kettlebell workout
A seemingly harmless thing to do is to slump forward after a kick-butt set or workout. Don't! Renowned physical therapist Robin McKenzie explains that most back pain is triggered by overstretching of the ligaments and the surrounding tissues. Which is in turn often caused by bad posture, especially the loss of the arch in the lower back. “After activity, the joints of the spine undergo a loosening process. If, after exercise, we place the back in an unsupported position for long periods, distortion within the joint readily occurs. This is true whether we sit in a slouched position or whether we stand, bending forward with our hands on our knees.”
Avoid slouching, and perform five back bends immediately before and after lifting. “By standing upright and bending back before lifting,” explains McKenzie, “you ensure that, as you begin the lift, there is no distortion already present in the joints of the lower back.” Place your hands in the small of your back pointing your fingers downward and keep your legs straight. Bend back slowly using your hands as the fulcrum, pause for a second, and return to the upright position. Try to bend further with each successive rep.
Just because your back started hurting immediately following a given activity, you should not automatically blame the activity. Things are not always as they appear to be; most likely it was your slouch. So avoid slouching after vigorous exercise, and wrap up with the same five back bends. Some Russian coaches have their athletes lie on their stomachs and read a book after a practice.
Russian kettlebell power to you!
Posted by james at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2006
These kettlebell drills will make you fast
"If you are extremely slow to start a load, here is a drill that works well," says Louie Simmons. "Kneel down on a gym mat with your hips relaxed. Then jump to your feet. When you have mastered this, kneel again but this time with a bar on your back and do the same. Next, kneel down with the bar held across your lap and jump into a power clean. For the last stage, kneel down and jump into a power snatch. This will greatly increase your reactive time." Perfect drills to do with your kettlebell instead of a barbell.
Russian kettlebell power to you!
Posted by james at 6:13 AM | Comments (1)
May 15, 2006
Kettlebell high rep quick lifts for elite conditioning
Slow, heavy lifts or "grinds", done for one to five reps are one side of The Russian Kettlebell Challenge coin. High-rep, quick lifts are the flip side. When we train to "endure strength", we turn everything around: the lifts are quick and the reps are high. Kettlebell swings and snatches done for 10, 100, and even more reps are unbeatable for developing championship conditioning. Countless tough hombres have been humbled by these drills. Fighters, athletes, and special operators have admitted that they were shocked to discover they had met the hardest workout of their lives. Here’s how Mike Castrogiovanni, RKC, a strong, tough-as-nails wrestler, describes his first encounter with the Russian kettlebell:
“I was visiting with a friend, strength coach Mark Reifkind. He kept on ranting and raving about these things called “Kettlebells.” If Mark is ranting about something, you best sit your ass down and take notes. He said, “Look, man, if I told you I had a strength tool that will raise your heart rate over 200BPM you would want to see it, right?”
“Now, I’ve known Rif for quite a while and for him to make a statement like that was pretty absurd, especially since all my kinesiology teachers and textbooks had been telling me that a man of my age should not be able to do so physiologically. After hearing Mark’s outlandish claim I decided to pay him a visit to make sure he hadn’t killed too many brain cells from all those years of powerlifting and try to bring him back to reality. So, with the intention of proving my old teacher wrong and showing him what a stud I had become, I went to his house.
“We went to the garage where I viewed three cannon balls with handles resting on the floor. I thought to myself, “Cannonballs! This guy has lost his marbles.” Despite my initial resistance I became very interested as soon as Rif began to demonstrate some of the basic movements. It literally forced my mind to open; I had never seen anything like it nor had I ever been able to conceptualize such a possibility. My experience with explosive movements consisted of the O-lifts which I rarely performed for reps and when I did the reps they certainly were not fluid and continuous. At this point, my interest peaked; but I still felt the skepticism that had been implanted in my mind by the many lectures and late nights of reading. After all, I was on my way to becoming a “Kinesiologist”!
“Eventually, my natural child-like curiosity forced my overgrown ego to step down and before I knew it, Mark was teaching me swing techniques, both two and one hand varieties. After Rif felt confident in my ability to perform a safe swing, he introduced the clean and the snatch. It took a little while for me to get the movements down, but eventually I did. The learning process alone elevated my heart rate and breathing. I had begun to think that he might be right and science might be wrong. For the love of God, what was I to do? My whole world was about to collapse before me, in a garage, of all places, at the hands of my old strength coach, of all people, and because of a cannon ball, of all things.
“I accepted the inevitable, stood my ground and attacked the bells as if it were my last dance on earth. I remember very little of the workout itself. I know we did swings, cleans, and snatches, and that the workout lasted no more than seven minutes. I remember my heart beating so hard that I could feel it in my pelvic floor, and my heart rate elevated to 221+BPM. [Karvonen formula tables show 195 as “the maximum heart rate” for a 25-year-old.] The thing that stands out most in my mind was my prideful attempts to refrain from vomiting all over Rif’s garage and my feeble attempts to act as though I was unaffected by the workout.”
Are you man enough to accept The Russian Kettlebell Challenge?
Posted by james at 5:59 AM | Comments (228)
May 8, 2006
"Before you can endure strength you must first develop it."
The emphasis on brute, low-rep strength differentiates The Russian Kettlebell Challenge system. Most S&C methodologies aimed at the military and fighters heavily lean into conditioning while de-emphasizing strength. Probably because it is a lot easier to smoke somebody than to make him strong. RKC practitioners get their share of conditioning, but strength always remains a priority.
Low-rep training, so heavy that the weight barely moves, is the stepchild of the strength-and-conditioning world. Pros and amateurs alike are afraid of low-rep “slow strength” training. After all, doesn’t it slow you down? And where is the conditioning?!
Wrong. “Slow strength” happens to be one of the counterintuitive and rarely revealed secrets of Russian athletic might. It is defined as one’s ability to exert the greatest force regardless of the time it takes. The guts to grind it through. The powerlifting deadlift and the military press with a heavy kettlebell are classic displays of slow strength. Slow strength is always trained and tested with low repetitions, one to five.
“All fighters and coaches understand the importance of roadwork,” says Boston boxing coach extraordinaire Steve Baccari, RKC. “They understand the importance of working the heavy bag, the hand-pads, and of course, sparring. But what is commonly overlooked, and possibly the most important piece of the strength and conditioning puzzle—is strength training. Or what Pavel refers to as slow strength. What does slow strength do for a boxer? First and foremost, when a fighter has a good strength base, it reduces his chance of injuries. Second, it makes him more resilient in the ring. Finally, strength translates into more power in his punches. After all, power is strength times speed. Most coaches over-emphasize strength endurance. Granted, this is very important, but before you can endure strength, you must first develop it.”
Russian kettlebell power to you!
Posted by james at 5:34 AM | Comments (1)
May 1, 2006
A foolproof kettlebell strength and conditioning template
"I'm a physical therapist by profession and periodically test my grip strength using a hand-held dynamometer," wrote Dave Alianiello. "It has consistently been around 120 pounds of force for the past several years. I purchased a set of kettlebells from your company about a year ago and have been incorporating them into my personal workouts at home and have been very satisfied with the results. The other day in the clinic, after testing a patient's grip strength, I casually gave the dynamometer a squeeze and was very surprised to read "160" on the force gauge. Another squeeze comfirmed this increase in grip strength. I have no other explanation except the use of the kettlebells. Very cool. Just thought you'd like to know."
Among the best kettlebell grip exercises are bottom up cleans and C&Ps and snatches. You will find both in The Russian Kettlebell Challenge book and DVD.
Russian kettlebell power to you!
Posted by james at 5:40 AM | Comments (1)