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February 26, 2007
When to grip your kettlebell and when not to
In any kettlebell exercise you should position the handle in such a way that the heel of your palm under your pinky is loaded and your wrist is not bent back. Once that is taken care of you have two different grips, crush and open palm, to choose from for different exercises.
The crush grip is essential for strict military presses. Not only does gripping the handle up your strength through the phenomenon of “irradiation” (see Power to the People!), the pressure on the thumb pad activates the mechanoreceptor or “button” responsible for recruiting your biceps. The long head of the biceps flexes the shoulder and assists the press.
This does not apply to push presses, tempo presses, and jerks that use the legs or/and the rib cage to start the movement and only need strong triceps to finish the press. You may open your hands. Ditto for the snatches.
Keep your fist closed to connect the load to your biceps and get a more comprehensive stabilization training effect for your shoulder in get-ups and windmills. You don’t have to crush grip the handle as the kettlebell is relatively light. Remember that GUs and WMs are exercises, not lifts.
Crush in bent presses as you need the extra “guy wire” of the biceps for stability in this heavy lift.
Russian kettlebell power to you!
To learn more about Kettlebells and Pavel's Kettlebell programs click herePosted by james at February 26, 2007 10:12 AM