Kettlebell Training That Profoundly Improves Skills
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The kettlebell training you’ll receive will profoundly improve your kettlebell skills.
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There is a scientific basis for skill development (link to Home Page).
This basis of skill is embodied in the kettlebell training and education you will receive.
As such, the fundamentals are always the first order of business.
When the fundamentals are sufficiently developed more complex and specialized patterns of movement will be introduced.
This scientifically grounded progression makes profound skill improvement attainable for everyone.
Fundamental Skills
In my own professional kettlebell training experience, the three fundamental skills or exercises I was first taught were the swing, the get-up, and the goblet squat.
The Swing
The professional instruction I received for the Swing progressed through 10 exercises or movements. While all were valuable learning experiences, the fundamental skill I want to share with you is hip hinging.
You must crawl before you walk and you must walk before you run.
In the context of learning to Swing well, the hip hinge is your crawl. It prepares you to walk.
The Deadlift is your walk. It is a slower-speed movement that prepares you to run.
After earning your movement stripes by crawling and walking, you will be ready to Swing.
The Get-Up
The professional instruction I received for the Get-Up involved 6 aspects important to the movement. While all were valuable learning experiences, the thing I want to share with you is that the Get-Up is a multi-step, unilateral movement.
The steps, which can be thought of as fundamental skills, are parts of the whole.
When each step is smooth the whole is fluid.
When one or more steps are problematic the whole is choppy.
The Get-Up should be performed with the kettlebell in the left hand and it should be performed with the kettlebell in the right hand.
If you encounter any difficult step or one side is noticeably different than the other, you have homework to do to improve the fundamental skills that comprise the Get-Up.
The Goblet Squat
The professional instruction I received for the Goblet Squat involved 4 elements important to the movement. While all were valuable learning experiences, the thing I want to share with you is that the beautiful squat of early childhood is typically severely degraded by the time adolescence or adulthood is reached.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that you can recapture good squatting mechanics.
The Goblet Squat is to the Squat what the Hip Hinge is to the Swing.
The Goblet Squat is the pattern-building movement that should precede other squatting movements.
If you encounter any issues with execution, which is likely due to limitations and / or asymmetries in fundamental attributes, such as ankle mobility, hip mobility, and spinal stability, you have homework to do to improve your Goblet Squat before progressing to other squatting movements.
Other fundamental skills include pulling and pushing movements of the upper body.
A fundamental pull is a rowing motion.
A fundamental push is a pressing motion.
Surpassing Fundamental Skills
Once your foundation is sufficiently developed, you will progress by developing new skills and enhancing old ones. This is accomplished through breadth and depth. Breadth comes in the form of additional kettlebell movements. Depth comes in the form of progressing already introduced movements.
New Skills
As you might imagine, not everything is introduced during the beginning stages of your training. Consequently, new skills are introduced as you progress through different stages of training. Examples include things like carries, rows, windmills, and more.
Enhancing Old Skills
Adding variation to foundational skills is one way to advance fundamentals. Combining previously learned skills is another way to progress fundamental skills.
progressional variation
Elevating the challenge of a movement by tweaking one or more aspects is a great way to advanced fundamentals.
As an example, moving from a goblet squat to a single kettlebell squat and from a single kettlebell squat to a double kettlebell squat is one way to progress your squat.
Combining skills
Putting elements of different movements together is another great way to advanced fundamentals.
As an example, combining elements of the squat with elements of the overhead press gives rise to the Push Press.
Beyond Skills
Beyond skill development, the kettlebell training you will receive also addresses additional physical, as well as mental and spiritual development.
Body Development
Given the movement-based nature of kettlebell training, body development is bestowed upon the trainee.
Depending upon the specific level and nature of training, both health-related and skill-related physical attributes may be developed.
HEALTH-RELATED PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
Body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance, and muscular strength may all be improved with kettlebell training.
SKILL-RELATED PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
Agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed may be improved.
The development of a full complement of physical attributes makes this movement training very worthwhile.
Mind Development
Development of the mind is a critical, but often overlooked, aspect of kettlebell training.
While there are many avenues for mental development, I will highlight three that I find especially beneficial – focus, mindfulness, and self-cueing.
FOCUS
The Swing is a great example of how concentrating attention on a particular aspect of the movement - in this case the stretch-shortening cycle - can enhance that particular element.
The stretch-shortening cycle involves an eccentric or lengthening action of a muscle or muscles, an amortization phase, and a concentric or shortening action of a muscle or muscles.
To help understand this concept, imagine holding a rubber band between the thumb and index fingers of both hands. As you move your hands apart, the rubber band stretches. This stretching is the lengthening action.
If you hold the hands still for two seconds, that's the length of the amortization phase, which is the time between the eccentric and concentric actions.
You now let go of the rubber band with your rear thumb and index finger and that end of the rubber band is propelled forward by the elastic energy that was stored by the stretch. This is the shortening action.
If the focus of the Swing is on minimizing the stretch-shortening cycle, the hips are hinged as late as possible - just a fraction of a second before the kettlebell crashes into the crotch. As quickly as possible after the hinge, the hips are extended to capitalize on the stored energy in the butt and hamstrings muscles.
Mindfulness
The Get-Up is a terrific example of how kettlebell training can enhance mindfulness.
When speaking of mindfulness in this context, I am referring to the focus of your awareness on the present moment while paying close attention to any bodily sensations.
The present moment occurs during the execution of every step of the Get-Up movement - on the way to standing and on the way back down to the ground.
Paying close attention to any bodily sensations involves the position of joints and limbs, as well as any sensory feedback regarding the joints and limbs.
For instance, when you roll up onto your elbow, is your shoulder packed or unpacked?
When you're in the knee-down windmill position, is your kettlebell arm vertical?
self-cueing
The Goblet Squat is a wonderful example of how self-cueing can aid our mental development when kettlebell training.
Self-cueing involves giving yourself prompts. In this case, reminders of things that will improve your execution.
A brief sampling of self-cues could include grip the ground, sit back and down, hips and shoulders together, and straight and tall.
These prompts, when interpreted and executed properly, pave the way for a better-quality Goblet Squat.
Gripping the ground involves getting the foot into short-foot posture, which means the foot is stabilized. This sets a good foundation.
Sitting back and down promotes better movement mechanics by getting the hips more involved as opposed to sitting down, which is way too knee dominant.
Hips and shoulders together reminds you that both must rise together when driving up out of the bottom of the squat. The hips should not rise without the shoulders rising. This would increase the load on the lower spine.
Straight and tall provides a visual representation of what the spine should look like. The spine should not be rounded.
Spiritual Development
Development of the spirit is a built-in aspect of serious kettlebell training.
Before getting into some of the avenues for spiritual development, I first want to address what I do not mean by spiritual.
I am not referring to anything religious.
I am also not referring to the spirit as defined by the soul.
My reference to spirit involves heart or mettle.
These words, heart or mettle, denote courage and fortitude.
They denote an ability to meet a challenge.
They denote an ability to persevere under demanding circumstances.
In other words, they denote a strength of spirit.
Three avenues that I believe aid the development of the spirit are every-minute-on-the-minute drills, Tabata drills, and timed drills.
every-minute-on-the-minute drills
Let's use the Swing and a time period of ten minutes to illustrate this example.
When the second-hand of the clock strikes 12, perform 20 Swings.
When the 20th Swing is completed, put down the kettlebell and recover.
For the next nine minutes, every time the second-hand strikes 12, you will perform 20 more Swings.
You will put down the kettlebell and recover after each set of 20.
Recovery typically diminishes because fatigue starts becoming a factor.
Pushing through this fatigue and finishing what you started denotes your strength of spirit.
Tabata Drills
Dr. Izumi Tabata, a Japanese sport and health science researcher, is credited with developing a high-intensity, short duration anaerobic training method that produced improvements in both aerobic and anaerobic work capacity in test subjects.
A Tabata drill is one based on the work of Dr. Tabata.
For most people, a modified Tabata protocol is appropriate.
The modified protocol uses a shorter interval training time of four minutes, as compared to the original eight minutes. It should be noted that the original test subjects were highly trained endurance athletes.
To perform a Tabata-based Swing drill, warm-up for five minutes.
Perform four minutes of 20-second maximally intense Swings followed by 10 seconds of recovery. This equates to eight intervals, two intervals being performed each minute of the four minutes.
When the four minutes and the eight intervals are completed, cool-down for two minutes.
Tabata drills are great way to challenge your mettle.
timed drills
Pick a movement.
Pick a time period.
Knock it out!
For the sake of this one, let's use the Get Up and 10 minutes.
Perform one left-side Get Up immediately followed by a right-side Get Up for 10 minutes continously.
While the speed of movement should be quicker than usual, never continue when poor form enters the picture.
The movement choice, the load being lifted, and the desired outcome all impact the time period that would be acceptable.
Regardless, timed drills can be a great way to challenge your fortitude.
Over and Above Skills
Beyond skill development, the kettlebell training you will receive can help improve your health and well-being, as well as liven and lengthen your life.
Health
"Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” - Plato.
Kettlebell training is certainly movement and methodical physical exercise and, as such, can positively contribute to your health.
For more on this, a link will be posted here in the future.
Well-Being
The five elements of well-being as a construct are positive emotion, engagement, meaning, accomplishment, and positive relationships.
As a movement discipline, kettlebell training is certainly capable of generating or producing each element.
For more on this, a link will be posted here in the future.
Liven Your Life
There are so many things that have the capacity to liven your life. A few examples include adventure, community, and purpose.
ADVENTURE
How’s traveling to different cities for adventure?
My initial training was in Connecticut.
A refresher training was in Falls Church, Virginia.
What prompted these travels?
Kettlebell training.
Many other kettlebell enthusiasts have traveled much farther.
community
Kettlebell training can introduce you to local, regional, national, and even international communities of kettlebell professionals and enthusiasts.
As a student of the kettlebell, you may find brothers and sisters from other mothers.
In short, kettlebell training is a surefire way to become part of a community.
PURPOSE
Kettlebell training can provide a sense of meaning. It can also provide an aim or a goal.
Whether your purpose is self-development, progression in the discipline, or becoming a torch-bearer, kettlebell training can answer the call.
As a discipline of study that can inspire adventure, foster community, and create purpose, kettlebell training can certainly liven your life.
For more on this, a link will be posted here in the future.
Lengthen Your Life
Physical activity, purpose, and stress management may all have a role to play in lengthening life.
physical activity
As learned earlier, as a form of movement and methodical physical exercise, kettlebell training can positively contribute to your health, which can, in turn, contribute to longevity.
purpose
Purpose may be created by training. This purpose may provide a reason to continue living, as the mission is not yet complete.
stress management
Stress produces a chemical response in the body. This response is designed to prepare the body for fight or flight. If no fight or flight occurs, the chemical products of the stress response linger in the body. These lingering by-products can produce negative consequences.
Like fight or flight, kettlebell training is movement and, as such, will use up the by-products of the stress response.
Movement is a terrific stress management tool.
For more on this, a link will be posted here in the future.
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