cluk_kettlebellguide

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kettlebell

trainingguide

a SHead of CroSSfit london

CrossFitLondon

the haLLmark oF eLiteFitness

01CrossFitLondon

thehaLLmarkoF eLiteFitness

kettlebell training

First Edition April 2008 Andrew Stemler


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kettlebell training

a kettlebell , in spite of thehype, is neither a gym in the

palm of your hand, an itemthat enses at from your body, nor

builds indestructible bullet-proof abs: thats done by hard work, skill,determination and diet

A kettlebell has as much chanceof ending up unused in the back of awardrobe along with last years tnessDVDs, as has any item of tnessequipment

However, a kettlebell is a metal ballof various sizes attached to a thick handle. The ball part can be as smallas a shot put, or as big as a football.The training idea behind such an itemis that if it can be swung andlifted with correct form,it confers on the user a variety of strength,

power and CV-basedimprovements that,some insist, outstrip

conventional trainingmethods.

Kettlebells haveexperienced an upsurge in

popularity with the dedicated physical culture enthusiast, apparentlyrediscovering the many bene ts tostrength and conditioning kettlebellscan bring.

Commercial kettlebells are available

in many sizes and weights. Some usea Russian descriptive weight system

being popular in some areas. The Poodis an Old Russian measure of weightwhich equals 16kg. Therefore:

1 Pood = 16kg ,1 Pood = 24kg2 Pood = 32kg

The kettlebell is claimed by variousnationalities as part of their exclusivecultural heritage: the Russians and theScots tend to be the most vociferous.

There is historical evidence showingthe Greeks training with objects knownas halteres . In ancient Greek sports,halteres were used in their versionof the long jump. They were held in

both hands to allow an athleteto jump a greater distance;

the athlete would swingthe weights backwards

and forwards just before take-off,thrust them forwards

during take-off,and swing them

backwards just beforereleasing them and

landing. Apparently.This however bears little

resemblance to the use of modernday kettlebells and is perhaps a moreromantic than factual evidence for their historical pedigree.

Romantic or not, it must take second place to the notion that kettlebell is aScottish word for a kettle with its spoutknocked off, lled with earth and usedfor weight training.

Whilst the kettlebell can be usedas any other weight can, its modernday marketing-created reputation is

based primarily upon the swing. Thereis little doubt that the current waveof enthusiasm for kettlebells is theresult of promotional work carried out

by Pavel Tsatsouline. It is basicallyhis efforts that began the notion thattraining with kettlebells could bewoman-friendly.

In the general marketing of thekettlebell, the bene ts emphasized are: Kettlebells for strength training Kettlebells for cardio training Kettlebells for grip work

Marketing babble aside, you havedecided to embark upon a tnessactivity that requires you to swing,

throw and catch heavy weights near your head. This could be indicative of the fact that you need to re-evaluateyour decision making paradigm. Itis, after all, a long way away fromlounging on a bike in a gym readingcelebrity magazines.

It is always worth rememberingthree things: focus on form, increaseweight gradually (and if need be,

practise the exercises emptyhanded).Above all, try not to let

go of the bell when it is over your foot or head. It hurts.

However, if you decide to proceedwith your kettlebell (and by the way,give it a cute name), we need to seethat it hits all the correct buttons whenanalysed against accepted de nitionsof the components of physical tness.

Physical tness can be de ned as aset of attributes people have or achievethat relate to their ability to perform

physical activity.The tness industry focuses on ve

major components of tness:Cardiovascular ftness The ability of the bodyscardiovascular system to deliver

oxygen to the working muscles.Muscular strength: The amount of maximal forcegenerated by a particular muscle or groups of muscles in one repetition.Muscular endurance: The ability of muscles to repeatedlycontract over a period of time.Flexibility The range of movement arounda joint.Motor ftness:

The ability of the nervous system tocoordinate, balance and controlthe body.

As this introductory guide willdemonstrate, the kettlebell if usedin the manner prescribed hits allthese buttons. It will also indicate thatthe author has major psychotic issuesabout dropping kettlebells on your head.

kettlebellS about

tHe

Swing

tHeSwing

tHeClean

tHeSHoulder/waiter/bottom-uppre SS

tHeSnatCH

tHeturkiSHget-up

tHewindmill

ContentS

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kettlebell training

t he kettlebell swing isthe rock upon whichthe advertised magic of

kettlebells is based. This onemove combines phenomenalincreases in cardio vascular endurance.

If you learn one thing aboutthe kettlebells, learn how toswing it.

Basically, it combines asquatting motion with the

energy of the rise beingtransmitted to the kettlebellin your hands, raising andlowering it in the sagital planewith long relaxed arms.

If you compare the movewith a garden swing, thekettlebell is the seat, the ropesthe arms. Where the ropeties to the cross bar or tree

bough is the shoulders. Butthis swing is not powered by

a push from behind by your mum; the energy comes fromsquatting down to load themuscles, then standing up and

projecting the energy throughyour body.

The potency of the swingis partially based in a form of training called peripheral heartrate training. In essence the

heart is required to pump bloodto the legs to fund the squat,and then immediately pushadditional resources into thetorso and arms to maintain andcontrol the upper body swing.

With the swing it isimportant to assume a wider squat stance. This will allowthe kettlebell to pass betweenthe knees without any risk of injury, and also allow more

momentum to be generatedon the up-part of the swingaction. The feet should be

parallel and at least shoulder width apart, and the knees

placed out above the feet.To reduce stress to the back region, aim to sit and standrather than lean and use thelower back to swing thekettlebell.

When picking the kettlebell

up from the oor, adopt thecorrect deadlift position. Your shoulders should be pulled

back (try and make your scapulars touch, have your lumber curve in, and your shoulder directly over, or forward of the bell).Brace, tense, then stand and stand tall.

tHe

Swingkarate belt SwingOne of the biggest problems for many stronger traineesis the trained belief that they must use arm strength toswing and snatch.

The potency of kettlebellling lies in the abilityto train the body to generate and transmit hip forcethrough a supple and active core,and long relaxed strap-like arms.

In many seminars we teach, wesee trainees attempt to lat-raisethe bell.

One demonstration we useto de-emphasise the arms is the

karate belt swing.The arms can be substituted

for a cloth karate belt and the bellstill swings by the hip exing andextending. Not a lat raise in sight.

We reproduce this here asa demonstration, not as a drillfor you to do. If you decide toreproduce the effect for yourself,use a light bell and wear a box.


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kettlebell training

t he frststepin theswing will

be a slightsit down

accompanied bya ick back of the bell

(you use this once onlyto get the bell moving)

as you stand you allow theextension energy of your hips

(and its all about hips) to betransmitted through your coreto your long, but relaxed arms.

Swing it a few times, thenreduce the amount of energy you

put into the swing and bring the bell to a standstill.

Now you will begin again andswing it parallel to your chest.

Now add some breathing. Atthe top of the swing, breath out,

aggressively.

Over time, you will move

the range of the swing to up aboveyour head.

Swinging in sets of 10 with a rest isnot effective. Shoot for 20, 30, 40, 50reps at a time. The aim is not to keepthe move aerobic, but to give youthe opportunity of moving into theanaerobic zone when you feel youhave mastered the correct mechanicsand possess an underlying base of

standard aerobic tness.

CHanging HandS.This is a cool skill that demands co-ordination, agility and timing. Swingthe bell up to the top of the swing whereit sort of oats (the point at which theenergy you have given the bell is equalled

by the pull of gravity. At that time, place

one hand over the other, slide the under hand out and grip with the over hand.

It may be helpful to have the handwaiting for the switch over in the earlystages of learning.

You may want to practise this outdoorson grass.

tHe

Swing

one-armed SwingOnce the two-handed swing is mastered, the one-armed swing should be attempted. Try and holdthe bell in the middle of the handle to balance it.Its now your job to make the bell follow a middle

path. Dont allow it to swing into your knee.


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t he aim of a clean is to getthe kettlebell to rest onyour upper body so youcan practise front squats, or bein a position to press the bell

overhead.The clean is complete

when the bell restson your forearm,

which lies diagonallyacross your body(elbow points down,

st rests on theupper chest).The wrist remainsstrong. This

position issometimes called

the racked position.

The aim is to pull thekettlebell from between the feetto a resting point on the front of the upper body.

Start from the deadlift andaggressively extend your

hips. Practise shrugging. Now, the two together.

Pull and shrug and liftyour elbow. The arm/elbow transmits energy:

its not an upright row.

Your arm is relaxed but followsthe path you make it take.

When the kettlebell reacheschest height, quickly tuck thearm close to the body, with theelbow touching the lower ribsand the hand in the centre of the chest.

Easier said than done.So, lift the kettlebell to its

resting place on your chest withtwo hands using arm strength.

Now, with two hands, tipit down. Begin to understandthe path it takes: across andforward.

To progress this drill, beginto put in a small hip ex andextend, plus a shoulder shrug,

whilst reducing the supportfrom the second hand. Use 4

ngers, then 3, then 2, then 1.Its useful to practise this movein a mirror to make sure youget the end position right butdont rely on the mirror as it

builds hard-to-shift dependence.By the time you have got

to no supporting ngers, your body has probably learned theright path.

tHe

Clean


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kettlebell training

t he shoulder press is anessential element of tness.The rst step is to cleanthe kettlebell and hold it in theracked position. Its important thatthe body is fully tensed on impact,as it stores a lot of tension readyfor the press.

The abdominal muscles are lockedtight, the waist is tight and the glutesare tense to maximise the stabilityof the body. The knees are locked,

the inner thighs tensed (as if youreriding a horse) and the toes grippingthe ground (imagine youre stompingdown hard). The grip is tight on the

bell, and the lats on the pressing sideare ared.

From here, move the bell tothe side, then press. Exhale when

pressing.

tipS on keeping tigHtwHilSt preSSing

Focus on gripping the kettlebellhandle as tight as possible. The core (abs, obliques and lower

back) must be tensed. Imagine a24kg rock. If you put that on a pile of

jelly (representing a soft, abby core)the weight will go crashing down.

Now put the same rock on a marblestatue (representing your soon-to-be,honed and chiselled torso), and it

will be supported. Allow the shoulder to be fully stretched

before pressing.A stretched muscle isone ready to contract,and contract is what

you want the shoulder to do whenyou press. This is done after theclean by actively pulling the shoulder down and keeping the elbow tightagainst the waist. Flare the lats - they act assynergists (supporting muscles)during the press. Crush grip the handle - this willassist in recruiting even moremuscles through the principles of muscular irradiation. Irradiation is

the principle of tensing muscles other than those directly involved in anexercise to add extra strength. For example, youll nd that tensing theabs and glutes will increase strengthon almost all exercises. It illustratesthat it is impossible to truly isolate amuscle as the body will always work as a unit.

The nish position is critical here.They must get to what is termed thehead through the hole position. The

hole or window is the imaginarywindow that is outlined by theshoulders on the bottom, the bellacross the top, and the arms on theside. The head must poke throughthis window. Not dropping the bellon your head at this stage helps.The shoulder and arm joints should

be locked. Your shoulder should beshrugged up.

tHe SHoulder

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kettlebell trainingtHe waiter

preSS

tHe bottom-up

preSS

i f like many people you enjoy variety in your pressing, you can vary the kettlebell press bycradling the bell in your upturned palm andserve it up like a high class waiter.

For an extra challenge, you can cradle the bottom of the bell on your ngertips with your ngersstraight or exed. Start with a light weight, though.

Do be careful with the waiter press as your gripon the bell is not as solid as other presses. Dontdrop it on your head!

a great grip challenge. Flipthe bell up from the cleanwith assistance from your other hand so it rests upsidedown. Grip that handle, and

press. In the learning stage, keepthe other hand hovering around tohelp with balance. Start off light.Once again, dont drop it on your head and kill yourself.


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kettlebell training

t he snatch is an exercisewhere the kettlebell islifted from the ground tothe overhead position in onesmooth action.

The energy generation phaseis the same as the clean, adeadlift, a shrug with the energytransmitted through the arm.

Here the elbow pulls up higher.If you were snatching adumbbell, the movefrom here becomes easy.When the elbow breaksand allows the arm tostraighten, a dumbbellwill continue straight upand nish balanced inyour extended hand.

A kettlebell is nasty. Itfollows a circular path andwill end up on the back of your wrist. Its up to you tocoordinate the punch-throughof your arm upwards so youmatch and catch the bell.There is a comparison withcatching: the aim is not to

collide with the incomingobject, but to match its speed

So the rst thing to do is tounderstand what to do with the

bell at the top. Make a smallloop out of some hose pipeand gaffer tape. Hold it, releaseit and punch your st up.Aim to get your wrist on theloop rst, rather than letting theloop fall on you.

Once you are comfortablewith the mechanics, hold a

light kettlebell, supported andspotted by your other handand punch up.

Now the whole thing:deadlift, shrug andnow, as your elbowbreaks, punch up asfast as you can.

If you are worried you

can buy some martialarts leg protectors andslip them over your wrists for

protection.

tHe

SnatCHtHe bell followS a CirCular patHduring tHe SnatCH


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kettlebell training

t he Turkish get-u p is one of the fewremaining free-style lifts. As a simpledescription, you bench press a kettlebell,

stand up allowing the bell to end up overhead then lie back down again.

It is advisable to run through the followingstages without a kettlebell to learn them.1 Start off lying on the ground with the kettlebellat one side2+3 Turn on your side, get two bent arms to the

bell, and turn back,4 Chest press the bell to full extension.5 Bend the knee on the same side as you are

holding the bell.6 Lift the bell-supporting shoulder up from theground, like the small twist you would use when

performing a twisting crunch.7 Make on extra twist and pop up onto your elbow. Another effort brings you supported onyour hand, which should be to the side of you, not

behind you.8 Raise your bottom and your extended leg.9 Now bend your extended leg, bring itunderneath you and adopt a lunge position. Your torso will be exed to your supporting arm side.10

Straighten your torso.11 Stand.To sit down, do the opposite.

performanCe tip

Dont let go of the bell and drop it on your head.Self harm is for celebrities, not you. You couldalso try looking at the bell at all times. Its usefulto know where it is.

tHe turkiSH

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kettlebell training

t he windmill builds obliquestrength and exibility. The bestway to learn the correct motor pattern for the windmill is to start off empty handed and treat it as a goodstretch. Start with the feet just over shoulder width apart.

There is much variation in where thefeet should be placed. One authorityinsists that the right foot points straightahead and the left foot points 45 tothe left. Others settle for a toed out

position.

1 Raise the right hand overhead andkeep the left hand loose by the leftthigh whilst kicking the right hip out.2

Inhale. Look at the right hand andfold the body at the waist down tothe left whilst partially exhaling. Theleft hand is used as a guide by slidingdown the left thigh and calf as the

body continues to fold leftwards. Theleft knee may bend, which is perfectlyacceptable form.3 The right leg should be kept locked- if it is allowed to bend, the obliques

relax which defeats the objective of the drill.4 The range of motion is governed

by the lower hand; when it touchesthe ground stop, and reverse themovement.5 Clench the buttocks tight and exhaleon the way up.

The windmill is easy to overdo sostart off with a light weight. Simply

hold the bell in the lower hand. Oncethe bell touches the ground, reversedirections . Once you are comfortablewith this, perform the windmill with akettlebell overhead. Finally, for a realchallenge, perform the two-handedwindmill. Have a heavier bell in thelower hand.

At the risk of sounding like your mother, Dont let go of the bell whilem

it is over your head. Maiming is notfun. Just say no.

key performanCe pointS Focus on lengthening the bodyas well as folding down. This keepsthe back in proper alignment whenwindmilling. Fold to the side andfront, dont try and lean back.Keep the gaze on the upper hand

Inhale and tense the core (abs,lower back and glutes) beforeyou move. This in ates theabdominal region and helps

protect the spine. Partially exhaleon descent and exhale the rest onthe way up. Remember, supporting legstraight, the other leg can bend

if you must.

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kettlebell tRAINING

WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE BEFORE UNDERGOING ANY EXERCISE ROUTINE TO ENSURETHE SUITABILITY FOR YOU AND YOUR CURRENT LEVEL OF CONDITIONING.

CROSSFIT LONDON IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES SUSTAINED WHILST FOLLOWING PROGRAMMESWITHOUT CORRECT SUPERVISION.

CrossFitLondon

the haLLmark oF eLite Fitness

Cross t London UK is the UK-based af liate of the American Cross t system developedby Greg and Lauren Glassman. In 100 words the system advocates. Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.

Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practise and train major lifts: deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb,

push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, ips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns

as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.

Regularly learn and play new sports.

Thanks to Sally from Gubernatrixand Chet from FK UK

www.cross tlondonuk.com

CRossFIt FItNessstANdARd: oNe There are ten recognised general physicalskills. They are: cardiovascular/respiratoryendurance, stamina, strength, exibility,power, coordination, agility, balance, andaccuracy. You are as t as you are competentin each of these ten skills. A regime develops

tness to the extent that it improves each of these ten skills. Importantly, improvements inendurance, stamina, strength, and exibilitycome about through training. Training refersto activity that improves performance througha measurable organic change in the body.By contrast improvements in coordination,

agility, balance, and accuracy come aboutthrough practice. Practice refers to activitythat improves performance through changesin the nervous system. Power and speed areadaptations of both training and practice.

CRossFIt FItNessstANdARd: two The essence of this model is the view that

tness is about performing well at any andevery task imaginable. Picture a hat lledwith an in nite number of physical challenges where no selective mechanism is operative,and being asked to perform feats randomlydrawn from the hat. This model suggests thatyour tness can be measured by your capacity to perform well at these tasks in relation toother individuals. The implication here isthat tness requires an ability to performwell at all tasks, even unfamiliar tasks, taskscombined in in nitely varying combinations.In practice this encourages the athlete to putaside any set notions of sets, rest periods,reps, exercises, order of exercises, routines,etc. Nature frequently provides largelyunforeseeable challenges; train for that bystriving to keep the training stimulus broadand constantly varied.

CRossFIt FItNessstANdARd: thRee There are three metabolic pathways thatprovide the energy for all human action.These metabolic engines are known as thephosphagen pathway, the glycolytic pathway,and the oxidative pathway. The rst, thephosphagen, dominates the highest-poweredactivities, those that last less than about tenseconds. The second pathway, the glycolytic,dominates moderate-powered activities,those that last up to several minutes. Thethird pathway, the oxidative, dominateslow-powered activities, those that last inexcess of several minutes. Total tness, the

tness that CrossFit promotes and develops,requires competency and training in eachof these three pathways or engines.Balancing the effects of these three pathways largely determines the how and why of themetabolic conditioning or cardio that wedo at CrossFit. Favouring one or two to theexclusion of the others and not recognizing theimpact of excessive training in the oxidativepathway are arguably the two most commonfaults in tness training.

As an overriding principle, Cross tviews the needs of an Olympic athlete andour grandparents as differing by degree notkind. One is looking for functionaldominance the other for functional compe-tence. Competence and dominance manifestthrough identical physiological mechanisms

We scale load and intensity; we dontchange programmes.


CRossFIt seeks to estAblIsh thRee bAsIC hAllmARks oF elIte FItNessPublished by

Cross t London UKArch 9Gales GardensBethnal GreenLondon E2 0EJ

If you would like to train withCross t London UK, email Andrew Stemlerandrew@cross tlondonuk.com


Photography and design by Kate Pankhurst

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