Right and Wrong
In case you were wondering, there is a RIGHT way and a WRONG way to train with kettlebells. I don’t mean “variations” like two hand/one hand etc..I am talking about safe vs. unsafe, smart vs. stupid. As a Senior RKC, you can imagine I have seen a lot of both.
Let’s review some examples of the foundational drill, the SWING, shall we?
He comes close, but he doesn’t understand the purpose of the swing, which it project energy forward, not up. For projecting energy upward, we have the snatch.
Why it’s wrong: Incomplete hip and knee extenstion. Kettlebell swings too high and causes the shoulder to elevate and go into a compromised position. Neck juts forward to couter the momentum. This is dangerous for the shoulder and spine.
“Kiss My Own Ass Goodbye” swing from Loser Jillian.
WRONG. Epic. Monumental. Collossal. Super. FAIL. I don’t even know how to respond to this kind of stupidity. I can only take comfort in knowing that if shee keeps tis up she’ll injure herself so badly that she won’t be able to demonstrate this kind of idiocy.
The RIGHT way. My student Gina is BETTER at swinging a kettlebell than Jillian Michaels from Biggest Loser and she doesn’t even have her own video.
If you want to injure yourself, please feel free to participate in this madness. If you want to learn to swing correctly (safely and effectively) seek instruction from a current RKC instructor.
IronTamer-
I am definitely not the expert with Kettlebells that you are, but I do a little bit in personal training and triathlon training with my clients. Anyone with basic fundamentals knowledge would know these two movements are WAY out of bounds.
Thanks for keeping it real my friend. PS-See you up at Centennial Park.
ST
Ah its working. Nice post Dave I will share this on my wall. Thanks you
Thanks Dave for the post as it was NEEDED. I learned more from you in 2 minutes learning the Turkish get up and asking questions about the swing than I did reading and watching hours of videos on it. Thanks.
Amen to that Mr Whitley.
If just more people would see it like this. its not right or wrong its safe and unsafe.
She is demonstrating one of the best “hard-style swings” and TGUs I’ve seen on the ‘net. She is being taught well, same as my instructor Michael Rendle. There’s a ton of bad technique out there.
Gary, At first I thought you meant Jillian and I was gonna blast you, but I realize you mean Gina. Yes, she rocks.
Great post, could you comment on potential problems with using a knee bend instead of a hip hinge. It seems I see a lot of folks treating a swing more like a squat.