Five Misunderstood Kettlebell Cues
A swing is not a squat
Maximum hip bend, minimal knee. This is the mantra which has led many who will do exactly what you tell them to do to hit themselves in the butt with their own kettlebell. The fitness world now seems to understand that a swing is not a ‘squat-swing’, but the pendulum now seems to have swung to the opposite extent to where no knee bend is allowed.
You are allowed to bend your knees in a swing! But due to individual body mechanics (we are all unique butterflies) no two swings will look identical.
Catch the swing with your lats
As Hardstyle practitioners we sometimes get carried away with the ‘hard’ and forget that a relationship exists between hard and soft, tension and relaxation, yin and yang, etc. The ‘bell does not go overhead, this is true. You should be able to see over the top of your ‘bell at the top of the swing, this is also true.
Ideally at the top of your swing your arms should (when viewed from the side) be parallel to the floor. This means that your arms should be allowed to ‘disconnect from the lats’, otherwise you won’t make the height. But if the bell then wants to go higher than chest height, so now it’s either obscuring your vision or you are looking under it, then the lats must ‘catch’ the ‘bell and throw it back down.
The Turkish Get Up is a core exercise
When Joe or Jen Public hears ‘core exercise’ somewhere in their media saturated brain stirs an idea. This idea is that core equals sit up. Rocky and Rambo did sit ups and look how ripped they were! In virtually every action movie training montage the protagonist will at some point do a sit up, possibly with a little twist.
Without meaning to the student brings this idea into their Turkish Get Up and try to ‘sit up’ with the ‘bell. This is not the ‘core’ of which we speak! The ‘core’ in the Turkish Get Up is not this bendy core, but a rigid core with a straight back. This is a core that can support functional activities such as lifting heavy things (like children, TV’s and sofas).
Yes the TGU is a core exercise, but it is not a sit up.
The snatch is a swing that ends overhead
This is the cue that ends up with lots of students showing me the bruises on the back of their forearms. They keep their arm straight throughout the whole motion and are surprised to have hit themselves with a ‘bell at the lockout at the top.
The snatch can be thought of as a three stage rocket, much like the old NASA Saturn V.
The ‘swing’ is where you have all three engines firing to get the initial movement, the ‘high pull’ is where the two boosters drop off and the ‘punch under’ is when the sustainer rocket drops off because the capsule (the ‘bell) is now ‘flying’. When you punch under, the ‘bell isn’t landing on you, you are catching up to the flying ‘bell. This is why people can snatch a 32kg ‘bell for reps and not have a mark on their forearm.
Yes, the snatch starts as a swing but only in the first third of it’s trajectory. You need a strong swing before you can develop the snatch. Think of the swing as the violent controlled explosion that gets your rocket moving.
To press a lot you must press a lot
You’re not pressing a lot, but rather you are pressing a lot.
Let me explain.
To press a heavy weight you must press a large number of repetitions with lighter weights.
A lot of men are, for some reason, scared to press a lighter ‘bell. Maybe they’re worried that their beards will fall off or that they’ll start watching Glee. Women on the other hand tend to be scared to do a few reps with the heavier ‘bells. Maybe they are worried that the beard that fell off the man next to them will try to find a new chin to live on.
Let’s say a guy wants to press a 40kg ‘bell, they spend a lot of time with the 32kg and 36kg ‘bells. But those are 80% and 90% of the target bell, which they can’t lift yet, which means that those ‘bells are probably more like 85% and 95% of their personal limit. You can’t spend a lot of your training time in that range, you have to spend the bulk of your training time in the 60-80% range and build up repetitions. Over time the reps increase and therefore those 60-80% loads become more like 50-70%, so you up the load and you still aren’t maxing out. Do this for 6 to 8 weeks and that 40kg will be yours!
This also supports the idea of expanding your boundaries whilst staying inside of them, which is especially important if the real reason you train with weights is to improve your performance in a sport that isn’t weightlifting or powerlifting.
To sum up cues
My friend and StrongFirst Team Leader Martine Kerr, head honcho at Kult Fitness, has a saying that rings particularly true for me when I’m coaching on the open gym floor:
“That cue was not meant for you!”
As an eavesdropper, it is dangerous for you to listen in on what a coach is saying to a another person. As a coach in the ‘heat of the moment’ I will say whatever I need to to get my student to perform the swing/squat/press correctly. Such ‘dumb’ cues have been uttered:
“I want you to pretend you’re pooping in the woods.”
“I want you to double punch the sky.”
“I need you to split the floor.”
Most of these make no sense out of context.
Be wary of the cues that you use yourself, or with your students. Know why you are saying or doing, what you are saying or doing. If in doubt, refer out!
Be fit, be strong, be happy!