Someone not new to fitness, but new to kettlebells can present an interesting programming challenge. Frankly, it’s a great reason to focus on basics, and great for advanced people too. Combos like this are also useful for people who may have somehow lost the groove of their swing, are coming back from vacation, etc. Honestly, it’s always a great idea to revisit the basics and check in on the performance of the basic kettlebell swing—it’s so central to all the other exercises.
The following example I made for someone who has a good base of fitness – strength, endurance, flexibility, and is nearly proficient with the kettlebell swing. They are still working on their consistancey with several major points (hip hinge, abdominal activation, etc)—and un-learning a few youtube-related habits. The goal of this example is to start the process of habitually correct movements while reinforcing awareness—all while maintaining or increasing their general fitness.
Here’s what we did!
After a Primal Move warm up (or some variety of joint mobility warm up as well), we reviewed the hip hinge (using the dowel maintaining 3 points of contact drill), the face the wall and the face away from the wall drills, and the kettlebell deadlift. Then, a few sets of 3 hip hinges with the dowel immediately followed by 10 2-hand kettlebell swings with a moderate to light kettlebell. At this point we are more concerned with form than weight. When the swings looked good consistantly, we begin a circuit:
3-4 rounds of:
- 20 2-hand kettlebell swings
- Plank taps – count to 20 or 30 (depending on fitness level)
- 10 spiderman push ups (or regular push ups if necessary)
After a short break, it was time to revist the goblet squat with a simple decending ladder starting with 8 reps and again a moderate kettlebell. We focused on keeping the spine long and upright, along with keeping the shins perpendicular to the ground—as opposed to squat depth. Finally, we finished up with a few kettlebell figure 8s for time (in each direction) and the infamously silly looking, but effective kettlebell “hot potato” abdominal drill.
And of course… the Primal Move evaluation/cooldown. This also let me know how the client’s mobility was effected by the combination we did that day—plus it’s a lot of fun.
And here’s what happens when I need to take a break from writing and plotting world domination:
Yesterday had a “hanging leg raise” theme, I was reading through the manual and re-watching parts of the Convict Conditioning Hanging Leg Raise set, and couldn’t help but try this variation. Unfortunately for me, I kept forgetting to put my hair down, so this is the third take (hence one in each direction). While these are a really fun physical challenge, you can ALSO use them to remove diplomas, photos, and clocks from your walls VERY quickly. OOPS. Be safe and only attempt these if you’re solid on your ankle to the bar hanging leg raises first! 🙂
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