As you can see from the instructional articles and videos on this site, when I teach kettlebell lifting, I go into great detail on how to perform each exercise.  I am no different from any other reputable kettlebell trainer out there.  And why all the detail you ask?  Because in order to reap the benefits of kettlebells and to stay injury free, it is important to know how to perform each of the lifts precicely and safely.

I was taught growing up that doing something right the first time was always better then doing it half ass and having to do it again.  Kettlebells training is no different.  There is a right way to perform each of the lifts and a wrong way and a lot of in between.  Everybody is different and our bodies are not all put together the same way so the way you lift a kettlebell and the way I lift one may look different but the fundamental must be the same.

You would not expect to pick up a kettlebell for the first time and start performing swings or snatches without first learning the correct mechanics of each.  Sadly, that is how most of us first learned how to workout, be it with kettlebells or free weights or machines.  (don’t get me started on machines).  Go to any gym today and watch people working out.  You will see as many different ways to perform the bench press as there are people performing.  I dare say that most aren’t doing it right.

For me as with most serious kettlebell practitioners, lifting kettlebells is more then exercise, it is an art form.  I love learning about the nuances of each of the lifts and then practicing them to perfection.  By doing this, I have experienced a great deal of success from lifting kettlebells and I rarely get injured.

Even if kettlebells to you are just another tool for getting stronger and improving your conditioning, it is still extremely important to learn the right way to lift them and always be striving towards performing the movements to perfection.  By not performing the lifts correctly, you are cheating yourself.  It is much better and more efficient to drive with the hips when performing snatches then to try and pull the weight with your arms.  You can push more weight overhead by engaging the lats during the military press then by not doing so.  The bent press looks to the outsider to be a back breaker but done correctly, you can safely put more weight overhead with one arm then with any other lift.  Know “how” to do it is the key.

Don’t take your kettlebell lifting as just another day at the gym.  Study and learn the correct and safe way to perform each of the lifts and strive towards perfecting each one.  Take pride in your ability to lift the bells correctly.  Doing so will ensure decades of injury free strength and conditioning gains.

Yours in Health,

Dennis

P.S. – Have a question about anything I’m doing, email me and I’ll be more then happy to answer it.  ironkettlebellfitness@gmail.com

Before entering into a fitness routine, especially one that incorporates kettlebells, be sure to consult with your physician or medical professional to be sure you are healthy enough to begin a strength and conditioning regimen.  Be sure to learn the proper way to perform each lift and complete each exercises in strict form employing a spotter when applicable.  In other words, if you hurt yourself, it’s your fault.

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Have you ever heard somebody refer to a doctor as somebody who “practices medicine” or to a lawyer as somebody who “practices law”?  How about practicing a piano or football practice?  There are all kinds of things we practice doing and for good reason.  The more we practice something, the more proficient we become at performing our chosen task.  In fact, one of the definitions of practice is to learn by repetition. 

While we might practice an instrument or a sport or even our profession, few every look at exercising as practice.  When you approach your workout as a practice, your entire thought process changes from one of, “I gotta get through this workout” to “I am honing my skills”.  In a nutshell, the purpose of working out isn’t to mindlessly throw around a lot of weight, or it shouldn’t be.

I was inspired to write this blog when I read another blog in which the author complained, and rightfully so, about the lack of instruction found in some of the kettlebell instructional videos found online.  Yes, it is true that anybody with a kettlebell, a video camera and internet access can shoot a video and throw it online.  It is also true that there are some of us who truly try and provide good, instructive content be it free or paid or both.    

I am one who hopes that my videos provide at least a starting point for the aspiring kettlebell practitioner to learn the art and sport of girevoy.  I don’t intend, nor should the person watching the video expect to master each and every kettlebell exercise just by watching a video and then mirroring what they have seen.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to find yourself a qualified instructor to work with, if only occasionally to help tweak your form and keep you moving in the right direction.  I can “show” you how to perform a kettlebell swing, but I cannot “teach” you proper form via a video.  To achieve proper form, and maintain it, you must “practice” the swing and practice it often.

I am a student of strength and conditioning training and of kettlebell lifting.  To that end, every time I hit the gym, I think of it as a practice session and I try to stay mindful of that fact for the duration of the workout.  I am also mindful that my form is never perfect and requires my continued attention and devotion to detail.  After all these years of lifting, I still find myself on occasion performing such lifts as the swing and the snatch, the foundation and the king of kettlebell lifts incorrectly at times.  Because I am “practicing” I recognize this and correct it. 

It is crucial to develop the mindset that when you go to the gym or to your garage or basement and you pick up your kettlebell, your approach is one of a practice session.  This is not unlike the approach a football player takes in the days leading up to a big game or a musician before a concert.  In this way you will always be striving for perfect form, but will be accepting of the fact that perfection isn’t possible.

Practice must be specific, practice must be done while you are fresh and full of energy and practice must be frequent.  The strongmen of yesteryear practiced their lifts daily and always terminated a workout while they were “full of pep” as Arthur Saxon liked to say.

And lastly, remember that practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

Yours in Health,

Dennis

P.S. – Have a question about anything I’m doing, email me and I’ll be more then happy to answer it.  ironkettlebellfitness@gmail.com

Before entering into a fitness routine, especially one that incorporates kettlebells, be sure to consult with your physician or medical professional to be sure you are healthy enough to begin a strength and conditioning regimen.  Be sure to learn the proper way to perform each lift and complete each exercises in strict form employing a spotter when applicable.  In other words, if you hurt yourself, it’s your fault.

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Day 64 – 11-16-09

Grind Block - light day

Double Kettlebell Military Press / Squat 16kg & 24kg kettlebells

•    1,2, x 5cycles 
•    3 front squats on last set of each cycle

Sumo Squat 16kg & 24kg kettlebells

•    20 x 2

Total workout time (not including warm up) 24 minutes

3  minutes between ladders

Total workout time – 20 minutes

Day 65 - 11-17-09

Variety

Bent Press  24kg

• 2 reps x 4 ea arm

Indian Clubs + stretching between each set of bent presses

Misc. Grip Work

Total workout time – 26 minutes

Day 66 – 11-18-09

Grind block – medium day

Double Kettlebell Military Press / Squat 20kg & 24kg kettlebells

•    1,2,3 x 5 cycles 
•    4 front squats on last set of each cycle

Sumo Squat 20kg & 24kg kettlebells

•    20 x 2

Total workout time (not including warm up) 25 minutes

3  minutes between ladders

Day 67 – 11-19-09

Variety

Turkish Get Up  – 24kg kettlebell

• 5 minutes alternating arms

Indian Clubs + stretching

Miscellaneous grip work

Total workout time – 20 min

Day 68– 11-20-09 – Rest

Day 69 – 11-21-09

Grind block – heavy day

Double Kettlebell Military Press / Squat 24kg & 24kg kettlebells

•    1,2,3,4 x 5 cycles
•    5 front squats on last set of each cycle

Sumo Squat 24kg & 24kg kettlebells

•    20 x 2

Time to complete press / squat sequence – 24.5 minutes (2.5 minutes less then previous heavy day)

Total workout time (not including warm up) 31 minutes

3  minutes between ladders

Random Thoughts

• I continue to feel strong, even at the completion of the last ladder.  Today I shaved off 2 1/2 minutes from my previous heavy day.  I’m ready to add a fifth rung to my ladders.  I shot for at least 2 ladders consisting of 5 rungs during my next heavy day and will try a 3rd, 4th and 5th if I am feeling strong.

Day 70  – 11-22-09 Rest

P.S. – Have a question about anything I’m doing, email me and I’ll be more then happy to answer it.  ironkettlebellfitness@gmail.com

Before entering into a fitness routine, especially one that incorporates kettlebells, be sure to consult with your physician or medical professional to be sure you are healthy enough to begin a strength and conditioning regimen.  Be sure to learn the proper way to perform each lift and complete each exercises in strict form employing a spotter when applicable.  In other words, if you hurt yourself, it’s your fault.

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If something works, and has been proven to be effective for a couple hundred years, maybe we should take the time to investigate. 

About 10 years, I was looking to spice up my training regiment and add new life to my workouts.  By this time I had been weight training in one form or another for almost 20 years and I needed something new, something I could get excited about.  I started looking around and found out about an extraordinary gentlemen by the name of Pavel Tsatsouline.  I can’t pronounce it either so we will just stick with first names here.

Pavel introduced me to a whole new philosophy and appoach to powerlifting.  The Russian approach.  I figured, why not, those guys were always the ones bringing home the world championships and the olympic gold medals so I started to study his teachings and implement his techniques.  My strength levels soared to new hights and did so in a very short period of time. 

After a couple of years of following Pavel and reading everything I could get my hands on with his name attached to it, he introduced kettlebells to the western world.  I thought to myself, that’s interesting man, check out this new piece of workout equipment.  Only it wasn’t new.  It was in fact a couple hundred years old.  But hey, if something works, stick with it.

So I bought myself a kettlebell and a book and dvd on how to use the thing and off I went.  Wow, was I amazed.  Again, Pavel had opened up a whole new world for me and again me strength and conditioning level soared to new heights.

The moral of this story is that sometimes old is new.  I had tried everything as it relates to strength training in the past and never got the results I had hoped for.  And when I say everything, I mean everything.  If there is a book on the subject of strength training or a magazine written in the past 25 years, I own it and have read it.  Probably twice.    

Pavel knows his stuff and his stuff works.  I am living proof of that along with thousands of others.  Hell, the elite Russian Special Forces, Spetznaz believes enough in Pavel to trust his training methods, so I guess this stuff works.   

Yours in Health,

Dennis

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