It’s January! A brand new year is upon us and we are swinging our way into a ton of healthy new habits here at the studio! During the month of January, myself and the rest of the crew at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh normally crank up the interval training and focus on a lot of kettelbell swings, snatches, and not to mention some high intensity lifts with our new sandbag courses.
Today, I wanted to focus on a common “syndrome” I see when newbies attempt their first few rounds of kettlebell swings. I call it the “T-Rex Kettlebell Syndrome”, and I’ll explain that a bit more here in a moment.
Recently, one of my clients came to me with a few little form “hiccups” with her swing. 1) There was a lack of a full hinge on the back swing and 2) the elbows were bent a bit too much at the height of the swing.Taking a look at our little dinosaur up top here, that bent elbow and inability to hinge properly is what I call “T-Rex Syndrome”. T-Rex normally has bent elbows as we walks around and due to the position of his arms, it doesn’t appear he’d be able to get a full hinge backwards should he be attempting a kettlebell swing (how’s this for imagery 😉 ). Let’s bring this back into our human capacity here so I can explain the issue with this syndrome a bit more.
The lack of a full hinge will cause a few things to happen. 1) your body will be force to snap the hips in a short and quick manner which will give the kettlebell an arch instead of a fully extended swing. Generally speaking, an arch is useful for lifts such as cleans and snatches, but not swings (and even on cleans and snatches, you still need a proper hing to get the momentum to do those lifts correctly). 2) There is a tendency to hyper extend your back when you are not fully engaging your quads, glutes and hamstrings on a proper swing. Trust me, this is no bueno on the low back as your spine will litereally start to pull forward and give you some icky feelings post workout (and I should hope you plan on walking correctly after your work out too 😉 )
Today’s video post will discuss some super simple technique drills you can do to get yourself out of the habit of wanting to be T-Rex with your kettlebell swings .
Remember: T-Rex can’t swing kettlebells! 😉
I hope this post was helpful for you all today! Feel free to email us at info@primalfitnesspittsburgh.com for more information on kettlebell training ! If you’re ready to start swinging some kettlebells yourself, be sure to email us for a free consultation as well! We’d love to have you as a part of our tribe!
Thanks it for today folks! Until next time. . .
Master your instincts!
Janelle Pica is a certified RKC II and SFG I kettlebell instructor and Ground Force Method Instructor. She focuses her attention on hybrid programs that involve demanding strength training meshed with fluid, functional movements. Janelle has studied under some of the top level fitness instructors in her industry and has competed in competitions such as the Iron Maiden Challenge. Janelle has been featured on major websites such as eattoperform.com, Robbwolf.com and balancedbites.com.
