Sunday, December 29, 2013

10 x 10 One More Element of Power

In my Programming the Kettlebell Swing workshops (and dvd) I teach and demonstrate many ways to change the intensity of the movement to add more power.  The most obvious way is to increase the size / weight of the bell. The second way is to increase the number of continuous swing reps, and in my book The Swing I write about pace, as it applies to building strength and endurance to do those longer and longer work sets.  But what about keeping the reps at 10 per set, AND not changing the weight of the bell?  That's where speed kicks in.




In this video I pace you through 10 swings, done "on the minute", but slightly faster.  I call these Speed Swings, and it's a more advanced way of training, but we are not "training" yet.  We are practicing!  I decided to use this 10 x 10 practice to help you activate and engage the lat muscles as they are involved in the swing movement.  Since we've recently incorporated learning how to create and keep tension in our glutes, and our abs to build strength, here we add some consciousness and purpose to the lats. 

The lat muscles are the second largest muscles in our bodies (glutes are first), and are responsible for helping us move our arms down and back behind us (hike movement).  During our swing practice / workouts we are using our lats, especially in the very first rep, the part that I describe as "backing up the swing".  Enough talking, let's do some Speed Swings!  Enjoy!

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