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Kettlebell Bottoms up hand position.

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MattM

SFG1
Starting to get into bottoms up stuff this week, haven't done much in the past.

Is there an ideal place my hand should be on the bell?

Working on just holds now (will hit my ceiling if I standing press). The 26 is rather easy, the 32 not so much.
 
try setting yourself up to perform push-ups on the handles of 24 kg Kettlebells and that will give you a good starting point

Don't use small Kbs for this as they are not stable enough
 
Starting to get into bottoms up stuff this week, haven't done much in the past.

Is there an ideal place my hand should be on the bell?

Working on just holds now (will hit my ceiling if I standing press). The 26 is rather easy, the 32 not so much.

You could probably try them kneeling on one knee but I imagine that would add a significant amount of difficulty to the lift and it could get a bit dicey if the bell spots a gap and decides to make a dash for freedom. If your grip slips and the bell flips down towards your palm I find swinging it in arc is the easiest way to regain control, in a kneeling position that option will be mostly eliminated.

When it flips towards the outside of your forearm it's much easier to catch it without any problems.

When you say you are doing holds does that mean you are doing in the rack position ?

I find the real fun with BUP's doesn't start until the bell starts moving. The split second after the lift is initiated and the top 1/5th of the lift are where I find the bell trying to flip over more than most other stages of the lift.

Maybe adding a few partials that allow for your ceiling height could be of some benefit ?
 
What's the opinion on BU TGUs?
I tried them out but feel very uneasy, because I don't feel confident enough that I could bail out of the lift safely.

Anyone else here who noticed how much the upper chest fires during BU rack holds and the first part of a BU press?
 
What's the opinion on BU TGUs?
I tried them out but feel very uneasy, because I don't feel confident enough that I could bail out of the lift safely.

Anyone else here who noticed how much the upper chest fires during BU rack holds and the first part of a BU press?

I've never tried a BUP TGU but I notice everything fires more during a BUP than when I do a normal one. I don't practice it much but it's a totally different beast for me. 32kg seems to be close to my limit for BUP where I can lift over 40kg the right way up. It adds a whole new dimension to full body tension, as you said at the start of the lift and for myself as it gets near lockout. I've had some serious back injuries and I'm reminded of them every time I try a BUP with anything over 24kg.
 
Bottoms up get ups are awesome as warm up reps. Makes you extra aware of position, and tension. The bottoms up front rack position fires up my upper back, try bottoms up carries.

The straddle, half kneeling, and full kneeling bottoms up presses are great variations. Makes the press harder without adding load. Any exercise that puts you at a disadvantage I am a fan of. The Z Press, and Klokov Press are my all time favourite pressing assistance exercises.

I grip the bell off centre, with the pinky finger more to the centre. It makes my BUP stronger, try it, see if it works for you.
 
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I grip the bell off centre, with the pinky finger more to the centre. It makes my BUP stronger, try it, see if it works for you.

I found this to be true as well.

However. @Brett Jones and Max Shank both say to start in a pushup position. If in were going to do a pushup I would have my hand closer to me and therefore my pinky on the horn.

I think I just need to play around more. Thanks to all for the help.
 
I found this to be true as well.

However. @Brett Jones and Max Shank both say to start in a pushup position. If in were going to do a pushup I would have my hand closer to me and therefore my pinky on the horn.

I think I just need to play around more. Thanks to all for the help.

The pushup position thing is to get your wrist centered on the handle so when you go bottom up your wrist will be directly under it. This will will be a more extended position than a normal press or get up where you want to keep your wrist straight. How you position your hand between the horns is independent of this; you could take a pushup position with your hand centered between the horns, with your pinky more toward the near horn, or your thumb more toward the far horn.

I definitely prefer the thumb closer to the horn (pinky nearer the center).
 
I've been doing a lot of bottoms up holds lately, getting good with the 32. Going camping this weekend so I can try some presses and not worry about the ceiling.
 
I feel like working BU stuff (holds, walks, presses and esp TGU's) all have huge WTH effects of there own. I work with a group of Naval Boarding Party members and love the TGU for them (well i love it for everyone however more so for the tactical operator) and after they are confident with balancing the shoe I move them on to light/moderate BU TGU's and let them stay with the BU position as long as they want. Some guys want to rush on to regular TGU's but the guys that make the best progress are the guys that stick with BU for a few sessions longer. I love the buy in you can get from big strong guys who struggle with a "light" BU TGU and are determined to own it before they move on. Gives me warm fuzzes
But I digress, as far as hand placement defer to @Brett Jones's drill, its best.

@MattM your camping trip sounds awesome! enjoy!
 
What's the opinion on BU TGUs?
I tried them out but feel very uneasy, because I don't feel confident enough that I could bail out of the lift safely.

Anyone else here who noticed how much the upper chest fires during BU rack holds and the first part of a BU press?


I definitely notice a lot of upper pec action. Having to balance the load out from the ribcage a bit really gets em firing. I normally do lot of my pressing straight up rather than out to the side and up. I notice two things - first, I can do a lot more weight as the delts are not as isolated. The pecs get dragged into the lift a lot more. I also notice that old shoulder injuries appreciate not isolating the delts as much.

Honestly I don't do a lot of pec-specific exercises anymore. As I get older I lose my pump faster and those big pecs don't look very impressive a few hours after my workout...

Only with lighter weight or if I'm doing Sotts press do I flare out to the side much.
 
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