North Coast Miller
Level 9 Valued Member
Quick note/observation. When I first got into kettlebells I used to contract the pecs as the two handed swing ascended to generate some chest activity and recently have begun to use this approach again. Wondering if anyone else has played around with this.
For more detail - at the bottom of the swing the upper arms are tight to the rib cage, shoulders packed - the prow of the chest separating the upper arms. As the KB breaks the plain of the body and the upper arms begin to lose contact, one can trigger a strong contraction of the pecs, squeezing the upper arms against the ribcage as it goes.
Result, forcing the upper arms to elevate as though the ribcage were a pit and the upper arms a fruit being compressed. This done at the same time the shoulder blade is being pulled down into place. It isn't anywhere near enough to propel the KB on its own, but does add some lift and drags the pecs into the mix.
There is no upward exertion of the shoulders, the chest muscles act almost as an antagonist to the shoulder packing of the lats, infraspinatus etc, except its more like packing the shoulder from the front as well - it doesn't really fight anything and the movement can be done with good form without making use of this, so is not really instinctive (I'd forgotten about doing this until the other day working out).
I cannot recall mention of this one way or the other in the literature. Anyway, food for thought.
For more detail - at the bottom of the swing the upper arms are tight to the rib cage, shoulders packed - the prow of the chest separating the upper arms. As the KB breaks the plain of the body and the upper arms begin to lose contact, one can trigger a strong contraction of the pecs, squeezing the upper arms against the ribcage as it goes.
Result, forcing the upper arms to elevate as though the ribcage were a pit and the upper arms a fruit being compressed. This done at the same time the shoulder blade is being pulled down into place. It isn't anywhere near enough to propel the KB on its own, but does add some lift and drags the pecs into the mix.
There is no upward exertion of the shoulders, the chest muscles act almost as an antagonist to the shoulder packing of the lats, infraspinatus etc, except its more like packing the shoulder from the front as well - it doesn't really fight anything and the movement can be done with good form without making use of this, so is not really instinctive (I'd forgotten about doing this until the other day working out).
I cannot recall mention of this one way or the other in the literature. Anyway, food for thought.
