Which is related to this article:
How to Get the Benefit of Depth Jumps Without Jumping
Of course, these
add to whatever Anna has to say and/or show!
To my part, I'll try to briefly explain what a shadow swing is (and I would like to be corrected if wrong).
A shadow swing is a variant of the kettlebell swing in which you purposely accelerate the down phase. Its purpose is to do "more work" (for lack of better words and because if CrossFit claims an "American swing" produces more work, then I feel I have the right to say so about shadow ones!). The main difference I can see and greatly appreciate is a sensible load of the anterior chain. I know two main ways of shadow swinging:
- by pulling the bell back with your own force: you should focus on not allowing the bell to float, meaning you should be pulling the bell back as soon as the "up phase" ends, using the quads, the abdomen, arms and shoulders;
- by the use of an implement, frequently being resistance bands: this might even not be a shadow swing, but it is overspeed never the less. You can vary bands to add or subtract momentum to the down phase.
I should say first that I rarely do them because I don't like them. There's no particular reason why, I just don't like them and I don't do them. This is not to say they
shouldn't be done. Many very respectable people here find it an awesome exercise because
it is one. The rare times I practice them, I do them the without bands, mostly because I haven't got one, but also because by my limited knowledge and the use of logic, I think doing them by oneself engages more muscles that usually get less love than the posterior chain ones.
I wrote this post on and off... It could very well be a pile of garbage... In this case, please tell and I'll clarify!
