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Kettlebell What's your goblet squat warm-up flow?

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Sean M

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Curious what everyone's warm-up flow looks like, specifically with goblet squats.

My flow has been:
- 3 x 5 (part of the circuit with halos and pump stretch or hip bridges)
- 16kg, occasionally 24kg
- Down, side to side, up, repeat
- Very occasional curls (3-5) before the last "up"

How heavy does everyone go? (match your working swing weight, or hold it at a specific weight no matter what working swing weight?)

Who does curls? Every rep or every set? How many reps?

Do heels ever come up (e.g. when going side to side)?

Hold breath the entire time at the bottom, or breathe through the shield (keeping core and back tight)?
 
Curious what everyone's warm-up flow looks like, specifically with goblet squats.

My flow has been:
- 3 x 5 (part of the circuit with halos and pump stretch or hip bridges)
- 16kg, occasionally 24kg
- Down, side to side, up, repeat
- Very occasional curls (3-5) before the last "up"

How heavy does everyone go? (match your working swing weight, or hold it at a specific weight no matter what working swing weight?)

Matching it with my current swing weight of 24kg.

Who does curls? Every rep or every set? How many reps?

After every set when down. Try to do max. 5 reps, but having trouble holding the bell. It is kind of tearing the skin.

Do heels ever come up (e.g. when going side to side)?
No.

Hold breath the entire time at the bottom, or breathe through the shield (keeping core and back tight)?
Breathe while being tight, through the mouth while prying.

Apart from that am doing the halos with 16kg. Abs and glutes tight. Heart-rate is spiking more compared to the goblet squats.

Also doing the hip bridges, but this morning I have skipped them. Somehow they get on my nerves for quite some time now, don't know why. Am close to throwing them out for a while. Don't want them to spoil the whole practice.
 
Hello,

@SeanM
I mostly train my abs as a warm up (even if this is not necessarily the best thing to do).

When I was into S&S only, I use a 20kg bell for deep slow squat (15s down, 15s up) with a twist (left and right at the bottom) and a slow curl too.

Related to breathing, I've always use "breathing beyond the shield" to maintain tension.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Im swinging the 16 and use the same weight for the GS.

I do 3x5 GS as prescribed. The first set I usually feel really stiff ( I do S&S first thing in the morning), so I dont pry and I dont curl. I just focus on keeping a good squat position, straight back, proud chest, and hold some 10 secs at the bottom.

By the 2nd set Im flexible enough to start prying. The first 4 reps I pry to both sides, and on the 5th I curl. When Prying I focus on two things: the first is opening the hips, the second is forcing ankle dorsiflexion of one of the ankles. I dont lift the heel off the ground, but I do shift my weight forward a lot, so that the heel almost comes up.

Yesterday I was able to inflate my bike wheels in a deep squat and working confortably for the first time in my life (and using minimalist shoes with no heel drop). Yay WTH!
 
Curious what everyone's warm-up flow looks like, specifically with goblet squats.
How heavy does everyone go? (match your working swing weight, or hold it at a specific weight no matter what working swing weight?

Who does curls? Every rep or every set? How many reps?

Do heels ever come up (e.g. when going side to side)?

Hold breath the entire time at the bottom, or breathe through the shield (keeping core and back tight)?


For movement prep I'm using mostly 20kg, sometimes 24kg (swinging with 24kg, sometimes 32kg). When I train the squat I use 32kg.

I usually do 1 set of 5 reps, prying one more rep than I need to hit rock bottom depth (at the moment that usually means 2 reps). My prying sequence is:
  • Go down to the point that tension start to build (anywhere).
  • Prying side to side, heels on the ground. Focusing on hip movement, so might mean that the heel come of slightly when I'm tight.
  • Curl - 1 - 3 reps, by feel
  • Bootstraper move - traditional weightlifters move. Put the bell on the ground, raise your hip to a hip-hinge position until you feel tension in the posterior chain, rock a little, back to squat.
  • Back up
Breathing behind the softest-possible-shield. Meaning no power breathing/hissing, and maintaining just enough pressure for neutral spine and upright posture. Breathing is the key here. It is what Gray Cook calls coaching the breathing. I'll try to summarize the video in the link...

The trick is to find a position on the edge of comfort - just before panic breathing/breath holding and pry there while breathing with control at least 3 complete breathing cycles. If you can't complete breathing cycles than you are not in a stable position - if you keep it to long you'll faint, get brain damage or die.
 
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I use 16kg for the Goblet, slow descend, prying at the bottom, one curl and in full tension back up. 3 sets of 5, supersetted with Halo's (12kg x 3 x 5+5) and hip lift (3 x 5).
 
I am currently using my 12kg bell for goblet squats, mainly because that's what I am pressing for ROP and it's easier than having a bunch of bells out all at once. I also go right from goblet squats to arm bars, so it's handy using the same weight for all three.

I try to goblet squat and arm bar daily, even if I'm not doing ROP that day-I find that if I stick with those two, and add in a ton of other mobility work on the off days, everything feels better. I definitely notice it on days when I don't do my morning goblets.
 
Hello,

Several interesting can be done once in a squat position, in addition to the already mentioned curl, such as chest press (chest press (3'55'') and "barbarian squat (5'46''), here demonstrated with a clubbell: )

Otherwise, some moves like mimicing an hammering can be done

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I'm with Tobias, I don't care to do the hip bridge in the warmup. I feel it ruins the flow of the warmup, by having to get down on the floor and back up before the halos. I do a single leg hip bridge on the getups, but bring my butt back down before the leg sweep.
As for the goblet squats, I use my swing weight bell, and curl it once every rep. But I'm only using the 24kg right now, Before(three years ago) when I was using the 32kg, I didn't do the curl in the goblet squat, because it was to awkward and painful on my wrists.

Al
 
I'm currently doing a 10-15 minute ish joint warmup, similar to a dynamic strength book I read years ago, and a video was posted here recently. Basically, each joint gets run through full range of motion a number of times, head to toe. It's similar to a number of "resets" or "morning wake ups" I've seen around the net.
Then I usually just do 1 round of 5x halo, PGS, bridge. Sometimes 2. I feel better with the joint mobility work than if I did just the party line S&S warmup, but don't need to spend 30 minutes on warmup!
For PGS, I typically just pry only the first squat. But I have good mobility, and can pretty much a#@ to grass with no warmup anyway. Minimal tension on the prying rep, just keep everything inline and rock around, breath deeply behind a slight shield for maybe 20 seconds. Heels never come up. I curl the last rep of five, for 5 reps. Still using 16kg for warmup, 24kg for 1HS and TGU.

I was getting bored with the tactical bridges as I felt I already had good glute activation, rather than ditching them, I'm progressing the bridge movement. Still have to fire the glutes, but it wakes up the rest of my back. Even though it's just 5 short reps a day, I feel the deeper bridge movement is a fantastic part of my overall feeling great lately, and will be keeping it around until I can crab walk around the block in full bridge (ok, maybe not, but it's awesome). I'm getting a good hip flexor stretch out of the full bridge now too, which I wasn't from tactical bridges. I'm not repeating anything in my warmup, so getting on the floor for bridges doesn't interrupt anything. In fact, I often intentionally get down and up in a way that makes it part of the warmup, lately a fully controlled pistol, literally all the way to sitting on the ground. I don't know that I'd ever tried it before, but now I can come up the same way, from laying on my back, to sitting, lean forward without rocking, to a controlled slow pistol up with no hands. Definitely keeping the bridge even if it isn't "tactical"
 
I think the glute bride is undervalued.
It makes you go down and up the ground which always gets the heart rate up and also is a sneaky way to prepare for the get up.
There is a variaton where you reach over diagonally while being in the bridge position. I find this opens my hip flexor even better.
 
My warm up tends to use a lighter weight for the GS, maybe I should up it to my swing weight (currently 20kg as I don't have a 24kg yet....). I mix in some OS resets as well.

- head nods (10 x up/down, then 10 x l, r)
- rocking (usually 10, with 2 or 3 hip flexor stretch movements)
- baby crawling 5m forwards then backwards
- leopard crawling 5m forwards then backwards
- 5 x l, r halo with a 12 or 16kg
- 5 x GS with the hip openers (sometimes bicep curls)
- 10 x glute bridge

For my glute bridges, I use a 6kg medicine ball between the knees to squeeze as I move. I find, after the rocking and the crawling, my hips are fine to do the prying on the first GS :)
 
Hello,

As a "general rule" I use(d) : the weight of my warm up does not have to make my training performance decrease. If so, the weight is too heavy.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I am not a big fan of warmups. My usual day includes some stretching and walking early, and those are enough of a warmup for me. Immediately before exercise, I will hang from the pullup bar and that's about it. Lately I've taken to doing a few light windmills as well, but I like being able to stop working at my desk or practicing, walk into my basement gym, and be ready to lift within a minute after I get there.

-S-
 
3X10 2h swings with the 40.
3X5 goblet squats with the 40.
Then, S&S with the 40.

I don't think of this stuff as just "warmup" though. To me these are additional exercises with their own benefits, done before the 1h swings and getups. They also make the swings and getups a bit more challenging due to being a wee bit more tired out before starting them. This is good for strength and endurance gains.
 
Hello,

@Kozushi
It is also possible to reduce either weight or reps (or both) if you go fo super slow reps. That way, you train slow twich at the same time, while developing body consciousness

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I've noticed also that doing the squats before S&S makes it easier to do the 1h swings because it stops me from getting minor aches and pains during them. Anyhow the squat is a very important human movement and sadly the squatting muscles atrophy if we don't keep reminding our bodies that we have to maintain them.

The longer I'm following Strong First the more I'm realizing that their selected 6 basic kettlebell movements are all very important.
 
Hello,

I think squats help before swing because the contraction speed is different (much faster in swing). I noticed the same when I do heavy pistols just before my swings.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
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