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Larry’s Logs

Thank you bret. I will take that “slow it down” suggestion to heart. Also focusing on hinge more. I will come back to these suggestions as I practice.
I’m really liking having my bell at work and am excited about getting more on film and external feedback from you all and my own viewings.
 
Today’s Practice: 12/8/21
ROP medium day; 5x(1,2,3)
Trying to get it all right….need to relax, one thing at a time. Tried to slow it down and focus on that popping shoulder. Can anyone tell me why i should not be popping the shoulder? If I understand better it may translate into the movement. Might be a little better though, hinge still needs to be deeper.
3rd rung of 5th ladder
 
LarryB said:
hinge still needs to be deeper.
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Larry, try throwing the bell back further than you think you have to, it makes everything smoother and easier.
Keep your neck neutral or slightly up, you're looking down as you hinge back, it may be what's causing you to drop the bell down rather than throwing it hard behind you. Your hinge position is good on the setup, then you're coming out of it when you begin. If you try dead stops you'll start from the same good hinge every time. It's much harder that way and sets you up for good position.

You're doing good, keep tweaking, practicing and perfecting technique until muscle memory takes over.
 
Ty, i noticed the head too. I will be training dead cleans today and off days moving forward. I saw a good video by @Hector G too for bringing the bell down and avoiding the shoulder raising so I’ll be working on that too.
 
Yes, just to describe the technique from hec; you supinate your hand to be initiate the drop to catch. It’s helping with the shoulder, but I’m still working on the hinge. ROP heavy day this afternoon, I’ll post some more videos. Thank you all again, i needed this coming off my broken foot, lost more of my form in the lower body than i had realized.
 
LarryB said:
Ty, i noticed the head too. I will be training dead cleans today and off days moving forward. I saw a good video by @Hector G too for bringing the bell down and avoiding the shoulder raising so I’ll be working on that too.
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Might be good to drop the load a bit and groove in technique, once you feel it's good then throw in a few with heavier weight? ROP is great for practicing cleans.
 
I was drilling with the 20k yesterday. The 24k is already fairly easy in regards to pressing. So my idea is to drill cleans/swings/snatches light and easy on off days and heavy on ROP days. I appreciate what you’re saying though. I just need to train my brain more is throwing the bell backwards. I feel as though i put it in high enough but it drops down once i get it behind me.

20k dead cleans, not the best video, hence why i never record at home.
 
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Today’s practice: 12/10/21
ROP heavy day; 2x(1,2,3,4), 3x(1,2,3)
Felt better as i went. I feel ad though there are improvements. Filming and reviewing between sets really helps. I think there was improvements within the session as well. Appreciate all of the pointers and critiques so far. My own assessment on this session is that i need more knee bend to achieve a deeper hinge and i get both of those things when i play challenge chicken with my crotch. Have a great weekend everyone!!
First ladder
Fourth ladder
Fifth ladder
Full disclosure, the children in the videos are my own and a neighborhood boy I’ve known his whole life. So they’re super used to this and are USUALLY careful. I wouldn’t be this careless with my regular students.
 
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LarryB said:
I was drilling with the 20k yesterday. The 24k is already fairly easy in regards to pressing. So my idea is to drill cleans/swings/snatches light and easy on off days and heavy on ROP days. I appreciate what you’re saying though. I just need to train my brain more is throwing the bell backwards. I feel as though i put it in high enough but it drops down once i get it behind me.

20k dead cleans, not the best video, hence why i never record at home.
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Larry, those dead hangs have a purpose too, though they may reinforce the habit of raising the shoulder.

I like to put the bell out in front, get into a deep, powerful hinge and hike the bell back hard. Maybe try a thumb to the side grip father than thumb forward, it will give you more ROM on the hike. If you have a 16k bell I would use that to really groove in the movement. Record yourself doing it and see what you think, your motion overall is definitely better but still needs improvement. Another thing to be cognizant of is keeping shoulders square when hiking the bell back, dipping the shoulder costs power and adds unnecessary risk of a LB tweak when using heavier weight..
 
Ty for more invaluable feedback, @Bret S. I am definitely struggling to get the bell to go back rather than down. Idk if this is actually a factor or not, but I’m a true Clydesdale and wear holes in all my crotches due to friction, aka there’s like no space between my thighs. I can’t help but feel like this is stopping me from getting the bell through the small triangle of my knees and crotch. I could try a woder stance but wpuld want to readjust for the press.
 
LarryB said:
Today’s practice: 12/10/21
ROP heavy day; 2x(1,2,3,4), 3x(1,2,3)
Felt better as i went. I feel ad though there are improvements. Filming and reviewing between sets really helps. I think there was improvements within the session as well. Appreciate all of the pointers and critiques so far. My own assessment on this session is that i need more knee bend to achieve a deeper hinge and i get both of those things when i play challenge chicken with my crotch. Have a great weekend everyone!!
First ladder
Fourth ladder
Fifth ladder
Full disclosure, the children in the videos are my own and a neighborhood boy I’ve known his whole life. So they’re super used to this and are USUALLY careful. I wouldn’t be this careless with my regular students.
Click to expand...
I think the biggest thing I see is a lack of bond with upper arm to rib cage, that throws off everything. It should be in your head to link those two up and use that firm contact to guide the bell through the entire bottom half of the move. That contact on the way down is the cue to break into a hinge, on the way up that contact breaks free with the hip pop as the hinge completes.
 
Ty @North Coast Miller, all of this will be drilled with the 16k tomorrow. I see what you mean now rewatching it. Need to pun my elbow to my ribs like when you are doing a sit out/switch in wrestling. That’ll help me i think. I was considering going to see an SFG as a Christmas gift. Feel like you guys are saving me some money!
 
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@LarryB
I didn't learn KB through SF, mostly from Steve Cotter videos. I did eventually cert through Steve Maxwell, one of the drills we did was to lie on the floor and pin our upper arm to our ribcage. Another trainee would then attempt to deadlift you via your arm, goal was to increase the level of awareness re just how solid we should be through the shoulder socket.

Another concept I use esp when sorting out unaccustomed lifts etc is to "express upper body strength through the armpits". May or may not be helpful, but for me it seems to reinforce keeping the shoulder bonded no matter what angle - the contact area is real small, so battening it down can make a real difference.
 
I’m starting to feel the pit tightness activate my lats more too. Reading “perfecting the press” really got that concept through. I like hearing that others are mostly self taught as well. YouTube university is where I’ve gotten everything so far (including enter the kettlebell and other pavel video tutorials.)
 
North Coast Miller said:
Another concept I use esp when sorting out unaccustomed lifts etc is to "express upper body strength through the armpits".
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Heavy mace is thickening armpit muscle big time, and increasing posterior chain strength via anterior.

I self taught for SFG also, got a bunch of stuff from Geoff Neupert with a great DVD on technique for various lifts.. I'm a visual learner in kb's and karate, among other things. One pet peeve of mine is YT vids where jaws flap too much, it bores the hell out of me :)
 
LarryB said:
I’m starting to feel the pit tightness activate my lats more too. Reading “perfecting the press” really got that concept through. I like hearing that others are mostly self taught as well. YouTube university is where I’ve gotten everything so far (including enter the kettlebell and other pavel video tutorials.)
Click to expand...


It felt pretty good by the end of my certification class Maxwell was doing final form cleanups where needed "your technique didn't need any work walking in".

I did learn a lot about training sedentary people from him. Joining the forum I could see where my swing and snatch were more posterior grind than the explosive pop taught by SF, but its all variations on a theme once you get it down. Don't lose sight of the fact they are all just hinge variants along with Deadlift, Good Morning, Broadjump etc.
 
Yesterday’s practice: 12/12/21
Random tgu with ling pauses, high bridges, redos, and what not. Drilling the clean a little bit too along with some mobility (as always).
TGU L
TGU R
Today’s practice: 12/14/21
Quick/light ROP; 5x(1,2) c&p aith some pull ups to go with em’
3rd Ladder
2H Swing
1H Swing
Cleans
Off days were total garbage eating/sleep and running around like mad doing errands and coaching little league soccer. Oh well. Took the rest at the end. Filmed some other stuff to get more criticism on. Love the feedback!
 
LarryB said:
Yesterday’s practice: 12/12/21
Random tgu with ling pauses, high bridges, redos, and what not. Drilling the clean a little bit too along with some mobility (as always).
TGU L
TGU R
Today’s practice: 12/14/21
Quick/light ROP; 5x(1,2) c&p aith some pull ups to go with em’
3rd Ladder
2H Swing
1H Swing
Cleans
Off days were total garbage eating/sleep and running around like mad doing errands and coaching little league soccer. Oh well. Took the rest at the end. Filmed some other stuff to get more criticism on. Love the feedback!
Click to expand...
Getups look really good Larry, keep refining them,.. on the initial move off the floor, initiate it with a roll and point your sternum on a 45 degree angle while simultaneously rowing with the down elbow hard into the floor. As you advance you can cheat the bell over a hair toward the body center before initiating the move off the floor. These all help when the weight gets heavier.

On the 2HSW I would ditch the shoes.. actually for all of it, Or use some type of flat, thinner sole shoe. Regarding technique, try and relax upper body around the shoulders, let them drop down and pretend you have flexible steel cables for arms and hooks for hands. Concentrate on abdominal contraction and pressurizing the cylinder while dosing the intensity as needed. You're doing good with timing the hinge, stay vigilant on it and really work on the minutia of timing, it's the key to great swings vs mediocre ones.

1HSW body twist is too much, keep shoulders as square as possible and practice the ques from the above 2HSW.

Overall you're doing great, all you need do is hone and pile up practice reps (y)
 
I almost never wear shoes, but was running around multi tasking/doing too much at once (they are flat/neutral bottomed but do have too much plush/support). Ty for the feedback as always! Going to try to work in the hinge aspect more with swings in hopes to translate to everything. Cleans will still be a focus, I appreciate all the nuance, that’s exactly where i want to be!
 
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