One Arm Swing question

[Brett Jones]

RE: grip for two-arm swing
Likely a good article or social media tip—thank you for the idea.

 

[Cyrus-II]

Unpopular opinion. Heavy one hand swings are no good. I can feel my SI joint popping out of place reading your post. What's the payoff? I'd rather snatch instead. Hand 2 Hand swings are a circus trick. Do you want to do swings or play catch the kettlebell in mid air? So many things can go wrong including breaking fingers. (Yes I broke my ring finger 14 years ago doing it.).

As @marlowe says, you're better off doing 200 two hand swings. I've seen a "Master RKC/StrongFirst" member do one hand swings with a 44 kg on his blog, and I thought "that bell is not even getting beyond his crotch."

Thanks for the post. That was insightful.

I find if I try to increase my volume with 32KG 1H swings it's also my SI joint that starts yelling me I'm overdoing it. (Basically every time I try to add a third session per week I regret it.)
Because of that I've gravitated to more and more 2H/1H split sets in my two S&S days per week. I was about ready to almost give up on 1H swings and just do 'em all 2H, but I think I'll eventually reach equilibrium by just doing two sets 2H, then six sets 1H, then 2 sets 2H. I just want to maintain at the Simple standard and I believe that still fits within the spirit of it since about every third session was supposed to be using 2H swings anyway.

And since I'm pretty consistently doing Iron Cardio one day out of the week, I figure maybe I'll get enough single sided work anyway with cleans and snatches...maybe?

I guess none of that is really pertinent to this discussion though.

/thread drift

 

[BrianCF]

Thanks for the post. That was insightful.

I find if I try to increase my volume with 32KG 1H swings it's also my SI joint that starts yelling me I'm overdoing it. (Basically every time I try to add a third session per week I regret it.)
Because of that I've gravitated to more and more 2H/1H split sets in my two S&S days per week. I was about ready to almost give up on 1H swings and just do 'em all 2H, but I think I'll eventually reach equilibrium by just doing two sets 2H, then six sets 1H, then 2 sets 2H. I just want to maintain at the Simple standard and I believe that still fits within the spirit of it since about every third session was supposed to be using 2H swings anyway.

And since I'm pretty consistently doing Iron Cardio one day out of the week, I figure maybe I'll get enough single sided work anyway with cleans and snatches...maybe?

I guess none of that is really pertinent to this discussion though.

/thread drift

As stated above, @RWolfe went from zero to hero too fast and we've ALL done that.

I remember doing Dave Whitley's 30 kettlebell workouts in 30 minutes. One of the workouts was 30 seconds of one hand swings L, 30 seconds R, 20 sets. I remember using a 20 and thinking, "this is stupid, I can feel it in the SI joints."

As I got older, I had less tolerance for them. I like your strategy.

I've always thought the perfect ballistics workout was top of the minute snatches. 5L, 5R for 20 minutes with no more than a 24kg.

 

[RWolfe]

"I have completed S&S timeless with 32k (before, then again recently after a long layoff). I have only once had tweaked my back, very early in my KB career, trying to go too heavy too fast. That was probably 12 years ago."

This gave the impression that you were coming back to swings after a long layoff.
How long was the lay off?
and
How long had you been back to swinging?

H2H does change the swing and needs some practice before hitting high volume IMO.

I agree I was't very clear. I started back with swings in Dec after spending most of the fall training for a marathon and took a break from running. So several months, 2-3 days a week 10x10x32k for at least two months (I started with 24).

I mentioned the injury more in the context of the slight hip shift I noticed... I am most curious about that. I hadnt noticed myself doing it before, but then I dont often swing near a mirror (obvious reasons - dont need 7 years bad luck ) - Once I am back at it will get a video and see what everyone thinks. Thanks again for your response(s) and support!

 

[RWolfe]

Out of curiosity, are you using comp bells? Not really material. Just thinking you might have really big hands. Just a point of curiosity


Yeah I see a couple reasons why he might have settled on the H2H swing.

1. Inclusion of anti rotational forces
2. Relative symmetry
3. Giving the grip a little rest


I would consider the 2 hand swings as well. But, if you are decided about the handle fit issue then there's that.



A couple concerns I had while getting used to it.

1. Planking at the top is something that needed it's own practice for me.

Relaxing the arms and grip reduced my total system tension. So I had to practice maintaining the plank while my grip relaxed. The total system tension was relatively constant for me during 1 hand and 2 hand swings .

So I had to intentionally practice tension relaxation tension

2.the hinge timing was effected slightly by my perception of the regrip while catching the bell.

This was noticeable in my back at least once. And so I paid a lot of attention to it to learn about my own timing and getting the bell to cooperate.

3. I have always kept it in my back pocket that 2 hand swings are an option for my goals.

And I may yet switch to it if I feel it's a valuable trade off.

These are all really great points and reinforces my idea that the hand switch was distracting from my form. Thanks for the feedback! Not using comp bells, just plain ole Rogue Fitness bells.

 

[Grevlingfot]

1. For the one arm swing I I have found out or learned that touching the bell with the “opposite”arm really helps the posture in the swing. I also use a mirror to make sure every rep has the correct posture.

2. I also struggled with fitting two hands into a competition kettlebell. So I had to buy the hard style ones with bigger horn. Only use comp bells for doubles now.

3. H2H isn’t for me. I’m more comfortable alternate 1 arm. I also like to have the two hand in the AXE cycle.

I hope you manage to get back to it. Axe is an awesome program/ philosophy. I love to alternate Iron Cardio and AXE.