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Kettlebell Press Tip

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@MarkSch
MarkSch said:
@GeoffreyLevens

You _started_ aikido at 40? Wow, respect. I thought I was elderly to start it, and I was about 26, mumble mumble years ago.
Since I have mentioned it a few times on these forums, did you find shikko and suri-waza helpful in the TGU, by any chance? TGUs are some of my 'best' movements, and I feel like those exercises were a big help.

Again, it's really interesting seeing people picking up this movement tip from all kinds of different disciplines.
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I quit Aikido practice after about 3 years (25 years ago!?!?!?!) because I was just too obsessed and suffering frequent, chronic over training with lot of unpleasant symptoms. I do think there might well be good carry over though between shikko and suri-waza to TGU's
 
@GeoffreyLevens

Thanks for the extra information--sorry about your knee and over-training issues, though. I hope things are better for you now.
I myself eased out of aikido after about 20 years, due to time and motivation constraints. Kettlebells have been an excellent answer to basic fitness, and this forum is a great virtual gym, too.
 
I read this thread just before working out and this tip seemed to help my TGU's. Not sure exactly how it helped or what it did, but I had no trouble with the usual roll to elbow sticking point with either arm and the whole movement felt good. I'll try it from now on and see if I can make any clearer observations. First try out and it seemed to work as advertised.
 
I did my 10x5 double clean and press session with 24kg bells last night, 2 mins rest between the sets. I took note of using this tip and noticed 2 things:

1. I felt the press much more solid and controlled for the first 5 sets
2. I was totally exhausted by set 7 and 8, to the point I had to finish sets 9 & 10 with push presses and not even do cleans

Not sure if number 2 is related to using the tip and using more energy with the extra tension generated or whether I just had a bad session. I would have expected to be fresher as I had a week off last week and first session this week was solid. I did 10x5 with 2 minutes rest before the week off and was largely good, though I missed the very last rep. Any thoughts on that are very welcome.

I plan to continue to use the tip in the next session but up my rest time to 3 minutest to see how I get on as my primary focus is strength.
 
I grip hard with my fourth and fifth fingers when performing bottoms up work with an offset grip on the kettlebell. It the makes bottoms up grip stronger, I don't know why I never thought to try it with the standard kettlebell grip. @Steve Freides attention to detail is what makes you a professional.
 
It's funny you posted about this. I have recently become aware that I don't grip very tight with my 4th and 5th fingers, but havent' focused on improving it. Today was a variety day and I was doing get-ups and really focused on it, I felt rock solid through each one.
 
I tried it and like others, my press was much more stable. This tip comes just at the right time as I was doing the press part of ROP and had to reduce volume after 5X(1,2,3,4) as I had some discomfort in the shoulders. Not pain, just a feeling that things were not going in the right direction. I had a tendency to lose my groove when tired. This may be just what I need to keep the groove and stop the discomfort. I'll see if that solves the problem in a few weeks when I get back to the program. For now, I reduced volume a lot to let whatever was causing the discomfort heal.

I also applied this tip to the deadlift after reading where it came from. Comparing the same load with and without gripping hard with the full hand, as opposed to gripping mostly with 2 fingers hard and medium with the last 2, the weight felts much lighter with the hard grip. I alternated a few times lifting about 245, which is 75% of my max, on different days and at different reps in a set of 5 (I am doing PTTP deadlifts), and the harder grip made the weight feel at least 10-15 pounds lighter, if not more. Not only did the bar feel lighter, which is very subjective, but the lift was quicker. It feels like my more secure grip to the bar, even if not absolutely required to lift that specific weight, tells my body that it's OK to get more tensed. That allows me to "compress the spring" more.

It's amazing how seemingly simple things, like putting a weight overhead or picking up something from the floor, hide so much details if you want to improve your capacity to lift heavier or for more reps.
 
@Steve Freides : damn, it works!

Since three days I am into parallettes training after a long time again, when I first played with them.

I have some decent handstanpushup pressing freestanding on the ground, and lately full range between chairs under my belt for about the last 14-15 weeks.

Really concentrating on the little fingers gives me on some occasions the equilibrium, strength and stability to get from an L-sit into the handstand. I already had some few one reppers, which were really slow and controlled upwards, and some stable feeling handstands on the wooden bars.

This mining in seemingly minors to yield some major effects is only one aspect I love about StrongFirst.
 
I tried it today on my windmill practice. I felt much more stable through the entire range of motion. When I do my ROP heavy day tomorrow I will ensure to use this. Thanks.
 
ClaudeR said:
gripping the bell with 4th and 5th fingers during TGUs
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natewhite39 said:
Yes, once I began training the TGU with a 32 for multiple reps I took notice of how important keeping the pinkie engaged influenced lat contraction.
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+1, but for GUs. Keeping the elbow locked on the way down has been a struggle for me with a heavier bell. 4th and 5th finger engagement helps tremendously to keep the bell locked out and not falling towards my head. Thank you kindly sir.
 
Steve Freides said:
I recently added this to my pressing technique and it has made me stronger.

As you are gripping the handle of the bell hard while pressing, focus on gripping with your 4th and 5th fingers. Don't squeeze less on the others, but make an effort to squeeze with your ring and pinkie fingers.

Please use the poll and reply here as well to let me know how it works for you.

-S-
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Interestingly, this is exactly the advice they give you in judo and kendo for gripping the opponent and sword.
 
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