all posts post new thread

Kettlebell Should I always brace my abs?

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)

j1369330

Level 1 Valued Member
During a hip hinge, should my abs be braced throughout the movement or only after the hip drive when I reach vertical and forcefully mimic the 'plank' position? I'm new to kettlebell training so I want to make sure I'm swinging properly as I have tweaked my back in the past.

I've noticed that my belly wants to go soft when I hip hinge (especially unloaded, as when bending down to pick something up) even though my posterior erectors are strongly engaged. I am wondering if this is normal or is it bad movement pattern that I've developed over the years? If I consciously think to do so I can remain braced throughout the hinge. I know that I lack some thoracic extension so I'm worried that I may be hyper extending through the lumbar (soft abs) to compensate.

If helpful I can upload a swing video for review. Thanks in advance!
 
Brace at all times in the swing. We call the skill of learning to brace in this way "breathing behind the shield" - you still need to move and breath, but you want to stay tight.

I've noticed that my belly wants to go soft when I hip hinge (especially unloaded, as when bending down to pick something up) even though my posterior erectors are strongly engaged. I am wondering if this is normal or is it bad movement pattern that I've developed over the years?
Forgive a somewhat lengthy response here but this issue hits close to home for me.

There is an important distinction to be made between normal movements and loaded ones. The latter can be either with weight or through purposefully reduced leverage. In most cases, you do not want to brace when you bend down to pick up something if it's light and you will likely exhale. I recall Grey Cook saying one time "You don't want to hardstyle tying your shoes."

But there's another side to this, too. Those of us with bad backs do, indeed, hardstyle tying our shoes. It's become reflexive for me, and I don't have plans to change it because it's a necessary compensation for the less-than-great back I have.

When the weight is swinging back, you absolutely want to brace, and the heavier the weight and the more explosively you want to move it, the more you want to brace and the more important this becomes.

-S-
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, Steve! Bracing hard throughout the swing definitely feels like an improvement.
 
@j1369330, to further add something which you may find useful.....I know there is a crossover here to another thread where you've had some great tips from Harald and Anna.....do you have S&S? In the book Pavel illustrates the silverback position. It ties in with the touch the wall with your butt drill. The position will teach you how much tension you need to maintain in the down position without collapsing or being soft....kind of semi tight. Feel the position, notice what is on....what needs to be on and how much it needs to be on. If the top of the swing is hardstyle TIGHT, the bottom is tight, semi tight, braced, enough to move, substantial enough to protect your spine and maintain the posture. It's finding that sweet spot for you. As Steve has said, you may need more tension here if you have back issues. By feeling the position unloaded, it will perhaps give you a sense of what is right for you, to recognise what you need to do before adding load. And when you do load, you will need to apply a bit more tension but you hopefully will have better judgement of the tension and spacial awareness of where your body needs to be for optimum posture.

It's something that gets talked about a lot here - the depth of info held within the S&S book. It's easy to overlook stuff, to miss things and think some things are of less interest or relevance to you at a particular time, when all the book, everything in it is relevant to every detail of S&S, all of the time. The silverback stance is a great teaching position and one that I totally overlooked. I had read the book loads of times before seeing the significance of it, eventhough I thought I was motoring along quite nicely. I do silverbacks now before practices. Focusing on that big chest too helps with shoulder packing and spinal positioning. And it's quite nice to pay homage to our primate cousins now and then.
 
@ali I have read s&s a couple times threw. And I have looked at the Silverback section. But it never realy hit home till you went into detail on it. Time to reread some more! Thanks!
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom