watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
I thought this was a thought-provoking article regarding KB swing programming and training effects:
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The same logic certainly applies to the clean and snatch, as well.
People want to go heavy.
Everywhere.
Naturally, we approve of this as the efficacy of such a mindset gets results. Indisputable, sexy, athletic results.
However, one exercise where we want to be careful to not get too far ahead of ourselves is the beloved Russian kettlebell swing. Often, folks are so eager to enjoy the feeling of increasing their swing weight, we leave potential gains on the table we could have achieved had we swung a bit lighter.
So what we want to do is foc—.
Wait, huh? Leaving gains on the table by going too heavy?
Before you dump the tar and feathers on us, let me explain.
We train the kettlebell’s strength benefits by focusing on explosive power and reaching hip extension at peak speed, not through maximal load and see-sawing back and forth like the pendulum of a clock completely driven by momentum.
You don’t want to gradually arrive at hip extension, you want to explode there, which is why we’re not fans of Russian swings for conditioning. You want to keep it its home of training the power system.
We have deadlifts, squats, lunges and you name it for raw, brute strength. The kettlebell swing exists to be swung with aggression. There is nothing smooth about a proper Russian swing. It’s abrasive. It’s violent. It’s Gary Busey.
To be truly strong and athletic means you posses raw strength (i.e. deadlift), power (i.e. Oly lifts), and explosiveness (i.e. box jump, kettlebell swing). This explosiveness, or burst, is a very critical part of it all and the kettlebell swing is one of the few movements that isolate it effectively.
When you ignore burst, you dissolve the benefits of the swing like pouring a bottle of water into a perfectly good Scotch.
That’s what we mean when we say going too heavy can leave gains on the table.
More at:
The same logic certainly applies to the clean and snatch, as well.