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Kettlebell The swing

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@Steve Freides I discovered what you were saying below. Wow, my hamstrings really felt my swings tonight. It is amazing to me how a little change in form can strengthen another body part. Thank you for explaining @Anna's form to me so simply.

Steve Freides said:
@Michael Scott, if you look at Anna's first swing video, you'll see that, when her hips have stopped moving backwards and down but she continues to lower her shoulders, she does not give up the integrity of her spine. The additional range comes from her hamstrings, not her lower back, and that's why her lower back doesn't bother her.

-S-
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Those glutes look like they could crack a diamond @Anna C :D

Also cool to see the triceps fire on the up and downswing. Would be good to see you or @Harald Motz do a super slo mo recording of a TGU to watch all the muscles firing.
 
Well, Pavel says, crush a walnut... :)

A Slow-mo get-up might be a bit dull but maybe I'll try to get one. I agree that muscles in motion are pretty cool to see, especially with kettlebells. IMO it's a whole lot more interesting to see muscles in motion than just flexing on a stage.
 
@Mark Kidd , thanks, me too. I feel better, stronger, and healthier than I did in my 20s and 30s. But that's no surprise really as I was a smoker for many years. Can't imagine what I'd feel like today if I had continued on that path and not found this one.

50th Birthday coming in December!
 
Anna C said:
@Mark Kidd , thanks, me too. I feel better, stronger, and healthier than I did in my 20s and 30s. But that's no surprise really as I was a smoker for many years. Can't imagine what I'd feel like today if I had continued on that path and not found this one.

50th Birthday coming in December!
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Same here and I will be 39 in less than a week. Crazy!
 
Steve Freides said:
See my last answer below.

We have found great value at being very good at a few, carefully-chosen movements, and the swing is one of them.

-S-
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For some reason, this clicked with me more now than ever before. I started working out with strength training which then turned into bodybuilding. So now that I am following strongfirst methodology, it can be hard to deal with the lack of variety. But honestly, getting good at a few movements with the kettlebell, body weight, and the barbell will make one strong, resilient, and well-rounded. Additionally, I thought doing so few movements would lead to more overuse injuries, but with the attention to detail this high, that doesn't seem to be the case at all. If anything, the opposite. The more I learn about this system, the more I believe in it and can stand by it.
 
Todd Friedrich said:
Thanks @Anna C, I think I've got it figured out. So here are videos of both my one-handed swing and my get-up. Any feedback would be much appreciated, as I am relatively new to the S&S program, and am trying to work towards Simple. Thanks everyone.
[QUOTE

I ruined this message when I tried to edit it. It all looks like a quote. I rewrote it in another comment. I"m still figuring out how to use the forum features.
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Last edited:
Todd Friedrich said:
Thanks @Anna C, I think I've got it figured out. So here are videos of both my one-handed swing and my get-up. Any feedback would be much appreciated, as I am relatively new to the S&S program, and am trying to work towards Simple. Thanks everyone.



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Todd,
I'm not an instructor but I noticed a few details on the get up that you may want to consider. One may be a safety issue.

It looks like you might want to work on the hinge after you do the sweep and transition to the lunge position. I will include a link for a video that Karen Smith made and another from Strongfirst.. When I first started doing get ups I didn't lower myself or move back into the hinge. I would get into where my hand and knees were on the ground and then make a move that was kind of like using a quick little upward movement to get momentum to go up. It seems like it is easier to get away with when the kettlebell is lighter. When I moved up to the 32kg and then the 40kg I believe lowering my hips a little farther down and back helped to load the weight in a more stable position without the quick jerky kind of motion upward. It also seems to help with balance.

Also, it is difficult for me to tell from the one video angle but maybe a little more windshield wiper motion with the lower leg could be helpful. That could possibly help with the hinge position. I could be wrong because I am new to this as well, but those are some things I noticed in my own practice. I think working on the hinge could help with balance and power when you move up to heavier kettlebells.

One more thing in regard to your leg movement. From the angle I see in your video it looks like the leg you sweep with is straight out instead of off to an angle like most of the instructors recommend. It appears you may be using a jerking motion to initiate a situp instead of turning to the side smoothly. It's a subtle difference. I would like to invite some of the more experienced members like @Anna C @Steve Freides @Steve W. and others to take a look at it and do an analysis. This could also affect your sweep and the placement of your knee in the hinge position.

I am still working on these things myself and have found that changing one thing can also affect the others.

The final thing is when you move the kettlebell from one side or your body to the other by moving it over your upper chest or head. It is probably safer to lower it to your side after you lower it and then turn you body around. I only mention it because I wouldn't want you to get hurt when you move up to heavier kettlebells. They are much more difficult to control and can of course do more damage if something ever does go wrong.


Take care and God bless,


[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
 
Todd Friedrich said:
Thanks @Anna C, I think I've got it figured out. So here are videos of both my one-handed swing and my get-up. Any feedback would be much appreciated, as I am relatively new to the S&S program, and am trying to work towards Simple. Thanks everyone.



Click to expand...

After looking at the swing video I think they look very good. It looks like a very good movement pattern and explosive.

Best of luck,
Robert
 
Robert Noftz said:
Todd,
I'm not an instructor but I noticed a few details on the get up that you may want to consider. One may be a safety issue.

It looks like you might want to work on the hinge after you do the sweep and transition to the lunge position. I will include a link for a video that Karen Smith made and another from Strongfirst.. When I first started doing get ups I didn't lower myself or move back into the hinge. I would get into where my hand and knees were on the ground and then make a move that was kind of like using a quick little upward movement to get momentum to go up. It seems like it is easier to get away with when the kettlebell is lighter. When I moved up to the 32kg and then the 40kg I believe lowering my hips a little farther down and back helped to load the weight in a more stable position without the quick jerky kind of motion upward. It also seems to help with balance.
Also, it is difficult for me to tell from the one video angle but maybe a little more windshield wiper motion with the lower leg could be helpful. That could possibly help with the hinge position. I could be wrong because I am new to this as well, but those are some things I noticed in my own practice. I think working on the hinge could help with balance and power when you move up to heavier kettlebells.
One more thing in regard to your leg movement. From the angle I see in your video it looks like the leg you sweep with is straight out instead of off to an angle like most of the instructors recommend. It appears you may be using a jerking motion to initiate a situp instead of turning to the side smoothly. It's a subtle difference. I would like to invite some of the more experienced members like @Anna C @Steve Freides @Steve W. and others to take a look at it and do an analysis. This could also affect your sweep and the placement of your knee in the hinge position.
I am still working on these things myself and have found that changing one thing can also affect the others.

The final thing is when you move the kettlebell from one side or your body to the other by moving it over your upper chest or head. It is probably safer to lower it to your side after you lower it and then turn you body around. I only mention it because I wouldn't want you to get hurt when you move up to heavier kettlebells. They are much more difficult to control and can of course do more damage if something ever does go wrong.


Take care and God bless,


Click to expand...
[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

@Robert Noftz thank you for the great feedback. Those are some wonderful points that I will certainly work on. I'm progressing slower with the getup than I am with the one-handed swing, so maybe by tweaking those parts of my movement, I can make some progesss. I'm glad that I posted these videos, and that we have such an open vibrant community of participants. I'll let everyone know how it shakes out.
 
I would agree with those inputs, @Robert Noftz. Good catches. And of course, Karen Smith's instructional video is tops! The one with Zar Horton and Lance Coffel is excellent as well. I made a little hinge tip video last week for someone in the Training Logs section, adding it below... not nearly as helpful I'm sure (only my 2nd attempt at making an instructional video, so don't expect anything grand!) but it is addressing that same thing, using a hip hinge in moving from tripod to kneeling.

Honestly the hinging the hips towards the foot is a finer point of the get-up that I resisted for some time. I just didn't see the point. What made the difference for me is learning properly how to do a windmill at the SFG II cert. It's all about seeking lumbar spine stability in the movement, avoiding rotation AND side-bending in the lower back. So keeping the spine as straight as possible, hinging the hips to move the pelvis, and keep the rotation in the chest region as opposed to turning lower down by the hips... Doing these things with a good hip hinge should help keep your lower back happy with the movement. Practice with no weight, or a shoe.... I like to do unweighted get-ups as part of warm-up or cool-down.

When I'm looking at @Todd Friedrich's hinge it looks OK to me relative to the spine, so he may not need to change, but hard to tell. Just try for the right feeling of moving your pelvis relative to your spine and you'll find the best way for you. Hope that helps!

 
Thank you for this slo mo video.
That bell really looked like it was floating at the top of your swing.
 
Anna C said:
I would agree with those inputs, @Robert Noftz. Good catches. And of course, Karen Smith's instructional video is tops! The one with Zar Horton and Lance Coffel is excellent as well. I made a little hinge tip video last week for someone in the Training Logs section, adding it below... not nearly as helpful I'm sure (only my 2nd attempt at making an instructional video, so don't expect anything grand!) but it is addressing that same thing, using a hip hinge in moving from tripod to kneeling.

Honestly the hinging the hips towards the foot is a finer point of the get-up that I resisted for some time. I just didn't see the point. What made the difference for me is learning properly how to do a windmill at the SFG II cert. It's all about seeking lumbar spine stability in the movement, avoiding rotation AND side-bending in the lower back. So keeping the spine as straight as possible, hinging the hips to move the pelvis, and keep the rotation in the chest region as opposed to turning lower down by the hips... Doing these things with a good hip hinge should help keep your lower back happy with the movement. Practice with no weight, or a shoe.... I like to do unweighted get-ups as part of warm-up or cool-down.

When I'm looking at @Todd Friedrich's hinge it looks OK to me relative to the spine, so he may not need to change, but hard to tell. Just try for the right feeling of moving your pelvis relative to your spine and you'll find the best way for you. Hope that helps!

Click to expand...


@Anna C posting these video has been extremely helpful for me. It's a whole different world when you see yourself doing movement. I felt like I was doing it alright, but being the novice that I am, I greatly welcome all the tips. The videos are also super helpful. Thanks
 
Anna C said:
I made a little hinge tip video last week for someone in the Training Logs section, adding it below
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This is likely why my left side low back is continually sore. It isn't painful, merely sore in the evening when I perform the QL/90 stretching. The small adjustment to add the explicit hinge + tspine rotation will likely cure it.

I need to attend the one day KB course. I'm sure there's several things like that I'm doing sub-optimally that can only be caught in person. There's one coming up in Hartford, Wisconsin on June 24 which is only 1.5 hours from me.
 
Do the class! You'll love it. I had been doing kettlebells almost 2 years, and S&S for many months, and still I learned a lot. And it led me to sign up for SFG I... Your next step ;)
 
Anna C said:
Do the class! You'll love it. I had been doing kettlebells almost 2 years, and S&S for many months, and still I learned a lot. And it led me to sign up for SFG I... Your next step ;)
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I"m waiting for a Kettlebell course in northern Ohio. There was one a few months ago but I didn't notice it on the website until after it was over. You can learn a lot from watching videos and practicing but it really would be better to spend time working with an instructor and other students. You can learn things in an intensive session that you might not get otherwise.
 
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