Orange Kettlebell Club July 2011 Workshop Hi-Lights

Some Hi-lights of the kettlebell movements learned from John Wild Buckley, and Mike Salemi from the Orange Kettlebell Club. Exercises Include:
Swing
Rack Position
and Snatch

Check out:

http://orangekettlebellclub.com

Tags: GS Kettlebell Training

Five Kettlebell Tips from the OKC

Anytime John Wild Buckley of the Orange Kettlebell Club (OKC) is back in town and offering a kettlebell workshop I do my best to rearrange my schedule and attend.  His passion for kettlebell training is unmatched; he will travel to the ends of the earth to learn more about using the bells and when he gets back he wants to openly share what he learns with others.

I have written several OKC workshop review in the past one reviewing the deadlift and swing; another going over the details of the jerk and snatch.  For this article I don’t want to keep repeating the same format so I will keep it simple and have the top five tips I learned during this more recent workshop.  Let’s get going.

Tip 1: No Right or Wrong with the Swing

The OKC approach to the swing is to simply find a style that best suits your body type and what you are trying to achieve.  John states “being efficient and what’s right for our bodies are two different things.”  Some instructors may say that an individual must perform a movement a certain way to be more efficient; however that way may not be best for everyone.

For example the stance should be individually determined based on how much vertical power one can generate on the kettlebell.  One person may have a very narrow stance while others may have to go wider to get the same vertical power.  The bottom line; it’s up to the individual to play around with the positioning and determine what works best.

Tip 2: Move into the Clean

These next two tips focus around the clean.  The first tip is moving your chest towards the kettlebells as you pull them into the racked position. If you sit back and wait for the kettlebells to come towards you and land in the racked position, the bells will hit you in the chest and knock you backward and even knock the breath out of you.  By meeting the bells balance is maintained,  the rack is smooth and air is kept inside the body.

Tip 3: Go Up on the Toes when you Clean

This was one of those ah-ha moments for me; and this tip was worth the price of admission.  I have been doing my double kettlebell cleans with my feet rooted firmly into the ground.  I noticed that when I tried with heavier bells my technique began to deteriorate dramatically and I didn’t know why.  By going up on the toes you get that extra power from the ankle extension needed to move heavier bells and to get into the proper rack position which is essential for successful jerks.  By extending the ankles you are also able to move towards the bell much easier when getting into the racked position.  After the ankles extend the feet should stomp into the ground to create the strong rack position when the kettlebells land.

Tip 4: Insert the Hand Early During the Snatch

This was another great tip that smoothed out my kettlebell snatch technique.  Previously I would begin the snatch with a strong swing, back retraction and then spear my finger through the kettlebell handle at the top of the movement to complete the snatch.  John changed my way of thinking when he suggested that you insert your hand through the handle earlier and then simply let the kettlebell ride to the top.  When practiced, this is a much smoother transition of the kettlebell from the swing to the top of the snatch.

You can practice this movement by adding in hand insertions at different positions while training the swing.  After mastering the insertion, find the position that it right for you at a place where you can allow the momentum of the swing and insertion to float the kettlebell into the top position.  When done right there is minimal, if any, shoulder retraction needed to facilitate this movement.

Tip 5: Just Exhale

This tip is so easy to achieve and can completely change your kettlebell work capacity for the better.  When breathing during your kettlebell sets focus only on exhaling.  When you do this the inhalation simply happens naturally without thought or effort.  The opposite is not true however. If you solely concentrate on the inhalation there will be a tendency to hold the breath causing either an improperly timed exhalation or completely forgetting to exhale entirely.

Holding the breath is a great way to get tired fast.  When you concentrate on only exhaling you will establish a rhythm and be able to go much longer during your kettlebell sets.

Conclusion

I hope these tips helped you out as much as it helped me.  Check out more information on John Wild Buckley and the OKC at:

http://orangekettlebellclub.net/

http://www.orangekettlebellclub.com/

Tags: kettlebell sport

UCSF Sports and Injury Rehabilitation Conference Recap: Running Injuries

One of the most popular forms of exercise in the United States is running and every year the number of runners increases.  According to Running USA’s 2009 State of the Sport, there was an 18% increase in the total running population in 2008 (35,904,000 runners) compared to 2007, and a 15% increase in the estimated number of trail runners in 2008 (4,857,000).  These numbers do not even account for the running involved during sport participation and training for sports.

A simple assumption can be made that with the growing number of people participating in running there will be an increase in the number of running related injuries along with it.  In a recent online article in the New York Times, Dr. Ron L. Diercks and their colleagues at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands who study running and the potential injuries caused by the sport stated:

“The injury problem is huge, as many as 40 percent of runners are injured, usually to their feet, ankles, knees or legs. At [our] university’s running clinics, 30 to 40 percent of beginning runners gave up because of injuries.”

It is difficult to pinpoint the reasons or the exact candidates for running injuries, however Dr. Diercks hints at a correlation between injuries and the new runner:

“Most people, who take up running, think it will be easy, all they need is a pair of shoes. But in fact, running is a difficult sport, and most people quit before it becomes fun, often because they are injured. Experienced runners know how to adjust and return to the sport. Novices usually do not.”

With the large number of people participating in running and with many athletes using running during their sports and training I took the opportunity to attend the 2011 University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Sports Injury and Rehabilitation Conference and the focus this year was on running injuries.  I boiled down the information from this conference and will share with you some of the more compelling and useful information that I learned in hopes that it helps the runners and athletes you are working with remain injury free.

The presenters for this conference were all experts in the fields in sports medicine and running injuries.  Many were medical doctors and professors from UCSF and other distinguished universities and have extensive experience in dealing with patients with injuries associated with running.

More Force than You Think

According to Dr. Anthony Luke, a common running heel strike can produce force anywhere from 400-500 times a person’s body-weight load.  Multiply that over the number of steps taken and it is easy to potentially understand that if an athlete is not properly conditioned or structurally sound, they can get hurt while running.  Luke quoted a study by Wentz et al. that indicated that 10% of female athletes are likely to get a stress fracture in one of their joints and this was most common in women who were in less than optimal physical shape (lower aerobic capacity, smaller muscle, and poor diet).

These loading forces along with low strength, conditioning and health levels may be main indicators as to why runners, especially the new ones, get hurt.  Richard Souza, PhD, indicated that there is a strong correlation between hip mal-alignment and muscle weakness and patellofemoral pain especially with female runners.  During Dr. Christina Allen and Dr. Chris Daprato’s presentation they stated that: patellofemoral pain accounts for about 25% of all sports related injuries and 16-20% of all running related injuries.  Patellofemoral pain may not be noticeable during low impact activities like walking, however when the joint reaction forces (going up stairs, squatting, running) significantly increase the pain can be more noticeable and potentially debilitating.

What Can we Do?

With such a high number of people participating in running the injuries associated with it also will remain high.  Preventative measures to minimize risk are a must and it is in the best interest of the athlete to understand the risks and how to minimize them.  In my slightly biased opinion, I would recommend that a person who is committed to running seek the help of professionals to help them with their strength program and even to learn proper running mechanics optimal for their body type.

One of the first things to consider is the appropriate amount of body-weight for your activity.  A distance runner would benefit from shedding excessive body weight which increases the stress on the joints.  During Dr. Brian Feeley’s presentation on the Cartilage Lesions of the Knee, he stated that: “For every pound of body-weight lost there is 10 lbs. less weight off of the knee joint.”  Imagine the potential damage to the body of a runner who is not in the best physical shape; if you multiply the amount of weight placed on your knee joints with the force from the heel impact during running over time there can be some serious potential injury problems.

To prevent the likelihood of future injuries it is a good idea to assess the athlete to determine if they have any flexibility, mobility and strength discrepancies.  Can the athlete squat, lunge and hold a plank without pain?  Does the athlete have major differences in movement patterns between each side and with equal and appropriate muscle strength and endurance?

If you are a trainer I am willing to bet you have heard a client say something along the lines, “My legs are strong because I do a lot of running, so I should focus more on my upper body.”  Strength is a relative terms and being strong for one sport might not be strong enough for another, also being strong for your body type and activity is also variable.  Like Dr. Luke mentioned, the force of a heel strike is much greater when running and it is paramount that the person’s body be able to absorb and use the high level of force appropriately.  Without the right amount of strength development the body will not be able to handle the forces and then must distribute the force unevenly throughout the body which eventually wears certain joints down and causes injuries.

A suitable program for runners consist of a balanced routine between upper and lower body movements with plenty of emphasis on the lower body movements consisting of: mobility work, double leg exercises (squat and deadlift variations) as well as plenty of single leg exercises (lunge and step up variations).

Running might be the desired form of exercise a person might prefer, however, it may be best to treat running as a sport and realize that there is necessity for all of the supplemental training to be a successful runner throughout the years.

 

References:

Kolata, Gina. When Running Up Mileage, 10 Percent Isn’t the Cap, New York Times online, June 20, 2011.

Wentz L, Females have a greater incidence of stress fractures than males in both military and athletic populations: a systemic review. Mil Med. 2011 Apr;176(4):420-30

Tags: jogging, running, X Country