FUNDAMENTAL KETTLEBELL MASTERY
A beginners guide to enhance your vitality
By
Nathan Washington and Alvaro Alarcon
Table of Contents
Copyright 2020 Nathan Washington and Alvaro Alarcon
All rights Reserved.
In no way is it legal to produce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless written permission from the publishers. All rights are reserved. Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher
Disclaimer and Waiver of liability
The contents in this training guide written by Nathan Washington and Alvaro Alarcon, contain various workouts that may incur injury as there are inherent risks in all aspects of physical training. You should consult your health care professional or physician before beginning this program to assess if it is suitable to you, your needs and overall physical ability. If you or your family have a history of high blood pressure, heart disease, experienced chest pain when exercising, have high cholesterol, smoke, overweight or have joint, muscle or bone problems that could be made worse by engaging in physical activity. Do not start this training guide/program if your health care provider or physician advises against it. If you experience, faintness, dizziness, pain or shortness of breath at any time while exercising, you should stop immediately. For the consumer to purchase/download as well as to practice the training guide, you are waiving any liability to Nathan Washington and Alvaro Alarcon.
The Kettlebell
K ettlebells are an odd-looking object, at first glance it can be difficult to imagine how it could be used in an exercise environment. BUT, dont let its looks deceive you. KBs are one of the BEST tools you can use to achieve several fitness goals whether it be improving your muscle strength, endurance, mobility and your overall physique . One of the great features of this odd shape is that it allows you to seamlessly move from one activity to the next further developing your timing and rhythm as well as your hand-eye coordination; ultimately achieving a greater output and receiving generous rewards for your efforts. Its no wonder top level athletes across a diverse range of sports are implementing it in their training regime as it transfers those aforementioned attributes to where its needed most during competition.
However, the benefits of KB training are not only reserved exclusively for athletes, it applies to everyday people doing everyday tasks. For instance, the KBs centre of mass is slightly off, so during a lift youll require the use of additional muscle stabilisers to assist with controlling this beast in mid-airalmost like when carrying a baby (except the baby is not a beast). The KB can be used with both arms or singly, allowing you to train unilaterally where youll lift and stabilize the weight with one side of the body, while activating the other in various ways to keep you balanced, like carrying groceries or tools. Moreover, the grip and core strength needed to carry and guide this steel fluidly results in this unusual specimen to be one of the most dynamic, versatile and applicable tools that you can use in your training.
We admire the KB because of its effectiveness at addressing multiple muscles in a single lift. It is the true definition of doing more by doing less, otherwise known as being efficient. With this given outcome a training session that includes a KB can be completed within a short time period. Overriding the issue that most people have when it comes to making exercise apart of their daylack of time. The program in this book, will target all muscles, accelerate your heart and breathing rate, burn off some serious calories, prevent gym visitations; essentially saving YOU both time and money that could be better spent on your own priorities!
This book will contain simple step-by-step instructions to carry out a series of exercises along with illustrated guided video recordings. Additionally, progression exercises are included in case you have any restrictions that is preventing you from performing the initial exercise. If you do begin here, it is totally fine and its important to focus on mastering the progressions first and work your way towards carrying out the final exercise. This will minimise the risk of injury and train you to use the appropriate muscles and joints to perform the task optimally.
Another disclaimer: As always be mindful of the space around you before engaging in any kettlebell exercise. There is a lot of force required to explode and lift this training equipment into a position, which can cause serious damage if it were to hit another individual or object. Finally, if your grip strength or overall body is starting to fatigue, or you are feeling dizzy or lightheaded you should STOP exercising immediately. You wouldnt want to be lifting the kettlebell overhead or swinging it about without full control, for it to then slip from your hands and land onto you or your surroundings.
The Mid What?
B efore we get into the list of instructions, there is one concept that you must understand the meaning of because it is referenced throughout EVERY single exercise. Please, welcome the term midline. We use the term to describe the various muscles associated along the midline of your body, such as your abdominals, deeper abdominals (transverse abdominals), lower back, glutes and spinal erectors (muscles that hyperextend your back).
These players assist with stabilising your spine and reduce the risk of it caving in and causing damage to the nerves that are responsible for keeping you alive and moving. Additionally, an inactivated midline compromises your positioning when doing a lift, resulting in mini traumas to the muscles involved and injury overtime.
Finally, on the performance side of things, youll be doing more work than necessary - inefficiency is not our friend. Bracing the midline works like a balancing act of keeping both the torso and lower limbs in sync with each other to perform movements more optimally when lifting.
A common result of a poorly braced midline is an anterior pelvic tilt, where the lower back is overly arched (kind of like showing off your booty). Now, if you were to pick up the kettlebell with this hyperextended back OR use the cue to stick out your butt to perform the lift, you would be compressing your spinal cord and over-activating your lower back (as this muscle group is involved with the lift). This would result in muscle IN-activity particularly for the hamstring and glutes, which should be the prime movers of the lift.
Thus, other muscles would be required to compensate for the movement when they shouldnt be. By simply bracing your midline you can return your pelvis under your spine and voila, avoid all of the above-mentioned issues. A tip to help you wrap your head around this, is to bring your belly button to your spine.
Thankfully, there is a video (click here ) revealing what this cue looks like. The first half of the video demonstrates how to activate the muscles needed to perform the belly button to spine while lying on the ground. The second half demonstrates how to apply that same cue while standing as well as maintaining a strong, upright and relaxed posture.
The good news, is that you may have (painfully) experienced this concept before. Where you are peeing in a cubicle in a public toilet and perhaps you forgot to lock the door. A stranger innocently opens the door and there you are having to stop peeing midstream to quickly prevent them from entering. That moment of pee ceasing is a result of you tensing the muscles that are needed to perform the belly button to spine cue. If you are lucky enough to not experience that moment, you can practice this at home (very briefly) to develop some awareness.