First off, I’d like to wish anyone reading my blog a Happy New Year! I hope your celebration was fun and safe. It really is hard to believe that we are already 10 years into this new decade. I can remember the whole Y2K scare and now in two years we’ll have the end of the world; oh well!
Now that 2010 is upon us, it’s time for the dreaded “R” word, that right, RESOLUTIONS. I have to admit, I’m not a fan of new years resolutions because I don’t think they work for most people. If something is important to do or change, than it is important at any time of the year, not just in January! But, the concept of creating new (or even old) goals or having a fresh start, can be a refreshing one. So with a new fresh year ahead of us (364 days left!), what are your goals?
Since most people gain some unwanted holiday fat, weight (fat) loss is usually atop many peoples list of new years goals/resolutions. Now some people’s goals might not involve a physical dimension that is my domain so I wanted to help start people off with some help learning a very valuable exercise; the kettlebell swing. If you haven’t tried this exercise, it is simply one of the most effective exercise for improving your health and fitness. Some of its benefits inculde:
1) Improved strength, power and endurance of the posterior chain (the muscle from your low back to the back of your knee). Incidentally these are the real calorie-buring muscles of the human body!
2) Improved ab and “core” strength. The core is such a buzz word these days and most people don’t even have a unifying definition of what the “core” actually is but if core is what you want, that core is what you’ll improve with a properly performed kettlebell swing!
3) Improved Grip. Although this is not probably high on most people’s goal list, having a strong grip is extremely important; especially as we age and begin to lose our strength.
4) Improved Hip-Extension ability. The muscles mentioned in benefit #1 above are the key players involved in improving this motion of this hip joint. Improved hip-extension and core strength directly translates to improvements in so many human locomotive activities including running, sprinting, jumping and lifting things that involve the hips and thighs. Contrary to some peoples beliefs, the hips, not the calf muscles, are responsible for most of the torque/power to propel is forward in running/gait or jumping off the ground. The swing helps teach you to become more “hip-centric.”
5) Improved cardiovascular efficiency. For people who wonder how you’re going to get your “cardio” doing Kettlebell training, they’ve obviously never performed the swing. High-rep swings rival any other cardio-vascular activity that I’ve ever performed.
There are so many other benefits to the swing but these seem to be amongst the most important. Another note, swings are just fun and challenging, two elemetns missing from many people’s fitness routines these days. To finish off, here are two videos that I’ve recently created with the help of my friend and colleague Patrick Ward. They help give you the concept of the swing first, and then some key drills to help you master it. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading and watching!
Keats
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