Kettlebell and Movement-Based Training eBook

1 Kettlebell Training

Why Kettlebells?

“Although kettlebells develop strength and power, a Kettlebell-trained body is not bulky”

We consider the Kettlebell to be the ultimate tool for all-around fitness and cross training. Kettlebell

workouts increase strength, endurance, agility, and balance, challenging both the muscular and metabolic (cardiovascular and endocrine) systems with dynamic total-body movements.

Kettlebells are designed to grow your work-capacity. Another way to say work-capacity is strength-endurance. Strength endurance is the ability to maintain low to medium level muscular contractions for extended periods of time. Simply meaning that, you are not only strong, but can apply that strength to functional activities that go for longer than a typical ‘Gym Set’.

Alongside the well known benefits of increasing greater work capacity with fewer sessions, you are also taking advantage of the kettlebells ability to challenge the body’s balance/stability centres. Not only are you working the proprioceptor (nervous system-muscle feedback loop) aspects of your balance centres, the body works hard to create contraction synergy between its paired muscle systems. This means that as a muscle contracts (agonist), its opposing muscle (antagonist) is forced to relax. Allowing the working muscle and the opposing muscle to contract and relax efficiently in unison, facilitating efficient patterns of movement.

Generally speaking, the goal of any functional training is to maximise the ‘Transfer Effect’ from exercise into life’s day-to-day activities. For this reason, Kettlebells have a high transfer effect due to their ability to stimulate the functional movement patterns used in life, sport and recreation, with the emphasis on improving performance.


Dumbbells vs. Kettlebells

You may wonder, what’s the difference between Dumbbells and Kettlebells? Isn’t a Kettlebell just like a dumbbell? While both provide resistance, they are very much worlds apart.

The dumbbells centre of gravity lies within the hand, but with the Kettlebell the centre of gravity lies outside of your hand. Which means the weight is constantly pulling away from you, pulling the body off axis. Consequently, your whole body has to compensate and stabilise, recruiting just about every muscle group in order to maintain position.

The momentum of many Kettlebell movements creates centrifugal force, focusing attention on the muscles required for deceleration, stabilization and joint strength. This results in both the muscular and metabolic systems working together, forcing them to perform to their maximum potential efficiency, resulting in increasing cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, strength, speed and power.

These types of multi-directional movements also closely resemble our primal movement patterns. With most Kettlebell exercise the body has to develop, overcome and absorb momentum. This takes advantage of the ‘Positive Transfer Effect’ these movement patterns have for athletic performance and sports-specific training, as well as general functional patterns that are used in everyday life.

The high metabolic demands of Kettlebell training make them the ideal tool for burning body-fat. They also increase agility, flexibility, balance and co-ordination, as well as improve posture, correct muscle imbalances and reduce the risk of injury normally associated with generic strength training.

After an initial general conditioning phase, Kettlebell training programs can be tailored to suit your individual needs. Whether it’s to develop strength, power, agility, burning body-fat or simply improving posture and mobility, Kettlebell training is suitable for all age groups and can benefit those starting at all fitness levels.


Kettlebells and Soft Tissue Health

Kettlebells are well known for their ability to develop unparalleled strength and endurance minus the redundantly excessive muscle bulk that goes along with traditional strength training.

Additionally, Kettlebell athletes have highly responsive, pliable soft tissue and response rates are much higher than bodybuilding based exercise; yielding greater results with fewer sessions. This is due in part to the forced relaxation that Kettlebell endurance sets create. It’s also related to the Kettlebells’ ability to stimulate the fascial mechanoreceptors, providing increased neurological input. Or simply put it provides greater feedback between the muscle and the brain, allowing for a more efficient contract/relax response, ultimately leading to greater force output.

On any given day in the gym, you will see plenty of people pounding out sets like there’s no tomorrow. Ask just about anyone of them to lie on the floor and relax completely. I guarantee you’ll find that they will hold various body parts off the floor, unable to let go. Unfortunately, chronically contracted muscle fibres are detrimental to both physical strength and long term structural health. In terms of strength, muscle fibres that are already contracted have no potential energy; they cannot contract any further, and thus, they cannot assist you in lifting a weight. This equals to reduced strength.

In terms of tissue health, healthy soft tissue is defined by its pliability and hydration. Unhealthy tissue is dehydrated, causing the ground substance (the fluid matrix in which cells are bathed) to become more viscous and loaded with toxins and metabolites. Contracted muscle fibres are not only constantly emitting metabolic waste; they are also unable to pump fluid into and around the cells. How easily nutrients are able to enter a cell, and waste products extracted out, is determined by the density of the fibrous matrix and the viscosity of the ground substance.

During a long Kettlebell set, any unnecessary tension is eradicated through the sheer necessity of efficiency. It’s simply impossible to simultaneously hold onto chronic muscular bracing and perform a high number of technically correct lifts. As the athlete relaxes and learns to contract only the muscle fibres required to lift the weight, their tissue becomes more soft, supple, and fluid. Kettlebells are the ideal medium for development of healthy, strong tissue. Using kettlebells for strength-endurance training creates tissue relaxation in chronically contracted muscle fibres, allowing greater fluid flow and enhanced cellular nutrition.

Rigid, unresponsive connective tissue has been connected to chronic pain conditions. Healthy tissue is imperative in maintaining longevity. Simply put, the Kettlebell is the perfect tool for maintaining health and function, whilst building a strong and balanced physique.

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Multi-Planar Approach to Movement

In Biomechanics we talk about movement planes (directions of movement) and how they relate to sport/human movement. Our surrounding space is a three dimensional environment, therefore our movement within this space is also three dimensional.

Exercise programs must incorporate a multi-planar approach, so that the body can build strength to perform movements efficiently in all three planes. Being locked into a machine or particular plane of movement restricts our ability to build integrated functional strength.

This also leads to one-dimensional motor patterns being developed, which in turn create muscle imbalances that lead to poor posture and increase the likelihood of injury. Kettlebell training programs are designed to incorporate this free-moving, multi-planar approach.

Principles of Support and Movement

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Origins - Reasons for Functional Movement

Generally speaking, the goal of functional training is to maximise the transfer effect from exercise into day-to-day activities, recreation and sport, with the emphasis on improving performance. Kettlebell exercises have a high transfer effect, due to the movement patterns simulating the movements that are used in life and sport.

When it comes to the origins of movement, most people think of the caveman, and they’d be correct in thinking so. Movement as we know it today has evolved over millions of years, and simply put, has done so based on our need to survive. Our bodies have developed efficient movement patterns over time, through thousands of tiny, yet significant physical adaptations to our environment. These patterns of movement as we know them today have been with us for a long time, and it’s because of these primal movement patterns, we are what we are as modern humans.

Primal Movement Patterns Primal movement patterns are the seven key movements that were necessary for survival within our developmental environment. In other words, if you couldn’t perform these seven movement patterns efficiently without thinking about it, you probably wouldn’t survive. Even though our lifestyle is very different from those of our ancestors, these seven movement patterns are still key to performing everyday tasks and remaining injury free.

Squat Early man had to squat to move heavy objects, build shelter and eat. Today we still have to squat to sit or get in and out of a car. Many of us continue to lift heavy objects on the job or in the gym, so it is imperative we know how to squat properly.

Bend In order to build shelter, prepare food and lift objects, early man would have had to use bend patterns. Today, the bend pattern is used most often in a diversity of jobs and activities; construction workers, nurses and parents to mention a few. Bending is still required by modern day activities, and if done incorrectly, can greatly escalate your chances of injury.

Lunge Lunging was an essential primal movement pattern for traversing through rough and uneven terrain, or picking heavy objects up from ground to shoulder. Today you can see the lunge pattern in most activities and sports. While throwing, and athlete’s failure to lunge correctly often leads to shoulder injuries due to compensation. In the non-athlete, failure to lunge efficiently greatly increases your chances of falling.


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Origins - Reasons for Functional Movement

Push Pushing would have been a key pattern in moving heavy objects to build a shelter, clear land, move animals and serve as a useful tactic during fighting.

Pull Once downed, an animal isn’t going to follow you home! Our ancestors would have had to pull heavy loads like wood for fire and shelter or animals to a safe place.

With the development of watercraft, rowing was a key movement pattern for some tribes. Today the pull pattern is seen in many sports and everyday activity.

Twist Twisting may well be the most important of all the primal movement patterns because it’s an integral part of most functional activities. Twisting is rarely a pattern in itself, rather a catalyst pattern that has great influence on functional movement.

Twisting is an essential part of throwing, which was key for hunting and protection. Since twisting movements (rotation) of the spine are integral to almost every movement, especially walking and running, if you cannot twist or rotate correctly, it’s safe to say that you are an injury waiting to happen.

Gait Walking, jogging and sprinting are variations of what’s called Gait. Each of us has our own unique walking, jogging and sprinting gait.

As developmental beings we generally used the most economical means of hunting and gathering because food wasn’t always readily available.

With a kill on his back, early man had to walk great distances through rough terrain, to get home. When it was important to communicate messages over long distances during times of battle or emergency, jogging was often employed; while running from a tiger or enemy may well have required sprinting.

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Flexibility - Mobility - Stability - Balance

“Movement is the cornerstone to performance and durability”

The body is a complex system of bones and soft tissues, and has been designed for movement and

function. Our ability to move freely and function effectively and efficiently are determined by certain factors. The way you move can often be a better predictor of injuries, according to Dr. Gray Cook, than many other factors including previous injuries.

Factors for free efficient movement are:

Flexibility

Definition of Flexibility - A person's flexibility refers to the ability of your joints to move through a full range of motion; the ability of a system to flex or bend. Having flexibility in your muscles allows for more movement around the joints and you can achieve this with a foundation of correct movement, stretching and mobility exercises.

Range of Motion - Working through a full range of motion promotes flexibility across the joints and helps balance out the muscles on either side of the joints. This allows for correct movement and ensures integrity of the joint, and assists in the prevention of muscular imbalances.

Mobility

Definition of Mobility - The ease of an articulation/joint (the junction of two bones) or series of articulations/joints is allowed to move freely before being restricted by the surrounding structures.

Stability

Definition of Stability - The ability of an articulation/joint to absorb shock, and withstand the forces of motion without injury to the joint; also the resistance to disturbance of the body’s equilibrium.


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Balance

Describing Balance - The body employs a number of systems to acquire all the information needed to provide itself with optimal balance/equilibrium. They are:

Visual - Utilizing the eyes, the body is able to track and lock onto external reference points to perceive where it is in space relative to these objects.

Vestibular - This system comprises of a section of the ear known as the ‘middle ear’. The middle ear provides information to the brain as to the three dimensional orientation of the head relative to gravity.

Proprioception - There are receptors located in the muscles, tendons and joints, and are specialised sensors that provide the Central Nervous System with information needed to maintain the proper muscle tone required to produce movement, and provide body wide stability.

Joint Capsule Receptors - A group of specialized sensors within the joint capsule that register limb and joint position, collective dynamic movement and joint range of motion.

Tendon Receptors - Sensors within the tendon (attaches muscle to bone) structure that respond to tension in the muscle.

Muscle Receptors - Sensors within muscle tissue that respond to muscle length, tension and velocity.

Many adults today lack good balance or motor skills because they didn’t develop correctly as babies. When a baby is rushed through the reptilian (tummy crawling) and mammalian (crawling) phases, and encouraged to walk too soon, the inner and outer unit muscle systems don’t properly learn to work together.

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Posture

Posture can be described as: The position of the body with relation to the surrounding space. A posture is determined and maintained by coordination of the various muscles that move the limbs, by proprioception (nervous system feedback loop) and by sense of balance, resulting in body mass distribution in relation to the force of gravity’.

The integrity of this system of bones, joints and muscles is imperative, as it is the mechanism that deals with the external forces acting upon the body. If any part of this system is out of what’s considered normal alignment, then these forces cannot be managed effectively, and the body begins applying a series of compensation measures to keep us as upright as it can, resulting in what we know as pore posture.

Below is a chart demonstrating the forces (represented as percentage of gravity) experienced by the spine during everyday activity. You may be surprised to see that sitting is among the highest for placing stress on the spine. At 140 percent times gravity, it’s no wonder that the majority of those whose jobs are sedentary, show a consistency of chronic back pain; and even worse at 185 percent if you slouch while you sit.


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Kinetic Chains

More often than not, strength professionals, athletes, personal trainers and certainly the average gym goer are guilty of focusing heavily on exercises that develop the front side of the body (anterior chain).

These muscles are important, because they are the primary muscle group that accelerates the body from point A to point B, whether it’s a sprint, a vertical jump or a throw. However, the tendency is to overwork these muscles, resulting in imbalances.

Combine that with an average person’s sedentary lifestyle, which places the body in constant flexion, and you have a recipe for chronic postural imbalance, lack of strength and all-round dysfunction.

So then how does the body keep upright, maintain good posture and decelerate from all these explosive movements? It utilizes the Posterior Kinetic Chain of the body. A system of muscles, tendons, and ligaments that run the length of the back of the body. It connects from head to heels. These muscles operate collectively, just like the links in a chain, interacting with each other as one to both produce force (accelerate) and absorb force (decelerate).

Posterior Kinetic Chain

The gluteus maximus (buttocks) provides a hub to transfer load from the hamstrings to the low back and vice versa.

Having the ability to engage and properly activate your glutes provides stability and power throughout various movements of the hip.

“Your power comes from the hips”

The glutes and lats, along with the transverse abdominis (deep abdominal) muscle, especially protect your erector spinae from over working to stabilize the hips. The better you are at moving from the hip and engaging your lats, the less strain you will place on your lower back and rotator cuffs, and the more you will move freely through the postural platforms of the body. Training these muscles corrects posture, corrects imbalances within the total body’s musculature, aids in rebalancing the muscles surrounding and controlling the major joints, and reduces lower back pain.


Anterior Kinetic Chain

Posterior Kinetic Chain

Oblique Kinetic Chain

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Core

Core Stabilization Core training is a popular method of exercise nowadays. Everyone is promoting core workouts. But what is the core?

Think of your body as a series of three links in a chain. The lower body (legs) are one link, the midsection (core) is the second, and finally the upper body (arms/shoulders/head) are the third. Imagine pulling on a chain from both ends when the middle link of the chain is broken. The strength and stability of the entire chain is lessened greatly due to the middle link (your core) being dysfunctional.

Centre of Gravity on the Human Body The largest muscles in the human body all start or end around the body’s centre of gravity. This is important because all of our movement and stability starts at this point. Therefore, it must be strong and stable so that we can generate more force. If there is an imbalance in the muscles that originate or attach near this point then the rest of the body’s mechanics become dysfunctional. This can lead to postural disturbances, injury, and/or decreased performance.

So why Core? Unfortunately most of us have unconditioned core muscles, poor patterns of movement and poor postures; collectively leading to gross imbalances, and muscle compensations throughout our entire movement systems. As a result our core muscles aren’t doing their job. The body has an instinct for survival, and this includes injury prevention. If the core muscles aren’t doing their job of stabilizing the joint and keeping it safe during movement, then the next closest sets of muscles available will be called on to act. The prime movers then take over to provide the role of stability. Because their job is to turn on, produce force and turn off again immediately, they quickly become overworked, invariably locking up on us, causing pain. The solution is quite simple; switch the core muscles back on, understand their involved role as you stand, sit, lay and move, and learn how to move correctly within your environment.


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6 Types of Muscular Training It may be useful to categorize muscular training into specific areas and examine the technique used to achieve a particular result.

Strength The ability to exert maximum force for a single maximum repetition – 1 rep max (1RM). The goal of this type of training is to become strong – to develop maximum strength. All types of training will develop strength in varying and limited ways.

Power The ability to apply or release maximum force over a given distance in the shortest possible time. Power is a combination of speed and strength. This can be referred to as speed strength. Power is an explosive capacity. Movements that take advantage of the principles of elastic potential, help to develop power.

Endurance – Muscular The ability to maintain low level muscular contractions for extended periods of time, with minimal fatigue. This is the capacity of a muscle to exert force repeatedly, or the ability to hold a fixed or static contraction over a long period of time (isometric contraction). Endurance tends to improve faster if strength and mobility is also increased.

Endurance – Cardiovascular The ability of the individual to maintain continual muscular contractions (sub-maximal) where a large number of muscle groups are involved. This is with sufficient duration and intensity to put a demand on the functions of circulation and respiration. The efficiency of the cardiovascular system is important because muscles cannot continue to contract without a continuous and efficient supply of oxygen and fuel.

Speed The ability to make successive movements in the shortest possible time. The ability to move quickly.

Agility The ability to move and change direction quickly and efficiently. Components of strength, endurance, flexibility and coordination are required to achieve agility.

Flexibility Flexibility is the range of motion available in our muscles and joints. Strength training and flexibility training go hand in hand and can enhance one another. Resistance training performed correctly will improve strength through the muscles full range and enhance flexibility. Strengthen what you stretch; stretch what you strengthen.

Training Effect Muscular training does not just include working out with weights. Every exercise, activity or movement uses muscles in a variety of ways, and provides what may be termed as a Training Effect.

Categorizing Training

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Types of Strength

Strength is relative. Just like anything else, strength corresponds with and is contingent upon your goals. Clearly, there is an underlying genetic framework that is going to ultimately depict your body structure and its capacity to apply force. Your muscular layout is very unique and how it responds to certain exercises, types and volume of resistance, nutrition, and cardiovascular demands, is going to be based on an individuals’ genetics.

One of the best examples of relative strength was that of the late Bruce Lee. It was said that he was pound for pound one of the strongest martial artists of his time; weighing between 130 - 140 pounds but doing feats of strength that most people weighing 200+ pounds couldn't do. Bruce Lee clearly understood the advantage relative strength had over absolute strength, and trained accordingly.

There are two categories of strength; Absolute Strength and Relative Strength:

Absolute Strength is defined as ‘The maximum absolute strength, which is the maximum force or torque the body, or part of the body, can exert in one effort, regardless of body size or muscle size’. Someone might have big muscles, but are only able to increase strength by further increasing muscle size.

Relative Strength is ‘The maximum force exerted in direct relation to the body’s ‘power-to-weight ratio’ (absolute strength relative to bodyweight ratio). Strength or force output is relative to the individual.


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Types of Strength

Absolute Strength vs. Relative Strength

In terms of importance, relative strength is more important than absolute strength for functional movement. If one trains to increase muscle size (hypertrophy) in order gain strength, then your ability to run, do pull-ups or simply be mobile enough to perform everyday functional activity, will be compromised.

Absolute strength relies on an increase in muscle density in order to produce more strength; where as Relative strength involves improving muscle fibre recruitment efficiency rather than increasing muscle volume. An average person is capable of switching on and contracting a mere 30% of any active muscle when giving it their all.

Improving the ability of nervous system to synchronize the electrical impulses that cause the muscles to contract and act in concert, produces a greater capacity to generate power than does merely increasing the size of those same muscles. The athlete remains lighter with more power, which places less stress on the body during locomotion. Maintaining minimum muscle volume also improves oxygen efficiency; when running uphill a big upper body, though hardly being used, demands constant delivery of blood, oxygen and fuel, robbing the legs of that same blood and reducing their capacity to produce force, and will continue doing so.

Gymnasts, rock climbers or even just the average person needs to be strong, but not at the expense of excessive and unnecessary muscle volume. Kettlebell Training utilizes Relative Strength, and by its function, stimulates increases in myofibril density, the muscle fibres that actually contract; rather than increases in sarco plasma volume, which merely enlarges the muscle due to fluid volume increases without necessarily making it stronger.

“Size does matter, but bigger is not necessarily better, nor is bigger always stronger”


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you haven’t trained... until you’ve swung a bell!

Contact Us

Bradley Hunter. Founder and Head HealthBradley Hunter. Founder and Head Health--Nut. TheSHED Functional Fitness. Tel: 0417 711 111Nut. TheSHED Functional Fitness. Tel: 0417 711 111

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Kettlebell and Movement-Based Training eBook