I rely on three kettlebells for almost all my resistance exercise. Heavy for squats and deads, medium for swings, and lighter for overhead presses, etc. Another super video from Coach Holly!
I’ve been weightlifting for almost 10 years. One thing that I would recommend for everyone, even Holly, is to wear FLAT sole shoes. Using running shoes is not a good idea as it trains a weakness in your feet and stability is lost. Especially when squatting or cleaning.
I’ve joined a few virtual KB classes and some of the trainers have recommended that the participants take off their shoes. It definitely helps with keeping the feet connected to the ground in swings, squats and deadlifts. I think it’s part of the StrongFirst KB philosophy.
This is great. I'm just getting into running. I had a few set backs like a calf strain in the same leg about 3 times, and I've also have trouble with my breathing. I get an intense burn at the start of a run that can put me off or stop me from continuing on my run. But I think I've made a breakthrough today after watching this channel over the last few days. I've dealt with strengthing and protecting my calf a good while back with the help of a physiotherapist. But I learned an awful lot from this channel on how to overcome my breathing problems. First, I had to scale back my intensity as I realise now that it was too high. Even today's effort was still a bit too high and I scaled it back a good bit. Ive been practicing better breathing too after watching your video on the same, and I also corrected my posture. I improve my warm up by doing dynamic movements instead of just walking as a warm up. I now include some deep belly breathing too and a bit of chest opening exercises before I begin my run. I splashed out on a pair of Nike Zoom Invincibles and I ditched my earphones for now so I can fully concentrate on what I'm doing. As a result, today I made some major progress (for me) and I did two uninterrupted laps of a football field which was 20 mins of continuous work. That might not seem much to people, but up to that point I would break down after about 4 minutes into my run and would have to walk a bit before going again....so all the tips have paid great dividends already. On top of that, it was most enjoyable outing that I had so far. I was actually able to enjoy my surroundings instead of being preoccupied with all the discomfort that I was having. All my previous efforts were not a pleasant experience. I also feel great after it with no soreness. Again, on previous attempted runs I would have either sore knees, hips or calfs. I'm 60 years old and I had a treble heart by pass 6 years ago from 54 years of sadly neglecting and abusing my body. I turned all that around now and I eat a plant based diet, I don't drink or smoke anymore and I exercise everyday in some shape or form. I lost 70lbs of fat as a result. I got into resistance training 3 years ago and got the kettlebells bug like you. I just wanted to compliment that and add some casual running for general heart health to my routine. I can see that the kettlebell will help me a great deal with my running and not only with the exercises that you expertly demonstrated above, but also with other exercises for single leg work like the kettlebell lunge, the single leg deadlift, and step ups. Even going for a suitcase walk is a great benefit. I also like performing more intricate exercises like the Turkish Get up which teaches me control and concentration and it engages the whole body in getting up and down off the floor with a kettlebell overhead. I also like the swinging single arm clean and press. Thanks for sharing Holly...not just this video, but others as well especially the breathing video that you did. And may I add that you have a well developed physique that is a credit to you.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS EPISODE! Thank you! I strained my lower back doing clean presses a while ago and couldn’t figure out what I’d done wrong, now I know: didn’t engage my core enough and let the kettlebell get far away free m my body. You rock!
I had just bought a kettlebell recently since I knew strength training is important for running, but had no idea where to start. Thank you so much for the video! :D
The best all around kettlebell vid I've seen, and I've seen a lot. Please make one explaining the clean, because as a complete novice, this one throws me; sometimes I do it right, sometimes not and I don't know why.
As a swing addict i find that going heavy ( within reason ) makes for better technique. Furthermore do not try to alter or stop the fall or you risk curving your back and stopping the hips from hinging correctly. Finally Holly kicks ass......
Good question! Try something in the 18-26 lb range for everything but the overhead press (12 lbs maybe?). KBs are often in KG so you’ll look for an 8 or 12 KG kettlebell. Then work up from there!
9:47 I'm sorry but no, you can't see that. It's definitely out of your periphery. I don't understand why you'd say that and then multiple times go dead against what you just said in the very next 2 minutes. That being said, I'm learning a lot here, just didn't get that discrepancy.