International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation (IKFF) and myself, started free video lesson series focusing on Human Biomechanics, Posture, Athletic Performance and Functionality.

Below is the first lesson, talking about what posture is and why it has such great effect.

Are kettlebells as effective as running, sprinting, jogging and other cardio activities when it comes to developing cardiovascular capacity?

The short answer is “kettlebells are on par with running”, long answer is… well, keep on reading for the long answer

Kettlebells are great for improving cardiovascular capacity. It works, there is no argument.

I would even recommend kettlebells over any other cardio activity like running, jogging or aerobics class (I apologize to all the aerobic class enthusiasts – you’ll have to give your stretchy pants a rest…)

Why?

Kettlebells are much safer on joints than any other kind of activity.

[gasp...]

It’s true.

The exercise that (in my opinion, anyway) is one of the best exercises for improving strength and cardiovascular endurance and capacity is kettlebell swings.

[Why swings and not snatches or jerks or cleans?]

• While swinging kettlebells there is no resting point, the bell is always moving, demanding attention and cardiovascular output
• Kettlebell swings is a foundational movement that is simple. Everyone, including beginners, can benefit from it
• All major joints (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders) are moving and engaged through proper planes of motion
• Back muscles are engaged (usually a major weak point in most people) and strengthened

For an average person, should swings replace running?

Absolutely!

Keep in mind that an average person is a dis-functional person containing many muscular imbalances and suffering from numerous postural deviations.

Now take this off-balance, mis-aligned body and make it run. What do you think will happen? Compensations leading to pain and injury are inevitable.

Kettlebell swings, on the other hand, will move all joints in proper planes through proper range of movements and help muscles find the much desired balance.

Does that mean that you should never run? Nonsense!

Humans are made for movement, running and walking and not sitting (shocking!). So if you are consistent in your kettlebell training you can attempt running but be careful and listen to what your body tells you afterward. If you experience any pain (soreness does not count as pain) you may want to put running on a shelve until your body is more ‘connected’.

[Tree climbing?! Are you insane? Do I look like a monkey to you?!]

I’ll be honest, I’m starting to get used to odd looks (disbelief?) from my clients when I ask them to do certain things like climb a tree.

Why do I ask these nice people who trust me with their health and fitness to regress to a monkey-like stage?

You see, tree climbing is a shockingly effective test of body strength and function. Not only that, tree climbing is a downright fantastic way to further develop strength (especially upper body strength), function, and flexibility.

Can you climb a tree? If the answer is ‘probably no’ then you need to work on your strength, flexibility and function.

What exactly do I mean by ‘tree climbing’?

There are few ways of doing it.

• My favorite way to Tree Climb is to climb around a tree without touching the ground (see the video below, featuring one of my clients, Paul Dickinson – black belt in Aikido, currently living in Tokyo, Japan)

• You can also literally climb a tree so that your feet are resting on a branch
• You can go around a tree (see that video) but without using your legs. Think of using the tree as glorified monkey bars
• You can also do all of the above with a kettlebell attached to you (fun, fun, fun… trust me on that one)

Enjoy!

My results were superb (I’m way above suggested fitness level of a 15 year old boy). In addition to giving yet another boost to my self esteem, the test got me thinking about the adequacy of Physical Education and such fitness tests.

Here is what I had to endure:

• Sit and Reach (aka Flexibility Test)
• Sit Up test (aka Core test)
• Push Up test (aka Upper Body Strength and Endurance test)

Sounds nice, right?

After all, we test all the important aspects of fitness: flexibility, core and upper body strength and endurance. There is something missing in the list.

Back strength!

I know, I know.. I may sound like a crazy old man but back strength is critical to our health and not enough time is spent educating, testing and developing back strength.

“You shouldn’t be lifting that”, “It’s too heavy for you”, “stop it, you going to hurt your back”, mothers around the world scream in unison. From the very beginning we believe (most of us, anyway. I was kind of a ‘thick’ child when it came to lifting things and never listened to my mother) that our backs are as fragile as peace in Middle East.

Our Physical Ed teachers are not helping either. You are considered strong if you can press much weight above your head, bench press a lot (or do a bazillion push-ups) or climb a rope well, although most schools can’t even afford a rope these days. So we are stuck with push-ups/bench presses, crunches and touching toes.

As we go through college, we repeat same mantras that our school teachers, magazine workouts and ‘buff’ friends told us. Bench press, leg press (occasionally), pull-ups, lots of bicep curls (if you are a guy) and hours of treadmill walking/running if you a girl.

As a result of such disjointed exercises, back muscles are engaged only partially at best. Back muscles become the weak link, making it difficult to walk, sit or stand for very long without discomfort and pain.

Those who are considered ’strong’, suffer even more and are prone to more back injuries.

Why?

They believe that they are strong and thus far more likely to lift something heavy. Since lifting a heavy object (be it a couch, mattress, or a pony) heavily involves back muscles (even if you ‘lift with your legs’) these ’strong man’ break in half from pain.

If I had a dollar for every time a ‘buff’ guy came to me with a complaint that when he walks around a mall with his girlfriend his back is killing him, I could pay for college for both of my kids with that money.

As a result of such misguided effort, back pain is more common than ever.

Strong back muscles are critical to our health, vitality, function and quality of life. Those muscles are responsible not only for bending and flexing of the spine but also for spinal stabilization and support.

How to reclaim back strength:

• Start Russian Kettlebell training
• Do yoga and pilates
• Do deadlifts and squats
• Walk and hike regularly
• Stop going to the gym and enjoy more natural movements

Russian kettlebells are very effective at creating a bullet proof back.

Without getting in further details, training with kettlebells involves much bending, directly engaging lower, mid and upper back muscles. Through out an average training session, kettlebell lifters do 400-600 bends without realizing it.

How did kettlebells help you with your back strength? What back problems did it address and solve?

What’s next?

Comment and subscribe. Like this post? Link to it!

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[What?!]

Your favorite exercise is harming you by throwing your body out of balance.

The key to this seemingly crazy statement comes from understanding posture and muscle balance.

Depending on your posture, some exercises will be easier to do. Those tend to be our ‘favorites’. Our bodies, like water, always look for the path of least resistance.

Let me give an example to clarify my mumblings:

an average guy loves exercising upper body and consistently neglect legs.

[Why?]

Guys have a tendency to have a higher center of gravity. An average guy loves doing upper body exercises because it is easier for him, literally. Working out lower body takes more effort (it’s farther away from center of gravity) and therefore is hard and often neglected.

Most women, on the other hand, have lower center of gravity. As a result, lower body training is much easier for them. This is why most women hate upper body routines. It much harder than exercising legs! The result? You guessed it, many women forgo upper body training or spend very little time on it resulting in weak upper body.

Ok, well, that is very generic. How is your specific favorite exercise is harming you?

Lets say that you are a guy who loves push ups (or bench presses – anything that you get to press away from your chest is a ‘like’). It’s your favorite. You do it often and enjoy it. You are good at it.

When one does that much pressing, chest muscles become strong (no surprise there). It is bad news, however, since now we have a muscle imbalance to deal with. Chest muscles overpower back muscles. As a result, shoulders roll forward and stay there, pulled by chest fibers.

[Yeah, well, just go work on the back!]

Yes, that is the answer, the problem is that at THIS point working on the back is very hard and uncomfortable. Because of strong pull of chest muscles, back muscles fibers become stretched and weak. At this point you would have to select back exercises very carefully and focus on proper technique. Even a pull-up would not be very effective, as the person with chest/back imbalance would be much more likely to use their arms to pull themselves up and the back would be neglected yet again.

What to do

• Choose variety of movements
• Do exercises that are ‘hard’
• Focus on ‘big’ movements involving many muscles

The best thing you can do for your body is to provide variety of movement.

What do I mean?

• Get out of the gym and go climb a tree
• Play with your kids on a jungle gym
• Play basketball
• Use kettlebells
• Do yoga
• Try pilates
• Hike
• Climb things (trees, rocks, be creative)
• Have fun

Little by little your body will balance itself out and you will find yourself doing thing with ease.

What’s your favorite exercise and how do you think it is harming you?

Definitely.

Sure, we got our favorites, but is there one movement that is superior to all others?

The best kettlebell exercise is (ready?) defined by your posture.

There, I said it.

There is a best exercise that will do wonders for your strength, stamina, flexibility and overall fitness. The thing is it will only work for YOU. Yes, you are unique.

Let me give an example. Lets say that someone has shoulders that are rolled forward (tight chest muscles and stretched, weak back muscles). Such dysfunction would imply limited range of motion in the shoulder joint. Those effected, may not be able to lift their arms straight up as elbows are locked. In severe cases hanging from a pull-up bar is not possible…

Any kind of exercise that involves holding a kettlebell above their head on a locked out arm would cause lower back to compensate and lead to lower back injury or strain (in the best case scenario).

For those folks, kettlebell snatch (the czar of kettlebell exercises) is going to do more damage than good.

For the shoulder dysfunction described above the best kettlebell exercise would be kettlebell swings coupled with kettlebell windmills. Such combination would ensure balancing of shoulder muscles (resulting in increased mobility and range of motion) along with proper amount of cardiovascular load.

The best exercise for you? I’m afraid to say – it depends. On your posture and the outcomes that you are looking for. To make it more complicated, your best exercise will evolve with your your posture and fitness level.

Remember, your best kettlebell exercise is not a static unit. It will change and transform many times.

To make things even more confusing, the exercises that you love the most may be the worst for you. But more about that in the next post.

Consequently many products that assist in development of power and strength has been developed (most are useless, to say the least).

Everyone seems to seek a ‘magic pill’ that will provide the increase in strength and power.

No such thing (shocking)! The most effective power and strength building techniques require no equipment. None!

I’m talking about the ultimate strength and power building exercise – sprinting.

Sprinting is full body workout that engages all muscles. Don’t believe me? Try it!

Legs, back. arms, core – all is involved.

Suggested workout

• Beginner: 10×40m sprints
• Intermediate: 10×60m sprints
• Advanced: 10×100m sprints

Remember, the simplest things are usually the most effective.

Kettlebell training produces outstanding results and helps body to work and function better.

As muscle balance is restored everything improves: strength, endurance, flexibility and balance.

My favorite type of outcome is the one that comes with a bit of surprise and bewilderment.

I call them bonuses (LOVE ‘em!)

This week (very exciting!) one of the clients noticed her dizziness and lightheadedness were greatly relieved and almost gone (she had the symptoms for over 40 years).

Any exercise that required lowering of her head was out. Dizziness would set it and we could not continues.

We stuck with ‘upright’ exercises… and now, we don’t have to!

Here is what “Allison” says about the experience:

“Last fall (2007) I started working with Denis on my individual goals:
“balance, strength, flexibility”.

I’ve had “forever”: fear of heights, and becoming dizzy when my head is way down, then up. Head-downward exercises that were impossible several months ago are now just fine.”

Note that “Allison” was not dizzy while exercising.

If you feel dizzy, please don’t reach for you kettlebell and start swinging it.

There are different causes of dizziness, see your doctor first.

To learn more about dizziness visit Pennsylvania Neurological Associates.

Have you experienced ‘bonus’ results from kettlebell training?

I’m here to help. Really.

My outcome is to help you with your fitness and health goals.

So help me help you.

What are you interested in?

• How to get stronger with russian kettlebells?
• How to lose weight?
• Better eating habits
• Product reviews?
• How to stay motivated?

I’m open for questions (suggestions too).

Let me know if you have questions about specific kettlebell technique, drill or exercise.

Ask your question as a comment or email it to me (denis@workoutiq.com)

I will answer as many as I can.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Today I’d like to share with you proper pull up form, I call it postural pull ups.

Correct pull up form is the key to proper engagement and strengthening of back muscles.

Since so many of us have rolled shoulders due to lifestyle, many are unable or unaware of proper form.

Ready?

Start from a dead hang. Grip the bar slightly wider then your shoulder width.

Tighten your abs and Start Pulling yourself up.

As you do so, you elbows should go to sides and NOT flair forward.

Make sure to squeeze shoulder blades and let your lats do all the work.

To do this correctly, arms must stay within frontal plane. This ensures proper back engagement. You will feel some arm work but most of the force will be generated by you powerful back muscles.

This will be hard. If you can do 20 regular pullups, your count will go down to 4 or 5.

As your back gets stronger, you will be able increase the number of repetitions and enjoy increase in overall function, strength and power.

Stay strong!