Fixing Your Weak Links (Part 3)
If there are three exercises that I make all my clients do- it’s the kettlebell swing, some type of carry and Turkish Get Up. Doesn’t matter if you are young or old, fit or not fit these three exercises works amazing wonders for everyone!
Pavel Tsatsouline actually calls it “What the hell effect” because studies have shown that powerlifters have actually improved their major lifts to marathoners have improved their running times. He can’t quite put a finger on it hence why it’s called “What The Hell” Pavel started the kettlebell craze in the west when he brought it from Russia in the early 2000’s and now there are 3 major organizations all over the world that teach fitness professionals like myself or the average joe the in’s and outs when it comes to kettlebells (Strong First, RKC and Strength Matters)
If there was one exercise that makes you stronger, more flexible and works on your “cardio” (it’s not what people think of traditional cardio) it would be the kettlebell swing. The kettlebell swing is especially great for people rehabbing their backs.
Dr. Stuart McGill –who is a world -renowned back specialist that works out of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He found kettlebell swings show a reversed polarity of posterior shear at L4 and L5 (lower back) when compared to traditional posterior chain exercises. This is important because for those with lower back issues, traditional posterior chain exercises such as deadlifts, good mornings, etc. may exacerbate the condition and swings may not.
Three other exercises that you can do are the farmers carry (this is a great exercise because it’s very easy to perform but hard at the same time- it also resembles pulling a charged hoseline), the kettlebell suitcase carry and the Turkish Get-Up.
Here is the video on how to perform a suitcase carry.
The Turkish Get Up, I would recommend performing this without any weight because it’s a very hard exercise to master. I like to think of it as a puzzle. You are trying to figure out where to put your body as you move it through space and it’s a great body awareness exercise and it’s also a monster for shoulder stability purposes which is another musculoskeletal alignment that firefighters suffer from.
I would recommend doing 200 reps on BOTH sides before you add weight-don’t do 200 reps all at once- you can do this as a warm up before you start exercising.
Here is what a loaded Turkish Get Up looks like with 24kg
HOMEWORK
– Plank-superset with side plank 2 sets x 10 to 12 seconds, Turkish Get Up 2 sets 2 reps on each side superset with kettlebell suitcase carry 50 feet then switch hands
There you have it, the last three articles I have discussed ways to make you more stronger then you have ever been. Again I’m not saying the typical bodybuilding routine is obsolete, there are just better tools out there to perform your job better.
