Kettlebell Circuit: Figure Eight, Rack Squat, Stiff Leg Deadlift:
If you haven’t already taken the time to watch Wednesday’s lesson on the figure eight to a static hold, please take the time to do so: click here. Practice the lesson until you feel completely comfortable with the exercise. In today’s circuit I will introduce two more movements for you to learn.
I recommended starting start with a quick functional warm up before beginning this short workout session.
After you warm up get started with:
Figure eight to a static hold: fifteen on each side for a total rep count of thirty.
Refer to Wednesday’s lesson and use a weight that will work for medium rep count. Remember, switch hands under the same side leg as you were holding the ball of the kettlebell. In other words, if the ball of the kettlebell is in your right hand, switch under your right leg. Keep your back flat and sit deeply into your hips.
Rack squat: four per hand.
Inhale, move your hips down, maintain flat feet and a flat back, and sit deeply into your hips.
Use your free hand as a counter balance, this is a downward movement with your hips. Your knees will track your toes but don’t allow them to move forward past your toes. Try to keep your torso as vertical as possible. If your hips move too far behind you will need to lean forward to maintain your balance. If you lean forward during a rack squat, the bell will feel extremely heavy and be hard to control as it tries to fall forward. Stay vertical, learn to sit down as deeply as possible without rounding your back, losing core tension or externally rotating your feet. Try to keep your feet as flat as possible. The feet often have a tendency to roll inward (arch toward the ground). If any deviations occur that you are unable to correct, simply decrease the range of motion (depth of squat) to the last point you were able to maintain good posture. You may notice this point of postural deviation gets further and further away with each careful, focused repetition.
Stiff leg deadlift: five per leg.
Use your hip as the only pivot point and inhale. Then lower your upper body and raise one foot as a single unit, like a see-saw. Come back to standing the same way you came down.
The stiff leg deadlift will be very challenging for your balance so you will need to go very slow and focus. Your entire body, from your head to your ankle (of raised foot) should be in alignment the whole time. The most common mistake people make with these is rounding their back as they come down, make sure not to do this! Keep the bell as close to you as reasonably possible, if it starts to swing out front or even side to side, the balance will become much more difficult. These deadlifts can be tricky to learn but are immensely rewarding because they work on so many levels of strength and fitness. They build functional muscle, create flexibility, balance, connect the mind and body and burn lots of calories, especially when done as a part of a circuit as we are doing today.
Repeat this circuit one more time.
We are performing this circuit twice today, which makes this session quite short even with a warmup included. Feel free to practice any of your kettlebell basics that you are still working on, repeat this workout for four rounds, or simply incorporate it into your existing routine. Join me again on Wednesday for a learning session and next Friday for a longer practice session.
Thank you for watching and working out with me today!
