Did you hear the screaming last Tuesday night?
It was me. I was watching The Biggest Loser.
Bob was having his clients do "kettlebell" swings with dumbbells. (I almost always call them kettlebell swings, even if my clients are using dumbbells or gripper plates. It's just habit.)
So these contestants on The Biggest Loser are doing dumbbell swings… with their backs totally rounded. Which is wrong. Very wrong.
I like Bob. I think he genuinely cares about his clients success. And that's super important. I think it's the core reason his clients get results.
But it wouldn't be the first time I saw contestants on The Biggest Loser use bad form. I've seen trainers on The Biggest Loser let their clients deadlift with their backs rounded forward. Their exercise that day was moving logs, and they were all totally totally rounded forward picking up the logs.
You're on TV bro, you should do it right.
I don't let my clients pick up a pencil with their back rounded.
I know it's hard for people who are seriously overweight to do swings with proper form if they are using dumbbells.
So they should have used gripper plates or kettlebells, instead of just doing it wrong with dumbbells.
To explain the difference between your back being "arched back" and "rounded forward", here is a page from my book The Stubborn 7 Pounds:
Big movements like swings, deadlifts, and squats are absolutely essential for a fat loss program.
Learning how to do them right is essential for not getting hurt.
I tweaked myself when I first started doing kettlebell workouts back in 1999. My sports medicine doctor recommended something shocking – that I get some coaching from an expert.
I'm forever grateful to my coach Dave Werner for teaching me how to squat, deadlift, do kettlebell swings and kettlebell jerks. It was the foundation for all of my adventures in fitness to come.
By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar, and the upcoming Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss.
Josh is a fat loss expert, personal trainer, and kettlebell instructor in Denver, Colorado.
For information about kettlebell classes in Denver, click here:
www.denver-kettlebell-bootcamp.com
© Joshua Hillis 2008
I hear ya Josh…every week I watch that show I see bad form and I want to scream at the trainiers! Most of my my Boot Campers watch the show and every Wednesday we discuss the things they were doing wrong. I think the least they could do is show viewers how to perform exercises correctly -especially being that the show is watched by millions of people who are probably looking to lose weight themselves!!
This is just one example. There are so many others even more horrendous. Denise Austin, Leslie Sansone, and my absolute favorites “The Firm” series – really bad!!! form! I guess the only abbrogating factor is that no one ever uses heavy weights in those videos.
I KNEW there was a reason I didn’t watch that show 🙂
I still learn all about it from my clients though, who usually tell me that they noticed their form was AWFUL. Well, at least my clients know how to do it correctly!
I couldn’t hear you scream because I was busy screaming as well. It is amazing how many “experts” have videos, DVD’s, TV spots and either they, themselves, or their clients, have bad form. Like you, I find it rather incredulous!
UGGGHHH. Double UGGGHHH!!!!
Good thing I don’t have a TV, or I might have had a stroke.
Did not see it – but I am sure it was tough watching bad swing technique.
I think a straight back or even a slight rounding is fine for experienced kettlebell lifters, but I agree that someone learning it should take proper precautions.
I didn’t see the show but that just sounds like an accident waiting to happen. If you’re a trainer on TV you’d think that proper form would be at the top of your list!
I *so* need a trainer I think for some kettlebell workouts!
This is why I don’t like the “celebrity trainer” trend. Folks like Bob Green and Denise Austin may be good general-purpose instructors, but far too often they get involved in specialized areas that they don’t fully understand. Yoga/functional training/kettlebells become popular, and everybody churns out a video to cash in. Those who choose not to participate look like they’re not up on the current trends, and risk losing market share. It’s a clear conflict between the trainer’s interests and the client’s.