It’s finally happened – Kettlebells have become mainstream.
The other day I saw kettlebells at Walmart. You can get kettlebells at Target.
Kettlebells have been on the front page of industry equipment catalog Perform Better for the last six issues.
I’ve been saying kettlebells are the ultimate tool to lose fat for about 5 years now, and it looks like they’re finally starting to catch on.
Here’s the thing though – the kettlebell DVDs that are starting to come out for fat loss are mostly horrible.
I love Jillian Michaels, but I cringed when I heard she’s working on a kettlebell DVD.
Her form sucks.
The way she teaches kettlebell swings puts WAY more stress on your lower back than you want.
Ditto for about five other fat loss kettlebell DVDs that are on their way.
Easy way to spot bullshit: If the instructor is using a 5 or 10 pound kettlebell, you know they don’t know what they are doing.
Step One: They lift the kettlebell the wrong way and hurt their back.
Step Two: They get a lighter kettlebell and continue to lift wrong.
It’s total insanity.
Look, if I was doing ninja backflips and landed on my head and hurt myself…
…I wouldn’t find a softer place to land on my head.
I’d find someone to teach me how to do ninja backflips correctly.
Another note on 5 and 10 pound kettlebells – you aren’t going to get any results with a 10 pound kettlebell.
So if you see someone who is really ripped who is using a 10 pound kettlebell, you know that they got their results doing something else.
Hmmm… 4 pounds? really?
The Three Ways Celebrity Trainers Are Teaching You To Hurt Your Back With Kettlebells
1.) Pull with your arms
The kettlebell swing is not an arm movement.
Your arms should be loose.
If you pull with your arms it puts bad stress on your lower back.
The movement should come from your butt. It’s about snapping your hips.
2.) Swing too slowly.
If you swing too slowly, you will have to pull with your arms, and it will put stress on your lower back.
Think about it like this: Can you jump slowly?
Can you punch slowly?
Can you throw a ball slowly?
If the kettlebell swing is slow it’s wrong. If it looses it’s snap it’s poor form.
The slower your swing, the more it can hurt your back.
3.) Squatting The Swing
Squatting is up and down.
The swing is backwards and forwards.
When you squat the swing… it doesn’t get as much force and you have to pull with your arms.
When you pull with your arms it puts stress on your lower back.
Are we noticing a pattern?
All In Good Time
So now you’ve got a pretty good idea of what not to do in a kettlebell swing.
And you know what to look for as a red flag for who not to listen to about kettlebell training.
In the next three weeks I’m going to give you all a series of videos I’ve been working on breaking down the latest and greatest stuff that I’ve tested this last year. Lots of new stuff, you’ll be stoked!
Anyway, one of the videos I’m going to break down the training progression that I use in my kettlebell bootcamp to take people from never swinging a kettlebell to swinging like a pro in about 15 minutes.
In the past the only way you could get these teaching progressions were either from me in person, getting one of my books, or being a member of the Platinum Coaching Club.
This will be the first time I give it to you, the blog reader!
It’s going to have some serious Mr. Miyagi wax on/wax off kind of action, and it’ll get you swinging kettlebells like Daniel-san crane kicks. You’re totally going to dig it. Keep on the lookout!
I’ve been noticing ever since the kettlebell has become the popular thing to use, everybody is showing how to use them either incorrectly or what they’re not suited to do.
Example: In Men’s Fitness magazines, I’ve seen ads where a guy is using the kettlebell as a replacement for dumbells to do dumbell rows.
I think you should have a new tag for How NOT to Use Kettlebells. Jillian Michaels and these people are doing something wrong. I don’t mean wrong as in “They’re showing a different way of using kettlebells.” I mean wrong as in “You will hurt yourself if you follow them because they’re not meant to be used this way.” People using their light kettlebells will achieve nothing other than them thinking they’re good enough to use bigger weights. Then when they try, they’ll really hurt themselves, all because of people who don’t know what to do with a kettlebell that think they can teach how to use it because we make it look so simple.
Totally agree.
This post was totally inspired by Jillian posting on her Twitter account that she is going to do a kettlebell DVD.
Update: She recently posted on Twitter that she’s been training with Kettlebell Experts and CrossFit guys.
Don’t get me started on CrossFit… but hey it’s a step up!
It is finally proved and accepted by professional trainers that kettlebells are the ultimate tool to lose fat. People have finally started to catch on. Following kettlebells or any exercise for that matter without any professional guidance is indeed a bad idea. Most of these DVD’s don’t provide you much guidance and can lead to unhealthy situations. It’s great to know that you are taking extra care about all these issues and are giving us a new video. Waiting for the videos.