KETTLEBELL COMPLEXES FOR TECHNICAL PERFECTION

BY PAVEL TSATSOULINE, CHAIRMAN

A “complex” of different kettlebell exercises strung together in an intelligent manner delivers many benefits: muscle hypertrophy, fat loss, etc. Today’s blog is about another benefit of complexes—accelerated skill development.

David Whitley, Master SFG calls the clean “a swing that ends up in the rack.” At SFG certs we sometimes put the class through the following simple complex to drive this point home: alternating single reps of cleans and swings. The complex more often than not defeats the typical mistake of yanking on the bell with the arm while allowing the lower body to take it easy. Sandwiching swings between cleans keeps reminding the student to get his hips in gear.

One can apply the same concept to the snatch—a swing that ends up overhead. Or the high pull—the swing that ends up at the head level. Consider the following complex Jeff Martone designed a decade ago: a clean, a swing, a high pull, a snatch. One rep of each. In addition to reminding the student to drive with the hips, it teaches the concept of “taming the arc.” When an object accelerates in orbit, the centrifugal force pulls it away from the center. Biblical David took advantage of this force when he slayed Goliath with his sling.

You need to bring the bell in closer—“tame the arc,” as Rob Lawrence put it. This is done by shrugging the shoulder back, not up—like starting a lawn mower. The above complex does a very fine job of driving this point home. To drive it in even deeper, I would start with another swing, a low one:

1. Swing (groin level)
2. Clean
3. Swing (chest level)
4. High pull
5. Snatch

Complexes with two bells, for those who are ready for them, become a game changer for internalizing the essential tension techniques. The primary driver is the double kettlebell front squat.

The weight distribution in this squat is very different from that in the barbell front squats. Dan John, Master SFG has pointed out that while in the barbell FSQ the weight is “stacked” nicely on the bone structure, a pair of kettlebells “choke you like an anaconda.” In a correctly done kettlebell FSQ the spinal erectors have very little leverage to stabilize the spine and the job gets handed to the midsection—the diaphragm along with the obliques, abs, etc.

Photo courtesy Mandy Whitley

So when a student starts squatting with a pair of kettlebells, he quickly starts doing what we have been telling him all along: pulling up his kneecaps, cramping his glutes, bracing his abs for a punch. While a single bell, even a heavy one, does not have any effect, two even moderately sized bells—a pair of 24s for an average size man, a pair of 16s for an average size lady—get the job done.

When we have the class revisit double cleans, presses, and swings right after, the improvement is startling. The students’ technique becomes crisp like a black belt’s kata. To reinforce the new skill we build complexes around double front squats. These complexes include some or all of the following: cleans, presses, swings. The SFG Grad Workout designed by Dan John, Master SFG is a perfect example of a simple, yet sophisticated double kettlebell complex. Come to the SFG cert and experience it for yourself, side by side with your brothers and sisters in iron.