Wine Country CrossFit

Kettlebell workouts are a great way to get some diversity in your weight training. Because of their shape, they challenge your kinetic senses in a way that you can’t access using dumbbells and like dumbbells, they force you to maintain form in a way that a barbell can kind of let you off the hook from in certain movements. You will be challenging yourself in Lifting movements, both Power and Olympic, today using kettlebells. It is imperative that you do not sacrifice your shoulder integrity just to put a bigger kettlebell over your head. If you can’t lock out in a stable position with your bicep by your ear in the overhead lifts, consider going down in weight until you can maintain that line consistently–otherwise you are setting yourself up for a forever internal rotation of the shoulder that does not benefit you in any way down the road.

A good way to think about using kettlebells is by seeing them as an excellent way to maintain shoulder health, strength and flexibility. Check out this article on the ways you can use the kettlebells to really set your body up for maximum usage in all of your lifts. I especially like the summary of shoulder injuries and why/how they happen in the first part of the article and you’ll see that we program some of these movements on a regular basis–consider trying some of the other movements as homework you can do on your own.

==========================

Tuesday’s WOD

Kettlebells Skill Work – KB Snatch, KB Clean and Jerk and KB Goblet Squat

Pimp Your Pulls

3×10 Body Rows. Get as horizontal as possible, chest lifted and body tight. Pull armpits to waist and squeeze between shoulder blades to initiate each pull.

then

WOD – Tabata 4 Ways

#1 – KB Snatch (alternating each work set)
REST 1 Min
#2 – KB Clean and Jerk (alternating each work set)
REST 1 Min
#3 – KB Swings
REST 1 Min
#4 – KB Goblet Squat