Kettlebell – Most common mistake: over squatting!
Hi everyone! It’s Jono here today. We have some exciting news! We received a call from Fitness Australia last week… Our Level 1 Bootcamp course is the most popular (judging by certificates uploaded) CEC course in Australia 🙂
So we’d like to thank everyone who’s completed the course and uploaded their certificated.
Anyways… What I want to talk about today is Kettlebells. The most common mistake I see with Kettlebells is the “over-squat”! Majority of people who have not been properly trained in Kettlebells “over-squat” in a Kettlebell swing instead of using hip hinge. It’s a really bad flow-on effect because all it takes is one person to do it wrong, then someone else follows… then someone else… and before you know it – majority of the gym is doing the movement wrong!
The reason I HATE the “over-squat” is it ruins the point of the Kettlebell Swing… One of the major advantages of the swing (especially for Outdoor Trainers) is that you’re using your posterior chain (glutes / hamstrings) to generate most of the power! If you’re “over squatting” then you’re using less posterior chain and more anterior chain (quads)! If you’re going to do that – you may as well just squat!!!
Lucky… However – this is an easy fix! If one of your clients is over squatting – all you need to do is put another Kettlebell (or even just their water bottle) directly underneath them. Now tell them to squat without hitting the water bottle. This will fix the problem as it gives the client a clear reference point of how low NOT to go.
If you’re worried that you’re over squatting, try out this technique and you’ll find out pretty quick if you are or not 🙂
I recommend EVERY single Outdoor, Functional, Bootcamp Trainer is trained in Kettlebells! They are the ultimate tool for Outdoor Training – there is so much you can do them and it’s important that you know how to TEACH the movements as they can get technical!
PS: If you’re a Personal Trainer or Group Fitness Instructor and keen to up skill when it comes to using Kettlebells in your sessions, I recommend checking out our Kettlebell Certification CEU Courses! On completion of the courses you will receive 2.0 NASM CEUs and 20 AFAA CEUs.
If you liked this blog, I recommend checking out the below
- What to do when your client can’t keep a neutral spine (blog)
- The best kettlebell swing regression(blog)
- Kettlebell Movements and Programming for Bootcamp (podcast)
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