How to use a Broomstick to fix Kettlebell most common mistake:
Do you prefer digestion information by reading or watching a video? Everyone’s answer is obviously going to be different – which why we think it’s important to provide both methods – a video and a written form! We’ve just discovered a company “rev” who transcribe all your videos – for a dollar a minute! And they get it back to you within 12 hours! So if anyone only has videos for their clients and wants to also give them a written copy but doesn’t have the time – “rev” are perfect!
Another way people learn kinesthetically by “feeling” or “doing”! In Fitness we believe it’s necessary to use ALL forms to teach! Read, watch, listen and do! So when you’re prescribing a workout / exercise – you want it on a whiteboard to participants to read, you want to explain it to them, you want to demonstrate to them and you want them to practice it!
When getting the clients to practice the movement – it’s important to get them to understand exactly where their body should be! Especially when the movement becomes more complex – e.g. a Kettlebell Swing!
With a Kettlebell Swing – there’s only so much someone is going to learn by watching, listening and reading… And if they just “do it” without knowing where their body should be – they are going to hurt themselves! So an easy way for them to learn is with the “broomstick” technique!
Ask your client to hold a broomstick behind their back. The back of their head, their upper back and their lower back should have contact with the broomstick (so their spine is neutral). They then do an imaginary kettlebell swing (without a kettlebell) while holding the broomstick against their back and without any of those 3 points losing contact… If any point loses contact with the stick – then they have lost a neutral spine and are at an increased change of injury (in other words… not ready for a Kettlebell Swing)!
What we like about this system is it gives a clear indication to the client on whether they are doing the exercise correctly or not. They don’t need to think “is my back straight?” “is my spine neutral?”, “is my posture right?” – it’s clear for them! They don’t even really need you there – they can practice at home!
If you’re worried that your clients aren’t keeping a neutral spine and just don’t get it -bring a stick down to training and try out this technique – you’ll find their technique will fix up pretty quick!
We 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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