The Kettlebell overhead walk challenge is another important variation to be added for the general members who wish to start of with Kettlebell training.
The biggest challenge initially seen while lifting the bells is the managing cannon ball which moves around the wrist when you do clean’s or pressing movements. The shoulder joint does not have the stability to hold the displaced weight for longer amount of time. The Kettlebell shape gives a challenge for shoulder joint for stability most importantly which in-turns help dumbbell or barbell overhead pressing movements. We will see importance of walking with Kettlebells in this article.
HOW TO DO IT?
The Overhead Walk
- With a shoulder-width stance, clean the bells on chest and press it overhead (cannon ball should be behind the hand)
- After Kettlebell press, ensure the thumbs are pointing back with elbows locked.
- Hand should be close to ear and aligned.
- Hold the bells to stabilize it for 30 secs or 1 min.
- Once you get confidence of holding and stabilizing, you can start walking.
Benefits:
- Better core strength:
Overhead holds and carries expose any core and hip instabilities, and can really work to increase oblique strength.
When lifting barbell for overhead movements, we come across lots of rotational forces and many times we land up having injuries if we do not work on stability factor.
With overhead walks you should be able to get rid of rotational forces and help protect the spine.
- Better stability for shoulders:
Once you have established proper joint mobility, you need to educate the neurological systems & the muscle fibers in how to create force and stability in the complete ROM. The stability developed in shoulder joint will help you to balance out barbells or Kettlebells for sustained amount of time in lockouts.
General Training instructions
- Start with either 12 or 16kg for men and 8 or 12kg for women.
- Start with 30 sec holds and gradually go up to 3 mins per hand.
- Generally do the holds after finishing the training sets, usually at the end for better CNS adaption
- Start with one kettlebell and as you progress to advance level, start using two Kettlebells
- Ensure every time you hold the bells overhead, the thumb should be pointing back with hands aligned to ear
As a foundational movements, which consist of goblet squat, round the body pass, sumo squat, diagonal chop, halo, farmers walk etc Kettlebell overhead walk is one of the most important drill from stability point of view for jerk and snatch movements.
More information and details covered under EKFA Level 1 instructors program, be sure to sign it.
Be Kettlebell Strong!