The thing about swinging a kettlebell – at least the way I teach it – is that there is no “in-between”.
A kettlebell swing done properly will have you going from “hinge” to “plank” as fast as possible, multiple times.
Hinge. Plank. Hinge. Plank… there is no “in between”.
The beauty about this simple exercise is that there is very little to think about…
1. Get your hinge dialed-in.
- maintain a flat back
- keep your shins as close to vertical as you can
- never let your shoulders dip below the level of your hips
- keep your eyes focused forward (Wherever your eyes go, your head follows. Wherever your head goes, your spine follows. And the #1 way to injure your back is flexing your spine under load.)
2. Then you take care of the plank.
Keep in mind that this isn’t your garden-variety kind of plank.
The idea behind The High Tension Plank is to make sure you maintain tension in every part of your body below your neck.
When you perform any ballistic kettlebell skill you will always find that every rep displays a wave of “tension and relaxation”
The tension-relaxation relationship is like a sin wave.
So when you finish your swing, snatch or clean, you’re “FREEZING” your body with a standing plank.
This “standing plank” then can create the foundation from which you can perform other skills – like the military press or squat.
If you think about the plank as a Roman Column, that column is only as strong as the sections of the column are properly stacked.
So when we plank and create tension throughout all our joints/muscles, we are creating the foundation for strength.
Check out the video below and see how you’re supposed to “stack joints” and create tension in order to form your foundation…