The more you train the more you learn

It is often said that kettlebell training will expose all your weaknesses pretty quickly. Also, proper training will often assist in alleviating these weaknesses. Over the last three days I’ve had a very practical experience of this. On Saturday I decided to record my training in the OAJ’s and Snatches. To my utter dismay I noticed that my elbow is pretty bent during the lockout. I first tried to rationalize this fact away by thinking that it is simply due to a quirk of my body. I luckily didn’t succumb to my attempts at wishing away the facts and started doing a bit of research and practical tests. Some of my research indicated that mobility issues or sometimes simply poor technique can be at the root of issues with the lockout. What I discovered about my body can be summarized like this:

* I have overly tight chest muscles

* My posture is often hunched over

* I struggle lifting my arm over my head and bringing the bicep close  to my ear because my shoulders are tight and bulky

* It is easier for me to lift my arm over my head if I lift my shoulder out of the socket --- very, very bad idea

After these discoveries I set out to deliberately work on correcting these problems during my sets. I used a lighter weight and lower rep count and focused on “forcing” my arm into the correct position. After two days of this I already notice a difference. My arm was straight in the lockout today and my upper back and shoulders are feeling better as well. Ah, the joys of learning!

Today’s sets went like this:

16kg OAJ: 4 minutes @ 10rpm

24kg OAJ: 2 minutes @ 10rpm

16kg Snatch: 4 minutes @ 14rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20