Friday, March 18, 2016

Friday Exercise: Kettle Bell Swings


The Amazing Stickie likes kettle bells.  This may be because they look like really powerful handbags with which to whack bad guys who try to mug you in dark alleys.  For those of us who do not have kettle bells (essentially a metal ball with a handle), this exercise can be done using a dumbbell.

Form is important no matter what exercise we are doing, but even more important in this exercise because no one wants to throw out a back.  As you may have guessed, Stickie begins standing with excellent posture and maintains control of her abdominals throughout the exercise to protect her back.


She swings the kettle bell down between her legs, bending her knees into a slightl squat.  Then she swings it up to shoulder level in front of her, keeping her arms straight the whole time.  Her legs straighten, her glutes contract, and her hips thrust ever so slightly forward.  Because Stickie has practiced a lot, she tends to do swings in sets of 20 or 30, but they are surprisingly aerobic, so don’t feel compelled to begin with that many repetitions and be sure to allow yourself time to recover between sets.

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