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.