Use your backside.

Pertaining to the three principles laid out in the previous post, today's training was simple, aimed toward my own goals, done in just around 20 minutes, and all could be done without moving much outside of 1 square metre.

4 sets of overhead kettlebell press to failure
4 sets of pseudo planche pushups to failure
followed by the conditioning session in the video below.



The two objects in the video, a kettlebell and sandbag, are both to be found in the gym in a variety of different weights suitable for any ability. One aspect they both share in common is the 'unconventional' weight distribution. Unlike an equally balanced dumbbell, barbell, or resistance machine, the mass of the kettlebell is outside of the handle, while the weight distribution of the sandbag is constantly shifting with every movement. The sandbag in particular makes training more taxing on the entire musculature as the whole body is fighting to counter against the shifting centre of gravity of the bag. The awkwardness means that front squatting it also creates considerable torque around the torso and hip, creating even greater demands on keeping the centre of gravity where it needs to be.
Both exercises place emphasis on different fundamental movement patterns; in the video the sandbag is used for squatting, whilst the kettlebell is used for bending, both exercises constituting fundamental aspects of human movement. Firstly, the squat is a skill that is increasingly being lost in our sedentary society. In other less-developed countries, from baby to elderly, sitting in a full squat whilst eating, playing cards, going to the toilet etc is a daily habit which is just taken as standard.

Long periods of sitting forming part our society's daily living has had a massive impact on many of us. As Craig Weller states:

"The hips and ankles are immobilized and because the force is being relegated mainly to the quads, the effect of the posterior chain is minimized. The musculature of the lower back will be overactive in order to support the weight of the upper body without much assistance from the glutes. The thoracic spine will generally be flexed forward into a kyphotic posture."

Basically, this means that sitting disrupts and alters the natural mechanics of our bodies, and over extended periods of time, that effect can become further exaggerated.
In a sitting position (on a chair), our hips are closed to 90 degrees, becoming ever-tighter, whereas the muscles we are sitting on, our glutes, are constantly being massaged by sitting, and are in a stretched, weakened state. The posterior chain (basically the glutes, lower back, and hamstring muscles) tends to be the least developed area of the body of the society that we live in. A strong posterior chain will help decrease the risk of lower back pain, promote good posture, as well as stabilise the whole body in all movement (OLF, EKI course manual), from sprinting to picking up your baby.
In order to strengthen this area of the body, bending movements as well as stabilizing exercises are generally adopted. Stand up and tighten your glutes as hard as you can, then try and bend forward at the hip. Opening the hip, to go from bent over to standing up straight, is the job of the posterior chain. Kettlebell swings and snatches are therefore great exercises in this regard, learning how to stabilise the torse and spine whilst bending from the hip, knee, and ankle under load. Getting the kettlebell overhead has zero to do with upper body strength and everything to do with generating maximum power from the posterior chain to spring the hips forward and torso upright, sending the kettlebell upward like a ball on a chain.

Loading up the posterior chain ready to fling that kettlebell...

.....BAM, full extension from full posterior contraction.

As for the gym, still looking at a 1st/2nd of March date for signing, then its moving in and getting everything done to welcome you all in!

Keep PUSHing,