Kettlebell Strength – Slow Movement & High Tension!

There are basically 2 types of movements involved when talking about strength training. There are movements that are slow, but very challenging and there are moves that are faster and more strength endurance related movements. For the purpose of this article I am going to address the slower challenging strength movements and how it applies to kettlebell training.

When working with kettlebells you immediately find out just how challenging the workout can be. It is a funny design and if you haven’t handled it before the movements involved in lifting it can be very foreign to the beginner. This is why I want to explain how the certain slower challenging movements can benefit you when training with the iron bell. To start, you have probably heard me talk about lifts in my other articles such as the single-arm turkish getup or the overhead press and walk. With both of these drills you don’t have to execute a bunch of repetitions in order for the lift to be effective.

Once again, these are slow tension movements not strength endurance movements. For example, if you are familiar with the single arm turkish getup then you know that it is one concentrated and controlled movement of the body that yields a high level of exertion for a single repetition! This high level of exertion is caused from you having to statically hold the kettlebell above your head throughout the entire attempt of you getting from the ground to your feet. This steady hold is what gets you a high level of muscular tension, therefore producing a high level of strength for your body. The beauty is that you are also getting the benefit of some significant cardiovascular conditioning with this movement even though it is a slower groove.

For you to gain total control of handling the unique design of the kettlebell you must practice the slower tension movements. This will produce a great bit of total-body strength for you to handle heavier loads. Practice flawlessly and practice often my friends!