Newton's Third Law
Christine
Uberti
This article attempts to explain why
kettlebell work develops higher quality strength, through a
much wider range of motion than other modalities.
As you swing the bell back between your legs, you should feel
the muscles of your posterior stretch. In order to get this
stretch at the bottom of the swing, I teach clients to snap
the kettlebell back in the downward phase of the swing, like
the snap in football. This increases the range of motion enough
– and quickly enough – to activate the stretch.
At this moment, when you feel the stretch, you can take advantage
of the stretch reflex. This is a reflex, similar to the patellar
reflex, which we see when the doctor taps the tendon below the
kneecap and the lower leg kicks forward automatically.
Imagine that your body is a slingshot. Your posterior is the
sling and the kettlebell is the shot. Only, you don’t
let go of the shot. (please)
The kettlebell is a great tool that exploits this natural reflex.
Dynamic work with kettlebells builds strength and tone in your
posterior by allowing repeated expansion and contraction of
those muscles. This style of exercising is also called ‘ballistic’.
When muscles are activated with the stretch reflex, we see a
number of benefits. Working in a range of motion wide enough
to produce the stretch reflex provides a comprehensive and tonic
effect on the muscle that is not achieved in lesser ranges of
motion. All muscle fibers are stimulated and all are working
simultaneously.
Because many of the kettlebell exercises
are functional, you can train yourself to remain strong and
solid from one end of your range of motion to the other –
from A to Z – not just G through P. This has a direct
and beneficial effect on activities of daily living as well
as in sporting pursuits.
Many athletic programs have their athletes train using weights
in high-load, non-functional positions and hope for functional
carryover to the field. Using the kettlebell can be very sport
specific. Exploitation of the stretch reflex trains you to produce
force in a controlled way and on a consistent basis. It trains
you to change direction on a dime and be stronger in your agility.
These are all essentials on the field.
Also, we are not talking about pulling
a muscle here. Powerful tools always demand a sense of responsibility
and intelligence. For example, I think that the nail gun is
one of the most important inventions next to the printing press.
But I would never use it if I were feeling tired or lazy. Save
it for when you are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
A final note: As a yoga practitioner, I had a little bit of
difficulty with embracing the stretch reflex at first. In yoga,
we spend a lot of time coaxing the muscles to lengthen by AVOIDING
the stretch reflex. This is one reason why static stretching
is always recommended for AFTER your workout. Aside from the
fact that static stretching is always more productive and safer
when your muscles are nice and warm, it is counter-productive
to spend time avoiding the stretch reflex right before you want
to train the stretch reflex. (Hope that makes sense.) It is
probably also a great way to get injured.
Before, I turn this into a whole other article, I’ll end
by saying: Remember dynamic before, static after.
Christine Uberti is a clinical research
consultant, musician and writer. She is a certified kettlebell
instructor through Pavel Tsatsouline and Dragon Door and has
a CSCS certification through the NSCA. Christine studied yoga
and pranayama with Swami Yogiraj V. Subrahmanya Bua for 8 years.
www.refinedclinicalresearch.com