Gin's Kettlebell Workout

Additional Safety Considerations and Recommendations

Due to the dynamic nature of these movements, pre-conditioning with a strong foundation in strength and core stability is required prior to attempting this workout.

This program is designed for general fitness conditioning with light to moderate weight kettlebells. Pregnant women and people with a history of back, neck, spine or any joint issues, are strongly advised to seek medical counsel prior to attempting any of these exercises. 

This workout must be watched in its entirety and practiced at least once without a kettlebell to get a feel for the demand of these integrated, dynamic movements and the potential challenge in balance and reactive training.

Neutral Spine

Maintain neutral spine throughout the movements - head, neck, chest and spine in proper alignment.  Avoid rounding the back, or excessive flexion / extension of the neck which may cause compression of the cervical disks.  Rounding of the back can be avoided by maintaining a controlled retraction of the shoulder blades - setting them back and down - along with a co-contraction of all the muscles of the core to maintain spinal stability.

Modified Grip

The grip Gin utilizes in the kettlebell swing is modified to externally rotate the palms (thumbs up) to avoid shoulder impingement.  Whatever grip you choose, it should be firm, but not excessively tight to avoid fatigue in the forearms.  Wrists should be maintained as a neutral extension of the forearm and weight should be controlled throughout the range of motion - particularly at the top of the movement.

Weak Links

As with all integrated exercises, but particularly when adding momentum in reactive strength training, it is important to closely monitor and defer to any "weak links" in the sequential chain of muscle firing - not just the primary "movers" but also the important secondary "stabilizers". 

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