body weight training

The 2 Best Bodyweight Exercise To Add To Your Kettlebell Workouts

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I’ve written pretty extensively over the last 4 to 6 months about the benefits of bodyweight training. In fact, I just finished up about 4 months of almost exclusively bodyweight training – centered around pull-up varations, pistols, and parallel dips.

I’ve gotta tell you, I haven’t felt this good in a long, long time.

I can basically roll out of bed and do a pistol on each leg. I believe this is an important litmus test – as the Pistol is a key indicator of your “reflexive stability.”

And that was something I couldn’t do before I focused on bodyweight training.

Bodyweight Exercise #1: The Pistol

For that reason alone the Pistol is my #1 bodyweight exercise you should look to incorporate into your kettlebell training.

It’s a key indicator to your overall health and performance.

I don’t care how strong you are with a bar or pair of kettlebells, if you can’t do a bodyweight Pistol – without counterbalance – you’ve got some work to do. In the long run, you’ll be stronger.

And as an addendum, you might be wondering just how strong you can get by doing bodyweight Pistols. I recently just put a pair of 24kg kettlebells in the rack and did a Pistol on each leg. (It was a 9 out of 10 on the RPE scale.) So really, the sky’s the limit.

I’ve written at length about the Pistol – click here to check the ol’ archives.

Bodyweight Exercise #2: The Chin Up

Not the Pull Up, the Chin Up. It’s performed with your palms facing you.

And there are several good reasons for this.

1. Most people type or write all day.

This places a long duration load on their shoulders, internally rotating them. The lowly Chin reverses that loading and aligns the wrists and elbows.

2. Loaded stretching and combination cinching of the front of the body.

This is actually pretty cool when you think about it. The front of the body becomes short and tight from sitting all day long. You can very easily stretch it out and then load it by doing Chins. You can also decompress the spine and increase your spine health. Once you can get strong enough you can add weight to your Chins. This will make the front of your body contract in a healthy way, unlike sitting.

Here’s an interesting side note:

We in the fitness industry say that loading the posterior chain is good for countering sitting. I agree to some extent.

But I also disagree.

You have to address the abs too. And not just all the trendy counter-rotational stuff that’s being popularized. You actually have to get some trunk flexion and rotation in there too. (If you don’t believe me, go back and study your child development…)

So the Chin Up is a way to help get this done.

3. Functional Antagonistic Balance (FAB?)

I can’t remember where I first learned this – probably Gary Gray or Vern Gambetta about 15 years ago. However, I forgot all about it until Jedd Johnson of the Diesel Crew reminded me about this in one of his bending DVDs.

Essentially, it’s performing the opposite movements to your main sporting and/or exercise/training movements.

The Chin Up is a great FAB exercise for pretty much all kettlebell training. Here’s why:

KBs.                                      v.                    .Chins
– palms pronated                                  – palms supinated
– feet loaded                                            – feet unloaded
– spine loaded                                        – spine unloaded
– posterior chain emphasis                – anterior chain emphasis
– extension dominant                          – flexion dominant
– lower body intensive                          – upper body intensive

And of course there’s my current favorite version of the Chin – a Chin with an “L-Seat.”

This is where you raise your legs so they’re parallel with the floor and then hold them there throughout your set. Great stretch on the lats, great load on the abs.

How To Incorporate Chins And Pistols Into Your Kettlebell Workouts

There really is no right way. But here are some simple ideas.

1. Work the Pistol and its variations before all ballistics work.

Treat it like practice and you’ll actually open up your hips and make your Swings, Snatches, and Cleans that much better.

2. Work the Pistol in combination with the Get Up.

Do a set of GUs, then work Pistol variations. Go back and forth between them. Each will make the other better.

3. Do a set of Chins after all upper body kettlebell work, like Presses.

This is a great pairing for double kettlebell work.

4. Do a set of Chins after all ballistics work.

Again, another great pairing with exercises like the Double Swing or Double Front Squat.

There are some ideas to get you started.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

Kettlebells v. Bodyweight – Which One’s Better?

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Which one is better for fat loss – that’s the question.

But before I answer that, I just wanted to let you know that I got 150 Pistols tonight in my training session – 15 sets of 5 each leg. I was on a slight decline, but still – I’ve never approached anywhere near that volume tonight.

And I feel strong – really strong.

And like I mentioned the other day, I’m getting leaner – again. Waist is at a 15 year low (and I’m not on a fat loss program).

Now I don’t write that to brag, because there are many, many people who can do way better than that. I just highlight my work tonight because it proves my point – so let me get back to that…

Funny how we tend to set up a false dichotomy with questions like the one I started the blog with – which is better for fat loss – kettlebells or bodyweight exercises.

Either – or.

Why not both?

Or, here’s a novel concept – why not cycle the two?

That is one of my preferences.

Most people don’t know this, but the body responds really well to contrasting stimuli. For example, running cycles of low reps, heavy loads, with higher rep ballistic type loads, like Pavel set up in RoTK. (I first heard about this concept from a Romanian coach, Georg Marom, back in ’98 at Yale University after taking my USAW Club Coach Course.)

And usually, when progress stalls, the further you can go from what you’ve currently been doing, the easier it is to jump start progress and get the results you’re looking for once again.

For example, I’ve been doing heavy extension based work for years – both barbells and kettlebells. Tons of Olympic lifts, and tons of kettlebells.

The one thing I hadn’t done?

Bodyweight exercises and flexion-based exercises. Let alone combined the two like I’ve been doing recently.

As a result, I’ve started seeing massive progress once again. My Pistol numbers are an example.

Why is this important to you?

Here are three reasons:

1. Because if you’re not seeing the progress you like or want, it may be time to step away from your kettlebell(s) for a season and get back to the basics – bodyweight training.

There are “super coaches” like Vern Gambetta, who believe that you shouldn’t even touch a weight until you’ve mastered the ability to move your own body. And training with your own body can produce superior results in areas such as relative strength – just look at gymnasts.

2. Sometimes you just need a change – a fresh stimulus to reinvigorate your training again. I can subsist on a relatively spartan diet of training exercises. But even I need to shake things up every once in awhile. My new training program has been “just what the doctor ordered.”

In fact, I think it was Dan John who talked about matching your training to the seasons. I don’t remember how he set his up, but the summer seems like the perfect time to me to train with bodyweight only – it’s light and fun – just like the summer itself.

(I guess barbell work or double kettlebell work could be fall and winter, and single kettlebell work could be spring…)

3. Bodyweight training can be challenging – even hard, but without leaving you with the “beatdown” feeling of heavier forms of training. Like I mentioned in my last post, you can make bodyweight exercises harder just by modifying or challenging the leverage – like holding an “L-sit” doing Pull-ups for example. Or you can do your bodyweight work on an unstable surface, like a pair of rings, for example.

There are so many options that make this just plain old fun. I did my Pistols with my shirt off in the parking lot outside my studio this evening. Why shirt off? Well it certainly wasn’t to show off my massive pecs (I don’t have any). It was so I could soak up the sun and get my daily dose of Vitamin D. Plus, do you know how good it feels to feel the sun beat down on you while exercising? I LOVE it.

So, if you’re stuck, and you need to make progress again – wanna see your “six-pack” or strip off some excess body fat for that beach trip later this summer, put your kettlebells down and do the opposite of what you’ve been doing.

Spend some time getting reacquainted with your body again. Here are some bodyweight only workouts that meet all the requirements we’ve just discussed. You’ll find them challenging, fun, and you’ll love the results you get from doing them. They’re just what the doctor ordered. Check them out.

I’ll keep you posted on my continued progress. My goal is 5 sets of 20 consecutive reps of Pistols on each leg. So 100 total each leg or 200 total. I think I’ll get them by the end of the year.

The “Perfect” Complement To Your Kettlebell Workouts

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I’ve done A LOT of kettlebell work over the last 9 years.

I’m not sure how to quantify that if I wanted to other than go back and add up all the tonnage.

But there’s one “tool” that’s the perfect compliment to kettlebells.

And no, as much as it pains me to say this, it’s not the barbell – as much as I love it.

And nope, it’s not the time-tested sandbag.

Although that is an amazing tool.

The tool I’m talking about is something you can take anywhere and use at anytime, which, you have to admit, is pretty stinkin’ convenient.

Before I tell you what it is, let me tell you that I had an amazing training session on Monday while waiting for a client. It only 9 minutes and 12 seconds to complete.

I stood outside my studio on a decline and did Pistols. Sets of 10 – 3 each side.

Of course that tool I’m talking about is your body.

I’ve spent the last 3 month doing a lot of bodyweight training.

And it’s been, well, challenging – for several reasons.

1. I like lifting heavy. Really heavy. Bodyweight training isn’t necessarily heavy, unless you add external resistance to it.

2. There are certain positions which make me feel weak like a kitten. A pike is one that comes to mind.

3. My mind has to be trained to derive satisfaction out “just” bodyweight.

But the results have been spectacular.

I now “own” a bodyweight Pistol – which was one of my goals. I can finally, at anytime, drop into a pistol, on either leg without and pops, clicks, or pain that used to be associated with the Pistol and my compensations in general.

I’ve been able to do Pistols for quite some time with a counterbalance, but never just “naked” until recently. I completely agree with Pavel that if there is one leg exercise you should do, it is this one. Plus, it really tells you something about your body – specifically, how much and how well you control it. Not only that, but you can get a great “leg workout” anywhere, anytime, when you master the Pistol. And that of course is one of my goals.

I can now do multiple sets of multiple reps of Pull-ups and Chins with my legs in a pike position. I have always been very strong at Pull-ups – on any given day I can usually toss 70lbs or so on my body and get at least 1 rep, without training it. But when I went to the pike, it was literally like someone else was hanging on my body! They were tough!

The carryover to kettlebell exercises like the Double Front Squat has been noticeable. I’ve always “hated” that exercise because it was so hard. That was probably because I couldn’t get out of my own way. Now they feel easy compared to the way they used to feel.

And I’ve been doing a lot of Parallel Dips with the pike too. These end up looking kind of weird, with my body pitching forward. I certainly don’t look like nor have the body control of a gymnast. Yet. (I have to ask Rif about this.) Again, load me up on the Dips with weight – no problem. Put me in a pike and I’m completely lost. These are coming up quickly. It’s kind of hard to add weight with a dipping belt, so I’ve used an old backpack and started sliding plates in there.

The Biggest Benefit I’ve Seen So Far Is My Energy Levels.

Because my bodyweight training has helped address my physical limitations, my energy levels are much better than I expected yet exactly what I had hoped for in light of coping with the sleep deprivation that goes along with having a newborn.

If I had continued my previous training, I would’ve been a complete disaster.

Thankfully, I had the wisdom to change what I was doing. Otherwise, this could be a very different period in my life. I would not be enjoying fatherhood nearly as much – I’d be way too tired.

The really cool thing though about laying off the heavy barbell and kettlebell work in favor of bodyweight mastery is that my kettlebell work is really crisp when I play around with it. I can attribute that to at least to things:

1. The Reminiscence Effect – taking a layoff and coming back fresher than before.

and

2. Being more “put together” – ridding myself of compensations.

An “Unusual” Secondary Benefit.

Now admittedly, for many people, this would be a Primary Benefit, or the goal they are seeking to accomplish. But it wasn’t necessarily for me.

I lost body fat.

How much?

I didn’t measure.

Why not?

Because it wasn’t my primary goal. I just used the mirror and my clothes.

But I am down to about 200lbs and my waist hasn’t been this small in 15 years.

I use a relatively simple system of eating that allows me to enjoy all my favorite foods in unlimited quantities.

I think this is because bodyweight training in many cases is more physically taxing than most other forms of training, including kettlebell training.

All though I haven’t investigated it, a few reasons come to mind –

1. More neuromuscular activation. You’re moving your body through space using different and less than accommodating leverages, requiring more energy, and therefore burning more calories.

2. Lymph system stimulation. Your lymph system is essentially a waste removal system. All the pushing and pulling and twisting and turning stimulates lymphatic drainage, reducing bloating and fluid retention.

3. Core stabilization. Yeah, I know, I’ve been on-again-off-again on this concept over the years, but I want to tell you about something I’ve noticed – and it’s been dramatic. I have never had that “line” down the center of my abs. Never. Not until recently. And that’s a result of my abs and my body working correctly – finally. (There’s a lot more to this, but that’s the short story.)

4. Improved digestion. Now based on 1 thru 3 (and probably my new style of eating, but that combined especially with #3) my digestion is much, much better. So I’m able to absorb my nutrients much better.

So all this begs a question –

What’s The Best Bodyweight Exercise To Add To Your Kettlebell Workouts?

Well I think “best” is a relative term – relative the individual.

One that I’m really in favor of is the Walkout.

The walkout (I’ll post a pic once I get my blog rehabbed after the server crash) is simply where you put your hands on the floor and walk out to a push up position. You hold that position for a couple of seconds – letting your abs contract – and then you walk your hands back to your feet, but without standing up – so you’re folded over in the middle. Then you walk back out. And repeat until finished.

These are really great to super set with Swings – especially 2H Swings. It makes the Swing so much crisper.

Give it a try.

Here’s a little workout you can. It’ll look easy as written, but you’ll find it pretty challenging.

A1. Walkouts x 5-10
A2. 2H Swings x 20

Rest 60-90s.

Repeat for 20 minutes.

I’ve got some more ideas on bodyweight training for you next time too.

Until then, if you’re at a loss for what to do for a workout today, give the one above a shot and then post back and tell me what you think.