RKC News - June 2017

With my roots in calisthenics, I come from a sport that is fundamentally very upper body-intensive. A strong and stable shoulder girdle is a must. Often, this is where the weakness and potential injury source lies. Anyone who wants to master heavy static exercises like a front lever or the planche will have to deal with how to prepare their body for battle. This brings us to the topic of kettlebells. Essentially, one should use everything that makes you stronger to improve. Those who follow this will notice how the Turkish Get Up suddenly allows them to perform a better handstand. Because it is firstly incredibly stabilizing, which is of course nothing new, but secondly also greatly mobilizes. Thirdly, and now we come to the part that is most important to me, it contributes enormously to mental preparation: It demands concentration and thus greatly enhances execution accuracy. So if you keep falling over in your handstand training, incorporate 2-3 TGUs and then continue with your training. You will soon marvel at the "What the Hell" effect.

A stable shoulder girdle also means mastering a strong retraction of the shoulder blades. This is very important for the athlete who wants to perform clean pull-ups or is starting to work with additional weight. One-arm pull-ups are also affected by this. And, to reach the elite level, mastering a clean front lever. Here, the swing and especially the one-arm swing can work wonders. Because it teaches you to keep your shoulder blades together under load and to maintain tension throughout your entire posterior chain. And that brings decisive advantages; you have already learned to do this under load. Therefore, swings should be included in every warm-up for upper body pulling movements. Additionally, the swing, with its strong engagement of the posterior chain and the associated core stability, creates perfect conditions for the front lever and all other static exercises. This brings us to a so-called straight arm strength exercise, meaning exercises performed with a straight arm. These exercises fundamentally always result from a strong shoulder girdle. Exercises like the front lever, planche, handstand, back lever...

Exercises like the TGU, the swing, overhead carry...

The advantage of the kettlebell in this case? It makes loading the same or similar movement easier. Thus, it provides great assistance for advanced bodyweight exercises. It is a conduit, a pathfinder, and helps to achieve absolute performance boosts.

A strong upper body always results from a strong shoulder girdle. So if you strengthen your shoulder girdle, you will be stronger in all upper body movements. Want more pull-ups? Strengthen your retraction. More dips or push-ups? Strengthen your protraction. Everything stands and falls with the strength you can generate from the muscles around your shoulder blades.