As I’ve mentioned before the kettlebell swing is as close as you can come to a hard trail ride without throwing your leg over a bike. The movement patterns, the types of tension being used and the cardio benefits are all extremely helpful on the trail.
However, it is also an exercise with a lot of advanced techniques that you can incorporate as you get better at it. One of these advanced techniques is to learn how to “lock down the lats” at the top of the swing. A lot of riders who use the swing focus a lot on the hips – which they should – but tend to let their shoulders get pulled forward a bit at the top.
This movement habit is not only bad for the shoulders during the swing but it also sets you up for bad manualing technique. If you don’t know how to “lock down the lats” when doing this movement on the trail you can end up with inconsistent manuals and elbow pain.
In this video I explain how to use this advanced technique of “locking down the lats” to get more out of your swings and to help you manual better on the trail.
-James Wilson-
James,
Thanks for this timely repost! Very helpful tip to continue to refine my techniques.
Thanks, glad it helped!
James, I do pedal stance swings with Indian Clubs where the start and finish position of the clubs is vertical and my elbows are bent to 90 degrees at my side. Is there a way that I could modify the swings to get the lat lockdown you describe with the kettlebell? Thanks, Russell
Catching the clubs in the position activates the lats automatically so you don’t have to thing about it as much, which is another reason that I like the IC Swings so much for mountain bikers.