Hey there everyone! Today we are going to talk about something that happens very often. Not just at Outlier but really anywhere you see dumbbells and kettlebells being used. Luckily here at Outlier we make use of dumbbells as well as kettlebells in our programming. There are tons of benefits to using these pieces of equipment. They offer a chance to train the arms by themselves to help build more stability in the shoulders and make it very hard for the dominant side of the body to help and in turn strengthening the typically weaker side.

Typically between these two options, the dumbbell is generally the more commonly used apparatus. There are times and places where one choice may be better than the other. What we are going to talk about today is how to better make use and to better understand the kettlebell rack position! Most people think that the two pieces are supposed to be held the same way but this is incorrect. We are going to focus on where the kettlebell rack position should be and what we expect to see from you when we ask for ANY kettlebell move requiring the bell to be held there.

Below is a picture of Jeff Martone, he is a nice gentleman who is very strong and very skilled with kettlebells. He runs and trains people at the CrossFit Kettlebell certifications, so he knows a thing or two about properly using these things. The picture is Jeff showing a proper kettlebell rack position. Notice the hand of the bell and his hand are at the center of his body and the top of his chest. His elbow is below the bell and in doing so is creating a shelf or a pocket for the kettlebell to sit on/in. Another detail to mention here is the he has an open hand and straight wrist. In this position he is both using his arm and chest to actively support the weight. In this position his entire shoulder… anterior, posterior and lateral (front, back and side) as well as his chest muscles to hold and engage the weight. Side note, this is why I personally prefer kettlebells to dumbbells, I feel kettlebells stimulate and recruit more muscles than dumbbells for training. This also makes them a bit more challenging than dumbbells in general which is why most people shy away from them.

The second picture shown is an example of how lots of people try to carry or hold kettlebells when we say front rack position. With the arms way out and with the bell sitting on top of the shoulder. This position is bad for a few reasons. This position is not preferable because it isn’t  secure and the amount of control you have over where the bell goes is much less. You are relying on balancing the weight on the top of your shoulder rather than holding it in place with your muscles. If you are doing lunges or squats with this type of position it isn’t going to sit the body into the posture that we want for you. As well, doing lunges with this position can easily slide behind your shoulder and give the joint a good yank into an unpleasant position. This position can become compromised even faster when people try to use this as the bottom position of kettlebell push press or kettlebell thrusters. Dropping a heavy bell from overhead to the top of the shoulder is not a safe movement pattern and not used by the people that can clean and jerk two 70lb kettlebells 35+ times in a row…so you shouldn’t do it either.  

Remember that the importance is always on learning skills with a good understanding of the form and technique we are trying to learn. It doesn’t matter if you are cleaning a 70lb kettlebell or snatching a 200lb barbell… we want you to look good regardless of the weight. A deeper understanding and better practice of high technique moves will push your fitness and the journey along better. So the next time you have kettlebell press, front squat, push press, front rack carry or lunge… let’s make sure you set up correctly, even though it is a bit more difficult. The anguish and struggle in those reps will transfer into strength and better development in your fitness.

Just in case you still don’t believe me that this is the proper way people hold kettlebells…check out these two videos. Both are extremely high level kettlebell sport athletes performing world record attempts of the kettlebell long cycle, which is consecutive two handed kettlebell clean and jerks. If you aren’t familiar with kilograms, 40kg is 88lbs for the dude and 24kg is 53lbs for the lady! Enjoy the videos and I will see you next week!
Coach P