Saturday, May 10, 2008

Wow, I really wish you would stop doing that.

Sometimes you just have to say "Hey, my bad, I didn't know. I'll stop doing that."
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. Just my opinion.
That's all.

10 comments:

  1. man, my sentiments exactly! that is just hard to look at.

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  2. Solution looking for a problem. "American" swing. LOL!

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  3. do you want to see it in motion:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mepY0l4pRpM&feature=related

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  4. I saw the video with Lauren Brooks. I respect Lauren, but I still don't see the point of this exercise. Just snatch.

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  5. out of curiosity I tried it and I have to say it is dangerous. I have decent grip strength and I stopped a 24kg right over my head but it wiggled a bit while in fixation. I can easily see where the slightest error or lapse in concentration would result in the kettlebell slipped behind you, smacking your wrists and possibly your head.

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  6. I agree, Lauren is a good trainer, even if I disagree with instructing the 'American swing', as I feel like I've spent half my life fixing 'American swings'.
    For a more detailed and entertaining explanation of why they do it check out this link www.crossfit.com/journal/library/25_04_kettlebell_swing.pdf
    The part I love is when they go to quite some length to explain how you don't do half rep push ups or pull ups, so why stop the swing half way? By that same logic, why shouldn't I have all of my clients start trying to do 'clap behind the head push up'?
    Because it's dangerous, that's why.
    Also, if you check the math in their swing comparison it belies a greater problem in that they state the average person hits 47 'Russian Swings' per minute. Rif mentoined this once and I have seen it as well, that everyone seems to swing right about 40 swings per minute, give or take. So what's up? A case of not knowing enough to know you don't know.
    I also can't help but point out this quote from the Crossfit Journal #1:
    "With the exception of the two armed swing most of the kettlebell exercises have been more novelty than productive. Additionally, most of the exercises featured in Pavel's videotape can be equally or better facilitated with dumbbells than the kettlebell."
    However, they are getting better as they've brought Jeff Martone in to fix them, and they may actually figure it out someday.

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  7. I really hate it when something I see makes me want to spew hot lava.

    Crossfit can do whatever it wants in terms of exercise, but criticizing the very methods and tools it adopted is going too far. And they seem smug about it.

    Not everyone is an ex-collegiate athlete who misses the thrill of working his ass into a froth and then puking. Most people want to train intelligently within their limitations, while gradually improving the measurements of fitness.

    RKC and all of Pavel's published works support this goal and educate the end users about the methods, so they can eventually become smart and self-guiding. How can you criticize this?

    That guy in the article shows really good form with the 2-handed, 16kg, Crossfit swing over his head. I don't have the flexibility to do that myself, so I guess I don't have the talent to do Crossfit. Instead, I'll swing my 40kg to eye height with ONE hand and dream about what might have been.

    As for partial pullups, I do them all the time. They're called pullups. The entire movement, brought to conclusion, is a muscle-up. I guess if you can't do a muscle-up, you should just quit.

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  8. Aaron, I really wish you would stop beating around the bush and tell us how you really feel. :)

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  9. Live it up and enjoy the scenery! Just don't set fire to the bus that brought you there.

    RKC chicks are just as hot as Crossfit chicks, and I expect that is what this is all about.

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