Club Swinging Basics

by Atomic Athletic on Monday, July 25, 2011 at 1:03pm

I have a torn rotator cuff.  The tearing of it had nothing to do with Olympic lifting, but it has had a greater effect on it than almost any other factor in my life.  It happened twelve years ago, so this is nothing new.

Thanks to Indian Club training I am back doing full snatches several times a week.  I almost always do some sort of Indian club swinging every workout.  In fact, sometimes I will just do the clubs and no other work.  It all depends on my schedule and how I feel.

This is what makes the clubs so great: circles and arcs. 

The weight you use with the clubs is less important to me than what I am doing with them.  You see, in addition to the actual weight of a club, you also have leverage and centrifugal force.  That means you can get added resistance, with exactly the same exercise, simply by increasing the speed of your swing.  Add in the fact that, done properly, the range of motion will stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons in ways that can't be done with barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells, and you have a really powerful and important tool for your training arsenal.

TRY THIS

This is for anyone who does not yet own a pair of Indian clubs. 

1.Take an empty dumbbell bar.  Grab it by one end with one hand.  Hold it in front of your body, almost like a sword, with your arm bent at 90 degrees.

2.Now let that bar swing straight back, as if you are attempting a triceps kickback, then right back up into the starting, or Presentation, position.

That tiny little taste of what is possible with a real club should get you hooked.

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

PS. I always recommend that new club swingers start with a one or two pound pair.  Then study that DVD.  Really learn those basic movements.  Be insane about technique.  Work on that technique every time you train.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=IC121BKC