Friday, January 19, 2024

Kettlebell Arm Bar

This is the exercise that I was doing when I suffered my first shoulder injury. Trainees have always been advised to work with a relatively kettlebell for safety. I foolishly chose a relatively heavy kettlebell instead. The consequence of that choice was that I lost control of the KB while practicing the exercise and dropped the KB, which in turn injured the shoulder.

I was trying out the KB Arm Bar in the first place because practicing it is supposed to improve shoulder mobility and stability. The KB Arm Bar also improves t-spine mobility and lat strength, and fine tunes your overhead mechanics for presses, Turkish Getup, etc.

I did not attempt this exercise again until this week. I just never thought of buying a KB light enough to allow me to practice the KB Arm Bar with less fear of re-injuring the shoulder.



Zack Henderson recommends including the KB Arm Bar as part of one's upper body warm up, holding 45-60 seconds per side for 1-2 sets.

The lightest KB I have is 8kg. It is enough weight to challenge me to maintain the vertical position of the working arm, while working into the stretch. Some time may pass before I feel confident to try this exercise with a heavier KB.

No comments:

Post a Comment