I got a fever! And the only prescription is more kettlebell!

Throughout college I have encountered short, sporadic periods of lower back pain.  Last week I approached my crossfit instructor and asked her for any tips or tricks to alleviate and ultimately eliminate this problem. She explained to me that the majority of muscular lower back pain is caused by a muscular imbalance called lower crossed syndrome.  This muscle imbalance can occur from spending a large percentage of your day in the seated position (as an electrical engineering student I am an not surprised it happened to me).  In simplified terms, lower crossed syndrome occurs when you have tight hip muscles from sitting too much, which in turn deactivates your butt muscles, making them weak.  This imbalance then causes your lower back to become tight which then deactivates and weakens your abdominal muscles, resulting in an imbalanced cross of muscles illustrated below:

I was expecting to receive instruction on lower back and possibly hip stretches, but to my surprise the solution was a whole-body strength and conditioning exercise called the kettlebell swing.

Featured Exercise

Even if you do not suffer from a tight lower back or a weak core, the kettlebell swing is still a great strength and conditioning exercise for building lower body and core strength.  It can also be modified with lighter weight and higher repetition frequency to improve cardiovascular conditioning.  

One repetition of a kettlebell swing is completed using the following:

1. Start with your feet shoulder width apart with the kettlebell resting in your hands.
2. Squat down, moving your hips back and bending your knees slightly, so that the kettlebell swings between your legs and is slightly behind your heals.  It is important to keep a neutral spine (do not hunch over and look straight down at the floor) and ensure that the majority of the weight is loaded in your heels.
3. Drive up from the squat position, fully extending your hips so that you are in an upright standing position.  Ensure that the weight remains loaded in your heals at the bottom of the drive and transitions to a more even distribution as you approach an upright position.
4. Keep your arms extended with the weight in your hands during the upward drive (slight bend in elbows).  The momentum of the drive will cause the kettlebell to swing upward usually reaching its peak between parallel with shoulders to directly overhead.
5. As the kettlebell begins to fall keep your arms extended and as the kettlebell approaches the bottom of its swing, extend your hips back and slightly bend your knees, allowing the kettlebell to swing between your legs and slightly behind the heels of your feet.  Remember to keep and neutral spine and load the weight in your heals while in the bottom of the swing.
6. Once at the bottom of the swing, begin next repetition by repeating steps 3-6. 

The image below illustrates the proper form described.  For additional technique guidance, refer to this video.

Status Update

At the start of this blog I weighed 222 lbs with a 37 in waist.  At my first check-in (2 weeks in) I weight 219 lbs with a 35.5 in waist.  Today I weighed in at 217 lbs with a 34.5 in waist.  My goal for this weigh in was to weigh between 215-220 lbs (met that goal) and have a 34 in waist (close but no cigar).  I did however, enjoy myself a little too much over the St. Patty's day weekend and allowed more than a few cheat days with my diet which most likely contributed to not meeting my waist measurement goal.  With respect to my strength and cardiovascular abilities, my strength has increased in all areas, and my 1.5 mile run time has decreased.  Overall, I am happy with the progress being made. 

Final approach in sight.  Over and out.

MJH