To remind you the reasons for “flowing”:
- Active rest
- Developing muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance
- To address weak links
- To improve the tension and relaxation skills
- To refine the technique of specific exercises with particular exercise sequences
Let us take them apart and see whether they apply to you. |
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If you are seriously training for sport that demands significant strength, you should consider it. |
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2. Developing muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance
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Lay people believe that as long as they get their hearts rate up in any manner, they will improve their “conditioning.” Not at all.
In order to improve the endurance of a given muscle, it must perform a high volume of work. Your body has a finite amount of energy. You could focus it on one or two exercises—or spread it over many. The choice is yours.
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(Heaviest Weight Lifted by Kettlebell Swing in One Hour) by doing a lot of swings—and nothing but the swings. |
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As for the “cardio,” make sure that your “flow” enables free circulation. That means either using a very light weight—not our favorite tactic—or focusing on quick lifts. In swings, cleans, snatches, and jerks, contractions are quick and pauses between them allow the blood to flow.
Heavy “grinds” are great for building strength—but they are a bad choice for “cardio.” If you want to know why, come to the Strong Endurance™ seminar. |
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If you know how to assess what they are and how to fix them, you could give “flows” a shot.
If you have no clue, forget it. The last thing you need are “random acts of variety.”
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4. To improve the tension and relaxation skills
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Go for it—provided that you have the kettlebell fundamentals dialed in and you have developed the “training as a practice” mentality. Mindlessly following a “workout” will do nothing.
Heavy quick lifts—swings, cleans, snatches, jerks, bottom-up drills, and juggling—are especially effective. |
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5. To refine the technique of specific exercises with particular exercise sequences
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Unless your coach is an SFG II certified instructor, forget it.
The bottom line on “flows” and many other effective but specialized methods is: implementing them correctly takes a lot of knowledge. Doing it haphazardly is a waste of time or worse. |
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