The kettlebell standing pull-over is what I call this kettlebell exercise, it’s an amazing exercise that I use for mobility and strength. A light weight for mobility work and a medium for strength.
This exercise is good for:
- shoulder strength
- tricep strength
- shoulder mobility
- tricep flexibility
- thoracic mobility
- lat flexibility
- grip strength
- full body stability
If you’re doing mobility work with this exercise then you want to go slower, lighter and pause more once the kettlebell is hanging behind you. You perform this exercise as following:
- stand in a neutral position
- use an upside down horn grip
- keep the kettlebell several inches away from your body at all times
- start by raising the kettlebell over one shoulder as close to the ear as possible
- while doing so, one arm almost shaves the head on one side
- keep the handle as close to horizontally aligned as possible
- do not let the elbows flare out, keep them inline with the starting position
- bring the kettlebell as far back as is safely possible
- at this stage you engage the lats actively to protect the shoulders
- let the kettlebell pull your arms back and down
- push your chest out, feel the thoracic open up
- feel the stretch in your triceps and lats
- maintain this position for a moment
- keep breathing
- start pulling the kettlebell back to the front over the other shoulder
- bring the kettlebell all the way down to the belly button
- repeat on the same side or alternate
You can also bring the kettlebell directly over the head and back if you have more flexibility.
Although this resembles a kettlebell halo, it’s not, the halo forms a circular motion around the head, this is more of an oval motion or direct line back and forth over the head, the halo also does not go this far back behind the head.
If you start to experience issues with this exercise then you’ve probably moved too explosively, let it pull too far, used a kettlebell too heavy, did not rest appropriately, did not engage the lats or did not maintain correct posture and technique.
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PS. open to better naming for this exercise, the first part is a raise and only the last part is a pull, but the name standing pull-over resonates with me. Your thoughts below or on this facebook post here.