In our 65,000 large Kettlebell Community, I posted a poll with my opinion on Kettlebell Prep Work which is the work we do after the warm-up and before the workout. Yes, part of the prep work can be considered as warming up, but some parts are not what one would do in a warm-up and therefore it is called Prep Work.
“Prep work is such an important part of training but is often neglected, resulting in injury.”
I received the following response, which I like because it requires me to think deeply and justify my statement/opinion.
Response
I would disagree – I think it depends on what you define as „prep-work“.
For most people I guess that what you consider prepwork is a part of their regular warm up.
Also, I don’t think that „skipping“ prepwork necessarily „results“ in injury.
Any „wrong“ type of training results in injury – no matter if it is incorrect programming or incorrect execution or whatever … a well designed warm up that is specific to the main workout will achieve- and include – a sufficient and injury preventing preparation.
I think the rest is semantics – you use the terminology „prepwork“ and it fits excellent in your way of programming and teaching. 👍💪
Others may use other terminology and classify what you do for prep work as part of warm ups – so they are not „neglecting“ it, they may just use different terminology for roughly the same training principles… 🤷♂️
My thoughts as a reply.
I am not going to write a whole long intro that will make everyone fall asleep. I keep it simple (it’s a poll). In general, the statement I made applies. But for clarity.
A warm-up. Bodyweight. Yes, include movements that are used in the workout. The main objective is to WARM UP. Depending on how long you make your warm-up, maybe you include prep work in your warm-up and call it a Warm-Up instead of a Warm-up and Prep Work. We separate it into Warm-Up and Prep Work to be clear but also because there are differences.
Example: The warm-up is light bodyweight work to get the blood flowing, etc. Next, you have your heavy workout. Most people go from a light bodyweight warm-up into a heavy workout. We do prep, which includes gradually increasing the load. This is to confirm whether the body is actually ready for the weight you think you want to use. Because thinking you are ready for 2 x 28kg today can be different than what your body is actually ready for. Prep will give you the signs.
Not gradually loading is a higher risk of injury. It is a high risk with beginners.
Next. Beginners. The workouts programmed are usually more advanced than they are ready for. They should use the prep together with the Common Mistakes, Programming, and Alternatives and Progressions (videos/information) to figure out whether they need to scale and adjust the programming. This is done in the prep.
Not scaling is a higher risk of injury. It is a high risk with beginners.
To us, Prep Work is also working with a higher focus on control rather than speed and intensity. For example, a warm-up is usually faster-paced because the intention is to warm the body up.
Now, I could go on…. if you disagree what that, no problem, but this is how we operate. 
The following video is an example of the type of Prep Work we do. This work was done after a warm-up and before the workout which was:
Heavy work
2 × double kettlebell overhead alternating reverse lunge
1 minute
1 × TGU on each side
1 minute (30 seconds per side)
1 × Windmill on each side
1 minute (30 seconds per side)
Mobility
2 minutes
6 rounds
Following is a video with some thoughts on staying injury-free which for us Prep Work is a big part of.
For more info on a kettlebell warm-up for beginners, please check out the free IKU™ Beginners Guide here.
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