Issue 019
October 2006
Combat athletes require many attributes to be a complete fighter. Ask anyone who competes in whichever combat discipline and they’ll mention the usual suspects, in terms of physical traits, including explosive power, speed, strength, endurance and intestinal fortitude (guts to you and me!) We also must not forget technique, “Skills pay the bills” as the saying goes.
The current trend is for combat athletes to train in the same manner as power lifters or body-builders. This baffles me, as I’ve stated before, more so than nuclear physics!! However, this month’s focus is on an often-neglected area in any combat athlete’s training programme. Many athletes believe that their usual weights routine will provide their entire grip training needs. Up to a point, this is true. Some specific work is also a very good idea. All fighters need hand and forearm strength. Strikers such as boxers and kick boxers need their hands to throw punches, grapplers, conversely need to be able to manhandle their opposition into positions they do not want to be in. Strong hands are a must! Most of you, I’m sure, will have experienced the forearm pump that comes from gi grappling or no-gi grappling. Trying to hold a “Kimura” when your opponent is Hell-bent on keeping his/her shoulder in place can quickly fill your lower arms with lactic acid causing your grip to weaken and fail! I’ve mentioned before that weak links in the chain are devastating to fighters. Moreover, fight night is not the place to find out what those weak links are!! If your grip goes on holiday in the middle of a fight, it can take some time to recover!
So where do kettlebells fit in?
The unique anatomy of a kettlebell, in terms of the handle size and extra leverage means that a kettlebell offers a much better yield in terms of grip strength benefits.
The following four drills are just twists to the basics, a way of beefing up your routines while adding a sick dimension to your hands. Adding some sets of these to the end of your regime will help cover any chinks in your armour, as far as grip strength is concerned. As usual, any probs just mail me [email protected]
Oven Glove Swings, Cleans and Snatches:-
Yes you did read correctly!! The extra padding in an oven glove is a great grip strength sapper. It just depends if you can get past the feeling of stupidity. But convention is not something I like in my training. Certain coaches believe you should routinely perform all drills with them on including pull-ups and chins etc. After a period of time using this method, you’ll notice the difference when you revert back to normal. Why is there such a benefit? It’s simply that there is a greater need to grip tightly on the handle to afford greater control. If the sideways glances from people are too much to bear, then you could use a type of woollen glove such as “Thinsulate” for example. The only downside to this is they are very thin as opposed to oven gloves, which are very thick.
Hand to hand swings:-
This is another great drill but one that should be performed outside or on a suitable floor such as a gym. The movement involves performing a one-arm swing and at the top of the exercise, you release the handle and catch it with the other hand. It’s possible to switch hands every rep or as often as you like for your desired rep scheme. As a progression, you can take the kettlebell higher before you change hands or you can do as my friend Stan Pike does and flip the kettlebell catching it by the handle or by the bell itself. This is definitely a more advanced version however, and best left alone until you’re confident with normal hand-to-hand swings. This drill trains ballistic grip strength, which we all use when trying to isolate an arm and changing grips constantly.
Bottom-up Clean & Press:-
This is a drill that eluded me for a long time. And I’m still not great at it!!! The movement basically resembles an exaggerated hammer curl to bring the bell up to your shoulder. It is not the same as a normal clean. As the name suggests, it involves holding the kettlebell by the handle but with the bottom facing up as shown in the pictures. This takes extreme crushing strength to prevent the kettlebell from flipping over either side of your arm. Squeeze the handle tightly – visualise crushing it. Then all you do is try a straight-forward military press overhead.
“Homer Simpsons”
I “borrowed” this drill from Jim Smith at Diesel Crew – he calls this the kettlebell assault. I prefer to think of Homer throttling Bart while uttering the words, “Why you little…” It’s another explosive drill and at the top position there is an isometric hold. It also quickly taxes the cardiovascular system – although you don’t realise it as you’re concentrating on the grip and catch element of the drill.
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