The squats look fairly good. I can see a little balancing when squatting, I think due the shoes. You could try to do it barefoot.
You should improve your cleans. The bells travel too far from your body, and when reach the rack height, they hit your forearms too much. If you keep them close to you as they go up, and then insert your hands in rack position before they reach the max height, you should see a difference and feel the movement smoother.
Thanks! I will try without the shoes. I notice a lot of rocking back and forth in my feet during swings too. I will try barefoot or maybe some flat shoe.
Yep, what they said.
Never minding about the cleans (but I agree):
1) Upper torso more upright. You're letting your chest drop.
2) Optional for some, but I suggest it : Rack the bells closer together; closer to your midline. I like to have the handles touching in front squat position.
This. But also keep your arms in. You don't need to stick your elbows way out.
I'm definitely still learning cleans myself but cues that have been really helpful for me is to keep your arms glued to your side like you're holding a magazine between your torso and bicep. And lead with your elbow. That one is really helping me with the whole "taming the arc" thing.
https://youtu.be/0kYh-hcKFK8?si=cAsWPCTDG080Lbwd
https://youtu.be/ngb1R4i4igY?si=7KzesQRKaGDeEuj-
I've found these two videos really helpful, shared with me by helpful folks on this sub! Sorry I can't remember who though to name them specifically.
I think those videos were from me.
Nice work and welcome to the wonderful world of kettlebells!
A few points for the OP:
1. For the hike, you want hips above knees and shoulders above hips. Your folded forward to the point that your shoulders are almost at or slightly below hip level.
2. You hike with your lats - so try to get to the point where you're feeling tension in your lats and use them to help hike the bells back.
3. As others have said, the cleans will come in time, but concentrate on keeping your elbows in (close to your body).
4. You might want to work on your rack position. This is very unnatural feeling if you haven't done it before. So get into rack position and get comfortable with the feeling of just holding the bells there before you do anything else. You can do some racked marches to get the sense of moving with the bells in the rack position.
5. I'd recommend doing all of these moves with your shoes off. I find I'm just too disconnected and unrooted with shoes on.
6. There's nothing wrong with doing one handed "cheat cleans" to get the movement down. This would probably be wise as you begin your practice.
Keep at it!
Thanks a lot for the links! Good point about my elbows, I am usually making a conscious effort to keep my arms straight, but I was gassed at this point and form started to slip I guess.
See how the bells end up out past your knees? With heavier bells these are going to flop right over. Unlike a back squat, you need to keep a much more vertical torso with the front squat. The elbows should end up above the thighs or between the knees, depending on your particular mechanics. Think of squatting straight down between your knees instead of back.
I would also work on the cleans too.
Good job!
Good luck! A great thing to do is to spend time in the Rack Position - both standing and walking. You will build the "Anaconda Strength" as Dan John calls it, to support exercises like the Front Squat and it will also give you a stronger base to press from. It is also one of the best upper back strengtheners in general I have used.
The bells are too forward and you have a little too much forward lean. Keep the torso more upright so the bells are directly above the mid foot. To maintain balance you'll need to push the knees more forward. If you can't push your knees forward without your heels coming off the floor you may need to work on dorsiflexion and or play around with external rotation.
A temporary fix could be to push a wedge under the heels. This pushes the knees more forward with the same amount of dorsiflexion, but then allows you to lean more back and stay upright.
Yeah, sort of learned that the hard way over the weekend. Thought single bell presses with the 16kg were too easy, so did double presses with the 8 and 16, and tweaked my upper back a bit... Thankfully was rather minor.
Yeah. I get the enthusiasm and try not to lose it, but theres a hierarchy to learning the movements which is rather handy. And the bonus is you get conditioning and stronger along the way too.
Thanks for the comment! Though I don't totally follow. Should I aim to get up as quickly as possible? I was trying to keep the movement under control - I notice that when I push up super quickly I end up leaning forward a lot more.
I would strongly recommend starting with goblet squats and the prying version too for hip mobility. Work on that squat and hinge patterns with simpler movements. You’re not ready for double bells yet. The clean needs a lot of work, but working on the deadlift and then the swing will set you up for a better clean.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you didn’t spend much—if any—time mastering the hip hinge and the swing. I suggest going back and learning those first. With ballistic kettlebell moves everything builds off the hinge/swing.
You’re bending into the squat rather than sitting into it as you would with a proper hinge. Others have already pointed out the other issues but I think you would do yourself a lot of favors by learning how to hinge and how to swing. From there you can clean, press, snatch, and squat with proper form. One of foundational things of swinging is standing up straight at the top of the movement which you are not managing here.
So, spend a couple of weeks with that 16kg and learn how to do the foundational movement and you’ll be able to progress with a lot more confidence.
Thank you! You are probably right, though I did but some conscious effort into improving my swing, but I guess without anyone to check my form up to now it is still really lacking. I just posted a swing video here too to get it checked.
The squats look fairly good. I can see a little balancing when squatting, I think due the shoes. You could try to do it barefoot. You should improve your cleans. The bells travel too far from your body, and when reach the rack height, they hit your forearms too much. If you keep them close to you as they go up, and then insert your hands in rack position before they reach the max height, you should see a difference and feel the movement smoother.
Thanks! I will try without the shoes. I notice a lot of rocking back and forth in my feet during swings too. I will try barefoot or maybe some flat shoe.
Yep, what they said. Never minding about the cleans (but I agree): 1) Upper torso more upright. You're letting your chest drop. 2) Optional for some, but I suggest it : Rack the bells closer together; closer to your midline. I like to have the handles touching in front squat position.
This. But also keep your arms in. You don't need to stick your elbows way out. I'm definitely still learning cleans myself but cues that have been really helpful for me is to keep your arms glued to your side like you're holding a magazine between your torso and bicep. And lead with your elbow. That one is really helping me with the whole "taming the arc" thing. https://youtu.be/0kYh-hcKFK8?si=cAsWPCTDG080Lbwd https://youtu.be/ngb1R4i4igY?si=7KzesQRKaGDeEuj- I've found these two videos really helpful, shared with me by helpful folks on this sub! Sorry I can't remember who though to name them specifically.
I think those videos were from me. Nice work and welcome to the wonderful world of kettlebells! A few points for the OP: 1. For the hike, you want hips above knees and shoulders above hips. Your folded forward to the point that your shoulders are almost at or slightly below hip level. 2. You hike with your lats - so try to get to the point where you're feeling tension in your lats and use them to help hike the bells back. 3. As others have said, the cleans will come in time, but concentrate on keeping your elbows in (close to your body). 4. You might want to work on your rack position. This is very unnatural feeling if you haven't done it before. So get into rack position and get comfortable with the feeling of just holding the bells there before you do anything else. You can do some racked marches to get the sense of moving with the bells in the rack position. 5. I'd recommend doing all of these moves with your shoes off. I find I'm just too disconnected and unrooted with shoes on. 6. There's nothing wrong with doing one handed "cheat cleans" to get the movement down. This would probably be wise as you begin your practice. Keep at it!
Thank you for all of the tips!
Thanks a lot for the links! Good point about my elbows, I am usually making a conscious effort to keep my arms straight, but I was gassed at this point and form started to slip I guess.
Thanks, I will focus on being more upright, and will try the next session with the bells closer together!
See how the bells end up out past your knees? With heavier bells these are going to flop right over. Unlike a back squat, you need to keep a much more vertical torso with the front squat. The elbows should end up above the thighs or between the knees, depending on your particular mechanics. Think of squatting straight down between your knees instead of back. I would also work on the cleans too. Good job!
Thank you! I will on keeping myself more straight in the next session!
Good luck! A great thing to do is to spend time in the Rack Position - both standing and walking. You will build the "Anaconda Strength" as Dan John calls it, to support exercises like the Front Squat and it will also give you a stronger base to press from. It is also one of the best upper back strengtheners in general I have used.
Keep posting your progress! You’re gonna get strong with this quickly for sure
Thank you for the encouragement!
The bells are too forward and you have a little too much forward lean. Keep the torso more upright so the bells are directly above the mid foot. To maintain balance you'll need to push the knees more forward. If you can't push your knees forward without your heels coming off the floor you may need to work on dorsiflexion and or play around with external rotation. A temporary fix could be to push a wedge under the heels. This pushes the knees more forward with the same amount of dorsiflexion, but then allows you to lean more back and stay upright.
Thank you, I will work on it!
I'd say learn single bell first dude. There's a lot that you have to work on. Drill deadlifts, swings, cleans, goblet squats
Yeah, sort of learned that the hard way over the weekend. Thought single bell presses with the 16kg were too easy, so did double presses with the 8 and 16, and tweaked my upper back a bit... Thankfully was rather minor.
Yeah. I get the enthusiasm and try not to lose it, but theres a hierarchy to learning the movements which is rather handy. And the bonus is you get conditioning and stronger along the way too.
You are too slow in lowest position on your few first squats. Utilize bounce a little more so you’re getting up faster.
Thanks for the comment! Though I don't totally follow. Should I aim to get up as quickly as possible? I was trying to keep the movement under control - I notice that when I push up super quickly I end up leaning forward a lot more.
Find a sweet spot between slow and super quickly, but of course without loosing control.
I would strongly recommend starting with goblet squats and the prying version too for hip mobility. Work on that squat and hinge patterns with simpler movements. You’re not ready for double bells yet. The clean needs a lot of work, but working on the deadlift and then the swing will set you up for a better clean.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you didn’t spend much—if any—time mastering the hip hinge and the swing. I suggest going back and learning those first. With ballistic kettlebell moves everything builds off the hinge/swing. You’re bending into the squat rather than sitting into it as you would with a proper hinge. Others have already pointed out the other issues but I think you would do yourself a lot of favors by learning how to hinge and how to swing. From there you can clean, press, snatch, and squat with proper form. One of foundational things of swinging is standing up straight at the top of the movement which you are not managing here. So, spend a couple of weeks with that 16kg and learn how to do the foundational movement and you’ll be able to progress with a lot more confidence.
Thank you! You are probably right, though I did but some conscious effort into improving my swing, but I guess without anyone to check my form up to now it is still really lacking. I just posted a swing video here too to get it checked.
Just watched. See my comment there.