Kettlebells for Olympic Weightlifting

[James Evans]

This may be of interest:

http://e-strengthsolutions.blogspot....htlifting.html

[Steve Shafley]

I think Mike Burgener's and Dan John's use of the kbs is more appropriate for olympic lifters, kind of as a synegistic accessory for the classical lifts.

While the kb might give you a feel for the lift, it's still nothing like a barbell.

It's like deadlifting a kettlebell....yeah, it's a deadlift, but the real lift is done with a barbell.

[Dave Van Skike]

Originally Posted by Steve Shafley

I think Mike Burgener's and Dan John's use of the kbs is more appropriate for olympic lifters, kind of as a synegistic accessory for the classical lifts.

While the kb might give you a feel for the lift, it's still nothing like a barbell.

It's like deadlifting a kettlebell....yeah, it's a deadlift, but the real lift is done with a barbell.

IMHO, done "correctly" the KB and BB versions lof teh snatch and c&j ook nothing alike.

[Danny John]

I wouldn't use kbells to help O lift tech...I would use them to prep the athlete for the O lifts. Hell, I can go years w/o doing an O lift and still lift well on the platform.

[Pierre Auge]

WARNING !HIJACK!

Danny,
I want your opinion on that statement you just made, relative this one:

Would that be true had you stopped lifting only a year or two after
you started. I think the answer would be no, but I'd like your thoughts.

My point is your statement is open ended, yes I agree a masters lifter after years of lifting could lay off and the neuro pathways that made you a good lifter years before are so well developed that you can call up those skills on command.

But for a very good young lifter who lays off for 20 years and comes back as a masters lifter though some of the basic kinesthetic awareness may be there, this athlete may still need some level of technical rehash. Like rebooting your computer. Clear the memory, clear the cache and load the program anew!

I may just be pondering over nothing, for I have nothing better to do!

Anyway I agree that kettlebells are not the answer to improving technical ability in the lifts. They are a great, simple tool for getting yourself into condition to lift as DJ said. But so is lifting! So whatever!!! The thing is they have a funny way of letting you work around inflexibility and injuries where dumbbells being more unstable and linear can sometimes complicate things.

I just say this about the difference:
The Kettlebell it to the long jump what the Bar is to the vertical! Neither the same but similar enough to confuse...

[Danny John]

The track and field issue is similar, but different. Throwers throw...jumpers jump. The more I can get my high jumper David Cassel to jump, the better he does. I find that Highland Games help my discus throwers as much as going to another discus clinic.

The mental cache issue is quite right, I think...let me think about this...