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Old 12-06-13, 03:56 AM  
bex
 
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Shanghai, China
Would you recommend Athletica to strengthen my wrists for KB workouts?

I've just started doing kettlebells and I this new form of exercise.

My problem is that, for historical reasons, my my wrists and shoulders are a lot weaker than the rest of me.

So I can use a 8kg or 10kg bell for swings (and go even heavier for squats and deadlifts), but for UB moves (clean, presses, or jerks), I can only hold 4kg. Which leaves me feeling like I haven't really worked out. My gym doesn't have anything between 4 and 8kg.

I know I could just keep doing the moves and eventually my wrists will probably catch up. But I want to get my workout in!

Would Ilaria's Athletica be a good transition? One reason I thought of it is that I have access to a much wider range of dumbbells than KBs, so I could work my way up in stages.

Or should I just buy a 6kg KB and treat it as a transitional tool?

Any advice welcome!
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Old 12-06-13, 05:09 AM  
starbelly
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Netherlands
My overhead presses improved a lot with Drop 2 Sizes. I got really strong all over with that program. I went back to KB workouts because I enjoy them, but the strength gains from D2S were amazing.

If you want to try Atletica, all of them are available for streaming on Fitnessclass.com. It's only $10/month so you can see if you like them before you buy them.
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Old 12-06-13, 01:29 PM  
4leftlimbs
 
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I haven't tried Atletica yet, but to piggyback on what starbelly said, Drop 2 Sizes improved my forearm strength - 1st time, at least as far as I've noticed, that that happened. (Unfortunately, since I have moved on to other workouts, my forearms are back to what they were.) I did do the full D2S three-month program, so that may be a longer investment in time than you'd like to prep yourself for kettlebells. Of course, you may develop your strength quicker than me - I used, at most, 12.5 lb dumbbells. I would've liked to use heavier weights, but that was the heaviest I had (well, I did use my 15 lb kettlebell for a few of the moves).
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Old 12-06-13, 02:49 PM  
MamaBecca
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
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I don't have any experience with Atletica (although it looks awesome!) but I had great success in improving forearm and upper arm strength from doing carries -- farmers, waiters, racked. And if i didn't have room to carry, I just did holds and all my kb lifts went up. Just another idea to try!
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Old 12-06-13, 07:11 PM  
lreidgreen
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I agree with Becky. I have been doing farmers walks and they are excellent for grip, wrist and forearm strength. I may try racked carries tomorrow.
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Old 12-06-13, 08:19 PM  
Sophie
 
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Location: Alberta
Quote:
Originally Posted by MamaBecca View Post
I don't have any experience with Atletica (although it looks awesome!) but I had great success in improving forearm and upper arm strength from doing carries -- farmers, waiters, racked. And if i didn't have room to carry, I just did holds and all my kb lifts went up. Just another idea to try!
I love Atletica (v1, 2, and 3, anyway) and think it's a great workout - but I think Becky's suggestion is excellent. Atletica has lots of combinations that include cleans, presses, push presses, halos, etc - and that will help too. But if you don't feel like getting a whole new workout, do what Becky does. It will certainly help.
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Old 12-06-13, 11:44 PM  
bex
 
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Thanks everyone for your answers.

I definitely could do more to improve my grip strength, but I think the main problem not quite that. I need to work on the stabilizing muscles - for example, the ones that keep your wrist straight when you're doing a press.

And likewise the ones that stabilize the shoulder joint - for example, lifting my hips when I tried a 1/2 get up, with just bodyweight, absolutely kills the shoulder of the supporting arm.

I think I just need recognize that I'm starting from an extremely weak base (in those particular muscles) and work my way up. So although I have an embarrassing number of untried DVDs, I guess I'll be ordering Athletica.

starbelly, I would love to try your suggestion but streaming just doesn't work in China.

Thanks again!
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Old 12-07-13, 12:09 AM  
Sophie
 
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Originally Posted by bex View Post
I definitely could do more to improve my grip strength, but I think the main problem not quite that. I need to work on the stabilizing muscles - for example, the ones that keep your wrist straight when you're doing a press.
Yeah, those are all related. The waiter and rack carries that Becky mentions would help with those.

Having trouble with the supporting shoulder in a half getup is something of a concern - how do you do with plank variations? not just face down, but side plank, upward facing, etc.

Atletica is great, but it can actually be quite taxing for the shoulders if that is really a challenged area for you. Not to discourage you from trying it - but to encourage you to be willing to go light and end the set early if needed.

To be honest, it's possible that something like Tonique (Energy mat), Dream Body, or TA might be better in that regard if the half getup is giving you problems, because of all the plank-y, stabilizer work that goes on.
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Old 12-07-13, 08:30 AM  
bex
 
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Ah, just looked at youtube videos of the raked and waiters carry with KBs. You're all right, I should definitely do these!

And I have Tonique Energy Sprint but haven't done it, so I will do that first and see if it helps.

Thanks for talking me out of buying another workout.

(Who am I kidding - I'll put Athletica on my wishlist and buy it next year....)
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Old 12-07-13, 10:54 AM  
Sophie
 
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There's a shoulder drill I used to do when I was having issues that helped a lot for - well, everything. The closest thing I can find to it is this youtube video, the part I mean is about 5:45 or so:

Shoulder mobility

and I actually learned this one just this week - it showed up on Lifehackr, of all places. It's awesome for people (like me) with shoulder issues (done carefully).

Thoracic bridge
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