Name: Playbook - TrickStrong RX - KB Warmup x Conditioning for Tricking
Uploaded: 2023-08-14T03:49:26.743Z
Duration: 15 min
Description: KB Warmup x Conditioning for Tricking

I think I've just found my new fave warm up!

Phillip

Challenging but rewarding at the same time

Baniaga

🤔What kind of movements are you doing to prepare for the demands of your session? Do you kinda... just start?

📚When done properly, warmups have been shown to improve performance and reduce injury risk. 

💯Kettlebells are one of the greatest conditioning tools of all time. They can help enhance strength, stability, mobility and coordination in unique ways. Doesn't take much - i'm using a 25 lb and 50 lb one here but you can start as light as 10-15 lbs. 

Remember, a good warmup leaves you prepared to move, not exhausted! 

On the other hand, a good conditioning session should be difficult and challenging. 

If you’re doing this as a warmup for a Tricking session, use a 50-70% intensity level per exercise and do just one round. This will take you about 10 minutes. 

If you’re doing this to strengthen your body and condition for Tricking, do this at 70%-90% intensity for 2 to 3 rounds. Rest minimally between exercises. Rest about 90-120 seconds between rounds of the circuit. Push yourself! 

Feel free to modify reps and exercises as needed. 

Let's get it!

If you’re doing this as a warmup for a Tricking session, use a 50-70% intensity level per exercise and do just one round. This will take you about 10 minutes. 

If you’re doing this to strengthen your body and condition for Tricking, do this at 70%-90% intensity for 2 to 3 rounds. Rest minimally between exercises. Rest about 90-120 seconds between rounds of the circuit. Push yourself! 

Feel free to modify reps and exercises as needed.

*Do Both sides
KB swings are great for building explosiveness in our hinging pattern. This is important for any athletic activity, including jumping, landing, running, cutting and pivoting. 

Doing this with one arm is more challenging to stabilize as it is asymmetrical.

The deadlift is very effective in strengthening the hip hinge, whereas the KB swing stresses power. Like the deadlift, we need to maintain a neutral spine when doing this. The core stability we need is much more dynamic as we move quickly through this exercise. 

Start with a KB between your legs. Bend at the hips and knees a bit, similar to the bottom of a deadlift. Swing that KB backwards between your legs. Use that momentum, combined with great timing of your glutes to thrust your hips forward. Maintain a neutral spine. 

Your arm should reach chest height just due to the momentum alone.

Once your form is solid, progress in weight to challenge yourself! Do this on both sides.

Modifications: dumbbells, two handed

KB Swings, Single Arm

Front rack marches are excellent for shoulder, core and single leg stability. 

By using a weight on one side, we further challenge our rotary stability. This can mimic the asymmetrical forces we have to fight during athletic, single leg movements. 

To do this right:

Rack the kettlebell properly by allowing it to rest on your forearm and bicep in this front rack position. You can use the other hand for assistance. The heavier you go, the harder it will be to stabilize. In this video, I am using a 50 lb KB. 

Drive the legs in opposition for greater stability in this exercise. This means driving your knee as high as possible, while pressing your stance leg through the ground. Aim to stand tall and even.

Modifications: unweighted, dumbbells, plates, medicine ball

Front Rack Marches, Unilateral, KB

The goblet squat is an awesome lower body exercise used to improve strength, power and mobility. In this variation, we will be stressing mobility.  

1) Begin in a wide stance that is comfortable for you. Get your weight in the "goblet" position as shown by holding the weight out in front of you. Imagine holding a fish bowl when you do this grip. 

2) Get as deep as possible in your wide stance squat. 

3) Once you're at the bottom, shift your body weight left and right to shift load through your hips and ankles. You should feel a stretch in your hips and ankles. You should feel control of your balance and body position. Only perform this to a depth where good form and alignment are maintained.

4) Search for restrictions with your mobility for 60 seconds before rising. If you can handle longer, have at it! This extra time will improve your mobility and strength even more.

Goblet Squat Weight Shfits

This exercise is one of the best exercises for lower extremity and core stability. It trains the posterior chain, most notably the hamstrings and glutes in an extremely functional way. 

It's important to work on the posterior chain as we are often quad dominant. This balances the body and can help prevent hyperextension injuries at the knee.

If you are someone with tight hamstrings, this will help tremendously, as the body responds to lengthening under load well and will allow the hamstrings to move more freely over time. 

Slow down the lowering (eccentric) phase of this exercise as an added challenge. 

Form Tips:
- Hinge at hips while maintaining neutral spine
- squeeze fists to create total body tension
- ground yourself by "grabbing the floor" with your feet

If you don't have weights, do this bodyweight for a rep range that challenges you

Single Leg Deadlift, Eccentric

Single leg KB circles are a great way to work on core, hip, knee and ankle stability. You will feel the burn!

1) Balance on one leg while holding the KB in one arm.

2) Circle the KB around your waist by handing it off to your other hand as shown.

3) Root your foot into the ground as if you're grabbing the floor. This will help you to maintain your spinal, hip, knee and ankle alignment. 

4) After 30 seconds, switch the direction of your circle. Try to stay in it and get 30 seconds going the other way before resting. 

Start light! It doesn't take much for this exercise to be challenging. Once you get the hang of it you can increase the weight - but always prioritize form.

KB Circles, Single Leg

The windmill is an amazing exercise for combining the hip hinge movement pattern with spinal rotation, which not only trains our core and shoulder stability, but also lengthens our hamstrings, thoracic spine, pecs and neck. 

Think about why we would need this movement pattern as tricking athletes. Owning this movement creates more stability in tricks such as touchdown raiz, gumbi, sideswipe – any move that loads through the hips with spinal rotation.  

You can begin this with soft knees, and progress to straight knees which will stretch the hamstrings. Notice how I turn my feet away from my overhead arm about 45 degrees to allow room for the rotation. 

Look towards your overhead arm the entire time. As you maintain core rigidity, load your shoulder in line with gravity by aiming the weight directly at the ceiling.
Avoid excessive shrugging and trunk sagging.

Modifications: dumbbells, unweighted, medicine ball

KB Windmills

The cossack squat is helpful in mobilizing our feet and ankles, knees, hips and lower back.

1) Begin in a wide stance that is comfortable for you. Get your weight in the "goblet" position as shown by holding the weight out in front of you. Imagine holding a fish bowl when you do this grip. 

2) Shift to one side, performing a single leg squatting motion while the free leg remains grounded 

3) Spin the free leg outwards while keeping heel contact to mobilize the adductor and hamstrings

4) Only perform this to a depth where good form and alignment are maintained

Remember, as long as we are training movement patterns to a degree where it is challenging (while good form is maintained) then we are golden!

Cossack Goblet Squat

If you haven't been doing single leg calf raises, you will feel the difference not only in your calf, but in your foot and hip muscles as well. This is excellent for functional carryover to athletics as we are often pushing off on one leg.

Stress the negative by lowering slowly and past neutral by using a step, stair or slant board. 

This is great for injury prevention because it begins to mimic controlling landings and decelerating from cuts and pivots. 

Research shows eccentric exercises are extremely beneficial for tendon issues. This can be a great exercise for those with achilles tendon pain provided it is progressed appropriately.

Early on, using the minimum necessary hand assistance is a good way to build up to doing it without support.

Calf Raise, Single Leg

The Turkish Getup is an incredible full body exercise that does it all - full body strength, mobility, coordination, endurance, grip strength, the list goes on. 

It is a bit complicated, but learning this sequence will pay off greatly. 

Steps: 
1) Roll <-> Press (Not Shown)
2) Press <-> Elbow
3) Elbow <-> Post
4) Post <-> High Pelvis
5) High Pelvis <-> Kneel
6) Kneel <-> Half Kneel
7) Half Kneel <-> Stand

If you need a movement breakdown, check out our form tutorial on the Turkish Getup.

Modifications: dumbbell, medicine ball, 'bell up'

Turkish Getups

Kettlebell for Tricking Circuit

KB Warmup x Conditioning for Tricking

Renato

Flip

Recovery Mode (Cooldown Routine)

Love it! Feel better now when i actually start training

Sam Burnett

Been doing this before every session and I feel great

Aidan

Rafal

No Equipment Tricking Warmup

I for the life of me cannot get the last two exercises lol

Rich

TSRX Kicking Warmup

The only other thing I could ask for is a short summary list off all the exercises discussed at the end of a section. There was one in the stability section, but I don’t believe there was one for the mobility section. Otherwise very informative!

KB Warmup x Conditioning for Tricking

Community

More workouts from TrickStrong RX