Kettlebell Secrets Special Report Reveals...

How To Inject New Life Into Your Kettlebell Training

Routine With the Deadlift Variations
by Geoff Neupert, Sr RKC, CSCS
First, let me congratulate you on purchasing the Kettlebell Secrets Teleseminar Series!
I know you are going to be mining all the gems contained in here for untold hours to
come.
In her call entitled Reboot, Rebuild, and Restore, Part 2: From Zero to Hero -
Building and Rebuilding Kettlebell !Gods" and !Goddesses", Master RKC Andrea
Du Cane, stated that the Deadlift was the one exercise that everyone should be
performing. Not only that, it is the one exercise that she has all of her clients learn how
to perform, regardless of age, training history, or tness goals.
It!s that powerful of an exercise.
In the call, Andrea mentioned several variations of the Deadlift that she uses. In this
Special Report, I will go over in detail their benets and how to incorporate them into
your kettlebell training program for spectacular results.
The Sumo Deadlift
This is the most basic of Deadlifts and is great for not only beginners, but for everyone
to re-enforce the concept of the hip hinge.
Benets of the Sumo Deadlift:
The most important benet of the Sumo Deadlift is that it teaches and reenforces the
Hip Hinge.
The Hip Hinge is critically important to all kettlebell exercises for the following reasons:
1. Protect the low back / lumbar spine.
2. Load and strengthen the primary lifting muscles in the lower body, the glutes
(butt) and hamstrings.
3. Teach proper abdominal bracing under load (weight).
Not only that, once the Hip Hinge has been learned and mastered, it teaches and
reenforces to the body how to use the largest, strongest muscles in the body - the
gluteal muscle group.
For those looking for fat loss, this results in more energy used while exercising.
For athletes, this results in increased power production in one of the key muscles in the
Posterior Chain, and therefore increased speed and power potential.
How to Perform the Sumo Deadlift:
1. Stand with feet on either side of the kettlebell, just outside shoulder width apart,
equidistant from the kettlebell.
2. Inhale through your nose and hold your breath.
3. Keeping a at back, push your butt back, folding through the hips so you feel a
stretch in your backside and your hamstrings.
4. Grab the kettlebell handle.
5. Keeping your back at and your chest out, push your feet through the oor and
squeeze your glutes.
6. Exhale slowly, through pursed lips, matching the exertion of the movement,
nishing your exhalation at the top of the movement - the lockout.
7. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to return the kettlebell to the oor.
8. Reset each repetition by repeating all the steps.
9. Practice and memorize these basic steps because they apply to all the Deadlift
variations.
How To Incorporate the Sumo Deadlift Into Your Kettlebell Routine:
1. For the Beginner: This exercise should be done rst in your training routine after
your mobility warm up. (If you don!t have a mobility warm up, get one here.) It
should be viewed as a form of practice, and in no way should be performed to
fatigue or exhaustion. Perform 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps, resting as much as you
need to feel fresh for each set. Then move on to the rest of your training
program.
2. For the Intermediate: You should already be familiar with this exercise, as it is
fundamental to all kettlebell training and lays the groundwork for the swing. So,
like the Beginner, perform it rst in your routine, especially on ballistics days. It
will reenforce positive movement patterns and will make your ballistics workouts
more efcient (efciency: more of the right muscles are working when they!re
supposed to be).
3. For the Advanced: This movement should already be cemented in your
movement vocabulary. If it!s not - shame on you! Do not pass Go and certainly
do not collect $200 until you spend time practicing it. If it is, perform this
exercise as part of a weighted mobility routine before your main training
sessions. You may also perform this exercise on you off days as part of your
active recovery.
The Suitcase Deadlift
The Suitcase Deadlift is called such because of the starting position of the kettlebells,
which as you can guess, is on the outside of the foot, like a suitcase.
This is an excellent exercise to develop the core musculature and is also a great
exercise to discover asymmetries in your body.
Benets of the Suitcase Deadlift:
1. Allows you to load the muscles that perform the kettlebell ballistics without the
use of heavy loads, which can act as a form of active recovery.
2. Develops both static and dynamic core stability. The body is forced to use the
core musculature to stabilize the spine under an asymmetrical load, much like
what your body experience in day-to-day living. This is an excellent way to
bullet-proof your spine.
3. Teaches you how to master tension and relaxation in your body. If you don!t
focus intently on maximizing tension in the appropriate areas, you will not
perform the lift successfully. This will also allow you to apply appropriate tension
to other lifts (kettlebell grinds) and will help improve total body strength. This is a
great exercise to improve your Kettlebell Press.
How To Perform the Suitcase Deadlift:
1. The set up and the cueing will be exactly the same for the Suitcase Deadlift as
for the Sumo Deadlift.
2. However, you will nd that you will have to pay extra special attention to the
muscles on the opposite side of the body from the kettlebell. A good rule of
thumb is to expect to have to contract those muscles harder because they are
working to counterbalance the weight of the kettlebell. They must do this in order
to keep you from falling over sideways toward the bell or from rotating away from
the bell. In other words, you must place extra focus on these muscles in order to
stay level.
3. Here are some other cues you may nd helpful to incorporate:
1. On the side holding the bell, pull the shoulder blade down toward the hip;
thinking about tucking it into the back pocket on the same side
2. On the side holding the bell, squeeze the handle of the kettlebell harder than
normal; also ex the triceps
3. Keep your opposite arm close to the body and in line with your torso. This will
help you stay rigid and counter the twisting you will likely experience when
you rst start this exercise.
4. Help maintain total body tension by picking one of the following options for
your opposite hand: Either make a tight st or fully extend all of your ngers
and hold them in extension. Do either for each rep of the Suitcase Deadlift.
Play with this and see which works better for you.
How To Incorporate the Suitcase Deadlift Into Your Kettlebell Routine:
1. For the Beginner: This exercise should be done second in your training routine
after more basic exercises, such as the Sumo Deadlift. Like the Sumo, it should
be viewed as a form of practice, and in no way should be performed to fatigue or
exhaustion. Perform 1 to 2 sets per side for 3 to 5 reps each, resting as much as
you need to feel fresh for each set. Then move on to the rest of your training
program.
2. For the Intermediate: This is a great exercise for teaching you to master total
body tension. I recommend you practice this exercise at the beginning of your
grind sessions and use it as a feeder exercise for other exercises, such as the
Kettlebell Press. Perform 1 to 2 sets of 3 to 5 reps each side, resting as needed.
You can also use the Suitcase Deadlift as a stand alone exercise to perform
with heavier kettlebells.
3. For the Advanced: Like the Intermediate trainee, you can also use this as a
feeder exercise. However, you should be capable of using much heavier
weights because you have mastered most of the basic RKC principles.
Therefore, I recommend you only perform 1 to 2 sets per side of 1 to 2 reps.
*Note: The Suitcase Deadlift can be performed with two kettlebells, but it is best used as
a unilateral exercise and a great pre exercise for the Single Leg Deadlift.
The Single Leg Deadlift
Benets of the Suitcase Deadlift:
1. Strengthens entire posterior chain (from the bottom of the foot all the way up
the leg) one leg at a time.
2. Helps determine, and rebalance side-to-side and front-to-back asymmetries in
the legs.
3. Strengthens core musculature and protects the spine by teaching core
musculature to prevent rotation.

4. Improves functional performance in daily and sporting activities via points 1
through 3 above.
5. Teaches rooting, or the ability to stay connected to the ground, a critically
important skill for all athletes.

How To Perform the Suitcase Deadlift:
1. Again, like the Sumo Deadlift, this is a hip hinge. You should have mastered the
the Sumo Deadlift before progressing to this, the most advanced version of the
Deadlifts in this Special Report.
2. You will perform your rst Single Leg Deadlifts without a kettlebell, for safety!s
sake.
3. Begin by gently stomping your foot on the oor. (WARNING: Do NOT stomp
your foot so hard that you injure yourself! You should only be left with a slight
tingle on the bottom of your foot.)
4. Focus on the tingle and push your foot and the tingle through the oor as you
hip hinge.
5. The hands and then the bells should start by your sides and then move down the
inside and outside, respectively, of each leg, nishing almost exactly parallel to
your lower leg.
6. To stand up, again, focus on the tingle in your foot and push your foot through
the oor. Pull your kneecap into your groin, squeeze both glutes, and tighten your
abs, exhaling through pursed lips or power breathing.
7. Once you have mastered the technique without the kettlebell, you may add in
your kettlebell. Every once in awhile, I run across an individual who actually
performs this exercise better with a kettlebell right from the start. You may be one
of those individuals. However, you must learn the Single Leg Deadlift rst without
a kettlebell in order to conclude that you are one of these individuals.
8. Once you start using this exercise in your program, progress from using a
kettlebell in each hand to the single handed version, which will really challenge
your ability to master the tension in your body.
How To Incorporate the Suitcase Deadlift Into Your Kettlebell Routine:
1. For the Beginner: This is not a beginner exercise. Do not progress to Single Leg
Deadlift until you have mastered the Sumo Deadlift and are very familiar with the
Suitcase Deadlift.
2. For the Intermediate: Like the Suitcase Deadlift, only better, this is a great
exercise for teaching you to master total body tension. I recommend you practice
this exercise at the beginning of your grind sessions and use it as a feeder
exercise for other exercises, such as the Kettlebell Press. Perform 2 to 3 sets of
3 to 5 reps each side, resting as needed. This is also a great pre-hab exercise
that you can add in at the end of your grind sessions. The Single Leg Deadlift is
also an outstanding compliment for learning the Pistol. As mentioned earlier, it
teaches you how to root yourself to the ground.
3. For the Advanced: Like the Intermediate trainee, you can also use this as a
feeder exercise or a pre-hab exercise. You will nd this exercise will really
feed the tension in your Press. A great way to incorporate the Single Leg
Deadlift into a grind workout would be to practice 2 to 3 sets of asymmetrical
SLDs (kettlebell held in the opposite hand from the foot that!s on the ground)
alternating each set with a set of Kettlebell Presses with a medium weight for 2 to
3 reps, really focusing on rooting yourself to the ground and mastering the
tension within your body. Be sure to follow up this type of training session with
some Fast and Loose drills.
Here!s the best part about these Deadlift variations:
Just practicing them routinely as even just part of your warm-up will make your kettlebell
exercises feel crisper - the ballistic exercises will feel more powerful and therefore you
will become more powerful and the grind exercises will feel stronger, as you constantly
reenforce the tension principles taught as part of the RKC system of Kettlebell Training.
And remember, you don!t have to do these variations all the time. Just incorporate one
or two of these Deadlift variations into your weekly kettlebell training program and track
your results in your training log and see if you don!t inject new life into your routine by
experiencing faster results.
Finally, the Deadlift variations, although extremely powerful, can have some negative
consequences and I would be negligent if I didn!t mention it: Practicing them too often
can create too much tension - chronic tension - which, if left unchecked, can lead to
injuries further down the road. (Ask me about this some time...) Make sure you balance
this tension with the appropriate relaxation drills, such as Z-Health, Super Joints, or Fast
and Loose. For your convenience, I!ve embedded links to some of these important
products in the text - so just click on them to get your copies.
Now go become the Kettlebell god or goddess you were meant to be!