PDXStrength News

Why are Kettlebell swings one of our favorite movements?

1. Full-Body Muscle Recruitment????
The kettlebell swing is an amazing full-body exercise. The power required to perform the movement requires pretty much your whole body.The glutes, hamstrings, lats, abdominals and core, shoulders, and back are all recruited during the swing, making it one of the most comprehensive exercises you can do.The kettlebell swing is one of the most powerful exercises to attack the posterior chain.

2. Aerobic and Anaerobic Workout????
When it comes to kettlebell swings, you truly have a package deal. On top of building lean mass, the explosive nature of the swing also gets your heart rate up into the aerobic zone and gives you an amazing anaerobic workout due to the simultaneous muscle engagement. This makes kettlebell swings one of the best choices for high-intensity interval training workouts, especially if you’re looking to burn fat.

3. Increases Muscular Endurance????
On top of building strength and aerobic capacity, kettlebell swings are also great for building muscular endurance.This is especially true when using a slightly lower weight with higher reps, as it lengthens the amount of time muscles are engaged.

4. Improves Low Back Pain????
When performed correctly, kettlebell swings have the ability to strengthen the stabilizer muscles that wrap around our core and spine like a corset.These muscle protect our spine from unnatural movement and injury, so strengthening them serves to keep the spine in its proper alignment. This can help you avoid low back pain by adding a muscular “cushion” of sorts, around your spine.

5. Works Lots of Muscles at Once????
Functional training involves several muscle groups at once, and most of the time, these movement mimic the natural movements of the human body. They’re the opposite of using weight machines, which tend to stabilize weight for us, instead of letting our bodies do the work.Functional exercises like kettlebell swings improve coordination, mobility, balance, and motor skills, as they require your full mental and physical attention. 

6. Increases EPOC????
EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, refers to the amount of calories our body burns after a workout, rather than during. HIIT and other high-intensity workouts increase EPOC due to the effort the body has to make in order to restore oxygen levels to normal and repair our muscles, all of which lead to a higher calorie burn even after we’ve left the gym.The intensity of kettlebell swings is exactly the type of intensity needed to stimulate a higher EPOC value (or, an increase in metabolism).

Want to learn how to do a proper kettlebell swing? Check out one of our Kettlebell Club Classes!

Our Next Community Fundraiser Workout will be  for Herd you needed a Home!

Herd you needed a home is a nonprofit that our member, Sierra Smith volunteers and fosters dogs for. The workout will be for all levels on  Sunday, February 9 at 10:30 am.  Our small but mighty gym can raise a few bucks for charities doing amazing things for our community, while having some fun getting a great workout. Please feel free to invite anyone you’d like! Have a nonprofit you’d like to nominate for our next fundraiser? Please contact us with your suggestions. We love supporting programs that our members are directly involved with.

Have you been trying to get the illusive  strict pull up but just haven’t gotten there yet?
Well good news! We have something special for you.

We are offering a quadruple session workshop that will target each individuals existing weaknesses.

When you register for this workshop you will get:
-a personalized program with a weekly homework workout
-4, 1 hour workshops that will include tips and exercises to guide you to achieve your first pull up.
-one step closer to conquering your goal!

First Class is on Sunday, January 5th at 11:30 am

Cost is $60 for 4, one hour classes and 4 homework assignments for a total of 8 personalized workouts.

Sign up here: Pull Up Clinic

Our next fundraiser workout will be for a charity that our member Nicole Mascorro volunteers for, Best Buddies. Nicole is in a competition with 10 other people, trying to raise money before the organization’s annual Gala. Best Buddies International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Join us on Sunday, November 10 at 10:30 am for an all levels workout for the whole community and lets get Nicole to the top of the leaderboard! Any Donation accepted or just come to show your support!

In the past we have participated in the Everyday Warrior battle series as a gym, and programmed the workouts during Group Strength and Conditioning classes. This year the format has changed, and it will be too complicated to program into our GS&C classes because the battle series is now a team format. Trying to schedule a day/time to meet with your partner during the week might already be a challenge, but also trying to make it to the day we program it as a gym is going to make it rough with logistics… So we are encouraging you to find a partner, register and do the workouts anytime during that week (best option is open gym but we know that might not work for everyone). That way, the athletes that want to continue the tradition and challenge themselves in a competition type workout can participate. Here is the link for information and registration: 2019 Battle Series Registration IF you don’t know what the Everyday Warrior charity is all about, please check out this link: Every Day Warrior