As a certified HKC (Hardstyle Kettlebell Certified) training for
Pavel Tsatsouline’s Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) and Beast Tamer Challenge, I’m looking for an edge to help myself “tame the beast.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the challenge, it involves a tactical pull-up, a pistol, and a one-arm press all with the 48-kilogram (106-lb) kettlebell. In addition to varying my routine to one-arm press literally two-thirds of my body weight, I decided to use techniques to improve my rate of force production to help me achieve my goal.
I absolutely love the use of compound resistance to increase an athlete’s strength. I’ve had to sacrifice this ideology on the shoulder press. Unfortunately, I don’t have the room in my tiny, two-car garage for jerk blocks so I can’t attach
chains to the bar to press with, and I’m not going to Koji shoulder press.
Before I go any further, let me state that I get ideas in my head and then five days later I find them somewhere on the internet. My intention is to bring forth new ideas in training or at least expose them to others for their benefit.
Using a
training band, run one end under your foot and bring the other up to your shoulder as if you were getting ready to shoulder press. From here, you could actually press with just the band and without any extra weight. This depends on your individual strength and the size of the band in use. Step two is simple—press over your head. Obviously as the band stretches, it will only get harder, thereby increasing the rate of force production.
Feel free to use
dumbbells or
kettlebellsfor this exercise. Two-handed presses can be done as well, but use extreme caution with this. The band will only turn your weight into a slingshot if you happen to miss a lift. As Pavel says, “Never compete with a kettlebell for space.” If you do have jerk blocks, I’d highly recommend attaching
chains to the
barbell to help with the barbell shoulder press.
By adding bands and chains to our lifting routine, we have seen significant gains in several lifts. I see no reason why the press should be excluded.
