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Part XV · Kettlebell exercises

Rotational Kettlebell Clean: Power From Turning, Step by Step

Bell in front of one foot, turn ninety degrees away from it with your feet pivoting, and let the turn bring it into the rack. Hips and trunk do the work.

The lesson

  1. 01

    Set the bell in front of one foot

    Feet about shoulder-width, bell on the floor just ahead of your left foot. You will turn to your right and finish facing ninety degrees from where you started.

  2. 02

    Hinge and take the grip

    First turn your chest toward the bell, push your hips back with a flat back, and take the handle with your left hand, the one nearest it. Shoulder packed down, away from your ear, before anything moves.

  3. 03

    The turn is the power

    Drive your hips round to the right and pivot on the ball of your left foot, heel turning out, so that knee and foot turn with your hips. You are not pulling the bell up with your arm. You are rotating out from under it, and the turn brings it up close to your body.

  4. 04

    Land it in the rack

    The bell arrives at your chest as you square up to the new direction. Slide your hand around the handle so it lands quietly: elbow in, wrist straight, fist near your collarbone.

  5. 05

    Reset, then go the other way

    Turn back to the start, set the bell down in front of your right foot and let go. Take it with your right hand and turn to your left. Every rep starts from the floor, squared up.

  6. 06

    Start lighter than your clean

    A clean is a straight line. This one asks your trunk to stop a load that is travelling around you, so it earns its weight slowly.

  7. 07

    The test

    If your lower back is doing the turning, the bell is too heavy or your feet did not pivot. Your feet should move; your spine should not.

Watch for

  • Turning with your spine. Your feet stay planted, so your lower back twists under the bell. This is the one that hurts.
  • Pulling with the arm. The turn comes up short, your arm rescues the bell, and your trunk never controls the load.
  • Rounding to pick it up. Your back bends to reach the bell in front of your foot, and the rep starts from your lower back.
  • Skipping the set-down. The bell swings straight from one rep to the next, and the turn becomes a loose swing nobody controls.

What is a rotational kettlebell clean? A one-arm clean where the power comes from turning. The bell starts on the floor in front of one foot, you turn ninety degrees away from it, and the turn brings it up into the rack, the position with the bell resting at your shoulder.

Rotational clean vs kettlebell clean? A clean drives the bell straight up your body with a hip snap, facing forward the whole time. A rotational clean gets the same bell to the same rack by turning your whole body, so your trunk also has to stop a load moving around you.

What weight for a rotational kettlebell clean? Lighter than the bell you clean facing forward. Use the heaviest bell you can turn into a quiet catch 5 times each side with your feet pivoting and your spine still. With one bell, make the turn smaller until it passes that test; if your lower back starts doing the turning, it is too heavy.

How many rotational cleans? Rotational cleans close each round of the Power · Rotation routine, after halos and cleans: 5 each side per round, two to four rounds, resting until you feel fresh.

Next

Halo→

Each round of Power · Rotation starts again with halos, the bell circling your head to open your shoulders before the next cleans.

From the book

13The body moves together→