Dave Whitley's Kettlebell Fundamentals: Deepening Your Getup Skills DVD

Yet another DVD on the Get-Up, you might think. What's the upheaval about this get-up thing anyway, why does it suddenly get so much attention after having been almost forgotten for decades?

Well, there are many ways to do a get-up. And there's the RKC way. What the RKC does is "reverse engineering of what the strongest and most coordinated people do naturally". So you can't go wrong learning it from Master RKC and CK-FMS David Whitley.

Dave walks the talk. Not only is he a big and incredibly strong guy, but he is also very flexible AND moves well, and that's a rare combo indeed. But he is also a passionate and motivating teacher on the quest of making everybody ready to listen move better and get stronger.

So listen.

You'll see the get-up in a totally different light. Depending on how you apply it, it can be a lift, an exercise or a movement screen. It can develop strength, flexibility, coordination or even conditioning.

The RKC Program Minimum starts out beginners on "merely" two exercises: the swing and the get-up, and that has good reasons. And there are different but just as good reasons for why advanced Hardstyle practitioners go full circle and return to refine their swing and get-up... As Dave puts it, "if the swing is the center of the universe, [...] then the get-up is orbiting right around".

He will explain

- how the get-up takes you through all the ways the body can move, how it integrates pushing, pulling, hip dominant, quad dominant and trunk rotational movements, how it improves mobility and stability in all different planes;

- why all progressions, especially overhead work, should (and do) start with the getup and how actually every kettlebell exercise contains and builds on one or more aspects of the swing and the get-up;

- the fascial connection between the lats and the glutes (the two biggest muscles in the body), how their interaction makes back extension a very strong and stable position, as opposed to the flexion-dominance of modern lifestyle.

He'll talk you through the 7 steps one by one, adjusting every position and every transition so you can easily follow along and re-create the sense of precision either at home or when working with your clients. His verbal cues will shift your focus to concentrate on movement quality instead of moving the weight, which - paradoxically, maybe - will also make you stronger instantly.

You'll hear in detail about

- the difference between sitting up and rolling up to the elbow, why you should avoid trunk torsion and how an unusual bridging drill can make sure you combine hip flexion and torso rotation instead;

- the windshield wiper technique to similarly load your hip and unload your spine in the kneeling windmill position;

- how a specific pelvic tilt in sitting facilitates glute-lat-interaction and prevents spine flexion;

- why the high bridge is so much more than just an unnecessary speed bump;

- how your heel coming up or your hand position changing can point towards a hip mobility problem and how a variation of leg swing-through can help opening them;

- how a neurologically built-in protective mechanism makes a bent wrist weak and how to counter that by crush-gripping the handle and goosenecking the wrist;

- how your body angles during the lunge determine whether you're improving your strength or your compensations.

You'll also learn a couple more drills that can be seen as "derivatives" from the get-up leading towards other exercises:

- the classic RKC arm bar and the crooked arm bar, for complex stretching and strengthening at the same time,

- the tall kneeling press, to emphasize hip extension as part of proper alignment for overhead work (glute activation facilitates lat activation, remember?),

- and a crooked arm bar from the kneeling windmill position, an "aha"-drill for the bent press. As a bonus, he'll reveal how a simple household item can drastically shorten the learning curve of this seemingly complicated lift - that alone is worth the price! :)