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If you expect to beat your competition out of the blocks and blister them in the middle of competition then you have got to engage in the art of kettlebell snatches! That's right my friend, I said kettlebell snatches. As a strength and conditioning professional I can tell you with a 110% confidence that if you need to either punch someone really hard or run somewhere really fast then the kettlebell snatch lift is just what you need. For the sake of this article I know you really only need the latter, but the first trait could always come in handy!
Strength Training For Sprinters!
To give you an idea of the power and explosive nature of kettlebell snatches you should be able to execute 3 to 5 reps of this particular lift with a moderately heavy bell in as much time as it would take you to read this sentence! Now that is muscular performance. So what are kettlebell snatches?
As a kettlebell man myself I will honestly tell you that the snatch lift is my favorite kettlebell lift. This lift involves you having to pull the bell from either the ground or from between your legs up to above your head. The motion involved in this lift should be smooth and you should end with the kettlebell in a locked position above your head. Your shoulder should be retracted into the socket with the bell balanced and stable above your head. The lift engages your hips and knees to forcefully flex and extend to allow you to generate the necessary power to swing the kettlebell up to a high pull position just lateral to your head. Once you get the bell to this high pull position you can then complete the lift by vertically punching your palm towards the sky to finish it off.
After you execute just a few of these you will quickly see why it is so beneficial for your sprinting strength training program. You see the kettlebell snatch is great for initiating all of the muscles of your posterior muscles (glutes, hips, hamstrings, back, and shoulders) which are all necessary for your sprinting speed performance. The lift is also explosive and dynamic which also falls right in line with the action of running!
If you haven't already started to include the kettlebell snatch and other great kettlebell lifts into your sprint strength and conditioning program then your program is lacking! Take time to learn more about this subject by accessing the rest of my articles on the matter for free. Remember that most any athlete can train hard, but only the champions train smart!
