Training the Weakest Link (Part 2)

Yesterday, I shared the principle behind what I’m talking about here. That cable assistance exercise series I mention seemed to really be working the shoulder joint.

In fact, it got to the point where that did NOT feel like it was the weak link anymore.

Instead, I needed more torso strength and stability to come out of the hole of the bent press. (That is abdominals, obliques and low back.)

And so I just started working with this exercise, the extended double kettlebell windmill.

Watch it here. This is done with a 88lb. and 70 lb. kettlebell.

I hadn’t really trained the windmill seriously since back in my early RKC days, but this is a fun and effective lift.

I’d done the double kettlebell windmill before, but I knew that I needed to go deeper for it to really transfer to my bent press position. So I raised up my feet so I could extend the range of motion.

Not only did this really work the position in an overloaded manner, but I could more easily do several reps in this form to get a better training effect on the muscles.

I plan on continuing to train this with heavier weights. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to pull it off with my 106 and 132 lb. kettlebells…

The rear side of my obliques were significantly sore the next day. I had never felt soreness in this area quite the same before. That was a clue that it was working exactly where I needed it to be.

Ultimately, now that I’ve started doing this exercise the test is does it transfer over to a stronger bent press? Does it help me progress? If it does, I’ll keep doing it at least until another weak link appears.

If not, go back to the drawing board and see what else will help.

Once again, you’re not likely to benefit from doing these exercises in the same way unless you happen to have similar goals and the same weak links. My point in sharing them was not so much to say you should do these, but instead to share the process of thinking through what it takes to hit a goal.