One of the biggest misconceptions in the mainstream fitness community is that you should use tiny little weights to do everything. This myth is spread by the women’s fitness community even though a sack of groceries weighs more than 5lbs. and you have to pick that up all the time. It’s also spread by the “form bunny” trainer community that likes to show how smart they are by not lifting any actual weights while using the biggest words they can find to impress their other trainer buddies. None of these groups understand that the weight used has an effect on the exercise performed and that in many cases, a heavier weight is needed to even develop correct technique in the first place.
Case in point, this clip:
This is a Turkish get-u…ummm….Turkish “sit-up” although I think after viewing this nonsense, the Turks might call and want their name back. The real Turkish get-up looks nothing like this of course, but then consider the source above.
When you use a teeny, tiny kettlebell that even my 6 year-old wouldn’t use (she can press the 4kg for reps and deadlifts the 12kg at 16kg of bodyweight) then you get this horrible monstrosity of an exercise. Why? Because the weight is too light, so you can do anything you want with it. You don’t HAVE to do it correctly because the weight won’t FORCE you to do it right.
I see this all the time with swings. You MUST use a weight that will FORCE your body to use the hamstrings. If you use a weight that you could raise with your front delt, then guess what will happen? The person will do a front raise. If you give that person a kettlebell heavy enough that they can’t do a front raise with it, then guess what happens? They’re forced to use the hamstrings and glutes like they’re supposed to or the kettlebell doesn’t move.
So how is the Turkish get-up supposed to be done? Take a look:
And no toy kettlebell either.