Exercises You Should Be Doing: Kettlebell Suitcase Carry with Rope

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Alright I’m not gonna beat around the bush today, I feel like poo…..again.  My first clue was when my alarm woke me up this morning.  I always wake up before my alarm –  it’s like some hidden Jedi talent of mine.   If, on the off chance my alarm does wake me up (like today), then I know I’m in for a doozy of a day.   It just rarely happens.

My second red flag hit me when I had absolutely no appetite for breakfast.  Normally, I’m ravenous in the morning, but today, no dice.  I still ate, but I definitely had to force feed myself.

Thirdly, and probably the biggest factor of all, I just finished with the ladies group about fifteen minutes ago and about half way through their session, The Time by The Black Eyed Peas came over the stereo and that pretty much set me over the edge.

Jesus, what a shitty, make my ears bleed, nausea inducing, worthless piece of crap song that is.  Seriously, I’d rather listen to a whale pass a kidney stone.

Anyways, as of late we’ve been experimenting with more carry variations at the facility.  As a frame reference, this past Saturday, thanks to a little inspiration from Dan John, we toyed around with 110 lb farmer carries while dragging the Prowler behind us.  It was awesome.  Essentially, the only way it could have any manlier was if we replaced the Prowler with a tank and then had Katy Perry on top of it singing the National Anthem.

Anyhoo, back in reality, since many reading don’t have access to the same type of equipment that we have at CP, another carry variation that I’ve been toying around with as well is the kettlebell suitcase carry with a rope.

Who Did I Steal It From:  To a large degree, as noted above, I owe my infatuation with carries to Dan John, but with regards to this particular exercise I have to give props to strength coach, Martin Rooney, who trains a ton of MMA fighters and is the author of Training for Warriors.

What Does It Do:  I really like offset versions because it forces the contralateral side (external/internal obliques, quadratus lumborum) to fire and force the body to brace itself.  Adding the rope, however, adds an additional grip component that I feel is benefical for many trainees.  And, obviously, it looks cool.  Nuff said.

Key Coaching Cues:   Simply grab a rope that you would normally use for tricep rope pressdowns and loop it through a kettlebell.  From there, grab the rope with one hand, and you’re off. There should be absolutely no deviation with regards to posture on these – chest should be tall, shoulder blades back, and there should be no lean to either side.  Also, if you happen to have Matt Blake make a cameo appearance in your video acting like a jag-off, feel free to swift kick him into the abyss.  Zing.

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