The Bottoms up grip is applicable to the kettlebell. As its name implies – you hold the kettlebell with its bottom side facing up. This makes it more challenging. You need to be able to balance it and then have a firm and strong grip to be able to maintain the aligned position. You have to keep your eyes on the kettlebell so that you can react on time when it sways.
You can use either the cast-iron type or the competition grade kettlebells. The heavier the kettlebell, the more challenging it is. For the cast-iron type, difficulty also increases with the increase in grip thickness.
How to do it:
- Be good in the Turkish Get-up first. (How to do the Turkish Get Up)
- Be good in Bottoms-up press.
- Combine these two skills and you get the Bottoms-up Turkish Get-Up (TGU)!
Uses:
This exercise is done for the same reason why you do the TGU and the Bottoms-up press, but of course with the combined challenge. The main objective of the exercise is to practice a deliberate asymmetric movement that helps you control torso, hip, shoulder, and elbow stability. Hip and shoulder mobility also benefits from this exercise.
The end result will be better core or torso as well as shoulder stability which is essential to health and well-being. Needless to say, athletes rely on strong and healthy torso and joints for better performance.
Grip strength and endurance may also be enhanced depending on the relative weight of the kettlebell in relation to your gripping abilities.
When to do it:
Know when not to do it first: when you are really exhausted or when you are not able to use your upper limbs well for any reason. Concentration is important so do not use free weights when you are drunk or in a similar state of mind. It may sound like plain common sense and it really is. But there are a lot of posts on social media about people getting hurt in the gym simply because of lack of common sense. So do not enter the gym when you are sick or drunk.
Depending on your training program for the day, do it after your main lifts. Or if you are doing mainly core or torso or midsection exercises, whichever terminology you prefer, you better do it first or early in your training program for that day. Obviously, it demands that your mind is fresh, your muscles should not be fatigued, and that you can react on time. Especially when you lose control and the kettlebell falls down while your other arm is on the ground supporting your weight! It is better to do it on your non-dominant side first. That way, your concentration is still fresh and you are not that tired.
As a Strength Coach, I would use it to illustrate the advantage of having sufficient strength, mobility, stability, as well as focus. Some athletes are inspired by the desire to do the exercise. It inspires them to build a good foundation with their lifting skills and abilities so that they can attempt these type of lifts successfully. They understand that developing good strength, stability and mobility is important. So they train well with the fundamental lifts like squats, presses, and some calisthenics.
On the other hand, some athletes always think of “fancy” training, or some exercise which does not bore them. I get tired convincing them that the fundamental exercises like squats, deadlifts and presses will be in their training program most of the time in the year. And if they still insist that they are already very good and want something fancy to show off, I let them do exercises like these. If they cannot do it, we regress to Bottoms-up press. If they still cannot do it, regress further to the press. Then hopefully by then, it would have dawned on them that they still have lots of work to do.
If you can do it, congratulations! You earned it. But still, it will not take the place of your main lifts. It is just like dessert. It is not your meal. It is done to complement training but it is not the main bulk of training. Train Better! Live Better!
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