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‘Relaxed Tension’ for Fighters
Relaxed tension is not an oxymoron. Nor is it the process of trying to control your heart-rate while opening the Visa bill. Relaxed tension is the state of relative relaxation under load between periods of exertion, breathing while bracing, protecting the spine while at the same time conserving energy. The ability to achieve and maintain relaxed tension can increase endurance and prevent injury.
This state of holding ones self in readiness for action on short notice without undue fatigue is a matter of survival for the soldier, who must keep his weapon and his wits ready for undetermined amounts of time between outbreaks of actual fighting. It also is necessary for the combat athlete holding his position, while waiting for the opportunity to attempt the next one. A less glamorous, but probably more common necessary application of relaxed tension would be a woman holding her baby as she moves around the house, a modern, feminine Milo, carrying a load that gets just a bit heavier every day.
The following 2-KB workout is a conditioning workout with an emphasis on holding that state of relaxed tension between movements:
Perhaps the most important thing I did during this workout was to not mention that I was trying out something new. Given my record, sometimes this kind of announcement produces near mutiny among the ranks.
After my standard KB joint mobility warm-up, I separated the class into five groups. The protocol was the Russian Ladder protocol, and my goal was five repetitions. This protocol is based on group training, but could easily be adapted to individual use.
I arranged the groups in a circle formation so that everyone was facing one another. On command, all the students cleaned their kettlebells to the chest (rack position). Group one performed one double military press in unison, counting aloud. Then group Two performed their press, then group three, etc. Around the circle they went, each group doing one rep. They went around the circle again, this time counting out two reps, and so on, until each group had done five reps. Anyone not actually performing the press held their KB’s in the racked position during the entire ladder sequence. After the third rep, everyone became quite uncomfortable, struggling to hold form. During that extended time of holding the KB’s in the rack I was coaching them to maintain tension in their abs to keep their back from tiring, and to breathe from the diaphragm. Their shoulder girdle and traps were getting an incredible stretch throughout the exercise.
Next came the pull-up ladder. At Maxercise, I have installed enough heavy-duty wall mounted pull-up bars so that 8 people can do pull-ups at the same time. I had two people on the bar at the same time. The first person performed a pull-up from the dead hang while the other person hung. The two alternated pull-up reps, one/one, two/two, three/three, etc.,never releasing the bar. Few made it past four reps. When someone failed to do a rep, that pair jumped down and the second pair was up. When the second group are finished, the first pair jumped back up and attempted a second ladder. If a person wanted to try this technique solo, they would perform a pull-up, hang for a count of two, perform a second rep, hang for a four count, perform a third rep, hang for a six count and so on.
The third exercise was the double kettlebell front squat. On my command, everyone cleaned their kettlebells and slowly descended into a full squat. I had everyone hold the squat, resting their arms against their thighs. Then, just like the first exercise, they went around the circle five times, ladder style, each group performing the required number in turn, holding the deep squat position between turns. This exercise produced an incredible stretch for the hips and groin. Maintaining tension while in the low squat made rising quite difficult for the last sequence.
Next came the double kettlebell clean from the dead hang. The term dead hang is the perfect description for this absolute grip torture. First the kettle bells were dead-lifted to the finish erect position. The actual movement was the power clean. We went around the circle five times, in the same ladder style, maintaining the erect dead hang position between turns. This was a killer! The voices calling out numbers were punctuated with thumps as those with fried hands dropped their kettlebells.
The last exercise ladder performed was the humble pushup. Everyone in the group dropped to the 'front leaning rest' position and tensed their abs. In sequence, each would do the ladder while maintaining that ready position between their five turns.
Everyone in the room got what they wanted that day. The students got a great, well rounded, strength and conditioning KB workout, and I got another weapon in my KB arsenal of emphasis based workouts. Life is good.
Steve Maxwell
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