Just wondering if anyone has looked into/purchased a set of indian clubs? If so, what kind of results have you guys seen? I just purchased a set for myself… and they’re set to get here later this next week.
anyone?
here you go
This guy has a lot of cool stuff on YouTube: Maces, Kettlebells, Indian Clubs, Clubbells, Ropes… etc.
Here is a vid of his gear:
BTW, Louie Simmons uses them too.
Hmmm. First video didn’t imbed, He’s got an interesting setup in the second video though.
I probably should have clarified though. I’m still struggling with a nagging shoulder injury from a torn supraspinatus almost two years ago now. I usually do the PT exercises once a week, but even those feel like they are missing “something”. I’m just not sure what. Either way, I find that military presses, chinups, and dips highly aggravate it, and was looking for something to strengthen the overall shoulder capsule. So my point of interest in indian club training is in more of a rehab/prevention point of view.
I just got a set of 1#'s today though, and I gotta say that I think it’s going to make a large difference on my shoulders. I only did a few of the basic swings (they definitely require MUCH practice and coordination), for roughly ten minutes today, going slow, but I can already feel a lot of muscles in my shoulders that I seemed to have forgotten about.
I might try and update this thread once a week or so with any progress or results I can figure out from it.
N/M the other video just needed a bit of time and a refresh to load. Louie makes a good point with the warmup and dynamic stretching argument, but I think there’s a much larger function for them in there somewhere, other than just stretching.
please do try and keep this updated on a weekly or even montly basis,
the first video just left me in awe
Like I said, my interest is more towards rehab and possibly warmups, but if I continue to like them, might get a heavier set.
Just worked out with them this morning again for about 15 minutes (the DVD they came with recommended using them everyday). I gotta say, I definitely feel like my shoulders have more than one or two muscles in them now. At this point I’m highly inclined to believe the promoters when they say that the clubs activate ALL of the muscles in your shoulders.
As I mentioned, my left shoulder was recently nagging me again from a torn supraspinatus. It’s only been the second time I used the clubs, and I feel like I’m getting a great stretch in all of the muscles. I did find that I have a click in my let shoulder during some of the movements, but it’s not a painful one. After watching the entire DVD (even though I’m not doing all of the movements yet) I can definitely see the versatility in the clubs in targeting movement specific muscles. For me, I’m seeing more of a anterior rotation of the shoulders, so I’m going to be focusing on movements that involve swinging the arms/shoulders back, and pinching the shoulder blades together. I’m not sure of the names of all of the movements as they aren’t all listed, but so far I’m working with a figure 8 - both single handed and then with two hands. The single handed movements involve just one club and swinging it into a horizontal figure 8 in front of you. The two handed is with two clubs, but the clubs follow each other in the path of the figure 8. As of this morning, I can do it with the right hand leading, but keep messing up when I attempt to lead with the left. The other movement I’m focusing on involves holding your arms out, palms down like a cross,then swinging them in to the center of your body, crossing them at the end of the swing, then rotating the palms towards your chest and bringing your forearms perpendicular with the floor in a straight line. After that you keep your elbows up and out in a 90 degree angle, rotate your palms away from your chest, and holding the 90 degree of the elbow, rotate your arms to the outside, pinching your shoulder blades together before dropping your arms to a straight line and repeating the motion. It takes a bit of practice for those of us that may be less coordinated.
Other than that, I’ve just been warming up with a brief stint of simple circular swings both clockwise, counter-clockwise, and to the side of the body.
Sounds good keep us posted…i also have shoulder issues and were considering clubs for a rehab-warmup…good luck
Interesting, when I saw the photo I thought of weighted juggling clubs. I didn’t consider them for just rotational exercises but it makes sense I suppose - better shape and weights than a sledge hammer.
Since you mention PT exercises, did you at all consult with your PT before starting this to get their opinion?
No I didn’t consult my PT before I started. I was in PT a little over a year ago, when I was still on my parents’ health insurance. But now, I’ve been kicked off the insurance (due to age) so it would be a little expensive to consult them. However, I did a decent amount of research on Indian Clubs before purchasing them - all of it claiming to strengthen the rotator cuff and draw the shoulders back (from anterior/interior rotation).
Basically, with the exercises demonstrated on the DVD that came with the clubs, I’ve been selecting the exercises that concentrate on opening up the shoulders (think reverse fly) to focus a bit more on the rear delts, as well as the exercises that seem to mimic my rehab exercises. Although I must say that when using the clubs I can feel a much greater range of motion than my rehab exercises.
Already, the pain in my shoulder went down to a low level or soreness (like the day after a particularly brutal delt trifecta)
Used the clubs as a warm-up prior to doing some groundwork/strikes with some individuals massively larger than I. I stuck with the same patterns I have been using for the rehab to loosen everything up, than about 30 minutes afterwards jumped into the training with some ballistic pushups followed by some grappling drills/takedowns. I really had no issues with the shoulder at all and it actually feels rather good. While the DVD is saying to use them everyday, I’m thinking 5 on 2 off might be a better way to kick everything off.
Still going strong, but I have yet to try some of the different, more complex movements yet… Had kind of a rough week with some family issues, but am looking forward to a little more time opening up once I catch up on homework again.
Still can’t complain about any shoulder pain, and in fact seem to be feeling better than they have in a long time.
Just a quick update - I’m doing 2 minutes per movement now for a total of 6 movements and a 12 minute workout Mon-Friday ESPECIALLY on days I do some kind of workout or other training. In that case I try to do it within 30 minutes before the workout as a warmup. I’m hoping to get to 5 minutes for each before I start throwing in other movements and maybe some heavier clubs.