Why Jillian? Why?
If Marie Claire is concerned about the influence of bloggers then they might want to go on a witch hunt for Jillian Michaels as the influence of the blogosphere is but a drop in the bucket when compared to “America’s Toughest Trainer”.
Yesterday, twitter was abuzz with kettlebell enthusiasts tweeting and retweeting the LA Times article In-Your-Face Fitness: Ring the kettlle bell. School’s back in.
I don’t have a problem with Jillian doing a kettlebell DVD. Kettlebells rock and the more swingers the better! But teaching hundreds of thousands how to use kettlebells the wrong way? Hmm…not cool. Kettlebells are amazing, fun, cool fitness tools that offer a great bang for you buck when it comes to burning calories if used correctly. In the article, Dr. Mark Cheng (who was a Team Leader at my RKC certification and a super nice guy) says, “Her technique is appalling. What she says in the video and what she demonstrates are two different things. She doesn’t break things down into manageable pieces that prompt people to get the correct form, so instead she is enabling bad form… I would not recommend this from a safety perspective.” Herein lies the problem with Jillain’s dvd and dvds like it. These products give kettlebells a bad reputation when someone developes a preventable injury and then tells all their friends that kettlebells are dangerous. Kettlebells are not dangerous when used correctly.
This is not the first time she has encouraged unsafe kettlebell form.
Jillian is right on about kettlebells being “explosive” “dynamic” and “fun” while giving a “cardio and strength training workout”. I’d also like to say no one is perfect. I’m not claiming to have a perfect swing but I have spent the last year training under a RKC senior kettlebell instructor and I believe so much in the benefits of kettlebell training that I went through the RKC certification myself. So in the interest of kettlebells and my readers, I feel it important to point out some obvious mistakes.
- She’s wearing “cushy” shoes. Kettlebells are best done barefoot or wearing hard soled shoes like Chuck Taylors for stability reasons.
- Her heels come up off the ground. (Probably b/c of the cushy shoes.)
- She is looking up on her backswings compressing her cervical spine (neck). The entire spine (including the neck) should stay neutral, as if you have a stick setting on your back from your tailbone to head.
- She is not “loading her hamstring and glutes” nearly enough and there is very little “drive”. In other words, she is using her upper body too much to lift the kettlebell instead of her hips. She needs more “hinge”, more backswing, less squat, and more drive (hip thrust) while keeping a neutral spine.
- Later in the video she does a “hero swing”. This is certainly not for beginners even when being taught by a certified kettlebell instructor. For most people, there will not be a need to swing the kettlebell higher than chest level as swinging higher than chest level can increase the risk of injury for the beginner.
- Then, the worst part at 2:14, she fully flexes her spine (bends forward) while swinging the bell between her legs. If that is not an injury waiting to happen, I don’t know what is. Eeeek!
What I don’t understand is why didn’t Jillian get a qualified teacher to teach her proper technique before making a video? I’m sure money wasn’t the issue. Just baffling.
Anyway, here is a video of a well executed swing. I’m sure you can see the difference. Why can’t Jillian?
Even if kettlebells aren’t your thing the LA Times article is worth the read because the author also addresses her “Lose Up To 5 Pounds” a week claim. It’s rather amusing but it’s not. Really it’s not. It’s irresponsible. Yes, kettlebells can provide and excellent calorie burn when used correctly but as the article points out losing up to 5 pounds a week is nothing more than misleading marketing.
If you want to learn how to use kettlebells safely and effectively, I’d encourage you to look for an RKC in your area or get a book or DVD published by Dragon Door. (Check Amazon for price comparisons.)
I try hard not to be critical person. I’ll admit it takes effort especially when I read things like Tracey Anderson telling women to never lift more than three pounds or Jillian’s lawsuits over supplements. Still as much as I disagree with their philosophies or wish they would be more responsible, I do think they are ultimately doing more good than harm. I think. I hope.
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
OK, here’s my take on the current state of the fitness industry, particularly the in-home fitness part: 10 years ago, experts like Kathy Smith and Karen Voight WOULD work with experts when creating a new fitness program. Kathy Smith even brought those experts along to teach the workouts! The idea was to make the exercises safe, effective, and fun, preferably in that order. It was also understood that the workouts were part of an active lifestyle, with very few of them promising lightening-fast results.
Now we have “The Biggest Loser,” in which contestants go to unhealthy extremes (like starving and taking diuretics before the weigh-in) in order to lose massive amounts of weight very quickly (and usually, surprise, surprise, gain it all back). Or we have things like P90X, which also promises miracles in 3 months. Which makes me sad. I LIKE Tony Horton, and I think his workouts are quite good. But I started P90X 3 or 4 times, and each time ended up injuring myself and having to stop. Finally I sold it.
Plus, the emphasis now is ALL about losing weight/gaining muscle/looking hot, rather than that active, healthy lifestyle.
Finally, I was watching “Yhintervention” with Jackie Warner and got REALLY depressed. First she was angry because some of the clients were “only” losing 1 or 2 pounds a week. A rate considered by doctors and dieticians (sp?) to be safe and most effective for lasting weight loss. Then one of the clients said he used to be afraid of junk food, but now he’s terrified of ALL food! He’s afraid to eat! That is NOT a healthy mindset, and is just heartbreaking!
I’m sorry this post is so long, but you’ve hit the nail on the head with everything that is so wrong in the fitness industry these days! People want fast results in a short time, and are disappointed when they don’t lose 12 pounds in a week. It’s ridiculous!
Great post. Her yoga video is appalling as well.
THANK YOU! I had the exact same thought when I was watching the demo version of this vid. At first I was just confused (as I am not RKC cert.) because I was like “Man, her swings look nothing like my swings!” And then when she started whipping her head around I was like, “Ok, WRONG.” I’ve been doing KB’s for over 3 years now and have never been injured doing them (okay, except once when I whacked myself on the knee but that was because I looked over my shoulder to talk to one of my kids – totally my fault).
Thanks Charlotte for proving kettlebells aren’t dangerous when used correctly! I’ve gotten distracted and looked over my shoulder before too…never hurt my knee but I did feel a potential injury in my neck. Dang kids….it’s all their fault. 😉
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(Testeroodles? You are so cool.)
I’ve posted my overall thoughts about Jillian on my blog, and reviewed her books, too, so this KB thing doesn’t surprise me one bit. I don’t know anything about KB, except that I tried to swing one ONE TIME and tweaked my back, put it down and said – I should probably learn how to do this first. I would never look to Jillian for tips, but sadly so many people do.
I totally agree with the first comment also. Unfortunately anyone can get certified as a personal trainer these days (myself included, ahem), but the good ones are few and far between. And famous trainer doesn’t mean good trainer.
OK, just read the article – she’s not even certified?!?!?
I’ve never used a kettleball but I can comment on Jillian’s other DVD’s – the 30 Day Shred is good but the yoga one is really ridiculous. I just don’t even know what she was thinking!
On a better note – it’s nice to “meet” another mom blogger in L.A. Looking forward to meeting you properly on Oct. 23! Til then, just wanted to say I love your site!
Thank you so much on this wonderful post! Maybe I’ve been living in the dark ages, but I am just now learning about kettle bells – and I can’t express enough gratitude for this post and video. Thank you for explaining proper form – I can’t imagine the number of people that might potentially become injured from trying to do Jillian’s video – scary.
You probably already know I am a fan of Jillian’s but I don’t always agree with her training methods. Or diet pills. Thank you for this post though b/c you’re right, kettlebells need to be used the correct way. Even though I haven’t had any experience w/ them, I knew that. 😉
And yeah, I like her yoga DVD lol.
Thank you so much for bringing awarness to this! I do lots of Jillian workouts, but I am very glad that you pointed all of this out so that I don’t make the mistake of trying this workout dvd out. Even though I have never used kettlebells before, just looking at her form, it does look unsafe. That is just awful that she is putting people at risk with this workout dvd. Ugh.
Thanks so much for posting this! I’ve been Anti-Jillian for a long time so it’s nice to see the experts make a public stand against her. Seriously, how many biggest loser contestants have been hauled out of the gym in an ambulance? More than 1, and that’s absolutely ridiculous. I loved the fact that they researched her credentials…or lack of should I say. It’s amazing what TV can do!!
I can’t believe that people who aren’t certified are making these types of workouts. I don’t know much about kettlebells, but the two You Tube clips were really helpful – thanks for showing the correct technique.
Unfortunately for people like me that know nothing about kettlebells but trusts that Jillian “knows” what she’s doing, I would have tried it and not realized I wasn’t not maximizing the most form the workout or that I was at risk for injury.
(I love your blog).
Can you help me?
I purchased a kettlebell a few months ago and started reading on blogs about proper form and how so many instructors don’t have it. I didn’t pick up my new kb until I could look into it more.
My kb came with a dvd, don’t laugh, it’s Danskin. I noticed the instructor, “fitness guru Gin Miller” isn’t certified. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what she’s doing, but how am I supposed to know?
At your recommendation in your above post, I went to Dragon Door. There are no RKC instructors in Utah, apparently. I’m checking out the “Kettlebell Goddess” dvd — are you familiar with that one? I’ve never had much upper body strength. Is there something else you’d recommend?
Thank you! I’m looking forward to dusting off my lonely kettlebell.
Hi Gina!
I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to the comments.
I don’t know about Gin Miller. One of the things you’ll noticed about proper swings is that there is more of a hip “hinge” (the butt goes back) rather than a squat. Also looking at the type of footwear of the instructor is a tell tale sign. Typically, someone who knows what they are doing will be wearing thin soled shoes not big cushy running shoes.
I’m not familiar with the KB Goddess dvd although I think that one is by Andrea DuCane and I know you can trust the instruction. I can’t speak for the quality of the video or music or anything like that since I haven’t seen it but you will be getting proper instruction for sure! If I remember right that is one of the better priced DVD’s out there. As far as upper body strength I really really love Pavel’s Enter the Kettlebell program. It’s really simple and effective but it can be really boring for those who like a lot of variety. He has a book (which is usually less expensive on Amazon than DD) called Enter the Kettlebell. But if you prefer videos I don’t think you will go wrong with the Goddess one.
In this post http://www.girl-heroes.com/2010/10/11/2968/ there is a video (the second one) that has a good description of the swing.
Hope this helps!
Thank you! No worries on delay. I read your “Do it! Or not.” post. I can relate. My hubby and I have had to move 8 times within 13 years. Most were for the better, but still, it’s so time-consuming. It’s hard to be mom and handy-woman and packer at the same time with a deadline while DH has begun another job somewhere else. Lots of fast-food were consumed. :-p
I may purchase Andrea’s DVD. Thanks for the input (you should get a commission).