Building A Workout With Mace Bell Flows
Building A Workout With Mace Bell Flows
The Macebell is fantastic for building strength, balance, muscle awareness and joint mobility. Using Macebell flow work, we can create a full body workout that helps us focus on stabilisation, strength and balance. I’m going to list a couple of flows and foundational movements below to get you started
The 360
The key movement for starting off a Macebell flow is the 360. The 360 helps us to link movements together across both sides of the body, whether with two hands or one hand. You can learn the technique for the 360 with a Kettlebell first by performing a Kettlebell Halo.
Start off by mastering the 360 with two hands. Grab the non-weighted end of your Macebell, with a close grip, bend the elbows and extend them up to the sky, letting the weighted end of the mace come down behind your back. To 360 to the right (or left), swing your momentum round anti clockwise (or clockwise) and pull the Macebell over your right (or left) shoulder, meaning your right hand (or left) is on top of your left (or right) and the weighted end of the Macebell points toward the sky.
We can look to advance the 360 down the line by learning to do a one handed 360 or advancing to 10 & 2. We can look at learning the 10 and 2 position, which basically means you decelerate the mace on each side causing it to point to either a 10 or 2 position, depending on which side you’re swinging the mace. The main difference being that the 10 and 2 position means the mace doesn’t come back to 12 (or vertical), which the 360 does.
Squat – 360 – Side Lunge -360 Flow
Hold the weighted end of the mace palm up and the opposing end palm down, ensure the mace is horizontal, squat down ensuring the mace goes across your knees, push back up, perform a 360. Switch hands and therefore grips, perform the squat and 360 on the opposing side and come back to centre. As you return the mace to that vertical position, step out to the side with one leg and bend that knee, keeping the other leg straight, lower the weighted end of the mace down to the toes of the straightened leg, hinging the hips. Step in and bring the mace back up, perform a 360, then switch sides.
Squat – 360 – Step Back Lunge Row – 360 Flow
For this flow, hold both of the mace ends palm down, ensure the mace is horizontal, squat down ensuring the mace goes across your knees, push back up, perform a 360. Perform the squat and 360 on the opposing side and come back to centre. Then with the starting grip palms down, perform a step back lunge and then rotate into a row over that front leg with your base hand across the body, back up to horizontal and then centre vertically, perform a 360 and repeat on the opposing side.
You can make each flow more unique by adding extra exercises, such as an overhead press and/or bicep curls, in between each flow movement. Just make sure to come back to that 360 movement to mark your pairs of exercises.
Key musculature to think about are the Lats. Strong Lat engagement is key here to help stabilise the mace weight as it crosses your shoulder. Don’t let the mace come onto your shoulder and then try to pull it over as this is extremely dangerous for your shoulder joints. Stabilize the Lats and keep that momentum going. Stick to light weight and good from and your joints will thank you in the long run.
Keep the weight light when using the Macebell, especially when you’re starting out. You can start off with 4kg or 6kg Macebells or kettlebells as the weight and momentum of the Macebell can feel strange at first.
All of this functional kit is available at the Gravity Fitness Functional Fitness store
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