Safety Rules for Mace Training
Mace lifting is one of the most beneficial exercises for your upper body and shoulder. But for Mace swinging, you should be a little careful and keep some safety rules in your mind while you are training with mace.
- Always be aware of your surroundings, preferably outside. Allow at least 8 feet of clearance all around and above you.
- Before you begin, always warm up and stretch your shoulders and triceps tendon.
- Check that your hands are dry. (Chalk is suggested.)
- Check that your clothing does not bind during high-repetition rotational movements.
Mobility – Stretches
The main resistance in mace training is the moderate weight with an incredible amount of torque. Much more torque than traditional linear training, kettlebell training, or even club
training.
This torque is especially taxing on the triceps, elbows, and the triceps tendon just above the elbow joint. Stretching the triceps and shoulders is recommended to prepare your joints and tendons to withstand this stress. Many people find it beneficial to apply liniment (icy hot, ben gay, etc.) to their elbows before and after training.
Warmups and Preparation
For starters, mace training incorporates a wide range of movements that complement your strength training warm-up perfectly. In fact, you could use mace training exclusively for this purpose and reap numerous benefits.
Of course, mace training can become a primary fitness activity or skill in its own right. Proper warmups are essential for safety and effectiveness in kettlebell training, as are putting aside the ego when it comes to shoulder mobility.
As a result, warmups typically include some shoulder stretching as well as some introductory movements. The primary muscles to stretch are the shoulders, upper chest, triceps, and lats. Warm-up exercises include two kettlebell movements that also work well as regressions for someone who is new to mace training. They can also be performed with just one dumbbell.
Halo and Ribbon are the movements. They both concentrate on the two most important aspects of mace training: overhead mobility and core stability. The important thing to remember when performing these movements as mace regressions is to focus on achieving the greatest range of pain-free motion and core stability possible. Of course, this also applies to mace training. If any of these movements cause tightness, impingement, or discomfort in the shoulders, you can target that area with stretching.
Once these two elements are established, you will no longer require these kettlebell movements and can instead warm up with your mace. Furthermore, your mace training can move at a much faster pace.
Caveats of mace training
The most obvious consideration when beginning mace training is the need for plenty of space to move around; for example, your garage or backyard. There are mace training classes, but they are usually held outside and in groups of no more than 6-8 people. You don’t want to be the one who gave someone the new moniker “satellite-dish head.” It wouldn’t be funny. Absolutely not.
While mace training is known for improving shoulder health, it should be done slowly, even if you have good shoulder mobility now. The rotational aspects of mace training, combined with the overhead component, are an incredible challenge to the core, even with “only” a 10- or 12-pound mace.
Finally, for those with sensitive lower backs, warming up to mace training can be difficult. Anything that requires a lot of overhead movement can strain the lower back, which is usually caused by tight, weak, and ineffective lower back muscles, a weak core, weak glutes, or all of the above. Before you begin mace training, you may need to address these issues separately. But consider this: once you’ve done it and mace training has become a part of your life, you’ll have a bulletproof lower back.
What do you think? Mace training now provides a unique way for aspiring or experienced athletes to do it through movement. And as long as you’re far enough apart, you won’t need the fortune to smile on you!
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