Welcome back to TQF and to Part Two of The Steel Mace 360. In part one we broke down all the muscles involved with performing this skill/ movement. So, today in part two we are going to discuss why this movement is beneficial and why you should be incorporating it into your regular routine.
Let’s talk about all the benefits we get from performing the 360 swing. Let’s think about how the muscles work and talk about why it’s great for everyone.
- Builds Incredible Grip Strength– Doesn’t take much thought to understand why. You are holding onto a heavy/ weighted object that’s flying around your head. If you loosen your grip it’s certainly going to go flying. So why is grip strength important? It will help improve all your upper body exercises and deadlifts in the gym, plus it transfers to sports training as well such as golf, baseball, grappling sports like wrestling, and even rock climbing and pole dancing. You’d be surprised how many activities require a strong grip.
- Core Strength and Stability– You core is the center of your universe! Swinging around a heavy object with a long lever will have your core muscles fighting every second to keep you from falling over, leaning, and twisting. Building a strong core through 360’s swings is a must and it’ll keep your core mobile and reactive to outside forces.
- Rotational Strength & Powerful Shoulders– The Steel Mace 360 in itself is a full out rotational exercise! With both explosive and passive movements the amount of torque your body needs to control will have your body developing power and strength in areas you didn’t realize were possible. What other exercise has you swinging something from behind you then powerfully and quickly bringing it back over your shoulder to a controlled stop in front of you?! Indian wrestlers such as the Undefeated Great Gama used the mace 360 to help build his power in tossing his opponents over his shoulders which is one of the best comparisons for the exercise.
- Mobility & Posture– When done properly the mace 360 is great for building mobility in your wrist, shoulders, lats and thoracic spine(T-Spine). All which are great for posture and being able to stand taller and more comfortably. When doing 360’s regularly it will open up these areas in a fluid way, allowing smooth movement with purpose and strength to hold these areas strong. Try this, stand up as straight as you can with your arms down and palms facing forward, what we call the anatomical position. See how you feel, what’s tight? What feels off? What feels out of place? Then do a set of 10-20 mace 360’s of each side, re-access yourself by standing in the anatomical position again. Now how does it feel? I will guarantee it feels looser and much more comfortable.
So, with part two coming to a close I should be seeing a lot more of you swinging mace! For free advice and coaching tips tag me in your videos. Help me help you smooth out those swings.When it comes to the Mace 360 think of the beauty of the movement. In the words of Leo Savage, creator of Steel Mace Flow™ “Do Something beautiful with your strength”.
How to do a steel mace 360: