Windmill loading

I'm curious to know what people do for loading the windmills.  Obviously, I realize it's an iM, and not a strength movement, but there's a few things I've noticed so far.  Apologies in advance for mixing units of measure in this post.

1. At weights less than 8kg I get no additional stretch from the weight (I'm pretty dense, at 5'9 and 180#).

2. At 8kgs (my smallest kettlebell), I get additional stretch and have no problem keeping tempo, but my form tends to get really sloppy, because I'm strong enough to hold 8kg over my head in any weird position I want and still complete the movement.

3. At 16kg (my bells are in 8kg increments), I can't hit the tempo suggested in the videos (at least until I've had some more practice with the move), but it forces my form to be absolutely on point, and I get a lot of additional stretch out of the weight.

So, I think my question is ultimately, should I just be focusing more mental effort on keeping good form with a lighter weight, or is it reasonable to slow down a bit, use heavier weight and be forced to focus harder on the movement?

Hey Nicholas,

Interesting question. I think it's best to perfect the form and tempo with the 8kg weight. Focus really hard and don't let your form get sloppy for any reason. 

Nicholas, I used to do windmills before I found GST, too. So I was able to do them with 35 lbs (16 kg) for 15 reps… but now, when doing the iM, I gradually went down in the weight, and focused on really having the biggest possible range of motion in the rotation of the arm, both on the bottom and the top of the movement. I am choosing 10 lbs and focusing on keeping my arm vertical and not being sloppy and letting it fall to the side anywhere. It feels really good doing it that way. Bending really deep, reaching far with the bottom hand, rotating the upper arm as much as possible. You will find joy in doing the windmills this way.