all posts post new thread

Kettlebell Kettlebells and Longevity

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)

Shawn

Level 5 Valued Member
I have questions for guys that have been doing kettlebells for a long time. What are your opinions and advice on kettlebells and Longevity? Is there anyone here that's been doing them for a while that has never been injuried? Do you stay away from certain exercises, volume, reps, ect...?
 
Hello,

@Shawn
You can get injured if you are doing a move with a bad technique, or if you overtrain (but overtraining can also lead to bad technique) or if you have a previous injury.
When something is done safely, it can be done for a long time without any kind of trouble.

Volume aspect is somthing harder to describe because some folks will endure a lot of volume with a move, and less volume with another one. For some others, it will be the contrary.

Could you be more specific ? Do you think about a specific program / move / old injury ?

Kind regeards,

Pet'
 
@Shawn
I have been using kettlebells since 2001 (I am currently 52 years old).

I have never injured myself lifting kettlebells with the following exceptions:

--Bruised forearms learning to snatch. Of course snatching was the first thing I tried to do with my new kettlebells when I first started. I had the original RKC book/video, but had no idea what I was doing. I just banged the hell out of my forearms until I figured out how to avoid it, mainly by trial and error.

--Occasional torn skin on hands, especially early on.

--Pulled a QL muscle carelessly picking up a KB after my wife yelled at me to move it.

--Occasional flare ups of elbow tendinitis, especially when first learning the clean and snatch. Was also doing a lot of heavy pull ups, and it tends to still flare up if I overdo it on the pull ups (Dan John calls this MAPS -- Middle Aged Pull Up Syndrome).

--The only other training injury I can recall is when I dumped a barbell squat forward onto the rack pins many years ago and developed some sciatic pain.

Now, I do have a long list of sports injuries: I have grade 4 arthritis is my knees and ankles, I've had two shoulder surgeries and one knee surgery, broken bones in ankles and fingers, broken noses (that is, one nose, broken multiple times), broken ribs, torn ligaments in fingers, innumerable sprained ankles, pulled muscles, etc. But all of these were acute injuries suffered playing sports or arthritis related to wear and tear of playing sports.

Is it possible that things I did in my training contributed to some of these acute injuries? Maybe, but there is no way to know that.

My retrospective advice on training longevity:
--Be patient. Trust the process, punch the clock and do the work. Let the progress happen naturally. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself, but don't make it the focus of your training or feel pressure to progress at a certain pace. This also goes for doing specific exercises -- develop competency in your form before charging ahead with volume and load.

--Don't neglect mobility. Do some kind of movement exploration that gets you moving in a variety of novel ways that supplement/complement your main training. Losing movement flexibility (in the figurative sense of being able to move freely in lots of ways, but also the literal sense of range of motion) sneaks up on you as you get older. To quote Ernest Hemingway, it happens two ways, gradually and then suddenly. Start working to maintain it before you have to start working to restore it.
 
Last edited:
Pavel mentions in one of his books, I think the Russian kettlebell challenge, that his dad was 68 years old at the time and still going strong with kettlebells. But he just mentions it in passing and doesn't give any details.
 
pet' said:
Hello,

@Shawn
You can get injured if you are doing a move with a bad technique, or if you overtrain (but overtraining can also lead to bad technique) or if you have a previous injury.
When something is done safely, it can be done for a long time without any kind of trouble.

Volume aspect is somthing harder to describe because some folks will endure a lot of volume with a move, and less volume with another one. For some others, it will be the contrary.

Could you be more specific ? Do you think about a specific program / move / old injury ?

Kind regeards,

Pet'
Click to expand...


Pet, Someone was talking to me about pushups causing shoulder and elbow injuries. So I just thought what about kettlebells. Yes I have some old injuries like back, elbow and knees to be general. I have no pain now in anything. Just was thinking about when I get older that I wanted to be pain free if possible.
 
Steve W. said:
@Shawn
I have been using kettlebells since 2001 (I am currently 52 years old).

I have never injured myself lifting kettlebells with the following exceptions:

--Bruised forearms learning to snatch. Of course snatching was the first thing I tried to do with my new kettlebells when I first started. I had the original RKC book/video, but had no idea what I was doing. I just banged the hell out of my forearms until I figured out how to avoid it, mainly by trial and error.

--Occasional torn skin on hands, especially early on.

--Pulled a QL muscle carelessly picking up a KB after my wife yelled at me to move it.

--Occasional flare ups of elbow tendinitis, especially when first learning the clean and snatch. Was also doing a lot of heavy pull ups, and it tends to still flare up if I overdo it on the pull ups (Dan John calls this MAPS -- Middle Aged Pull Up Syndrome).

--The only other training injury I can recall is when I dumped a barbell squat forward onto the rack pins many years ago and developed some sciatic pain.

Now, I do have a long list of sports injuries: I have grade 4 arthritis is my knees and ankles, I've had two shoulder surgeries and one knee surgery, broken bones in ankles and fingers, broken noses (that is, one nose, broken multiple times), broken ribs, torn ligaments in fingers, innumerable sprained ankles, pulled muscles, etc. But all of these were acute injuries suffered playing sports or arthritis related to wear and tear of playing sports.

Is it possible that things I did in my training contributed to some of these acute injuries? Maybe, but there is no way to know that.

My retrospective advice on training longevity:
--Be patient. Trust the process, punch the clock and do the work. Let the progress happen naturally. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself, but don't make it the focus of your training or feel pressure to progress at a certain pace. This also goes for doing specific exercises -- develop competency in your form before charging ahead with volume and load.

--Don't neglect mobility. Do some kind of movement exploration that gets you moving in a variety of novel ways that supplement/complement your main training. Losing movement flexibility (in the figurative sense of being able to move freely in lots of ways, but also the literal sense of range of motion) sneaks up on you as you get older. To quote Ernest Hemingway, it happens two ways, gradually and then suddenly. Start working to maintain it before you have to start working to restore it.
Click to expand...


Steve Thank You for taking the time to write this. I will take Your advice to heart.
 
Will be 50 next month and have been training with KB for 9+ years. Have had many training injuries over the years training other modalities.

The only reservation/caution I have with them is the preponderance of overhead pressing. Mix in some other push, pull to balance out. They are a great tool but require a small amount of supplemental work. Otherwise they have been an almost 100% injury free training tool and helped with many of my other injuries and chronic joint problems. Probably the safest resistance training outside of bands.
 
I have practiced with kettlebells since 2004 and up to certain point no significant injuries doing kettlebells. Minor aches here and there occur from overdoing either volume, weight or both.
Starting this year extreme unilateral movement such as bent press and windmill on one side has caused minor hip problem which sidelined me for couple weeks. This is one in 13 years.
 
I think they are awesome for longevity particularly for the musculoskeletal system. They are more forgiving than barbells and allow a lot of people with pre-existing knee and shoulder and even hip injuries to get solid strength and conditioning training in when programmed properly.
 
NoahMarek said:
I think they are awesome for longevity particularly for the musculoskeletal system. They are more forgiving than barbells and allow a lot of people with pre-existing knee and shoulder and even hip injuries to get solid strength and conditioning training in when programmed properly.
Click to expand...

This is a good point.

When I had a torn meniscus in my knee and could not squat or lunge, I could still do swings.

When I had a torn rotator cuff and could not do presses or even hold a bell in the rack, I could still do swings.

When I have had sprained ankles and could not walk normally, I could still do swings.

I am still recovering from rotator cuff surgery (but cleared for any training I feel capable of) and I can't really press yet, but I can still swing and have recently started to snatch again too.

However, I don't think this is totally unique to KBs. Just about any modality allows for working around injuries and various aches and pains. I could give analogous examples to those above for maces, clubbells, Jump Stretch bands, bodyweight training, suspension training, and even barbells (for example deadlifts are very knee, ankle, and shoulder friendly).

Edited to add: I am mainly referring to working around pre-existing injuries/conditions or acute sports or other non-training injuries. If you are consistently having to work around injuries from training, it's time to reassess programming, recovery, exercise form, etc.
 
Last edited:
I have a history of lower back pain and strains. I have found swings to be very effective in dealing with lower back pain and strain.
 
I spoke with Steve Maxwell about this. He told me that he knows people who have used all styles of training and had longevity. He said the things they all had in common was that they all checked their ego at the door, put a priority on joint mobility, never pushed to the point of poor form, every movement was under complete control and they balanced the risk to reward ratio for everything they did. They know the difference between recreation and exercise. They also did something to benefit their health every single day. Essentially they always had it in their mind that one day their body will be old and you'll pay a price for what you did when you were young.
 
IMHO, strength and flexibility are two sides of the same coin. This is one of the reasons Flexible Steel appeals to me so much. I believe strength is _the_ foundational physical attribute, but it is not the _only_ physical attribute, and along the lines of what Steve Maxwell says, being able to move well seems to be what a lot of folks are missing.

Strong First, Flexible Next.

-S-
 
Yeah, there's some great stuff here.
Steve W. said:
Be patient. Trust the process, punch the clock and do the work. Let the progress happen naturally. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself, but don't make it the focus of your training or feel pressure to progress at a certain pace.
Click to expand...
That particularly resonated with me and, I think, was exactly what I needed to hear in regards to my training. Much appreciated, @Steve W.
 
the kettlebell is the most all-round fitness tool.
I have been practicing with the bell(s) for eight years now, consistently. Kettlebells and diligent practice of SF principles are sustainable on a daily, weekly, yearly basis. Both are resilient to time. Thus applying builds up resiliency and longevity.
 
Last edited:
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom