Old Forum Massage Therapy and kettlebell training, need advice...Iron Tamer?

[EHughes323]

I have just recently begun my career as a licensed massage therapist, and have found that my body is struggling with the workload of 5-6 days of kettlebell training (S&S style) and doing massage. (specifically my hands and fingers are getting pretty banged up.) I have been contemplating the idea of reducing my training to twice a week, doing 5/5 get ups and 20 mins. of swings "swing season" style from Kettlebell Express. Was wondering if this would be a good idea to try for a while, while my hands get used to the increased workload that massage is placing on them. I have tried training 3-4 times a week before and had great results, not to mention I just FELT better, but have never tried training just twice a week.  Hopefully Iron Tamer will see this and have some advice on training and/or hand care, and of course advice from anyone, LMT or no, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Phil12]

Sounds like just cutting back on the S&S sessions is a good idea. No need to change up the program.

Hand care: Use pumice stones, files and other stuff to keep them shaved down. The most helpful tip I got was posted on this forum although I don't recall who did it: Take about a tablespoon of sugar in your hand, pour on about as much olive oil and scrub together. This has taken care of some calluses on my hand that were oddly soft and resistant to normal techniques. I do this once or twice a week and it really helps.

 

[Michael Corrales]

Phil-  I have not heard that sugar/ olive oil tip before!  Need to keep it in mind to try when needed.  Thanks.

 

[EHughes323]

Thank you for the input Phil, I guess I should have been more clear about my hands and wrists; I don't have any problems with calluses; my wrists, hands, and fingers are just exceptionally sore and sometimes even painful from all the massage. Hopefully that clears things up.

 

[Iron Tamer]

"I have just recently begun my career as a licensed massage therapist,".....

Congratulations on the new endeavor. it's bee a LOOOOOONG time since I did that, but it can be rewarding and exhausting.

Short answer: cut back on the KB workload until your hands become accustom to the massage workload.

Medium answer: Test it out and see if it is either the swing or the getups that is more demanding on you. You may find that reducing swing volume and increasing getups (or vice versa) allows you to train more with less fatigue. Or you might find that you need to cut back on both. I have a feeling that 4-5x per week at 6-7 min of swings will work better for you than 2x20 min. But you won't know until you test it out.

Long answer:

Look back over your log for  the past few weeks that left you feeling beat up.

How long were the individual sessions? the total number of swings  done per week? Average per day of training? Same thing for the getups? Can you adjust training so that the same amount of work is being done under better circumstances? For example, Say you did 1000 swings total in a week over 3 sessions of 200,300 and 500. Can you do 5x250 and do more total work with less effort per session?

None of these are "do this" answers but rather I encourage you start thinking of it along those lines to find the best combo for YOU. Also keep in mind that what is working best for you this week may suck for you for next month, BUT it will give you good info in hind site to plan the next leg of your journey.

 

[Andrew Palmer]

Some excellent answers here, obviously.

I was a Sports Massage Therapist and usually worked with elite Rugby League players. I found my fingers and thumbs usually copped the brunt of the soreness, so I had to perform recovery work on them when necessary. It was mostly hot water soaks, massage using a tennis ball, and generally just stretching them a fair bit.

Regarding exercise, I never really had any issues, even with heavy kettlebell sessions. But if  your work or training is affected then, as Tamer mentioned, you need to think for yourself, or more appropriately feel, what level of work you are capable of performing and adjusting your training to suit.

In your situation, I would personally stick with S&S but vary the number of days as you are able to perform without it affecting your work or recovery negatively.

 

[EHughes323]

Thanks so much for the great advice Tamer and Andrew, I really really appreciate it.

Tamer; took your advice and looked over my training log, and man am I glad I did. I noticed that I have been working doing S&S exclusively with the 40kg bell for the past few weeks, and not only that, I did not gradually work in to it; I went straight from doing all sets with the 32kg to all sets with the 40kg. AND, if that wasn't enough, I never actually tested to see if I had achieved the Simple standards yet before moving on...So I think it's safe to say, I got WAY too impatient to progress and am certainly paying for it.

Andrew and Tamer; I am taking your advices and going to stick with S&S, but only do it 5-6 days a week to start out, just to give myself 1-2 days to recover from any accumulated fatigue from S&S and massage. In addition, I will be starting over doing S&S with the 24kg, which is VERY light for me now, but I definitely do not want to make the same mistake again, so it will be nice to start over and progress PROPERLY without burning myself out.

Also Andrew, I stretch, do self massage, and ice water soaks regularly, but have not tried hot water soaks, so I will give those a shot as well.

Thanks again for the advice gents, freakin love this forum and all of the awesome information provided by all of you.