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Kettlebell Tips for getting older - feeling stuck in injury loop?

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Hi Everyone.

First off, thanks for thinking through this and taking the time to respond. Here is what I settled on:
  • 4 Tabatas per week which look like w/u, jump rope, mountain climber, jump rope 1/4 burpee, cool down
    • Nothing that requires too much grip or elbows
  • 2 min wall sits / day
  • Once my Health Insurance kicks in (after 3 months b/c I just started a new job) I'll see a physio
    • I tried one push up this morning and it irritates my elbows, so no pushing I until I see a physio
It's been about one week, and I'm happy to be moving again and my mood is way up. =D yay.

Other background info in case it's interesting. I looked at my old workout log, and I see that as life got more stressful, I did S+S less frequently, but I never reduced the weight and to save time I started skipping warm-ups. So probably a random 32k S&S before a camping trip is what hurt my QL. Regarding my elbows: I started a new desk job--lots of typing, and I've been playing a lot of guitar. I think more computer and more guitar was okay, but when I added in KB press that was just too much on my forearms. Also, I've come to realize that I overgrip everything: jars, guitar bar-chords, my mouse, the steering wheel, even the kitchen knife.

I did get SFG coaching after getting simple standard and I learned a lot. But... it doesn't seem like the right season of life to be juggling coaching at a gym.

When the baseline is back up and my elbows work okay, I'll try to begin S+S again from zero as practice / learning.
 
Hi Everyone.

First off, thanks for thinking through this and taking the time to respond. Here is what I settled on:
  • 4 Tabatas per week which look like w/u, jump rope, mountain climber, jump rope 1/4 burpee, cool down
    • Nothing that requires too much grip or elbows
  • 2 min wall sits / day
  • Once my Health Insurance kicks in (after 3 months b/c I just started a new job) I'll see a physio
    • I tried one push up this morning and it irritates my elbows, so no pushing I until I see a physio
It's been about one week, and I'm happy to be moving again and my mood is way up. =D yay.

Other background info in case it's interesting. I looked at my old workout log, and I see that as life got more stressful, I did S+S less frequently, but I never reduced the weight and to save time I started skipping warm-ups. So probably a random 32k S&S before a camping trip is what hurt my QL. Regarding my elbows: I started a new desk job--lots of typing, and I've been playing a lot of guitar. I think more computer and more guitar was okay, but when I added in KB press that was just too much on my forearms. Also, I've come to realize that I overgrip everything: jars, guitar bar-chords, my mouse, the steering wheel, even the kitchen knife.

I did get SFG coaching after getting simple standard and I learned a lot. But... it doesn't seem like the right season of life to be juggling coaching at a gym.

When the baseline is back up and my elbows work okay, I'll try to begin S+S again from zero as practice / learning.

I would add mobility work like YTWLs. Have you tried the Original Strength resets?
It took me a while to take mobility seriously, but it has paid off a lot.
 
Hi Everyone,

Do you have any tips for "restarting" fitness in your 40s?

My situation in brief. I was super fit in 20-30s. My favorite thing was climbing. Pre-pandemic, like just before, I did the simple standard. After the pandemic I stopped going to the gym. With a remote desk job, I'm out of shape and my body feels tight.

A few times I've tried to restart S&S and keep getting injured
- Once, I threw out my back chopping firewood camping (QL was overused).
- Recently, I was like, ok I'm going to eat my pride and use 16kgs just to start moving again. I thought just to scale down I'm doing only ONE SET of swings and one set of presses (since that's easier than TGU). And... and the end of a tiring stressful week, on my 10th press BOOM both elbows got tweaked and now I'm nursing tennis/golf elbow in both arms. It's like 6 weeks later and they still feel off.

At the moment. I'm frustrated and kind of feel afraid to workout with weights.

How to get of the loop and restart? Have any of you been through a similar thing?

Thanks
SD
You might want to reach out to Geoff Neupert he’s great for working with those of us who have let life beat us up. I know your pain, I have multiple little nagging injuries that never went away from my 20s. But lately seem to be able to work around them as I’ve
Learned what works
 
I have been reading some research on strategically using isometric exercises and various lifting tempos for connective tissue remodeling/repair. There is some evidence that heavy isometrics and slow heavy lifting tempos like 5151, can help tendons heal and repair when used strategically with the right exercise.
 
Hi Everyone,

Do you have any tips for "restarting" fitness in your 40s?

My situation in brief. I was super fit in 20-30s. My favorite thing was climbing. Pre-pandemic, like just before, I did the simple standard. After the pandemic I stopped going to the gym. With a remote desk job, I'm out of shape and my body feels tight.

A few times I've tried to restart S&S and keep getting injured
- Once, I threw out my back chopping firewood camping (QL was overused).
- Recently, I was like, ok I'm going to eat my pride and use 16kgs just to start moving again. I thought just to scale down I'm doing only ONE SET of swings and one set of presses (since that's easier than TGU). And... and the end of a tiring stressful week, on my 10th press BOOM both elbows got tweaked and now I'm nursing tennis/golf elbow in both arms. It's like 6 weeks later and they still feel off.

At the moment. I'm frustrated and kind of feel afraid to workout with weights.

How to get of the loop and restart? Have any of you been through a similar thing?

Thanks
SD
First off, don’t get down. This happens and you will get better. FWIW, I hurt my elbow in Dec and dealt with it until very recently. Some days I still feel the familiar feeling and I back off a bit.

What I tried without any real improvement:
-flexbar
-pronation and supination with a hammer or db
-eccentric wrist curls

What I (and many people) tried with huge improvement:
-Mark Rippetoes Pin Firing Method (Chin ups)

Videos:
1-

2-

It sounds nuts, but it works.


If I could go back, I’d deal with this first and foremost because unless you do, you’ll just push through and take 2 steps back for every 1 step forward… over and over.


After healing the elbows, or while healing them, I were you I would focus on mobility (lots of great stuff online), doing a good daily crawl/core routine (like Aleks Salkin’s 9 minute challenge), and focus on 2-4 exercises 3x/week.

You will get better. Don’t lose hope!
 
One thing I'll add, as it came up recently, don't be afraid to deviate from your programming if some minor issue crops up, to prevent it becoming a major issue.

I had to learn the hard way that whatever training time I lose from not doing something is less than the training time I lose if I aggravate something that is a minor issue and turn it into a major issue.

Example from this week:

I started having minor Achilles tendonitis in the middle of last week (who knows why), so I skipped DLs and squats for 2 sessions, did farmer's carries instead.

Tendonitis has now subsided, and I'll resume squatting tomorrow.
 
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I have been reading some research on strategically using isometric exercises and various lifting tempos for connective tissue remodeling/repair. There is some evidence that heavy isometrics and slow heavy lifting tempos like 5151, can help tendons heal and repair when used strategically with the right exercise.

BFR training is also used for rehab.
 
Ooh, that pin firing protocol looks interesting. I think I'll try it.

From my (limited) understanding of tendons, extended rest doesn't make sense. Four weeks is a short time compared to how long this has been nagging me. Thanks again for posting all these resources. You guys are amazing.
 
One paradox that I think people need to come to terms with is:

Being sedentary has less short term injury risk, but worse long term injury risk due to being frail in later in life

Being very physically active has increased short term injury risk, but less long term injury risk due to being stronger later in life

Yeah, you can be ultra low risk and sedentary now if you're afraid of injury in the present, but that weakness is kicking the can down the road and setting you up for much greater risk in the future.
 
One paradox that I think people need to come to terms with is:

Being sedentary has less short term injury risk, but worse long term injury risk due to being frail in later in life

Being very physically active has increased short term injury risk, but less long term injury risk due to being stronger later in life

Yeah, you can be ultra low risk and sedentary now if you're afraid of injury in the present, but that weakness is kicking the can down the road and setting you up for much greater risk in the future.
Very well put!

-S-
 
One paradox that I think people need to come to terms with is:

Being sedentary has less short term injury risk, but worse long term injury risk due to being frail in later in life

Being very physically active has increased short term injury risk, but less long term injury risk due to being stronger later in life

Yeah, you can be ultra low risk and sedentary now if you're afraid of injury in the present, but that weakness is kicking the can down the road and setting you up for much greater risk in the future.


Also, repaired tissue of any kind needs stress applied to set the fix. This is the difference between sedentary people who have long-term post surgical pain and those who do not because they did the PT and got active. Everything needs pressure or tension along a defined line of force.
 
One paradox that I think people need to come to terms with is:

Being sedentary has less short term injury risk, but worse long term injury risk due to being frail in later in life

Being very physically active has increased short term injury risk, but less long term injury risk due to being stronger later in life

Yeah, you can be ultra low risk and sedentary now if you're afraid of injury in the present, but that weakness is kicking the can down the road and setting you up for much greater risk in the future.

This is a very interesting way of putting it.

Too many people who train competitively or without instruction have chronic or too frequent injuries, which is not "healthy" but a guy with a bad shoulder but overall strength is better than being frail all over in old age!

Approaches like SF help to manage risk by training more systematically, not to muscle failure, and not doing stupid #!!$.
 
Hi Everyone,

Do you have any tips for "restarting" fitness in your 40s?

My situation in brief. I was super fit in 20-30s. My favorite thing was climbing. Pre-pandemic, like just before, I did the simple standard. After the pandemic I stopped going to the gym. With a remote desk job, I'm out of shape and my body feels tight.

A few times I've tried to restart S&S and keep getting injured
- Once, I threw out my back chopping firewood camping (QL was overused).
- Recently, I was like, ok I'm going to eat my pride and use 16kgs just to start moving again. I thought just to scale down I'm doing only ONE SET of swings and one set of presses (since that's easier than TGU). And... and the end of a tiring stressful week, on my 10th press BOOM both elbows got tweaked and now I'm nursing tennis/golf elbow in both arms. It's like 6 weeks later and they still feel off.

At the moment. I'm frustrated and kind of feel afraid to workout with weights.

How to get of the loop and restart? Have any of you been through a similar thing?

Thanks
SD
Firstly, let go of any ideas of what exercise you need to do. Pick exercises that will not cause injury. There’s an idea on this forum that any exercise can be performed by anybody if the form is good but that is nonsense.
I am a former powerlfter but at 43 I never squat deadlift or bench. I use cables, dumbbells and machines to maintain muscle mass and use cardio machines to build my Vo2 max.

Define your goals; are you chasing general health and fitness or do you want to compete in something?

Then clarify your limitations. If you don’t wish to compete there is really no reason to risk hurting yourself working on regressions of the movements that have aggravated you. We don’t need to fetishise movements or think that it sets you apart from anyone else. If you can achieve your goals with machines, without injury then that’s your most obvious route
 
I would also personally suggest that Tabatas offer little to anyone outside of an elite (endurance/Vo2 max based) athlete
 
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