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Kettlebell Tips to avoid injuries

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Abdul-Rasheed

Abdul-Rasheed

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Just a background to show whence this question is coming. I have been resting for the last three weeks due to the following injuries.

1. Strained my upper back during swing (I have no idea why and how. I had a pre-existing, hidden upper back verterbrea misalignment per the doctor)
-- This is 95% gone now
2. My wrists were paining.
-- This is 95% gone too
3. My left forearm (top of the foream near the elbow joint) is paining when i flex it or when I squeeze the handle of the bell. This was not present when I stopped training, but slowly showed up, interestingly.
-- This is still there

I have a lingering doubt that I might have upped the weight a bit too eagerly for my body type. I hope to resume training in a week and I will lower my weight (20kg instead of 24kg for swings; 16kg instead of 20kg for TGUs). If you have any ideas on how I should approach this, that is welcome.

The intent of this thread is to collect all the ideas you may have to stay injury-free specifically during kettlebell swings and TGUs (such as keeping the shoulders packed, keeping the body tight etc.). I think this is useful for many. Thank you.
 
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My goto's for content are Kelly Starrett and Jill Miller. A search will yield many results.

To speed things up, go here:
I have both Becoming a Supple Leopard (Starrett) and Roll Model (Miller). Kelly comes out of athletics and Jill is from the Yoga community.

Having one as a resource is paramount for selfcare. At this point, if I could only have one text it would be Supple Leopard. That said, get the one that seems more in line with the community you would associate with more.

Gray Cook is also a good resource. I just do not know his texts well enough to recommend one.

Live well!
 
The exercise is not over until the bell is parked.
On TGU, always roll when parking the bell. I tend to rush this step and recently noticed unnecessary stress on my shoulder by not rolling completely to the side when parking the bell.
 
Hello Abdul,
I think the most important thing to avoid injuries is to use proper form and alignment in the chosen exercises. This really starts with the set up, end ends, regarding kettlebells, when the bell is parked. In practe that means, to have the fatigue in check, as wanting to do more (volume and/or density) can come to the cost of quality. 1. The best method, to get form dialled in, is to get hands on teaching through an SFG. 2. If that is currently not possible, than, to video oneself, and post it to the forum. 3. When one has a good understanding on movement quality, than video oneself and asses oneself.
 
Hey Abdul,
I hope you are recovering!
My go to answer for all things injury/technique related is to seek a pro.
A good Physiotherapist and RMT combo is invaluble for injury recovery and exercise recovery.
Seek out a Functional Movement Screening Expert. Make sure you are moving well before you move lots.
Seek out a SFG to check form or post a video on here for some feed back.
I forget what post I read this on but I'm sure it was on Strongfirst but, and I'm paraphrasing here, "The greatest ability is Availability"

Pavel Macek said:
The cause of most of he injuries: too much, too soon.
The solution: patience.
Click to expand...

I think we've all gotten carried away once or twice with the new strength we feel, however, Patience truly is a virtue of the strong.
Good luck man!
 
The only time I have hurt anything with a kettlebell was losing concentration and getting lazy in a rep when in a fatigued state, then it was only a tweak.

Pavel's (T not M) books are very clear about not training to failure and stopping if your form starts to deteriorate. Do the movements correctly, do them often, don't do them in a fatigued state.

I also think the point Pavel (M not T) makes about patience is spot on. I have felt the kettlebell's effects on my strength gradually accumulate over time - not a quick process but extremely satisfying. I started with a light weight and have progressed cautiously - this has given essentially 18 months injury free strength training, which I think is nearly a miracle when I look at the boot camp casualties at the local gym.
 
I have a very aggressive nature, so my natural tendency is to go balls to the wall, every session. I have to constantly remind myself that I am in this for the long haul. With Kettlebells, especially, I am practicing a set of skills. I am not 'working out'.

This sounds so cheesy, but it works for me. I have developed the habit of muttering a mantra to myself while pacing around between sets. It has changed few times over the past several months, but it seems to keep my internal gorilla in check.

During S&S it was Dan John's quote "Performance dictates complexity". Now with KB Strong it is Vince Lombardi's "Perfect Practice makes Perfect".
 
Learn a bit about foam rolling and using lacrosse balls to take care of soft tissue things. A lot of money can be saved in confusing misdiagnoses by taking care of potential knots/trigger points before concluding that an issue needs professional intervention. I've had the medical system send me in useless circles until one doctor had me go see the occupational massage therapist. From then I thought, why not try the LEAST invasive, LEAST expensive solutions first? Seems kind of obvious...
The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Davies and Davies is a great resource (plus, as a side affect, you'll start learning anatomy to follow along with physical therapists when they start talking specific muscles). You'll learn your body more, and learn to recognize WHY your current technique may be straining certain muscles. Or, your technique could be fine, but it was just too much, too fast, causing the trigger point.

Doctors usually tell me to rest for a week before bringing an issue in to be checked out, so you can better use that waiting time self treating tissue issues, and if it persists, you know where to go next.
 
One thing that helped me tremendously and I am not alone here as other SF users/instructors have had the same results. Original Strength. Most of any of the previous injuries or lack of "strength" for the lifts were due to poor reflexive strength. Try it and see if it works for you! Seriously was a game changer for me.
 
I second the 'trigger point therapy workbook' like jca17 says. I have it and it is most useful. I have a theracane and a thumbsaver that I use to save my hands when massaging myself. You really can't go wrong, it's a $17 dollar book on amazon that essentially condenses Travell and Simons groundbreaking trigger point work
 
Thank you for all your inputs.

I don't know if I was really impatient with weights. Perhaps I was. I was armed with information gleaned from our books and forums. I tried to put safety first. I had obtained some personal instruction from (RFC, SFG certified) people since Dec 2014 when I found kettlebells. Even today I continue to seek it as much as time and other factors permit. But as you know there is always something to tweak.

I have not been getting enough sleep around the time when I was injured. Do you see any connection there?
 
jca17 said:
I've had the medical system send me in useless circles until one doctor had me go see the occupational massage therapist. From then I thought, why not try the LEAST invasive, LEAST expensive solutions first? Seems kind of obvious...
Click to expand...
@jca17 Totally agree with your your statement and it makes makes perfect sense in this day and age of 'knee surgery in the morning; golf in the evening' (i really saw that in a billboard in new jersey!). A dosI have many reasons to lose trust in the medical system long back. Here is one. I had a frozen shoulder for an year half (circa 2013) and a famous, super-busy orthopedic after a few rounds of physical therapy was eager 'to cut it open' and 'fix it'. Big head shake, never to be returned again. The problem fixed itself, even after I gave up on the boring PT exercises not seeing any improvement, to my amazement. Now my right shoulder is strong than the left. Body heals to an extent, given time, I learned. Even for the current upper back injury, my primary doctor sent me back with a 'muscle relaxer (i think that's what they call it) pill after taking plenty of X-rays. That's the best they can do, sadly.
 
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