Kettlebell WTH effect: ran a 5k with no prior training

[Adam B]

teenage and 20-something males, are not interested in being hyooge but just want to look good. Some of them may even want to gain a bit of strength to increase performance in a sport or activity. Unfortunately, this population usually does not know any better and they also head for the same bodybuilding resources as the bros who want dem gainz.

This pretty much sums up my high school weight training experience with an emphasis on strength for sports.

 

[Bret S.]

I had told my mother for years that she should begin a weight training program because, among many other benefits, it improves bone. She thought I was crazy and asked what was I thinking telling an old woman to lift weights? Then her doctor told her the same thing. She is now 82 and lifts fairly regularly with other "old ladies" seeking to prevent osteoporosis.

I just saw my mom for a week while in Arizona, I tried and tried to get her moving but she won't do it. She's 80 and fell down on her hip, resulting in a hairline fracture. She walks with a cane alot when she doesn't need to, her doc concurs.

So I took my parents to dinner at a sports bar nearby and a band was playing. She was really into it and my girlfriend gave me 'the look' to take her out on the floor and dance with her. When we got out there her whole demeanor changed and her face lit up as she danced upright and fluidly. She's been holding out on me but now she's busted.

Now my strategy is to get her and my dad into some dancing classes for exercise.

You're lucky to have your mom actually doing something..

 

[vegpedlr]

If you're training to look a certain way, aesthetics, that's bodybuilding to me. I think that's what most people are after, look good nekkid. Not Cutler yuge, but "good" according to some aesthetic. Unfortunately, most of the info I come across is more confusing than helpful.

While I would still like to try CF or even train like a bodybuilder for awhile just to see what would happen, I already have a pretty good idea. Some combo of illness, injury, and burnout. High intensity really beats me up. And I'd rather go play in the woods all day.

 

[Bret S.]

Densely muscled delts, thick lats and back, some 'manly' forearms and strong calloused hands, stay reasonably cut always and move well.. It's what I'm after from kb training. All good things in my book...
These 'aesthetic' effects come free with the right kb training strategy.

Edit: Forgot to add lift heavy things overhead and punch harder.

 

[Paul Nathan]

Remark: I've injured myself a couple times going from computer weenie who did longer bike rides to doing running. While it's natural etc, it requires strength that will atrophy if you don't take care of that part of your body.

I wasn't running even a 5k. The pt and the doc said, basically, "You're too weak to do this: get stronger".

Didn't realize how much strength it actually required to run without injury. Useful to know if you're a desk jockey looking to start running! Get stronger.

 

[Kozushi]

Funny, I always think of it the other way around. Bodybuilding has always been easier as in 'less complicated' for me. Strength was always a by-product of gaining muscle. I was never a pump artist in the sense of light weight/high rep training. 10 reps was my magic number for hypertrophy so I gradually gained both strength and muscle together. Supersets of opposing muscle groups was my favored strategy and it never seemed complicated.

At the time I often had the feeling of being a poser in a gorilla suit. I knew instinctively there were some serious holes in my strength.

After starting Tang Soo Do training I learned why, my instructor punched right through my blocks rendering my big muscles useless.

Applied tension is where it's at for me. I learned it through 30 years of training focusing on micro-bursts of tension on technique. Now I have more strength and punching power than I did 20 years ago and it's only getting better as my strength skill improves.

To me the skill of strength is much deeper and more complicated than bodybuilding ever was, and alot more fun. I used to feel strong with a full arm pump.. Now I feel like a sitting duck.

No disrespect meant to bodybuilders.. It's just not my thing.

Probably any kind of move that involves multiple muscle groups is pretty useful for a sport. Isolation is what isn't so good, generally speaking. If you have big pecs and biceps but a weak back, you're going to lose.

 

[Kozushi]

Densely muscled delts, thick lats and back, some 'manly' forearms and strong calloused hands, stay reasonably cut always and move well.. It's what I'm after from kb training. All good things in my book...
These 'aesthetic' effects come free with the right kb training strategy.

Edit: Forgot to add lift heavy things overhead and punch harder.

I'm finding the aesthetics easier to achieve with heavy lifting, but yes, with consistent kettlebell work they are certainly there too, just it takes more work with them.