I watched a interesting yet unfortunate YouTube documentary the other night about the Renowned World’s Strongest Man, Bill Kazmaier.
When I was 8, 9 and 10 years old , I saw “The Kaz” battle and win the WSM.
He was huge - much bigger - than nearly all the others.
And WAY stronger than almost every competitor.
He was a world champion powerlifter too.
But, I was shocked at two things:
1- Kaz damaged practically every major muscle in his body: Pec, triceps, hamstrings, delts…
2- At age 70-something , earlier this year, he had a heart attack in the Philippines and his son had to start a GoFundMe account to cover Kaz’s medical expenses.
The first surprised me because he just kept pushing .
I don’t know what the fallout was physically for him in his 50s, 60s, and 70s, but I suspect it was pretty substantial.
And the second saddened me because, well, I wouldn’t have guessed that a “Strength Celebrity” would need a GoFundMe account.
Look, I was never anywhere near as strong as Kaz was. Not even remotely close. (He was extraordinary.)
And I never had the damage that he had.
But I did get pretty banged up training for strength sports - Olympic Weightlifting specifically. And those were brought about by injuries I sustained wrestling…
… Injuries that literally broke my frame and changed the way my body worked.
And it was a enormous get more info time and energy suck trying to rehab those injuries - especially when the rehab didn’t work.
I had to make a call in 2010 when I injured my lower back - once more - as a result of my training.
Do I pursue dreams of fame and probably sacrifice my future as a dad and rob my son of a “Fun Dad”...
Or do I stop playing the fool and get myself healthy again ?
I went with the latter.
I spent 18 months off the barbell and kettlebells doing nothing but recovery routines.
And when I came back to my kettlebell lifting?
I was more powerful in many ways than before I started.
And leaner .
And I felt better - had more energy .
And so it can be for you too if you’re facing a similar decision .
This is why I love kettlebell training vs. typical fitness routines for those of us over 40.
If you have weaknesses and old injuries, the barbell and machine training will find them, and make them worse and make everything worse .
The kettlebell? Or a pair of kettlebells on the other hand?
They’re therapeutic .
They “heal ” you and build you up (when programmed properly), while making you stronger and better conditioned in less time than traditional gym workouts.
And yeah, that might be hard to believe, so take a look at this YouTube comment I got recently:
From “relaxed glutes, tight hammies and sore back… chronically tight and painful abductors” to -
“My glutes are noticeably bigger and more awake, my hamstrings are more relaxed and I can stretch them without pain, abductors and lower back have settled down a lot too.”
Plus -
“My upper body is also noticeably bigger and I’ve put on about 5lb”
And remember Jason from our last video about HardStyle v. Sport Style Snatches?
He racked up a pretty long list of injuries training conventionally - CrossFit, Powerlifting, Bodybuilding, etc.
But in our email thread, when I asked him about his WTH Effects did he notice from using KBs?
His response was incredible.
I’ll put some of it up here on the monitor for you:
“So in talking about the WTH effect with King Sized Killer I was initially skeptical of what a single bell exercise program was gonna do for me after having been practicing double kettlebell programs exclusively for the past few years. Your programs earned my trust for sure, so I went with it for this Spring since I have to do it outside anyways only having a 7ft basement.
I started modestly with a 28k bell which was where I liked working with doubles. Within a couple weeks my confidence increased and I bumped the bell size up to a 32k. I started to struggle as it really winded me going into that second phase, but you specifically stated after I had gone through phase 1
“ Don’t let the sets of 9 and 12 scare you. By the time you’ve
gone through Phase 1, these will be doable .”
(Check the rest of the email in the video)
So as you can see, the right kettlebell exercises - the Clean + Press and the Snatch -
Can restore you, improve your function, build a rock solid core, help you chase down the bad guys, and keep up with your kids in their games.
And they can do it without investing hours in the gym or harming yourself in the process.
You’re not ever going to conquer the World’s Strongest Man event using them, but you can be the strongest man in your world .
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.