I watched a compelling yet heartbreaking YouTube documentary the other night about the Legendary World’s Strongest Man, Bill Kazmaier.
When I was young, I watched “The Kaz” compete and claim the WSM.
He was bigger - WAY bigger - than almost every competitor .
And WAY stronger than almost every competitor.
He was a world champion powerlifter too.
But, I was surprised at two things:
1- Kaz injured practically every major muscle in his body: Pec, triceps, hamstrings, delts…
2- At age in his seventies , 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 going .
I don’t know what the consequences was physically for him in his 50s, 60s, and 70s, but I believe 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 injuries that he had.
But I did get pretty injured training for strength sports - Olympic Weightlifting specifically. And those were brought about by injuries I sustained wrestling…
… Injuries that literally damaged my frame and changed the way my body worked.
And it was a massive time and energy drain trying to rehab those injuries - especially when the rehab didn’t work.
I had to make a decision in 2010 when I injured my lower back - AGAIN - as a result of my training.
Do I pursue dreams of glory and probably sacrifice my future as a dad and rob my son of a “Fun Dad”...
Or do I get serious and regain my health?
I went with the latter.
I spent 18 months off the barbell and kettlebells doing nothing but rehabilitation exercises .
And when I returned to my kettlebell lifting?
I was stronger in many ways than before I started.
And leaner .
And I felt better - had more stamina .
And so it can be for you too if you’re facing a comparable choice .
This is why I love kettlebell training vs. conventional training for those of us over 40.
If you have weaknesses and old injuries, the barbell and machine training will find them, and punish you for them and cause more pain.
The kettlebell? Or a pair of kettlebells on the other hand?
They’re healing .
They “ rehabilitate” you and build you up (when programmed properly), while making you more capable 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 engaged , my hamstrings are more relaxed and I can stretch them without pain, abductors and lower back have improved too.”
Plus -
“My upper body is also noticeably stronger 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 significant 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 amazing .
I’ll display some of it up here on the monitor for you:
“So in speaking about the WTH effect with King Sized Killer I was initially skeptical of what a single bell workout was gonna do for me after having been training double kettlebell programs solely 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 training with doubles. Within kettlebell a couple weeks my confidence grew and I upped the bell size up to a 32k. I started to struggle as it really exhausted 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 discourage you. By the time you’ve
gone through Phase 1, these will be possible.”
(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 rehab you, rebuild your function, develop 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 injuring yourself in the process.
You’re not ever going to win the World’s Strongest Man event using them, but you can be the strongest man in your life .
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.