Health & Fitness

General Gibberish Forums The Sports Bar
541

Being an older farker, living in the bush and not having heaps of spare time to devote to training (anymore) I have been using kettlebells for the past five years to stay strong and I love them. I like the way they feel in the hand and the different moves are the closest thing I have come to contact sport or fighting, without the contact or punches to the head. They are also self-limiting and a lot easier to wriggle out from underneath if you need to.

If you are new to kettlebells, but want to start then you should go and get a couple of sessions with a qualified instructor (either RKC or StrongFirst) to ensure you are doing it right and not just setting yourself up for an injury. Youtube is great, but it doesnā€™t provide feedback.

The best thing about them is that with only a couple of bells you can maintain a great level of strength and fitness. You donā€™t need a heap of equipment or different weights to get a good work out and you can throw them in the boot and take them with you if needed.

I purchased a couple of 32kg adjustable kettlebells from Ironedge (Hi Eastie!) a few years back and these are great for upping your weights as you go, but not great if you are wanting to change weights up during a workout. I do have a two sets of Onnit kettlebells as well: 8, 16, 24 and 32Kg, that complement the two adjustable bells. The Onnit bells are thick handled Russian style kettlebells, whereas the Ironedge adjustable bells are competition style bells.

My current routine is a simple three day a week work out taken from the RKC book of conditioning. Mon - Turkish Get Ups, Clean & Press and Swings, Wed - TGUs and Fri - TGUs, Clean & Press and Swings. The workout is by a guy called Tim Anderson, who along with Geoff Neupert have put together the training system called Original Strength. Original Strength is the system that I credit for taking away debilitating knee and ankle pain and along with kettlebells rebuilt my shot shoulders so that I can actually throw a ball again. I highly, highly, highly recommend Original Strength. I use the various exercises as my warm up routine and also do the different exercises at other times of the day to relieve stiffness caused by sitting/driving or whatever.

Prior to this current workout routine I was doing the Simple and Sinister workout by Pavel Tsatsouline, the Russian credited with re-introducing kettlebells to the west. This was a great routine and I was doing it daily as a form of general physical preparedness after a couple of months off due to injury. It consists of two exercises; swings and get ups. Great if you are time challenged and looking to increase all around fitness.

You can get strong, very strong, using kettlebells and you can also pack on muscle. However you will never be able to push the same weights as you would using barbells as they donā€™t make kettlebells that big. That said, though, I would challenge anyone to pick up the 32Kg bell and throw it around for a couple of complexes and not feel like they have done a hard workout.

One of my favourite exercises is the Turkish Get Up. This can be performed without weight, but by adding weight you really up the ante. I love it for how it builds armour from my toes to my finger tips and ensures that everything in between is tight and switched on.

Eastie - do you use kettlebells at all? I am wondering how you would tie it into your power lifting routines.

Happy to answer any questions on kettlebells that anyone may have.

542

what was your shoulder problem? Iā€™ve got a rotator cuff thatā€™s not really getting any better and Iā€™m over it. itā€™s not painful that often, but I tweak it every now and then and I canā€™t push as hard as Iā€™d like on some things at the gym.

543
what was your shoulder problem? I've got a rotator cuff that's not really getting any better and I'm over it. it's not painful that often, but I tweak it every now and then and I can't push as hard as I'd like on some things at the gym.

I had rooted shoulders from playing footy and throwing the javelin as a young bloke (no, not an euphemism). Rotator cuff problems that had gotten so bad I couldnā€™t throw a ball with my right arm and my shoulders would pop out if I dried my hair the wrong way! Not good.

Have a look at the Turkish Get Up as a remedial exercise. It makes the shoulders work through a full range of motion whilst going from a horizontal laying position to standing. Start light, with a thong on a closed fist to get used to the range of movement and transitioning between the different positions. Then slowly add weight, you donā€™t need a lot to make it effective.

Also try grabbing a light dumbbell or kettlebell, press it above your head and then just walk around keeping it locked out. Do figure eights, walk sideways, etc this will make all the muscles in the shoulder girdle work. Gentle effective exercise.

Original Strength rocking and crawling exercises will build up your shoulders and restore reflexive strength. Try crawling backwards up a hillā€¦

544

iā€™ll give those a try. Iā€™m currently doing rotation exercises at the moment with super light dumbbells and seeing some minor improvements. Have to get back to the physio too.

Thanks WP! very interesting indeed.

545

@ā€œWarlock Paulā€ aside from the obvious substitute DB for KB exercises, I mainly use them for lower body/conditioning (though Iā€™ve started to favour a sled for this as itā€™s easier to recover from)
I do the exercise in the vid for 3x15 before I bench heavy and it seems to keep my shoulders in one piece
Otherwise itā€™s mainly swings, rows (you can get more ROM than a DB) and sumo deadlifts standing on boxes/mats (or Ukranian deadlifts as theyā€™re called)
Flipped upside down the handles also make a good massage tool for the arms, pecs and abs lol

546
@"Warlock Paul" aside from the obvious substitute DB for KB exercises, I mainly use them for lower body/conditioning (though I've started to favour a sled for this as it's easier to recover from) I do the exercise in the vid for 3x15 before I bench heavy and it seems to keep my shoulders in one piece Otherwise it's mainly swings, rows (you can get more ROM than a DB) and sumo deadlifts standing on boxes/mats (or Ukranian deadlifts as they're called) Flipped upside down the handles also make a good massage tool for the arms, pecs and abs lol

Nice.
What type of rows would you use bells for? Bent over, upright?
I like the idea of the Ukrainian dead lifts.

Try doing the TGU holding the kettlebell in the upside down position, or bottoms up. Great wrist workout. Extra work required from shoulders also. There is a good breakdown of this exercise in the link.

547
@"Warlock Paul" aside from the obvious substitute DB for KB exercises, I mainly use them for lower body/conditioning (though I've started to favour a sled for this as it's easier to recover from) I do the exercise in the vid for 3x15 before I bench heavy and it seems to keep my shoulders in one piece Otherwise it's mainly swings, rows (you can get more ROM than a DB) and sumo deadlifts standing on boxes/mats (or Ukranian deadlifts as they're called) Flipped upside down the handles also make a good massage tool for the arms, pecs and abs lol

Nice.
What type of rows would you use bells for? Bent over, upright?
I like the idea of the Ukrainian dead lifts.

Try doing the TGU holding the kettlebell in the upside down position, or bottoms up. Great wrist workout. Extra work required from shoulders also. There is a good breakdown of this exercise in the link.

Either standing single arm (I play around with wrist rotation as my variation/s here)
Also lying on a bench (mostly incline)
I prefer higher reps for the lats as I donā€™t engage mine very well until Iā€™m in the 12+ rep range. That and sets of 40-60 seconds seem to do the trick

For wrists Iā€™m pretty old school (and a lazy Powerlifter lol) and stick to wrist curls. I also do this to loosen up my shoulders before benching which is quite taxing on the hands/wrists/forearms

548
i'll give those a try. I'm currently doing rotation exercises at the moment with super light dumbbells and seeing some minor improvements. Have to get back to the physio too.

Thanks WP! very interesting indeed.

Find a DNS specialist and do 1-2 sessions
You can have the strongest rotator cuffs in the world but it wonā€™t mean much if they canā€™t activate/work in tandem with the rest of your body in a real world setting
Dislaimer: for those without an injury, strengthening it alone should make it activate properly

549

For those of you interesting in purchasing/using one of those elevation masks
A recent study actually found they decreased overall performance, as not as much work in training could be completed due to psychological effects like claustrophobia etc lol

550
For those of you interesting in purchasing/using one of those elevation masks A recent study actually found they decreased overall performance, as not as much work in training could be completed due to psychological effects like claustrophobia etc lol

Buggerā€¦ just got one for me and the dogs to use. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

551
For those of you interesting in purchasing/using one of those elevation masks A recent study actually found they decreased overall performance, as not as much work in training could be completed due to psychological effects like claustrophobia etc lol
If you did any kind of reading at all on altitude training, you'd have dismissed the idea of purchasing/using one long ago as the only thing they're good for is Bane impressions, and even then there's better ways of doing that.

Best broscience of 2015 for mine.

552
For those of you interesting in purchasing/using one of those elevation masks A recent study actually found they decreased overall performance, as not as much work in training could be completed due to psychological effects like claustrophobia etc lol
If you did any kind of reading at all on altitude training, you'd have dismissed the idea of purchasing/using one long ago as the only thing they're good for is Bane impressions, and even then there's better ways of doing that.

Best broscience of 2015 for mine.

Undoubtedly
If you go back to the previous board I was pretty heavily anti-altitude training

I just found this particularly amusing as the conclusion was basically ā€œuse a mask and you could actually go backwardsā€ (depending on athletes level) as opposed to the normal ā€œyeah does nothingā€

553

Hamstring goals

554
For those of you interesting in purchasing/using one of those elevation masks A recent study actually found they decreased overall performance, as not as much work in training could be completed due to psychological effects like claustrophobia etc lol
If you did any kind of reading at all on altitude training, you'd have dismissed the idea of purchasing/using one long ago as the only thing they're good for is Bane impressions, and even then there's better ways of doing that.

Best broscience of 2015 for mine.

Undoubtedly
If you go back to the previous board I was pretty heavily anti-altitude training

I just found this particularly amusing as the conclusion was basically ā€œuse a mask and you could actually go backwardsā€ (depending on athletes level) as opposed to the normal ā€œyeah does nothingā€

Live high, train low in definitely a thing. Just not a few weeks at some altitude (and nowhere in this country is remotely high enough)

555
Hamstring goals http://youtu.be/qEAe223n9W8

Oh man that must be murder on the hammies. I think I ripped one off the bone just watching that.

556
Hamstring goals http://youtu.be/qEAe223n9W8

Oh man that must be murder on the hammies. I think I ripped one off the bone just watching that.

Lol Iā€™ve done 1 full rep before. Cramped and couldnā€™t do the rest of my session then had DOMS for a week
Also bare in mind that guys squats ~500kg!

557

Youā€™re a braver man than I, Gunga Din. Iā€™m too scared to even attempt it.

558

Hi everyone, I dislike hijacking my own thread for promotional purposes but I figure better mine that someone elses.

2 things . . .

First off if anyone is interested in doing Strength & Conditioning training and is in the Croydon (Vic) region Iā€™m doing a month trial at my gym (aka my garage). Essentially Iā€™m just after a couple more training partners so youā€™ll be training with me (as opposed to being ā€œPTā€™dā€). We train Monday, Wednesday & Friday starting at 7pm (getting there early to warm up) and Saturday at 10am. Most training sessions go 60-90 minutes depending on exactly what we do (for the most part youā€™re likely to be at the low end of time unless you decide to take up powerlifting in which case itā€™s likely to be 90 minutes more often than not)

Secondly,
Iā€™m currently studying massage and need bodies to work on at home (again in Croydon)

If anyone is interested in either feel free to PM me

559

I want to do squats but donā€™t want to buy a massive weights rack. What gear/excercises are best Value for money.

560
I want to do squats but don't want to buy a massive weights rack. What gear/excercises are best Value for money.

You could get a set of squat stands
http://www.ironedge.com.au/squat-stands

Otherwise just do zercher squats