I watched a interesting yet sad YouTube documentary the other night about the Iconic World’s Strongest Man, Bill Kazmaier.
When I was a kid , I saw “The Kaz” compete and win the WSM.
He was bigger - WAY bigger - than almost every competitor .
And significantly stronger than almost every competitor.
He was a legendary powerlifter too.
But, I was surprised at two things:
1- Kaz tore 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 caught me off guard because he just kept fighting through.
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 shocked me because, well, I wouldn’t thought 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 in a league of his own .)
And I never had the physical setbacks 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 broke my frame and changed strong the way my body worked.
And it was a massive time and energy drain on resources trying to rehab those injuries - especially when the rehab didn’t work.
I had to make a choice in 2010 when I injured my lower back - AGAIN - as a result of my training.
Do I continue chasing dreams of fame and probably sacrifice my future as a dad and deprive my son of a “Fun Dad”...
Or do I get serious and focus on my health ?
I chose the latter.
I spent 18 months off the barbell and kettlebells doing nothing but restorative work .
And when I came back to my kettlebell lifting?
I was more powerful in many ways than before I started.
And more toned.
And I felt healthier - 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. traditional gym workouts 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 therapeutic .
They “ rehabilitate” 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 activated , my hamstrings are more relaxed and I can stretch them without pain, abductors and lower back have eased up 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 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 massive .
I’ll share some of it up here on the display for you:
“So in talking about the WTH effect with King Sized Killer I was initially unsure of what a single bell routine was gonna do for me after having been practicing double kettlebell programs solely for the past couple 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 grew and I upped the bell size up to a 32k. I started to struggle as it really tired 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 manageable .”
(Check the rest of the email in the video)
So as you can see, the right kettlebell moves - the Clean + Press and the Snatch -
Can rehab you, improve your function, build a rock solid core, help you catch up with the bad guys, and keep up with your kids in their sports .
And they can do it without wasting hours in the gym or hurting 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 circle.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.