Sacrificing your future for today?

Kettlebell MAXIMORUM - Double Clean + Press, the Snatch, and the Double Front Squat

I saw a cool yet sad YouTube documentary the other night about the Legendary World’s Strongest Man, Bill Kazmaier.
When I was 8, 9 and 10 years old, I watched “The Kaz” compete and win 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 shocked 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 shocked me because he just kept going.
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 expect 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 other-worldly.)
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 broke my frame and changed the way my body worked.
And it was a GIANT time and energy suck 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 keep chasing dreams of glory 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 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 stronger 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. conventional training for those of us over 40.
If you have asymmetries and old injuries the barbell and machine training will find them, and punish you for them 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 activated, 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 impressive 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 HUGE.

I’ll throw some of it up here on the screen for you:

“So in speaking about the WTH effect with King Sized Killer I was initially dismissive of what a single bell exercise program was gonna do for me after having been working double kettlebell programs exclusively 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 increased and I cheated 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 intimidate 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 exercises - the Clean + Press and the Snatch -

Can rehab you, restore your function, build a rock solid core, help you chase down the bad guys, and keep up with your kids in their sporting activities.
And they can do it without spending 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 world.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.