I came across a cool yet unfortunate YouTube documentary the other night about the Legendary World’s Strongest Man, Bill Kazmaier.
When I was a kid , I saw “The Kaz” compete and win the WSM.
He was huge - much bigger - than nearly all the others.
And much 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 past 70, 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 believe it was pretty substantial.
And the second took me aback 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 other-worldly .)
And I never had the physical setbacks 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 damaged my frame and changed 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 - yet again - as a result of my training.
Do I continue chasing dreams of success and probably sacrifice my future as a dad and rob my son of a “Fun Dad”...
Or do I stop playing the fool and focus on my health ?
I decided on the latter.
I spent 18 months off the barbell and kettlebells doing nothing but recovery routines.
And when I returned 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 similar decision .
This is why I love kettlebell training vs. traditional gym workouts for those of us over 40.
If you have imbalances 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 restorative.
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 awake, 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 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 massive .
I’ll throw some of it up here on the display for you:
“So in discussing about the WTH effect with King Sized Killer I was initially unsure of what a single bell workout was gonna do for me after having been training double kettlebell programs solely for the past couple years. Your programs earned my faith for sure, so I went with it for this Spring since I have to do it outside anyways only having a seven foot basement.
I started modestly with a 28k bell which was where I liked training with doubles. Within a few weeks my confidence increased and I bumped 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 intimidate 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 moves - the Clean + Press and the Snatch -
Can rehab you, rebuild your function, develop a rock solid core, help you keep up with the bad guys, and keep up with your kids get more info in their games.
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 world .
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.