I saw a compelling yet unfortunate YouTube documentary the other night about the Renowned World’s Strongest Man, Bill Kazmaier.
When I was young, I watched “The Kaz” battle and win the WSM.
He was bigger - WAY bigger - than almost every competitor .
And WAY stronger than almost every competitor.
He was a top-level 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 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 surprised me because he just kept pushing .
I don’t know what the consequences was physically for him in his 50s, 60s, and 70s, but I imagine 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 in a league of his own .)
And I never had the damage that he had.
But I did get pretty injured training for strength sports - Olympic Weightlifting here 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 call in 2010 when I injured my lower back - AGAIN - as a result of my training.
Do I keep chasing dreams of success and probably risk 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 recovery routines.
And when I came back to my kettlebell lifting?
I was stronger in many ways than before I started.
And more toned.
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 weaknesses and old injuries, the barbell and machine training will find them, and make them worse and cause more pain.
The kettlebell? Or a pair of kettlebells on the other hand?
They’re restorative.
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 engaged , 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 more muscular 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 share some of it up here on the display 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 working double kettlebell programs solely for the past couple years. Your programs earned my confidence 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 boosted 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 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 exercises - the Clean + Press and the Snatch -
Can restore you, improve your function, build a rock solid core, help you keep up with the bad guys, and keep up with your kids 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 conquer the World’s Strongest Man event using them, but you can be the strongest man in your life .
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.