đ âTHE BIG 6â - https://salutis.kartra.com/page/BIG6-2
đ Kettlebell STRONG! - https://cart.chasingstrength.com/strong3
If you missed the first video in the series, weâre discussing WHY you should slow down this year if you want faster results from your training.
And weâre discussing how to slow yourself down instead of BEING SLOWED DOWN by injury.
And the way to do that?
Identify the reasons youâll get injured / people get injured in the first place and OVERCOME them.
Today, Part 2 - this is something Iâve seen repeatedly on forums, social media, and even on Zoom calls.
Itâs -
[2] Poor Technique
See this picture?
That was the first Olympic Weightlifting Team I was on. That picture was taken Summer of 1995 - almost 30 years ago. (Hard to believe!) The guy second from the left is Mark Cohen (Iâm second from the right).
Mark taught me the fundamentals of Olympic lifting technique.
You know how much it cost me?
At the time, I was making about $6.50/hour most of the time working at the Rutgers College Gym supplementing my income with $15/hour as a Personal Trainer at New York Sports Clubs.
Finding the $5.20 for the New Jersey Turnpike toll every Saturday plus gas⌠and sometimes during the week when I could swing itâŚ
Plus the 5 hours out of every Saturday was âexpensiveâ for me at the time.
Plus saying ânoâ to personal training clients on the very popular Saturday morning spots.
But I wanted to compete in Olympic lifting and win a gold medal.
And to do that I needed to make sure my technique was not just good - but great.
(I was already plenty strong.)
So I âcounted the costâ and made the necessary sacrifices.
Even still, I got hurt from pre-existing issues.
(Hindsight being 20/20, I didnât know what I didnât know. I didnât even think these WERE issues. Never factored into my thought processes at the time. Sure, I always wondered why my right foot turned out more than my left foot by the end of a Squat sessionâŚ
And why my right glute was bigger than my left glute⌠And why my left quad, adductor, and hamstring was bigger than my right⌠But I didnât think it was an issue at all until after I accumulated more and more injuriesâŚ)
For example: I strained my left rotator cuff missing a Jerk. That took me 6 weeks to recover from. (Plus, my left elbow and wrist never worked correctly after I broke that arm wrestling in 1989.)
And I subluxed my right patella (again) on a Front Squat. The first time was REALLY bad - I did it wrestling. And got zero rehab. This time, not so bad. But my right knee swelled up and my right IT Band got really angry.
Iâm convinced had Mark not been such a stickler for technique, Iâd probably have gotten hurt more - and worse.
So whatâs my point?
Many - maybe most guys use âgood enough until itâs notâ kettlebell technique.
They donât even take the time to video themselves (which was much harder to do back in 1995) to see if their technique is up to snuff.
They just âbang awayâ until something âfeels offâ
Or until that âfeels offâ sensation turns into a âpopâ followed by full blown pain
âHeil Hitlerâ Military PressesâŚ
Rounded lower back Swings and Snatches which, unbeknownst to you, makes you look like a dog tucking its tail between its legs âŚ
Squats where the insides of your knees kiss or your tailbone tucks under your body in the holeâŚ
You probably know what I meanâŚ
The key to both short and long term success is to take the time to discover, practice, and routinely use the Right Techniques
This goes for both single kettlebell work, and double kettlebell work
Most likely at first you wonât be able to do âas much workâ as you can now
But the work you will do?
It will be much higher quality
It will use more of the right muscles at the right times and less of the wrong muscles at the wrong times
Which means your body wonât be âfighting itselfâ and youâll see the results youâre looking for sooner, instead of barely at all
It also means you wonât wake up with âsoreness in the wrong places,â which also impedes your recovery
So, do yourself a favor - slow down this month and spend some time refining your technique.
Resist the urge to rush your reps and âdo as much work as possibleâ
One of the most practical steps you can start using today?
Add pauses in the middle of your reps
Pause in the bottom of your squat making sure your posture / position is correct
Pause in the rack after a Clean and before your Press
Pause in the lockout / overhead position after a Press
Pause in the rack after a Press and before your next Clean
Pause in the lockout / overhead position after a Snatch
And if you donât know what the âright techniquesâ are, or you're not sure?
Grab ahold of âTHE BIG 6â for single KB work here (and snag yourself some new programs to practice your upgraded technique)
Or use Kettlebell STRONG! to upgrade your double KB technique and use the near-legendary âStrong!â program to take your strength to the proverbial next level this year.