I say, “You want to get strong and stay strong.”
Why? Because everything in your life gets better when you’re strong.
Here’s what I mean.
Researchers have shown repeatedly that when you are strong, your body and soul work better. Miriam Nelson did the first research I read. She took postmenopausal women and did moderate strength training with them.
Because Nelson wanted to get a clear picture she controlled the research with one other requirement – the women could not lose weight.
At the end of a period of weeks using the battery of indicators for biological age the women got younger by twenty years. TWENTY YEARS! Holy moly! And they dropped several dress sizes.
Get it. A skimpy number of weeks, not years, of moderate exercise and twenty years younger. This is an easy trade off for you to make.
I hasten to add I do not advocate the cult of youth. I spit upon it. I do advocate feeling good. I advocate you having more fun in your life because you feel good. I advocate your being able to contribute to your world because you feel good, feel vital, feel strong.
This applies to men and women of all ages even into your 90s. Nature designed your body to do strength training. When you stop exercising, your body thinks you have hit a famine and it goes into decay mode. Decay mode is not pretty.
Most of the horrors you associate with aging are really decay mode horrors. You can avoid it all by doing strength training, aerobics, and by avoiding junk foods that you know don’t work for you.
Tip: Don’t eat anything that wasn’t around in 1900.
With strength training you get –
More strength => Healthy Aging
More strength => More fun, better play. Other sports become a breeze.
More strength => you don’t fall, you have better grace, stability and ease of movement.
More strength => Daily life is easier – schlepping groceries, walking up flights of stairs carrying a child.
More strength => Handle the normal bumps of everyday life better.
More strength => Better sex
Find a way to do some strength training. Kettlebells is what I love to do.
I have written about Kettlebells before, so you know I love them. (See related articles below for more details.)
I love Enter the Kettlebell, book and DVD. (Obviously, you save when you buy them both.) Kettlebells (KBs) are terrific for multiple reasons. Primarily, they are the most efficient fitness and strength training tool I know. They make the best use of your time and they act broadly and provide you with overall functional strength.
One measure of functional strength is the amount of carry over benefits the exercise provides. KBs excel at this. Here’s what I mean –
The Russian army tested recruits for overall strength and fitness by measuring their pull ups, their speed in the 100 m run, which surprisingly is a function of strength, and the 1 km run, a function of stamina.
Half the batch of recruits trained in the three exercises above and were later tested again and found to have made good improvements. No surprise.
The other half trained using only a couple of KB exercises. The surprise – they blew away the first group’s numbers. Even though they had not trained doing any pull-ups, sprints or 1 km runs, when tested they smoked the competition. That’s carry over.
This means that when you do kettlebells, your golf game improves, your tennis game improves, making love improves, playing with your child or your grandchild improves.
If you like intensity, you’ll love kettlebells. If you want to be like everyone else at the gym, forget them.
If you want short efficient exercise, you’ll love kettlebells. If you want to run for miles instead, skip them.
If you don’t want something a bit risky and want something more mild and safe, skip kettlebells.
If you can’t follow safety instructions skip the kettlebells, they will hurt you.
They benefit both men and women. In fact, one of the most persuasive articles I read was by a physician who was also the mother of a toddler. She mixed in five minutes of kettlebell work between episodes of chasing down her wandering toddler.
Fitness guru, Pavel Tsatsouline’s newest kettlebell book and DVD surpasses all others. This one gives a much better picture of what you actually do with the beasts to build a personal strength program.
He makes some very simple suggestions for strength training routines. I have adopted them and they are fun, simple and, while not easy, don’t kill me. I thrive on the challenge, you will, too.
I also like that he stresses safety strongly in this book. I will admit to a male trait of ignoring safety sometimes at great cost. I am learning. I am delighted that Pavel makes safety OK for us men.
Safety Is a part of, not the opposite of, performance.
Ladders – A Slick Solution to Two Major Problems
Pavel reminds you, “Everybody must lift weights.” If you’re over 50, I say you must lift weights or occupy yourself with something just as good. I haven’t found anything just as good.
One of the problems of any training program is the body’s ability to acclimate to the challenge. If you don’t change the workout, you lose ground. You also get bored and if the workout is always onerous because of boredom or it’s always at your edge and never easy, you and I will quit. Quitting ruins your chance for getting the massive results you want.
Pavel introduces the idea of using ladders to handle the acclimation and the boredom. Ladders provide an engaging challenge for me.
Here’s how ladders work:
I do an exercise called the clean and press (C&P). On Tuesday, I currently do two rungs of the ladder. I do five ladders.
Here’s what it looks like:
· I C&P the kettlebell once with each arm. Then rest. That comprises one rung.
· Then I C& P twice with my non-dominate arm, then the other side. Rest. That’s two rungs and I am done with that ladder.
· I repeat for five ladders totaling 15 clean and presses with each arm. This is a breeze, an easy day. I like easy days.
On Thursday, I do three rungs.
· C&P once, Rest.
· C&P twice. Rest.
· C&P three times. Rest. This completes one ladder.
· Repeat for five ladders. Still not killer but I am now up to 30 C&P with each arm for the work out. Not shabby.
Saturday, is my heavy day.
The same thing here as before except I do four rungs. 1+2+3+4 = 10.
Times five ladders and Woof! I’m doing 50 clean and presses which amounts to a load. I thrive on the challenge.
As I progress, I will eventually be doing five rungs and five ladders. This level will give me an awesome 75 C&Ps with each arm. Woof!
I can either stay at that level or nudge up to a slightly heftier KB and start over. We’ll see when I get there.
Note, you don’t have to start at this place. Pavel shows you how to build up slowly at a pace that works for you. He counsels patience. He wants long-term health and fitness. I want that for you, too.
Tip: A nice language tip and reframing from Pavel – think of this as practice and not a workout. The goal is to learn a skill. Strength is primarily a set of skills according to Pavel, much like mastering a martial art. I have come to understand his point. And it completely abolishes boredom and engages me fully.
The neurological benefits of weight training, especially kettlebells, provide at least half the value. These benefits keep you from falls as you age not to mention keeping you mentally alert.
Kettlebells on Submarines
In an earlier kettlebell book, Pavel mentioned that
When we moved to our flat, I had to give up my 7 foot (2 m) Olympic barbell that lived in the garage. I now practice with my KB in a space not much bigger than 1 x 2 meters (3 x 6 feet). The kettlebell waits for me in a tiny space the size of a teakettle.
The KB is so compact that when I go on road trips, my KB stores under the floor deck of my trunk. Most lodgings I stay in are more commodious than by home practice room. (I don’t take them on airplanes.)
Here’s a carry over. I am thinking of getting a kayak. It weighs 42#, 19 kg. Do you think it will pose a problem carrying it to the beach, if I routinely throw a KB around that weighs 35#, 16 kg?
There are three books on kettlebells now. I recommend Enter the Kettlebell, and From Russia with Tough Love, lastly the Russian KB Challenge. This last one most will never need.
Only Buy the Official Russian Kettlebell
I recommend you get your kettlebell from Dragon Door. It’s where I got mine. As we have become good friends and traveling companions, I have discovered he has a name. Many people become so fond of their KBs they name them. Just go with it.
I am happy with him. You’ll be happy with yours. There are imitations out there I think, but I can’t speak for them. Shoddy stuff doesn’t work. Buy good merchandise. The Official Russian KB is kind to my hands. Smooth.
