Forfeiting your future for today?

I watched a interesting yet sad YouTube documentary the other night about the Renowned World’s Strongest Man, Bill Kazmaier.

When I was 8, 9 and 10 years old , I saw “The Kaz” compete and claim the WSM.

He was bigger - WAY bigger - than almost every competitor .

And significantly stronger than almost every competitor.

He was a world champion powerlifter too.

But, I was stunned at two things:

1- Kaz damaged practically every major muscle in his body: Pec, triceps, hamstrings, delts…

2- At age in his seventies , 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 suspect it was pretty substantial.

And the second saddened me because, well, I wouldn’t thought 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 banged up training for strength sports - Olympic Weightlifting specifically. And those were brought about by injuries I sustained wrestling…

… Injuries that literally shattered website my frame and changed the way my body worked.

And it was a enormous time and energy drain 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 continue chasing dreams of success and probably sacrifice my future as a dad and deprive my son of a “Fun Dad”...

Or do I get serious and get myself healthy again ?

I chose 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 leaner .

And I felt healthier - had more energy .

And so it can be for you too if you’re facing a tough call.

This is why I love kettlebell training vs. typical fitness routines for those of us over 40.

If you have asymmetries and old injuries, the barbell and machine training will find them, and make them worse and make everything worse .

The kettlebell? Or a pair of kettlebells on the other hand?

They’re restorative.

They “ fix ” 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 engaged , 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 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 significant 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 put some of it up here on the display for you:

“So in speaking about the WTH effect with King Sized Killer I was initially unsure of what a single bell exercise program was gonna do for me after having been training double kettlebell programs exclusively for the past few 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 training 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 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 doable .”

(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, create a rock solid core, help you keep up with the bad guys, and keep up with your kids in their sporting activities .

And they can do it without investing hours in the gym or hurting yourself in the process.

You’re not ever going to take the World’s Strongest Man event using them, but you can be the strongest man in your life .

Stay Strong,

Geoff Neupert.