How to build strength that lasts with kettlebells
We live in a society that is constantly on, constantly distracted, and always buzzing from thing to thing. From the moment our alarm wakes us up in the morning, most people tend to rush around multitasking through the day. We check social media, we eat while we are on the computer or watching TV, sometimes, we might even be silly enough to check our phones while we are driving. Counterintuitively (but logically when you stop to think about it), this results in us not only doing fewer things we want to do but doing them worse when we do them. This same disease tends to bleed into people’s work in the gym.
Have you ever been to a circuit class where people are encouraged to move through their movements as quickly as they can, and then change from activity to activity without really taking a rest? Instinctively, I think we all recognise that there are pitfalls here in terms of the quality of movement and recovery, as well as the associated injury risks. What most people don’t recognise is just how much this style of training undermines long term outcomes and people’s overall levels of strength.
There is a maxim (I first read it in one of Pavel Tsatsouline’s books but it predates that) and it basically says, ‘to get strong, you want to lift as heavy as possible, as often as possible, as fresh as possible’. While this serves as a template, the ways to achieve this rarely means actually lifting as heavy as possible, as often as possible, or as fresh as possible ... but rather means finding the best possible trade-off of the three. What isn’t negotiable in any of these, is the importance of rest. Traditionally, lifting guidelines have suggested that people should rest 3-5 minutes after a heavy set of ‘slow’ lifts - basically lifts where the weight is being pushed the whole way. This is a nice rule of thumb, and in most cases works as a solid minimum and as a way of making sure that sessions don’t blow out beyond where they should. However, more broadly, the ability to come back to the weights and execute with excellent, near-perfect form and focus each time is where the student should aspire to be.
Here’s how we help people build strength practically in our classes:
We take the time to set people up so that they are doing a movement that they can do quite well repetitively - something that is easy enough for them to be able to maintain a 9/10 quality and maximum safety. This is usually done before the session that is beginning via a beginner workshop or a PT session.
We create an environment where people are focused more upon their movement than the clock or the people around them.
We choose a number of reps for each movement that is between 60% and 85% of what they could do if they went all out.
We limit the number of movements that people perform in a block of work so that they can practise and refine what they are doing.
We have expert coaches moving around helping to guide the clients so that they can maintain their focus and the quality of their movement.
At this point, it is the client’s job to stay focused on the movement, and importantly, to rest adequately so that they can return fresh enough to what they are practising to do it again brilliantly. Resting at this point is tough for a lot of people, and a lot of that comes down to the constant ‘on-ness’ of our society that I looked at above. One of my goals this year is to help our community, particularly during our classes (but not only in our classes), to focus upon both working, and upon resting, well. In doing so, I’m hoping that they will discover that they have become stronger both in and out of the gym.