Posts Tagged ‘crossfit’

I took up Kettlebells when my favorite gym closed. I had trained there for 25 years. So over the course of 5 years I built up to owning 8 KB’s.

Ranging from 40kg down to 16 kg. I also got the best weight vest on the market. The MIR 140 & a lighter chinese vest.

This was after 27 years of regular bodybuilding style training using split routines & all of the bodybuilding principles.

So I kind of got into crossfit / functional training & neglected many of those bodybuilding principles which had served me so well.

So whats wrong with the kettlebell based approach ?

Over Training of the Shoulders

The shoulders really only need one specialized workout per week. Chest, back & arm days will also hit the shoulders to a great extent.

I found that with kettlebells & weight vests I was training anything from 3 to 6 days per week & hitting the shoulders hard every single workout.

Finally after five years of this I have blown my tendons in the left shoulder.

All Kettlebell focused guys are guilty of this. Many dont use weight vests but are hanging bar or dip or ring fanatics.

So the shoulders get hammered – its over training.

I currently have all of my equipment up for auction. Kettlebells, vests & clubbells.

I actually only should be using this gear once per week on shoulder day. But for some blind dumb reason I slipped from my proven good bodybuilding habits and trained the hell out of my shoulders.

So if the auction doesnt close thats it – I will use KB’s or the vest once per week only.

Other days are spent at the gym doing legs, chest, back, arms etc. Now the only three body parts you cant really train with his gear are back, chest and legs.

I think with bands & dumbells you can hit the arms just fine. KB’s & hanging bar certaily hit the shoulders. Mid section there is plenty of home gear same for grip.

But back & legs probably constitute most of your muscle mass. Sorry but pullups, pressups & hindu squats dont cut it.

You need to bench press, squat or leg press & do lat pulldowns –> all of it heavy.

So the kettlebell fanatics have things out of focus & so do crossfit. The injury rate for crossfit is way way higher than conventional bodybuilding.

Olympic lifting also has a higher injury rate.

There is nothing wrong with kettlebells or crossfit but they should not be your only training regime. So you may do them on one day per week. Not two or three – ONE DAY.

You may also do a binge. A two week program of KB or crossfit style training 3 times per year is fine.

But I just did this crap day in & day out for five years. Now I have paid the price with a tendon injury.

Dont be like me. Honour your body & the bodybuilding principles. Balance your training correctly.