Kettlebell Safety

Tips To Training Safer

1. Consult a doctor prior to taking up a new exercise program.
2. Train where there is no concern about property damage or injury to anyone.   A soft, level surface is optimal.
3. If necessary, guide a falling KB, but don't fight it.
4. Don't try to recover a questionable rep or bad catch.   When in doubt -  drop the KB.
5. Beware: rubber kettlebells have an unpredictable bounce pattern when dropped on a hard surface .  
6. "Quick feet are happy feet!" Thin soled shoes or bare feet are optimal.
7. Protect your back with intra-abdominal pressure and glute tension.
8. Employ "hip-drive" when practicing H2H drills.  
9. When your torso is folded forward, keep your weight on your heels.
10. Keep your arms loose in all dynamic drills.
11. Upon impact, instantly tighten entire body (i.e. glutes, abs, hands, etc.).
12. Build up the training load gradually using common sense.
13. Instruction cannot cover all contingencies.   There is not substitute for good judgment.  
14. Remember the goal is to train, not maim.

Tips To Training Smarter Not Harder

1. Master the basic kettlebell exercises (i.e. swings, cleans, snatches, and the under leg pass a.k.a. figure 8 drill).
2. Keep in mind that H2H vol. 1 & 2 are instructional and NOT aerobics videos.   Do not attempt all the exercises in one day, one week or even in one month.
3. Pay attention to the enabling and preparatory exercises.
4. Pick easy drills and use them as a warm-up.
5. Limit yourself two or three new drills per training session.
6. Gradually blend new drills with old favorites.
7. Two short sessions are better than one long session
8. Start with a "light" KB, learn and master movement patterns.   Adhere to the "KILAH" principle: " Keep It Light And Happy".
9. If your form starts to deteriorate, immediately switch to an easier exercise or just put the KB down and recover.   Don't even get close to muscle failure.

Testimony to the motto!

From: Kurt J. Wilkens
Subject: Fitness
Date/Time 2004-04-09 11:15:18

Message
Comrades --

It is with a considerable lack of enthusiasm that I accept the dubious honor of being the first (as far as I know) jackass to hit himself in the face with a KB while doing H2H flow drills. No, I'm not kidding!

It happened maybe two weeks ago (took me this long to work up the courage to publicly admit my jackass-ness), at the end of an otherwise very good workout. I was doing H2H flow drills with a 16kg KB, working in 3-minute rounds with 1-minute rest intervals. It was near the end of the second round, while doing the 2-hand flip-and-catch, that the handle swung around and hit me in the mouth. It was very uncool, certainly, but I readily acknowledge how lucky I was that it was only the handle that hit me -- if it had been the actual ball of the KB, who knows how bad it might have been. As it was, I wound up with a small cut on my lip, and a chip out of the corner of one of my front teeth, and a severe case of embarrassment. (The cut has since healed, and the sharp edge of the tooth has since rounded/smoothed enough so as to be not so noticeable, thank you. The embarrassment is still with me.) Needless to say, I didn’t do any more rounds after that; although I did finish that one.

I don't expect anyone else to be this stupid, but in the event they are, here are a couple things I've learned from my unfortunate misadventure:

- First, and most importantly, Jeff Martone was not joking when he said to keep your hands up in front of your face; I was damn near “spitting chicklets” as a result of not quite following this pearl of wisdom. I’m not sure exactly how this accident happened -- I think I caught the KB wrong and tried to flip it around to a better position -- because I was considerably oxygen-deprived at the time, which leads me to my next
revelation ...

- Don’t do your H2H drills to the point of extreme fatigue. Jeff recommends keeping your H2H sessions “light and happy”. If you work to the point where you are oxygen-deprived and exhausted, your coordination and reaction speed will be diminished, as well as your strength, not to mention your judgment and perception, etc. If you are using H2H drills as your conditioning, occasionally you will need to push the envelope a little; if you choose to do that, please utilize drills that will keep the KB away from your face!

Anyway, I hope my lesson in jackass-ery can be of help to someone, or at least provide you with a good belly laugh. Then it will have been worth it. FWIW to you ...

Kurt - 'If pain builds character, I'm building it the hard way!'