Have you ever seen someone swinging a massive kettlebell or doing a huge lift (or a huge lift for them!) and noted how far away from their usual quality it was? When I see this, I always ask myself the question, “why...?”. Sometimes the answer is easy to identify, logical, and reasonable. Maybe they were competing in a competition or testing for a particular reason. Sometimes, the answer, while still logical and easy to identify, is hard to justify...so what exactly is the cost of ego?

When we train at Queensland Kettlebells, it’s important that we know both where we are physically, emotionally, and where we are hoping our training will take us. When we know where we are at the moment and know where we want to go (or perhaps, who we want to be), it becomes significantly easier to figure out the logical path to get there. This is true in life, but can be more apparent in relation to training. For most of the clients that I see, their goal is to get stronger, look better, and feel better, but all of that is important to them because it will improve their quality of life and sense of well being long term. As the trainer of someone who is training for long-term quality of life, my number one goal is to avoid injury. We want to move along at the quickest clip we can towards their target while maintaining a significant margin of error.

“Be quick, but don’t hurry.”

- John Wooden

Picking up a bigger bell than we can use brilliantly is usually counterproductive. Our goal, when adding load, is to produce more force using patterns that will support our movement quality. If the weight of the bell slows your swing down, there’s a high likelihood that the additional weight has been counterproductive because you’ve both diminished the amount of force you’re creating, and in all likelihood, used an aberrant movement pattern. If the weight of the bell forces you into undesirable compensations when you press, it will probably limit your pressing long term. When patterns breakdown, it’s usually a precursor to your body breaking down...

If you are training for health, and you are collecting injuries, you have to ask yourself, “How effective is my current training?”. I’d argue that training for health should have the following markers:

1. You should be able to track obvious improvements in your strength and your quality of movement (including postural ability, and the ability to create explosive force and to carry things in a variety of ways)

2. Your body should not be gaining additional aches (and in most cases, should be shedding them) - including retaining a healthy range of motion in your hips and shoulders

3. You should be maintaining or increasing your lean body mass

If you’re not doing these three things and you’re training multiple times a week, there is a high likelihood that you’re doing it wrong. If you’re allowing your ego to hijack your training, or you're constantly going hard, or you’re regularly performing lifts that you know your body doesn’t like (even if it’s just in the moment), it’s probably time to sit down, have a coffee and re-assess your current trajectory, and if you’re a coach and you’re doing these things, it’s time to figure out what you’re role modelling and for whom...

Here at Queensland Kettlebells, our primary focus is ensuring our members get strong the smart way; with effective programming, personalised coaching (even in group fitness classes), and a freakin’ great support crew. Get in touch today or come along to our next beginner kettlebell workshop to start your journey to real, total-body strength.