Kettlebell Training to Prevent Shoulder & Back Injury

By Kettlebell Kings

Kettlebell Training to Prevent Shoulder and Back Injury

Working out with kettlebells, whether it’s for sport or fitness can help increase strength and endurance, as well as decrease your chances of serious injury. Many kettlebell workout routines are full-body focused, and your entire body is being forced to move and stabilize muscle groups throughout the exercise. This strengthens the body and prevents future damage. The shoulders and back are especially vulnerable to injury when performing high-impact, weight-heavy workouts. Several kettlebell exercises can be done regularly during warm up to prevent back and shoulder injuries by building up and increasing the mobility of these areas.

Kettlebell Exercises to Prevent Shoulder Injury

When it comes to the shoulder, your rotator cuff is mostly to blame for muscle weakness and imbalance during exercise. The rotator cuff consists of four muscles tied together with the vital job of holding the ball and socket joint in place, allowing for mobility of your arm. Many exercises fire up the shoulder muscle and help increase stability and range of motion without irritating the rotator cuff.

The Kettlebell Swing – This exercise isn’t an apparent shoulder-specific movement since it is a full-body movement. However, it is an essential exercise for stabilization of your shoulder muscles. To execute, stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, back arched somewhat and bend at the hips, forcing the kettlebell back and behind your legs. As you swing upward, thrust your hips forward and squeeze your glutes to propel the kettlebell up and away from your body. As you swing the kettlebell upward and as it falls downward, the rotator cuff muscles must contract to hold your shoulder in place, building strength and preventing future injury. Warm up with this exercise using a lighter weight, performing three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions to activate the shoulder muscles before a strenuous workout.

The Halo – Unlike the full-body motion of the kettlebell swing, this exercise focuses primarily on the muscles within your shoulders and is less cardio intensive. To perform this move, hold the kettlebell by the outer edges of the handle, pointing it toward the ceiling as you rotate the kettlebell in a circular motion around your head. This not only works the rotator cuff but the pectorals of the chest, deltoids of the shoulders and triceps located in the back of the arm. It is also an excellent way to warm-up the core muscles that are integral to any exercise routine. Warming up with three sets of 10-15 halo movements before a workout can keep your entire shoulder complex safe from injury.

Kettlebell Exercises to Prevent Back Injury

According to Physical Therapy Web, an estimated 80% of Americans will experience some type of back pain during their lifetime. This number could be substantially decreased if the general population would adopt a regular training program that includes kettlebell movements focusing on strengthening the back and spine. If the muscles surrounding your back are weak, it will compensate for the inadequate muscle strength, potentially causing injury such as a muscle pull or worse, a herniated disc. For example, if your glutes aren’t activated during a goblet squat, you will be more likely to use your lower back to lift the weight, increasing the potential for permanent damage. To ensure your glutes are firing it is also important to stretch your hip flexor muscles. Many exercises focus on these areas, improving their strength and allowing for less strain on the lower back.

The Kettlebell Snatch – This exercise is an excellent example of a movement that strengthens your glute muscles and opens up your hip flexors to protect your lower back. Unlike other exercises, it is a complex, full-body movement that should be mastered before executed. As you would in a kettlebell swing, stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, back slightly arched and knees bent. Unlike the swing, you will only place one hand in an overhand grip position on the kettlebell. Using your hips and glutes, swing the kettlebell upward, keeping your elbow pointing outward as you pull the kettlebell slightly closer to your body and let the momentum drive it upwards. Unwind your hand and let the kettlebell fall downward, hinging at the hips and bending the knees as it approaches the bottom of the movement. Again, this is an advanced movement that works the shoulders, as well as the mid and upper back. After you have conquered the kettlebell swing, feel free to tackle this exercise using correct posture. By strengthening the muscles surrounding the back, you will be preventing injury and enhancing full-body strength. Warm up with this activity by doing three sets of 10-12 reps with low weight on each arm.

The Renegade Row – This not only builds strength in the upper back and shoulder complex, but it also requires stability of the core. This exercise will require two kettlebells of equal weight. Gripping the handles of the kettlebells, get in a pushup position, pushing off of the kettlebells to straighten both arms. Stabilizing your core, drive into the ground with your left foot and pull the kettlebell toward you with your right hand, lower the kettlebell and repeat on the other side. Maintaining core strength throughout this entire exercise will require squeezing and therefore strengthening of your upper back muscles. Using light weight, warm up with this exercise doing three sets of 10-12 repetitions on each arm.

It is important to note that you should never perform a kettlebell exercise if you feel pain or discomfort, especially when you are recovering from an injury. These exercises are only intended for advice concerning prevention, and a licensed physical therapist is always the best option for rehabilitation of particular muscle groups within the shoulder and back.

For more information regarding kettlebell workouts for injury prevention, as well as routines that you can perform in the gym or at home, check out our website at http://www.kettlebellkings.com/or call 855-7KETTLE for more information. We sell the most reasonably priced, high-quality products and come highly recommended by kettlebell sport athletes and regular gym goers and owners. We care about getting you the right product to increase your strength, stamina, and cardiovascular health to prevent unwanted muscular and joint injuries. We publish more helpful information about how to train with kettlebells on our blog as well!

HOW TO: get over your fear of the gym

gyms and the entire fitness industry can be highly intimidating, especially to those of us who haven't done the whole exercise thing before.

But the gym has become this really scary place for people just starting out there fitness journey. A LOT of people are genuinely terrified of going into the gym.

But why???

I've heard a few different reasons. 

1. afraid of people judging/watching them

2. not sure what they're supposed to do at the gym

3. just don't want to go to the gym 

SO how do we get you into the gym despite all of that?

Here's what you need to know: 

1. No one cares what you're doing at the gym. I know, that seems insane because everyone seems to be very concerned about other people watching and judging them. But, everyone is just there to get their shit done and get outta there. Promise. To be honest, the people who are watching everyone else the most are the people who are the most worried about people watching them. For real. I work at a gym that has body builders,power lifters, and bikini physique competitors and those people are just focused on their workouts and that's all. they do not give a crap what anyone else is doing. 

2. Most people don't know what they're doing. I swear. You know the whole, "fake it til you make it" saying? probably the most true at the gym. it does take time and practice to figure out the gym, so just know that not knowing is part of the process. so many people are just trying stuff out and hoping for the best. 

Here's what you can do: 

1. Take the gym up on their free first personal training sessions. Basically every gym i've walked into has offered a free first session. It may be framed as a fitness consultation or a free workout or orientation or whatever, but those sessions can be whatever you want it to be. if you do that session and tell the trainer you want to learn how to use some equipment or some sort of exercise, that's what those are for. take advantage of it and learn the lay of the land that way. 

2. make a plan. you don't have to wander around the gym aimlessly, and that seems to be a fear for most people. write it out, make a note on your phone, follow a bodybuilding.com program, or hire a trainer (hi!! i'm available, btw) so you can have a plan or program to follow while you're at the gym and not just going from random equipment to random equipment with no rhyme or reason. figure out what you want to work on for each day you're going into the gym and make it happen. 

3. get gym buddies or go to workout classes! if you're wary of doing the gym on your own, get a friend to be a gym buddy so you can workout together. And if you don't have a friend who will workout with you, go to classes and find a bunch of people who will be your gym buddies while also learning a bunch of great workouts to do on your own! every gym i've ever been to offers some sort of classes and they are a great way to get acquainted with the gym!

4. don't let what other people may think of you stop you from doing something you want to do. (and don't hold yourself back!)  if you just don't want to go to the gym, figure out WHY. if you are afraid of people are judging you, fuck those people. go get your gym time in and hit your goals be the badass you were meant to be.

STILL pretty wary of the gym? If you're in my area (El Cajon/ San Diego) hit me up! Especially if you're a 24 Hour Fitness member, cause I can go to any of those and show you around and help you out! And if you need help making a plan/program contact me on facebook or instagram or email me at tiffnessfitness@gmail.com! 

fitness terms you should know

getting into the fitness game you hear/ read people using all sorts of crazy terms that you've probably never heard of. and you're reading captions/watching videos like, "ummm... what did they even just say??" been there y'all.

but the good news is... i'm here to help! 

the following list is going to be a whole bunch of fitness terms so you don't have to do a google search every single time you come across a new term! 

this is in a loose alphabetical order...

bmi - body mass index. it is a scale that is calculated by your weight divided by your height squared. The ranges are under 18.5 is underweight, 18.5-25 is normal,25-30 is overweight, and 30 and up is obese. However this is a pretty outdated method of calculating whether or not your weight is within a healthy range because it does not take into account fat mass vs muscle mass

bmr- basal metabolic rate. it is an estimate of how many calories you would burn in a day if you did literally nothing for 24 hours. basically, the minimum amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function. 

butt wink - the term for when your tailbone tucks underneath your body during a squat- which can hurt your back. basically, when you get deeper in your squat than your hips will take you, your pelvis and lower back compensate and when doing weighted squats this can be dangerous. 

bcaas- branced chained amino acids. there are essential amino acids you need to make sure your muscles are going to recover and rebuild properly. you can get these in your diet (especially if you are eating a high protein diet) but powdered bcaas are convenient and fast and can add flavor to your water if that's something you struggle with. also if you are cutting calories using a bcaa supplement will be more helpful for you. 

compound exercise - any exercise that works two or more different joints to engage more muscles. 

cross training- working out in different ways or styles to help your performance in whatever sport/exercise is your main focus.

doms - deloyed onset muscle soreness. basically, being sore in the muscle groups you trained the day or two before. 

drop sets - you do a specific exercise until failure, then reduce the weight and repeat on and on

eating clean - vague catchall term for eating more "real" foods vs processed foods. trying to eat foods that have been processed the least amount that is possible.

foam rolling - aka self - myofascial release. fancy terms for self massage with a foam tube or ball or hands. applying pressure to certain points on your body (usually sore ones) to help aid in recovery. 

hiit - high intensity interval training. working at a maximal effort for quick bursts with minimal rest periods. 

iifym - if it fits your macros. not counting calories, but tracking your protein, fat, and carbs with specific goals in mind that you are trying to hit. aka flexible dieting. basically, you can eat what you want as long as it fits in your macro goals. (like have a bigass cheeseburger for lunch (high in fat & carbs), but balance that with a lean chicken salad for dinner (high in protein & lower in carbs & fats) and hitting your macro targets)

isometrics - strength training where you hold a static position at muscle tension

liss - long interval steady state. basically going on a long jog or walk or swim at a fairly consistent pace (compared to hiit)

macros - macronutrients. your proteins, carbs, and fats that make up your daily calories. see my post about them here. 

micronutrients - vitamins and minerals you need to have a balanced diet.

muscle pump (or a "pump")- during and after you exercise your muscles will have more blood flow to them so the active muscle groups will appear larger

overtraining - working out for long duration of time (weeks/months) with no light days or rest/recovery days. this can lead to injuries and burning out. 

preworkout - essentially powdered caffeine. when you see people walking around with neon drinks in blender bottles it's preworkout or bcaas (see above). usually flavored, low calorie, and have additional supplements in them to help get more of a muscle pump (creatine, typically)

plyometrics - exercises that exert maximum force on muscle groups, usually for short periods of time (see hiit training). also known as jump training. used to increase power and speed

reps - repetitions. how many times you will do a specific exercise in a set. (set is a round of that exercise)

rmr - resting metabolic rate. same thing as your bmr. 

rpe - rate of perceived exhaustion. usually on a scale of 1-10 or 20. how tired you feel/think you are during an exercise

super set - alternating between two exercises with no rest between them. usually working different muscle groups (like bicep curls & triceps dips) saves time in the because of the less downtime between sets. 

tabata - a type of hiit workout. 20 seconds of work/ 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds (or 4 mins) usually doing 3-4 rounds

tdee - total daily energy expenditure. an estimation of how many calories you burn per day when exercise is taken into account.  

did I miss any term that you're confused about? let me know in the comments below or on facebook and instagram! 

this will be an expanding list so definitely tell me the terms you've come across in your health & fitness journey!