Kettlebell Training for Everyday Life

​One of my all-time favorite movie scenes is from Karate Kid, when after spending countless hours doing “chores” for Mr. Miyagi, Daniel complains one night that he’s been Mr. Miyagi’s “slave” and hasn’t done any karate training to prepare for the All-Valley Karate Tournament. What follows is a profound reminder that EVERYTHING he’s been doing is karate training. (and gotta love Mr. Miyagi’s on-the-spot shoulder joint manipulation haha!)

So what’s the point of sharing this clip, besides an excuse for me to watch some Karate Kid? Everything we do in training has a reason. Quite often that reason connects to important aspects of our life. In athletics, each exercise helps condition the body in some way to improve sport performance. But for daily life, exercise selection can also have far reaching benefits.
 
Hinge patterns are important for many reasons, but the ability to pick up objects from the ground is a practical one. Many students and patients have regained and even improved their abilities in this area simply by learning proper mechanics. We can take the hinge and turn it into a powerful conditioning exercise with kettlebell swings, or we can simply use the hinge as a teaching and rehabilitation tool. Remember, it’s not just about the exercise, it’s about what the exercise EMPOWERS you to do. 

​Many people joke about why one reason people in Asian countries retain the ability to deep squat into their senior years is that they don’t have raised toilets! In contrast, westerners and Americans in particular, almost accept the loss of the ability to raise. This isn’t simply an age issue, as anyone who has experienced significant back pain (myself included!) can attest to the difficulty of sitting down on any type of seat. When we’re performing rehabilitation, we’re not simply squatting for the sake of squatting…we’re squatting to regain quality of life! 

​One of the most common complaints I hear from patients when describing back or knee pain is an inability to tie their shoes. Some patients even seek entirely different footwear to avoid having to deal with shoelaces. The lunge pattern is another basic movement pattern with real world application. True, you don’t need to carry a weight to bend down to tie your shoes, but if you can perform the exercise with weight it makes the skill that much less perishable in the coming years. 

​We all encounter situations at some point during which we have to put some weight overhead. A common example is putting a suitcase in the overhead compartment of an airplane. Maybe you have to stock some items high on a cabinet at home. Or maybe putting heavy items overhead is part of your job. In any case, having the ability to put something heavy overhead not only enables you do to more stuff, it also helps you do more stuff with less injury.

If putting something heavy overhead isn’t a regular part of your life, at the least you’ve experienced having to carry something relatively heavy such as boxes, grocery bags or even kids! What better way to train for life than by picking up a couple heavy kettlebells and going for a nice stroll. Next time you lift those heavy suitcases they won’t be so heavy anymore.  

Want to prepare for hours of holding a kid in one arm? Get comfortable with the kettlebell in the “rack” position! (I don't endorse holding kids in this manner but the imagery was too good to ignore haha!)

These are all skills that we perform with hardly any thought when healthy, but when pain, injury or some other insult deprives us of these skills, the effects on our life can be profound. We might not appreciate the freedom to pick up heavy objects, until we find ourselves reliant on having other people around to perform simple projects around the house. Kids love to play on the floor, but wouldn’t it be great to get down there and join them? Quick fixes may get you feeling better in the short term, but they are less likely to restore and even improve your ability to perform the tasks meaningful for your life. 

Allan Phillips, PT, DPT is owner of Ventana Physiotherapy
Contact him at [email protected] for your physical therapy needs in Oro Valley, Arizona