The Year of Living Gimpy-ly

I've not blogged specifically about it, but those of you who know me in real life know that I've been dealing with a nagging hip injury that has made it not only difficult to exercise, but from time to time made it difficult to just get around. I feel like a whiny, baby man when I bring it up. But when asked if I am limping (which is often enough) I can't quite pull off an Igor (Marty Feldman) from Young Frankenstein either. "What hump?" or in my case, "What limp?"

I finished last year ranked second in the nation in my age group and weight class in Olympic Weightlifting. Believe me, the stars had to align just right for that to happen. Contrast that with the fact that I have been unable to compete at all this year. I not only will have no ranking, I won't even exist as far as the sport is concerned. My best weightlifting efforts at this writing are about where my opening attempts were at my very first meet many years ago. This is of course sobering. I'm not starting over completely, but it sure feels that way. As much as I would like to get back on the platform, the pain has forced me to focus less on my sport and on more basic concerns: like what do I need to do to get to where I can tie my own shoes or walk to the store or walk up the stairs without a white hot poker as a constant companion?

My current injury is very similar to one I had five years ago. It may be exactly the same...just re-injured. Back then I was testing out a new weightlifting shoe with a higher heel than the one I ordinarily used and I landed funny on one power clean and whoopsie! It took about 6 months for that boo-boo to heal. I've narrowed down the current injury to overuse: too much squatting and kettlebell sport practice volume concurrently. I've been dealing with it for almost a year now and it is feeling close to being resolved but it still flares up in new and surprising ways from time to time. I have more good days in a row now than bad days and I am able to move relatively pain free in more ways than I could just a month ago.

Bottom line: I'm not a young man. I'm friggin' 52 years old. I frankly don't remember what "young" was like exactly, but I'm damn sure it didn't feel like things feel now. I know at 52 it is easier to get injured and injuries, if they do heal, will take a lot longer to heal than they would at 32 or even 42. I'm also aware that any sport has inherent risks and the older one gets the riskier it gets. So, while I'm not settling for less than I can get, I am very aware that I will have to settle for what I can have. Getting old is not for sissies. Getting back to a 160kg squat versus being able to tie my shoes pain free is probably a false choice...chances are I may get to have neither. I can tell you that both choices are taking a lot more work and a lot more time to realize than I would like.

Here are some of the things I've learned or noticed this year that have helped me get beyond just coping with the situation.

1) Patience, patience, patience.
2) Find movements that don't hurt and do them as often as possible.
3) Rolling around on the floor is therapeutic. Tuck your knees, hold them and roll from side to side and back and forth, somersaults, etc. Several times a day. I don't why this has worked for me, but it has been the single most healing activity I've found.
4) Move. Keep moving.
5) Setbacks will happen. See #1 above.
6) Be kind to yourself. Say good things to yourself when you see little improvements. If you had a setback, say good things anyway. Beating yourself up doesn't help.
7) Be flexible with goal setting. It's good to have benchmarks, but be open to "fits and starts" and surprises instead of forcing a linear progression.
8) Alleve is your friend. Advil too. And the hot tub.
9) Work around the pain. What may have contributed to the injury in the first place was insufficient training of supportive, stabilizing musculature. Compensating movement gets a bad rap, but if those compensating muscles are taking the load now, they probably needed to be playing a bigger role before the injury happened.
10) Don't worry. Worry won't help. You don't have to be happy, but be something else besides worried.

Oh, and buy a copy of Pavel's DVD Resilient. Great resource for preventing injuries and like the title suggests making you less susceptible to injury in the first place. I wish I had been more diligent with it. Maybe I wouldn't be hurt now. It has been helpful post-injury too.

For those of you reading this who are dealing with an injury, I hope you heal up fast. And to all of you I wish a Happy and Healthy 2010.

R

Swings and Snatches: Pulling or Projecting?

Recently I got into a discussion on the nature of the kettlebell ballistic pulls. The discussion had to do with a teaching concept in use that distinguishes the kettlebell swing from the kettlebell snatch by asserting that the swing is a projection of energy outwards while the snatch is a projection of energy upwards. These distinctions struck me intuitively as incorrect. The basic kettlebell swing and snatch are pulling motions, powered by the hips, traveling on an arc, identical in many respects but ending up at different heights. How can an exercise be characterized both as a pull and as a projection of energy?

The discussion certainly wasn't conclusive (I was "thinking out loud" for the most part) and I am not a physicist, so I decided to dig a little more. Armed with a little research and my initial thesis, I presented my ideas for comment and criticism to a friend who not only knows his way around a kettlebell, but is also a PhD in Physics. This post is I hope a refinement of the case I tried to make initially.

We pick up the discussion with a kettlebell swing already in progress...

Once the kettlebell is in motion, regardless of whether it is a swing or a snatch, like all other objects subject to Newton's First Law of Motion, it will move in a straight line at a steady rate unless it is acted upon by another force or object. As we know, neither the swing nor the snatch move in a straight line, but rather move along a curved path. So this means, obviously, that another force is acting upon the bell. That force is not an outward or upward projection of energy, but rather something called the Centripetal Force; Centripetal meaning literally "center seeking force".

In the top animated illustration, a ball swinging in a circle wants to travel in a straight line, at a constant speed represented by V. FT is the force tension, or the Centripetal Force of the string. A represents the acceleration of the centripetal force. Because an object wants to both travel in a straight line and at a consistent pace, it has to be accelerated in another direction to change direction. Notice that FT and A both point to the center. This is because the centripetal force accelerates the ball towards the center. The greater the velocity of the bell and the shorter the radius the greater the centripetal force required to enforce a curved path. Centripetal force, applied equally as in the above illustrations will result in a circular motion. In kettlebell swings and snatches we don't usually make full circles, but the same principles apply.

So if there is no force projecting out from the body to the bell, what is it that accounts for that "pulling sensation" we all feel when swinging or snatching? What about Centrifugal Force? Isn't there an equal and opposite force called Centrifugal Force pulling the bell away from the center? Nope. Again, look at the illustrations above and note that the bell wants to travel in a straight line tangential to the curved path. The "pull" felt when swinging or snatching is the Centripetal Force acting on the kettlebell's Newtonian commitment to travel in a straight line at a consistent speed, the inertia of the kettlebell. The bell "wants" to travel in a straight line, the grip is meeting the handle and pulling against it towards the center of the body.

Check out the bottom illustration. Note that when the string is cut, the ball travels in the direction it was going at the precise instant the string is severed. Cutting the string is simply removing the Centripetal Force. If Centrifugal Force (which means "fleeing the center') was a real equal and opposite force, when the string was cut the object would fly directly away from the center, which it doesn't do. So it is not Centrifugal Force that makes the kettlebell slip out of your hand, it is simply inadequate Centripetal Force, in this case grip strength, friction etc.

So how do we use this information to think about the swing, clean and the snatch? For one thing the majority of energy expended once the bell is in motion is just hanging onto the kettlebell and maintaining balance while doing so. It is the manipulation of Centripetal Force which makes a swing a swing and a snatch a snatch. The grip and the arms linking the bell to the body are the mechanisms of the Centripetal Force. Rooting, bracing/core tension, shoulders back, straight arms, all these techniques have to do with increasing the centripetal force on the bell. The physics suggests that the overwhelmingly dominant force once the kettlebell is in motion is Centripetal Force.

Consider the fact that Centripetal Force increases exponentially with increases in the speed of the kettlebell. For example, if the speed of the kettlebell doubles, the centripetal force will quadruple. If the speed of the kettlebell triples, the centripetal force will increase nine-fold. Move up from a 16kg bell to a 32kg bell and the centripetal force required to swing the 32 doubles. Double the speed of that 32kg bell and it takes eight times more Centripetal Force to control it than does to swing the 16kg at the initial tempo. No wonder the 32kg feels so much harder to swing than the 16kg despite being "only" twice as heavy.

So if we want to talk about some Projection of Energy in the kettlebell swing and snatch (and the clean too) it is towards the center of the body not away from the center. Sure, the hip extension and leg drive provide the power to get the bell moving and the more vigorous and forceful the power is supplied, the faster the bell will move. But, the trick isn't just getting the bell moving, it is controlling it and making it do what you want it to do once you get it moving. Remember, the more force it takes to move the bell, even more force is required to keep the bell on a curved path. Is a swing a swing or a snatch a snatch if there is an explosive hip extension followed instantly by the kettlebell planting itself a few yards in front? Of course not. You gotta hang onto the damn thing.

Some specifics: the kettlebell upswing ends at about chest high. If you pull down on the handle suddenly, you will often see the body of the bell flip up (more evidence that energy is not projected out , but that the bell wants to travel in a straight line) Using the upper right illustration to visualize what would happen if you suddenly released the bell on an overspeed eccentric you will see that if you don't keep pulling the bell to the center, it won't travel in an arc, but keeps traveling straight...down in this case. And most definitely not straight away from the center of the arc.

As for finishing the snatch, the kettlebell is essentially a high swing where the the bell is pulled to the center, shortening the radius of the arc for further control. One might argue when punching up to finish a snatch one is"projecting energy" up. But really one is simply shortening the radius then suddenly lengthening the radius of the kettlebell's arc. The handle moves away which causes the bell to rotate; it then "meets" the arm which puts the brakes on the kettlebell and the lift is complete.

In conclusion, it's no coincidence in my mind that snatches and cleans and swings are colloquially referred to as "pulls" and that the dominant physical force involved is also a "pull". As for coaching or teaching these lifts, my observation is that most people don't have a problem getting the bell moving, they have problems once the kettlebell is actually in motion. Balance problems, posture problems, inappropriate use of the arms, etc. Cues that reinforce the idea that the power that put the bell into motion radiates concentrically from the center of the body outwards are important. But to my way of thinking, the cues for these fast moving, ballistic movements should:
A) reinforce the understanding that even more force is required to control than the force used to put it into motion in the first place
and
B) that this force pulls to the center of the body, not away from it.

In other words, you need to know where the accelerator is, but you also need to know how to steer before you put your foot in.


Thanks to Michael Deskevich, PhD for his help on this.
Graphics and supplemental information from www. regentsprep.org

The Twelve Gifts of Fit-mas

This holiday season, old Couch Handy recommends that you give the gift of fitness to yourself, a family member or a friend.

Here are Twelve gift recommendations!

Give a Kettlebell lesson or Olympic Weightlifting lesson or package of lessons: my rates are going back up at the beginning of the year so now is a good time to buy.

Lesson Purchase Options

1 Lesson $65.00 5 Lessons $300.00 10 Lessons $550.00 20 Lessons $1,000.00

I also have a little e-book/pdf on beginning Olympic Weightlifting called More Power! which I'll send to you for the princely sum of $15. My friend Krista Scott-Dixon of Stumptuous.com wrote the foreword...it's pretty good if I say so myself. I wish I had it when I was teaching myself the lifts back in the day when information was scarce and DVDs hadn't yet been invented.
More Power!

Know someone who wants to try kettlebells or is ready for a new, heavier one? Dragon Door still makes the best solid cast iron kettlebells in the industry and are backed by a no questions asked guarantee. You can order them here...but with the holidays coming you should order soon to assure a timely delivery.

Read my reviews of Dan John's Never Let Go book and 4-DVD Series and you will want them for yourself...but if you know a coach or athlete or weekend warrior, any of these items will make a great stocking stuffer. Order from DaveDraper.com

While we are on the subject of books and DVDs...Dragon Door has a great selection of books on topics of strength, kettlebells and martial arts. My recommendations are Beyond Bodybuilding ,
Enter the Kettlebell, Return of the Kettlebell and Power to the People Professional.

Well that's Twelve things (more or less, depending on how you count and combine)

Enjoy the Holidays and make 2010 a healthy, happy and strong year!

Randy Hauer
"Couch Handy"
RKC Team Leader, USAW Weightlifting and Sports Performance Coach

Dan John's Never Let Go DVD's 3 and 4

Received the final two DVDs of this 4 part project. There are real nuggets of knowledge in both. As in the previous installments, these presentations are not tedious chores to sit through. Dan has fun teaching and the information is delivered with both a sense of humor and an obvious passion for the topics.

For the Olympic Lifting coach, athlete or enthusiast, the Olympic Lifting for Beginners offers real insights into how to make these technical and complicated lifts accessible. Good coaching cues are pithy and should evoke a coordinated set of responses; one can't think and lift at the same time. Dan has managed to break the lifts into manageable chunks and excellent cues that can have a beginner snatching and jerking the bar in an impressively brief period of time with more than acceptably safe technique.

Warmups, Workouts and Barbell Complexes provides excellent ideas and a structure for how to think about a proper general warmup before a weight training workout. Great ideas here too for how to design and incorporate barbell complexes. Honestly, the kids under Dan's supervision at Juan Diego H.S. must be some of the strongest, best conditioned kids in the country: Dan's warmup alone is killer. A nice touch is the PDF list of the warmups and workouts on the DVD which can be printed out.

The Never Let Go book tour DVD set is available as a 4 part set or as can be ordered individually here: http://www.davedraper.com/fitness_products/product/DJ4DVD.html

A great stocking stuffer for the strength enthusiast on your holiday list.

A Little Press Coverage

Article in the local paper about our recent WL Clinic with Carissa Gump.
http://www.dailycamera.com/health-fitness/ci_13901567

Our next Clinic is September 19th at Flatirons Crossfit...$35 in advance. $50 at the Door.
Troubleshooting the Pulls