Ian King

Nutritional supplements and strength training: Part 1 – The arrival of smoke and mirrors

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Any survey or cross reference of articles titled ‘The Top Bodybuilding Supplements you need to be taking’– and there is no shortage of the there article [1] [2] [3]– on what are the top most popular strength training supplements today’ would find the following common them – creatine, BCAA, caffeine or similar stimulants, glutamine, fish oils, and protein powders. The question I have, which may surprise – is this approach optimal?

Now we could debate which are really the top most popular supplements, however just run with this message – why is it that everyone is basically singing from the same song sheet? It is because the masses have got it worked out and you shouldn’t mess with this formula? Or is it more of a case of conforming sheep?

Anyone willing to take a journey down the modern history of supplementation in strength training may reach the same conclusions that many have, including the author of trilogy book series ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ Randy Roach[1] – that the game changed forever in the 1960s.

1940-1950s

In the post was late 1940s environment the story goes that friends of English athlete turned bodybuilder Reg Park would share their milk and cream rations with him, allowing him to consume more protein than the average person.

“In the Golden Age of Classic Physique Building (the 1940s and 50s), the approach to diet was much simpler than today. The CPB Champs simply ate a high protein diet consisting of what they considered to be “nutritious, wholesome foods.” So basically the diet was meat (all kinds), dairy (whether cow-based or goat-based), eggs, fruits, vegetables (in salads or cooked), nuts, and a bit of whole-grain cereals & bread (starchy foods were used sparingly).”[2]

1960s

1960 was considered a seminal year in strength training nutritional supplements. During the late 1950s American pharmaceutical companies such as Ciba began producing anabolic steroids for human use. This changed the landscape in the ‘iron game’.

“At the beginning of the decade, protein was still #1 on the bodyuiblders checklist, but it would soon drop to the #2 position as the sport begian to shift into anabolic over-drive.” [3]

Roach in his book ‘Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors’ talks about how the arrival of anabolic steroids on the strength training scene in the US from 1960 onwards muddied the waters, allowing marketers of equipment and supplements to make all sorts of claims about the effectiveness of their equipment, training protocols or over the counter supplements, whilst the truth was more about the steroids.

Bob Hoffman of York Barbell and Joe Weider of the Muscle and Fitness magazine were two names that have been connected with this 1960s phenomenon where drugs were giving the results yet equipment, training programs and supplements were being advertised as the reason behind the great gains.

Here is an example of 1960s marketing (by Bob Hoffman) that Roach raises questions about the true cause of the improvement:

“…training experiments with simple exercises, with particular emphasis on nutrition, notably the continued regular use of Hi-Proteen an ENERGOL, and more use of our Super Gain Weight Tablet, Liver, Iron, Vitamin B12. I gained at an amazing rate and soon developed noticeable muscles.” [4]

Weider it was suggested stood on both sides of the aisle, decrying the use of drugs in articles but willing to use drug supported athletes to market his supplements and other products.

This drug use quickly spread into other sports. In a November 1962 issue of ‘Iron Man’, editor and owner Peary Rader….

“….spoke out early and pleaded with his readership in an article titled “Don’t Do it Fellows” . He wrote on Dianabol and Nilivar and the fact that they had already spread into the coaching ranks of both high school and college football.” [5]

US chiropractor and strength coach Ken Leistner tells a great story about what Joe Weider said to him when Ken challenged Joe as to why Ken, as a teenager bought and used all the supplements that Joe was marketing and they didn’t get him the results advertised. He said Joe Weider said words to the effect:

“My job was to pull as many boys off the street and into the gym as I could using the advertising that I did. In the time you realized it was bullshit, I already had you hooked into a healthier lifestyle of workout out and eating better.” [6]

From my personal observations during the four decades from the 1980 to the current decade, and from my study of iron game magazines from the 1970s, I suggest that the game developed in the 1960s has continued to date – that is, great gains and great outcomes by performance enhancing drugs have provided the backdrop to benefit claims for a wide range of training methods, equipment and supplements.

In the ideal world, it would be of great value to see the full ‘supplement’ use of any claims about supplementation disclosed before any conclusions are reached. This concern not only relates to typical bodybuilding supplement claims, it also relates to a number of ‘research articles’ that have been published based on elite athletes in sports with high performance enhancing drug use. The results are simply misleading in the absence of controlling the variable of drug use. At least that is the objective nature of science – to control the variables and change and measure the other/s.

The same marketing techniques that were developed and refined over half a century ago, I suggest, still dominate the market. And as a result, the masses have been misled for six decades and continuing.

When I ask anyone in strength training which supplements they are taking, the overwhelming majority will be taking the most dominantly marketed supplements of the times. Do they work? Are they effective? Who knows. That is not the reason they are taking them. They are taking them because that is what everyone has been led to believe, through effective marketing, they ‘need’ to be taking them.

What is that was not the case? What if we stripped back to square one and only added for supplements long use after an appropriate, objective personal trial of them.

As with my approach to training, I am less interested in what can be shown to produce an effect, and more interested in what is the optimal approach.

There are only so many supplements most individuals will consume contemporaneously, whether from a budget limitation or other reasons. I suggest your goal should be to order your supplement intake in a priority based on optimal effectiveness, rather than a blind adoption of the dominant, market driven trends.

Now I understand the human desire make emotional decisions and justify them logically. So if you are drawn to using the same supplement suite as everyone else, I’m confident you can find a ‘reason’ for them.

However for those who are committed to thinking for themselves, are willing to act primarily upon their own personal conclusions, to follow the advice of one of America’s most intelligent men – Buckminster Fuller, who wrote:

“…fifty-three years ago at age thirty-two, jettisoned all that I had ever been taught to believe and proceeded thereafter to reason and act only on the basis of direct personal experience.” [7]

So what were the dominant habits of strength athletes prior to the 1960s when the arrival of anabolics masked any hope of truth in marketing? Up until the 1960s two main supplements dominated. You can see these two in this quote from the Legend, three times Mr. Universe Reg Park.

In an interview with Reg published by Osmo “John” Kiiha in his magazine ‘The Iron Master’ Reg is quoted as saying:

“I liked to eat like a king, but only food that was good for me. I ate prodigious amounts of food during the day, but adhered to a very balanced diet with everything in proper proportions. My favorite food is steak, which I sometimes eat twice a day. I also like salads, orange juice and wine. I have a wine cellar in my home. I also have used protein supplements and take vitamin and mineral tablets.” [8]

Isn’t that interesting.

Conclusion

In summary things changed in the 1960s and stayed the same since. Drug supported physiques are used to market you the supplements that you take, on the belief or inference that the results achieved by the model are the ones you are going to achieve by use of the supplement being marketed. And you believe it.

References

[1] https://www.musclesmokeandmirrors.com

[2] Reg Park’s diet for a classic physique, Classic physique builder, https://classicphysiquebuilder.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/reg-parks-diet-for-classic-physique.html

[3] Roach, R., 2008 Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors, AuthorHouse, p. 381.

[4] Roach, R., 2008 Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors, AuthorHouse, p. 383.

[5] Roach, R., 2008 Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors, AuthorHouse, p. 387.

[6] Roach, R., 2008 Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors, AuthorHouse, p. 389.

[7] Buckminster Fuller, R., 1981, Critical Path

[8] Reg Park’s diet for a classic physique, Classic physique builder, https://classicphysiquebuilder.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/reg-parks-diet-for-classic-physique.html

Ian King

Ban the band!

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During a workout the national league, former scholarship holding Div. 1 NCAA athlete from a championship winning team asked ‘Ian, I notice you don’t use bands with me in any exercises. Why do most strength coaches use bands and you don’t?’

I pondered a moment and then said ‘Because the world is brain dead.’

A bit harsh, but I wanted to get my point across.

Now this athlete is very cerebral and not only deserved a more complete answer, but had a thirst for knowledge. The lack of satisfactory explanations to similar questions posed to their previous strength and conditioning coaches had been a source of frustration.

So I took a deep breath, collected my thoughts, and begun one of those very brief but intense summaries you give to athletes with inquiring minds.

IK: ‘Okay, this is a bit of a longer explanation but you deserve it!…..Let me ask you – what exercises have you mainly used bands on?

Athlete: Oh, things like the exercise you call ‘External leg rotations’, but others call clamshells. Or the external arm rotations. Exercises like that.

IK: Okay, so mostly control drills, a concept I introduced to the world in the 1990s[2] to provide a pre-training activation of the muscles and an injury prevention insurance policy by increasing volume in small muscles.

The stretch should be followed by a series of control drills for the joints and muscles to be trained in the workout. [3] … I include 2-4 low volume/low intensity ‘control’ drills at the start of EVERY workout, aimed at reducing the muscle imbalance in the muscle groups to be trained on that day. This is part of my injury prevention ‘insurance’ policy… [4] Control drills by my definition include any exercises that focus primarily on selective recruitment and quality of the movement, as opposed to the load lifted or reps performed That is, a qualitative focus rather than a quantitative focus…[5]

IK: Let me ask you a question – when you start each rep in most exercsies, do you feel at your strongest point or not?

Athlete: Ah, no, most exercises I am not the strongest at the start of the rep.

IK: And that’s normal – it’s called the ‘strength or force curve’ – the amount of force you can produce at the start of the exercise is usually low, then what happens next?

Athlete: I feel a bit stronger as I come up through the rep.

IK: Excellent. Then what happens next?

Athlete: I feel I get a bit weaker towards the end.

IK: Wow, you are sharp! That’s a great explanation for most joint force curves – you start weak, get stronger, then get weaker. Now let me ask – when you start the rep with a band does the resistance start low?

Athlete: Yes, it’s at its easiest point at the start.

IK: Excellent. Then as you come through the movement what happens to the resistance?

Athlete: It’s get harder.

IK: Excellent. Then what happens next?

Athlete: Then I guess it gets really hard towards the end as the band is getting more stretched.

IK: Exactly! Now is this your strongest point or are you getting weaker towards the end of the movement in most cases?

Athlete: I am usually getting weaker.

IK: Great! So does the resistance offered match the force curve?

Athlete: No, it doesn’t.

IK: Can you finish off the rep with excellent technique or do you tend to cheat to get it done?

Athlete: I need to cheat to finish the rep.

IK: So how does that fit in with say my focus on technique and avoiding technique breakdown, especially with control drills?

Athlete: It wouldn’t! Okay, I see now why you don’t use bands!

With that, we went back to training.

Now I am going to extend the discussion for you, as I assume you are not working out as you read! Now of course I need to state that if you don’t like what I am about to say, you can stop reading. Or, you can read on. Now if you don’t have room in your mind for a different perspective, you can of course just ignore it and go back to doing what everyone else is doing – and we need the 90% to do what the 90% do because that’s just the way it is – or you can throw a tantrum and hurl abuse at me – the comment section is below – go for it, I’m pretty used to those affected with the ‘who moved my cheese’ phenomenon!

So for those still with me, I return to my insights….yes, just an opinion based on a little bit of experience….and a keen innovative mind that no matter how much the trolls are pissed off with me, chances are they are already using one or more of my innovations without even realizing it!

(That reminds me of Minny’s lines in the movie ‘The Help’ – “you just ate my xxxx….”[6])

In the 1960s and 1970s, either through a genuine desire to find a better way or for commercial purposes, some sought a ‘superior’ loading alternative to free weights, earlier referred to as ‘isotonic movements’ – the use of eccentric and concentric contractions with a constant load.

Universal released their lever machines, trademarked ‘Dynamic Variable Resistance’ (DVR), proposing the superior training effect. They failed to truly match the force curve and this fell by the way.

Arthur Jones came along in the 1970s and 1980s with the off-set nautilus cam shell shaped pulley system trademarked Nautilus. Really nice equipment, and the off-set cam pulley system got closer than Universal did to matching the joint force curve, but still fell short.

Arthur and his off-spring continued to contribute to the search for optimal resistance modalities, through Medex, Hammer Strength etc.

Isokinetic and semi-isokinetic devices chimed in, all providing alternatives to isotonic exercises, and variety in training.

So why did was it that took us back about half a century and sees athlete’s around the world using resistance options such as bands where the resistance rises in a linear fashion, arguably even less appropriate to the human force curve than isotonic fixed load resistance?

Now perhaps you have a greater affinity for my initial word selection regarding humans being brain dead? Okay, that may be asking too much!

So why are bands so popular? I have three possible answers.

Firstly they are undeniably convenient and cost effective. However when did training to be the best in your conference, best in the nation, and or the best in the world come down to convenience? In other words I can understand why some general population clientele may resort to them especially on road trips. However I don’t believe this is a solid justification for the proliferation of this resistance mode.

Secondly, they are well marketed. In the post 2001 recession response the US fitness industry market turned it’s attention to smaller devices, devices that not only carried lower risk for the manufacturer, importer, distributor and facility owners, but potentially had a higher percentage margin. The promotion of the concept of ‘functional training’ was not without coincidence, rather suggest driven by a market shift toward small cost equipment. And bands are simply part of this market shift. Suffice to say, the promotion of training methods connected to equipment (e.g. foam rollers, bands etc.) rose, whilst the promotion of training methods sans (devoid of) equipment (e.g. stretching) was suppressed.

Thirdly, I come back to brain dead humans. Humans not wiling or able to use the grey matter they were blessed with. Earl Nightingale in his must –listen-to 1956 audio record ‘The Strangest Secret’[7] quoted the wise Dr. Albert Schweitzer responding to a reporter when asked in a circa 1950 press conference “What’s wrong with men today?” After a brief pause he said, ”The trouble with men today is that they simply don’t think.” Not much has changed I suggest!

In conclusion, yes, there is justification for the use of all resistance modes in various cases. However I suggest the current use of bands is inconsistent with this justification. Whilst I was a bit cheeky with my title ‘ban the band’, I am comfortable suggesting you at least reflect on this resistance option before imposing it upon you trusting clients or athletes.

The challenge is not in knowing what is right and wrong. The challenge is to develop the ability to think, to be able to discern if an exercise or training method is appropriate for any given person at any given time, irrespective of and often despite it’s current popularity. This is my hope for you.

References

[1] You know, the ones who are 10/10 on bravery when they’re posting from their basement whom a psychologist would have a field day seeking to unravel the personal hurt they have suffered in life that leaves them in so much pain they want to pass that pain on to complete strangers

[2] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed! (book), p. 118

[3] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed! (book), p. 118

[4] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed! (book), p. 123

[5] King, I., 2002, Get Buffed! II (book), p. 137

[6] “Minny: “Eat my shit.”

Hilly: “Excuse me?”

Minny: “I said eat…my…shit.”

Hilly: “Have you lost your mind?”

Minny: “No ma’am, but you about to, cause you just did.”

*Minny eyes the pie*

Hilly: “Did…What?”

*Minny eyes pie again, Missus Walters gasping and laughing, Hilly eyes pie then gags and runs off*

Missus Walters: “And you didn’t just eat one, you ate TWO slices!”

*Minny runs off*

Missus Walters: “RUN, MINNY, RUUN!!”

*She says this while laughing*”

[7] https://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-strangest-secret/

Ian King

The Personal Trainers Challenge “How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market”

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This article is written for those personal trainers who want to stand out in the market place, who want to get ahead, rise above the masses, and reap the rewards from doing so.  It’s not an easy task. At least, not if you apply the solutions that most go to in attempts to create their Unique Marketing Position (UMP). It get’s a lot easier if you understand one key thing!

In the US alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,[1] there are over 300,000 personal trainers and gym instructors. And that’s not including the other disciplines within physical preparation e.g. strength and conditioning coaches.

After all, the role of a personal trainer (PT) is the current go-to for anyone not sure of what to do with their life, or waiting for that big acting breakthrough!

So how do you stand out in this incredibly crowded market? And do many succeed?

 

If we were to equate higher income with successfully standing out, you would have to say that few achieve this. Again according to the US BLS[2] only the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,980. That’s not much money, and not many people earning it.

So what are Personal Trainers doing that for the most part is contributing to their failure to stand out in the market, contributing to their inability to rise above their competition.

To sum it up simply – they are failing because their solution is to copy what the majority are doing!!

 

There is a saying in the Australian military about ‘monkey see, monkey do’. In other words, the average ‘grunt’ (infantry soldier) is conditioned to mimic whatever they see their instructors or leaders do.  Safe solution in war preparation, but how does it work out in a competitive capitalistic environment – when every a soldier, every step you take isn’t necessarily the last one you might take on two legs!

In other words whilst we owe so much to the military for it’s contribution to the physical preparation industry (ever wonder why the shoulder press is called a military press?) we are not bound to operate on their solutions. We can and SHOULD look to be different – especially if we want a different outcome!!!

 

Look at it this way. If you do it the way everyone else is doing it – all things being equal, how are you going to be better than everyone else?  Realistically changes do occur (albeit slowly) in sport training – because someone dared to do it differently.  These people gain the advantage, are at the cutting edge.  The sheep follow.  Which do you want to be? [3]

 

So what exactly are the majority doing?

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #1 – Abandon Individualized Program Design

What happens on day one for most personal training clients? They get a workout done.  How does that happen so fast? I mean at the longest most clients are into a workout within an hour.  At most a canned assessment, a generic program (or the more common go to – just make up the exercises as you go!)

I know, some of you want to debate this with me. You claim you and ALL the trainers in your facility go through an extensive program design session with each client! Let me ask it this way and see how respond – how much are and your colleagues being paid for your program design services? Now an honest response for the majority would be nothing, zero, nada. Say no more….

If you were highly competent and experienced (and that’s an if…) it should take you between one to three hours of interview, assessment and program design – all paid for by the client – BEFORE they got near a workout!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #2 – The 60 minute workout

Now I know there is a program on TV called ’60 minutes’, but why do the majority of personal training client workouts globally take 60 minutes? Is it possible that 99.9% of the clients have the same needs? Ah, I don’t think so!

So why are you using 60 minute workouts? I can only conclude that you are doing this because that is what everyone else is doing (and that is where the monkey see-monkey do cuts in!

And the other reason is because it is convenient for you to plan your billable hours. However it is in the best interests of the client? And how is it possible that all of them have such similar needs that they all end up doing a 60 minute workout?

In the KSI way, we take whatever time is needed for each individual on any given day!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #3 – The 7 Step Workout! 

Now in addition to every client coincidentally finding  a 60 minute workout ‘optimal’, how amazing it that the majority of the clients have such similar needs that they all end up on the latest dominant trend pumped out in the latest round of fitness industry seminars!

Lately it’s been the 7-step workout! Isn’t it amazing that everyone has the same needs? Now imagine if you as a trainer were to discover that everyone is different, and you were to break out (some would suggest break down!) and provide unique workout components to different clients!

In the KSI Coaching Program we teach you how to do this – train individuals as, well, individuals!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #4 – Multi-planar, multi-joint, closed kinetic chain exercises

Simplistic thinking where concepts such as ‘all your exercises need to be multi-planar and compound (multi-joint) and closed kinetic chain (feet on the ground) and killing the results for your clients! This subject is worth an article on itself – or maybe more than one!

Leave this simplistic brain dead thinking to the masses. You can and should think for yourself. It’s pretty scary to think that after we released this spoof we actually had viewers contacting us who took the skit seriously!

Now we recognize it may not be easy. After all, the commercial interests that pull the strings in this industry (e.g. equipment manufacturers and distributors) have some strong conforming measures in place!

The KSI Coaching Program aims to teach you to think for yourself!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #5 – Ban the good stuff!

 Its hard to fathom how anyone who exercised their ability to assess the cause-effect relationship of a certain type of training such as stretching would reach the current dominant paradigm that is so negative about this training method.

It’s no wonder injuries are skyrocketing!

 

But that is what EVERYONE else is doing!  Which makes it so simple for you to get superior results with your clients. Now thankfully they suffer less from conformity than you and the physical preparation community does!

This same ‘brain-dead’ conformity leads trainers to give band exercises out – which provide a form of resistance that outside of someone on a Himalayan trek really shouldn’t be doing!!!

That’s right – ban the good stuff, give them the crappy stuff! That’s how you stay ordinary and maintain the statistical average!

Our goal is to help you use your God given grey matter resulting in greater outcomes for your clients!

It’s so simple, so easy, to rise above your 300,000 colleagues!

 

Your Unique Marketing Position (UMP) or Unique Sales Position (USP)

Many in sales and marketing talk about your UMP or USP, basically what is it about you that stands you out in the market places, allows you to out-perform your competition.

It’s pretty tough to have a UMP (or USP) when you service your clients just like everyone else does!

 

Give you a hint – if what I teach is what the majority do, I would be very concerned. I want to do what few do, to get a competitive advantage. [4]

 

And no, getting your hair dyed, getting more ink, or getting more body piercings is not my idea of a successful UMP!

In the higher levels of the KSI Coaching Program we focus extensively on helping you develop your USP, and tracking the success of this over a multi-year period through markers such as hourly rate, client numbers etc.

One of the key personal development lessons we provide is the willingness to be different, to withstand the peer pressures to conform!

 

Resist the temptation in program design to conform to mainstream paradigms simply for the sake of conforming, no matter how dogmatically they are presented, or how much you may be ridiculed or ostracized for trusting your intuition over conformity. Make our own minds up based on a combination of respect for your intuition, the athlete/client’s intuition, the results, and in respect of the body of knowledge available. [5]

 

Conclusion

I would have liked to have called this article ‘If you want to stop getting paid peanuts, stop acting like a monkey’, but I wasn’t sure if the message would be lost by expressions ‘that’s offensive!’ in this politically correct world!

So if you want to rise above the other 300,000 plus of your colleagues (or whatever the number in your country) then you need to understand this simple concept – the majority receive what the majority receive because they are training their clients just like the majority.

Which is like what exactly? Brain dead. No thinking. Just blind imitation and a burning desire to be like everyone else.

And the importance of this theory? Quite simply, that if you do so little as be different – think for yourself, treat your clients like individuals, make up your own mind about what to do and what is best – you will succeed in rising above the masses, in standing out from your competition!

 

 

[1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/fitness-trainers-and-instructors.htm

[2] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/fitness-trainers-and-instructors.htm#tab-5

[3] King, I., 1997, Winning and Losing, p. 30

[4] King, I., 2003, Ask the Master, (book) p. 32

[5] King, I.., 2005, The way of the physical preparation coach (book), p. 17

Ian King

There is a better way – Part 6: For whose benefit

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The coach said to the team –

‘Now I want you to win. Because it makes me look better.’

A few weeks later, in a different sport but with the same athlete, a coach said to the team –

‘Now if some of you are wondering why you didn’t get any game time, I want to remind you – we are playing to win.’

The sample group in reference was 15-17 year olds, playing in late specialization sports. They were a decade away from the potential career peak.

Was this coincidental or reflective of the extent of this value set? I have my thoughts on this.

The concept of ‘long term athlete development’ is now widely known. Few know about the people behind the concept, due to the low level of ethical referencing in this industry, but most will be able to share with you their understanding of ‘LTAD’, in a hip kind of trendy term way.

That’s great, but something is missing, because the talk of long term athlete development is nothing more than lip service.

Either the masses of coaches who claim they are familiar with the concept are not, or they simply don’t respect it.

Because when the coach is ‘playing to win’ with 16 year olds in a late specialization sport, or when the coach is calling upon the athletes to win to boost their coaching credentials, it raises the question – whose benefit is this for?

There was a time when the concept of long term athlete development was known by few. That was not that long ago, as the popularity of this concept has been a post 2000 phenomenon. Yet during this period of ‘ignorance’ I believe coaches and coaching was more enlightening, with a greater chance of the athletes needs coming first.

So how did we get to a point when everyone knows the words, but few demonstrate a true knowledge or respect of the concept?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s one the groups I was working with was the Canadian ski team. The locations we would go into camp were varied, but one thing remained constant – the team Sports Science Director would visit with me multiple times a day, excitedly showing me his latest conceptual development or research discovery, including a concept he was working on at that time – a model for long term athletic development.

His name was Istvan Balyi, a former Hungarian Olympian turned Canadian sports scientist. The work he developed went on to be the most influential model of long-term periodization in the western world during the last two decades.

In essence, and in the simpler earlier version, the model suggested a number of stages in the career of the athlete, and only in the final or latter stage was ‘playing to win’ the priority!

  1. FUNdamentals – where fun based activities developed the fundamentals of athleticism
  2. Training to train – where the athlete trained for the primary purpose of developing the qualities that are derived from training and getting used to training.
  3. Training to Compete – where the athletes training and competition focus was on getting used to competing.
  4. Training to Win – the final stage, at the peak of their career, where the athletes training and games were focused primarily on what needs to be done to win – in the now.

The first three phases of this simplistic interpretation reinforce that all is being done for the delayed gratification of winning at the peak of the athletes career. Despite most coaches of age groups ‘knowing’ this concept, most are implementing the final stage where the primary focus is to win, at the three earlier stages! Even educational institutions who provide a long term athlete development plan in writing fail to do what they say they are doing.

You can learn more about Istvan’s works in his book ‘Long Term Athlete Development’ available on various online websites.   Istvan deserves to have his work learnt from the source, and the publisher, Human Kinetics, deserves credit for being the only North American publisher to my knowledge who has made an effort to reference and credit my material in their publication

I say to the coach who told his players to win for his benefit (to enhance his coaching resume), and to the coach who told his mid-teens that some of them would not step off the reserve bench because they were ‘playing to win’, and all coaches who recognize they may share similar values or habits – to reflect upon and review their coaching strategy.

And if they cannot embrace alternatives where the needs of the athlete come first, consider another pursuit other than sports coaching.

Because there is a better way, and athletes deserve to be given every opportunity to fulfill their athletic potential.

 

Note:

For those athletes and coaches who are concerned about the direction of training and want to believe there is a better way – congratulations. There is a better way. We have spend the last four decades discovering better ways to train, and we teach these better ways when we work with athletes or coaches. The KSI Coaching Program aims to provide you with the tools to train athletes and others in their highest and best interests, with no interest in what the dominant trend is or will be in the future. Learn more about KSI Coach Education here https://kingsports.net/courses/

Ian King

There is a better way – Part 5: There’s more to athlete preparation than ‘strength & conditioning’

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Physical preparation in athlete preparation is over-rated.

Its obvious that few share my belief, considering the amount of focus and effort going into physical development globally. I learnt from my professional experience in North America in the late 1980’s and early 1990s that their culture placed a (potentially excessive) premium on physical development. That cultural value is now global, courtesy of the internet.

The model I ascribe to – and teach – for athlete development states there are four (4) components – technical (skill), tactical (tactics), psychological and physical. After based on my four decades of professional experience, I have concluded that (generally speaking) physical development is the least important of them all.

Only in junior sport will a physical advantage at the expense of the development of the other three athlete preparation qualities provide a superior, temporary sport performance advantage. And the athlete in their long-term success, which will be reduced for doing so, pays the price for this.

Now saying ‘physical development is over-rated’ is a tough thing for me to say, especially as doing just that – physical development – has put food on my table for the bulk of my adult life. However I came into this profession to help athletes be successful in sport, not to help them become physical successful per se.

Put simply athletes are spending too much time in the gym and not enough time in skill (technical) and tactical (tactics) development.

Now to make things worse…

The model I ascribe to (and teach) for physical development states there are four (4) components – flexibility, strength, speed and endurance. After based on my four decades of professional experience, I have concluded that (generally speaking) strength is NOT the most important of them all.

But you would not know that, because an increasing percent of physical training time globally in sport is being dedicated to strength development.

So how did we get to this point? In the 1960s strength training in sports was virtually non-existent. In the 1970s it began to raise its head in sport, especially in strength sports such as US college (American) football (gridiron).

One of the leading western world physical preparation professional bodies, the National Strength Coaches Association (NSCA), grew out of this growing movement – football strength coaches at US colleges.

A study of history shows the limits of this association. Strength training was missing, and that is what the NSCA provided. By the time they realized they have overlooked other physical qualities, all they could do was substitute the word ‘conditioning’ for the word ‘coach’, and have to change the acronym NSCA. To this day, their content is reflective of the origin – a heavy bias towards strength training with very little focus on the other physical qualities .

By the 1980s, whilst not as popular as fitness training in the broader society, strength training was being sought out by a growing number of sports (which I where I got my start in sport).

During the 1990s strength training gained acceptance globally – both in sport and the general population.

By now the void had been filled. Strength training was no longer deficient. However in true human ‘over-reaction’ style, we just kept going. In the post 2000 period too much emphasis is being placed on strength.

Now, to drill deeper, not only are we seeing an over-emphasis on strength training, the strength training being conduced is significantly flawed. More on this another day….

So what gave way to allow the extra time for strength training? Playing the sport (skill development), and flexibility training – which ironically (for myself and the values I teach) are THE MOST important athletic and physical qualities respectively….

I was introduced to stretching in high school sport. Half a century later, at the same school, I would be now exposed to less stretching.

Half a century ago I engaged in a sporadic self-driven participation in the strength training gym. It wasn’t organized, and few attended.

Now, at the same school, the strength program is compulsory for all athletes in all sports. If a student athlete does not attend the strength training program for that team, the young athlete is denied selection.

At high school half a century ago my spare time was used up playing kids-organized pick up games. Now, I would not have time to engage in this unstructured, skill-based training. I would instead be at the gym meeting and exceeding the new expectations that athleticism is more effectively developed in the weight room.

So I am not speaking hypothetically. I am speaking as I see it, including a very personal case study using the same high school half a century apart.

So we have potentially given up the two most important qualities of athletic and physical preparation for one quality that is not the most important….

How is that serving us athletically or health wise?

Is this situation likely to reverse? Not in the foreseeable future. Not whilst the trend is towards every high school in the western world having their own full-time ‘strength & conditioning’ coach. Not while the dominant belief is that all there is to athlete preparation is ‘strength & conditioning’.

Hopefully, one day….the world will realize again – that this is more to athlete preparation than ‘strength & conditioning’….

 

Note:

For those athletes and coaches who are concerned about the direction of training and want to believe there is a better way – congratulations. There is a better way. We have spend the last four decades discovering better ways to train, and we teach these better ways when we work with athletes or coaches. The KSI Coaching Program aims to provide you with the tools to train athletes and others in their highest and best interests, with no interest in what the dominant trend is or will be in the future. Learn more about KSI Coach Education here https://kingsports.net/courses/

Ian King

There is a better way – Part 4:The simple things that can change the way athlete’s view themselves (and perform)

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Little Johnny (or Julia) goes to mid-week training. The coach raises the ‘mistakes that cost them’ the last game. During training, the coach says:

‘Let’s go through the whole training session without dropping the ball. I don’t want to see any dropped ball!’

Little Johnny’s (or Julia’s) sub-conscious mind repeats the key words:

‘….dropped ball.’

Little Johnny’s (or Julia’s) body complies – the ball is dropped. More than once.

Little Johnny (or Julia) feels bad. One of their team-mates comes up and gives them a verbal ‘spray’:

‘Stop dropping the ball, you clumsy idiot!’

Little Johnny (or Julia) drops his/her head, feeling ashamed. Should a clumsy idiot like himself or herself even be out there, they wonder?

The coach hears this negative reinforcement and sees the exchange, but chooses to pretend they didn’t. After all, perhaps this will help them achieve their agenda?

The drill continues. More dropped ball. The coach tries screams and threats. No success – the ball is still being dropped.

So the coach introduces his ‘ace in the pack’ to solve the problem. Push-ups.

‘…you drop the ball during training, you do 10 pushups.’

Little Jonny (or Julia) drops the ball. The coach yells. Little Jonny (or Julia) does their push-ups.

The coach then raises the level of difficulty of the drill. Little Jonny (or Julia) feels there is no way they could do this! After all, they couldn’t do the simple version. They drop the ball again.

Frustrated by their ‘ace in the pack’ coaching strategy, the coach pulls out the ‘Joker in the pack’ strategy. Elimination. If you drop the ball, you are out of the drill. Little Jonny (or Julia) drops the ball soon after and is one of the first eliminated. They get the least time in technical rehearsal and the longest time on the sidelines reflecting on their failings.

At the end of training the coach says:

‘Its no wonder we lose games when we train like this!’

Little Johnny (or Julia) feels more of a loser now. Should they even bother with the next game?

It’s game day. Little Johnny (or Julia) is not feeling very confident. One of their team-mates comes up and gives them a verbal ‘spray’:

‘Stop dropping the f****** ball, you f****** useless idiot!’

[Yes, language like this occurs in teenage sports…at least in Australia…]

Little Johnny (or Julia) drop their head, feeling so small. Should a ‘f****** useless idiot’ like themself even be on the field?

The coach hears and sees this negative reinforcement – profanity included- but chooses to pretend they didn’t. After all, perhaps this will help them achieve their agenda?

[Yes, turning the blind eye by coaches to internal negative abuse is common in teenage sports, including, as I have seen, in ‘church schools’…]

Little Johnny (or Julia) drops the ball…again. The crowd groans in disappointment. The coach screams in anguish. The parents put it on the top of their ‘to be talked about list’ for after the game.

Little Johnny (or Julia) is feeling really bad about themself. They are looking for a rock to crawl under and hide.

In the team de-brief following the game the coach brings attention to it saying words to the effect ‘We’ve got to learn to hang onto that ball!’, and raves on for a few minutes about the mistakes that cost them the game. The coach concludes the huddle with:

‘Its no wonder we lose games when we play like this!’

Could Little Jonny (or Julia) is feel worse? Surely they will be safe in the refuge of family.

Little Johnny (or Julia) gets into the car for the drive home with the parents, and very quickly the conversation is brought to a discussion of the importance of catching the ball, of not letting the team down.

This is only making Little Johnny (or Julia) feel worse…

Little Johnny (or Julia) goes to mid-week training. The coach raises the ‘mistakes that cost them’ the last game. During training, the coach says:

…and the cycle is played over again….

Soon after Little Jonny (or Julia) wants to quit that sport.

Soon after that Little Jonny (or Julia) want to stop all sports.

Why would they want to play on? They only feel worse about themselves as a result of playing…..

Sound familiar? If you are not sure, ask a young athlete if they can relate to this story…

No, nothing above is embellished or fantasy. It’s real, and its happening just like this – and worse….(including the reference to ‘church schools’….)

In addition to social and physical rational for sports involvement there is the emotional and or psychological justifications. However these are only relevant if they are producing the key outcomes for the athlete.

So ask your self as a coach – by engaging in sports with me as the coach/with their coach, do the athletes:

  1. …Feel better about themselves? (Self-esteem)

  2. …Believe they are capable of even greater things? (Self-confidence)

Changing the way an athlete feels about himself or herself and achieving the purported benefits of sport relating to how an individual feels about themselves can be a simple looking out for and changing the way that athletes, coaches and parents speak to the athlete.

Note:

For those athletes and coaches who are concerned about the direction of training and want to believe there is a better way – congratulations. There is a better way. We have spend the last four decades discovering better ways to train, and we teach these better ways when we work with athletes or coaches. The KSI Coaching Program aims to provide you with the tools to train athletes and others in their highest and best interests, with no interest in what the dominant trend is or will be in the future. Learn more about KSI Coach Education here https://kingsports.net/courses/

 

Ian King

Technology and training

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On Dec 3 2017 it was 25 years to the day since the first text message (SMS) was successfully sent. [1] [2] The message required a computer. They could be received on a hand set mobile phone, but could not be responded to.

Twenty five years ago athletes – pro and amateur – were trained on programs that were not individualized, using crude assumptions that what they were doing would make them better, and because they for the most part typically didn’t start the strength training seriously until they were in their late teens or early twenties, the injuries that occurred towards the end of the first decade of strength training were masked by ‘retirement age’.

Twenty-five years later, post 2017, technology is moving to messaging apps such as Facebook, whatsApp, etc. Texting continues, with 800 million a month in Australia on the Vodafone network alone. [3]

Twenty-five years later, post 2017, athletes – pro and amateur – are trained on programs that….are not individualized, using crude assumptions that what they were doing would make them better.

Nothings changed? Yes, there is a change! The starting age for athletes commencing serious strength training has dropped by a decade, which means that the typical injuries caused by strength training that appear within the first decade are appearing a decade before ‘retirement’ age – and are therefore no longer masked.

And this is a problem. Not so much for the coaches with a big talent pool, because there will be someone to take the place. But for the individual athletes, whose hopes and dreams are crushed – when this situation was both predictable and preventable….

Oh, I forgot to mention – if you are really lucky, your coach might change the name on top of your program sheet!

Does this absence of masking of injuries by retirement cause any changes in the way humans act or respond? Apparently not.

There are a few additional technological impacts on physical training.

Firstly, the surgery techniques to repair damaged connective tissue has really advanced, in that the surgeries are less invasive, and the healing time is shorter. Does this mean that surgery no longer comes with further collateral damage? I suggest not.

Secondly, technological advances in measuring training. GPS units to track movement patterns, forces platforms to measure power output, timing gates for displacement speeds etc.

And thirdly advancements in equipment, positively impacting performance.

But what about program design? Is that important? Obviously not important enough for the masses to expect advancement in the ability of ‘professionals’ to provide individualization in program design, because in this regard nothings changed.

Oh, and there is one more change worth noting – the increase in incidence and severity of injuries appears to be constantly rising…..

——-

[1] https://news.sky.com/story/first-text-message-sender-neil-papworth-celebrates-25th-sms-anniversary-11154491

[2] http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/03/worlds-first-text-message-sent-25-years-ago-today-7127957/

[3] https://www.vodafone.com.au/red-wire/text-message-25-years

Ian King

If only they knew….

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….what has been in print for over 20 years…

The sport specific technique session was coming to a close when I heard my fellow coach refer to a prior knee injury in one of the athlete.   Let’s call that athlete Billy.

Intrigued, at the conclusion of the session I asked the young athlete:

IK: What was the knee injury?

Billy: I had meniscus surgery on my left knee.

IK: Let me ask, were you doing off-field training at that time? Strength and conditioning?

Billy: Yes.

IK: Mmmm…And what age were you when this happened?

Billy: 15.

IK: Mmmm….

So I decided to provide some general guidance in the hope of helping to reduce the damage that was already done.

IK: So you need to keep away from strength training.

Now I know what you are thinking – Ian, does that mean you have changed your mind, that strength training is no longer important and relevant to sport. No, that’s not the case. But what I have got to realize from four decades of professional observation is that what most athletes are doing is damaging and most would be better off doing nothing. Especially those whose positions really don’t require high levels of size and strength, and especially those with prior joint injuries where (in my opinion) the injuries were caused or contributed to be the flawed off-field training).

Billy: Oh. I am doing a fair bit of strength training now.

IK: How much?

Billy: 4 days a week.

IK: Mmmm…Okay the next step would be to minimize your exposure to quad dominant exercises.

In the 1980s I saw first hand the phenomenon that physical therapists were calling ‘quad dominance’, and spend the next decade creating and refining a systems to categorize exercise, to help myself and any others who wanted to use the concept to avoid the damage caused by quad dominance. I called this concept ‘Lines of Movement’. [1]

So we’ve got many ‘professionals’ who can talk the talk – can word drop terms like ‘quad dominant’ and ‘posterior chain’ [2] – but have got no clue how, why or where it should be applied.

IK: You know, squats, lunges etc.

The look on Billy’s face told me all I needed to know.

IK: Okay, where did you get your program from.

The answer confirmed my fears.

IK: Let me see if I can help you. Show me the program and I will tell you the changes to make.

Billy showed me the program. Two days out of four were leg days. Nothing unusual there. And five out of the seven (5/7) exercises in each of those days were…..quad dominant exercises. The usual suspects – squats, lunges, step ups etc.

The boy was dead man walking. He had a challenged future in sport by virtue of what he was led to believe was ‘the right thing’ in his off-field training.

The only exception to this rule is those athletes with genetically gifted with load tolerant connective tissue.The kind that rise to the top in say US pro sport, from a base of millions. The eastern European philosophy – throw a lot of eggs at the wall, the ones that don’t crack – they will be the champions.

IK: Billy, there is possibly that for now you should do NO quad dominant exercise, at least for a few months.   The goal is to ideally reverse the imbalance the quad dominance you have created from years of imbalanced strength programs. Now you can move to a ratio of say 3:1 hip dominant to quad, etc. etc.7

Billy: What are some hip dominant exercises?

IK: Deadlifts, deadlift variations, Olympic lifts, Olympic lift variations etc etc. Single leg exercises where the trunk stays over (not that windmill bastardization of my single leg stiff legged deadlift though!

And then I left Billy to ponder the gap between what he had been led to believe was going to make him a better sports person, and those challenging thoughts provided by Coach King!

It’s always tough to walk away from an athlete left possibly to drown from incompetent advice. However I do my best to provide athlete and coach education. The challenge is the swell or rubbish education, at both professional, academic, and lay person level rises faster…..

Ah, the pro’s and con’s of the information age….

If only they athletes knew what damage they were doing to themselves in the way they trust those so-called experts and those in positions of authority.

——

[1] Now despite (or because) this concept has been published more times by others in the absence of any connection to the source than by myself, one would have expected the message would have sunk in. But it hasn’t. Probably because those who published it didn’t really appreciate, value and understand the concept in the first place.

[2] Not the original title ‘Lines of movement’, because this was about the only thing the plagiarist’s changed!

Ian King

Ode to Alice

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And a wake up call to the parents of all the Alice’s and Allan’s of the world

I just met Alice. And as a result of that meeting I felt inspired to immediately write on behalf of the ‘Alice’s’ of the world.

Alice will never read this article. Our meeting was brief and coincidental. My hope is that others may read and benefit from Alice’s story.

I walked into a sports store to conduct a product exchange and was served at the front counter by a tall athletic looking young girl, in her late teens I would say.

During our product discussions, which at best we were at the same eye level, perhaps she was slightly taller, I asked:

IK: ‘So tell me, did you use your height to play sport?’

This is a question I ask all tall young people!

Alice: Yes, I played netball, water polo and triathlons. Until I was forced to quit.

IK: Oh, why did you stop playing them?

Alice: Due to my injuries. I was not able to play any more.

IK: What injuries did you suffer?

Alice: I had one shoulder reconstruction and one knee reconstruction and I need a shoulder reconstruction now on my other shoulder.

IK: Oh…..what ages were you when this occurred?

Alice: I was in Grade 9 [about 13-14 years of age) when I had my shoulder reconstruction and Grade 11 [about 15-16 yrs of age] when I had my knee reconstruction.

IK: Oh….Tell me – what level of sport did you play at that made such a sacrifice for?

Alice: District representative level only. My school did take sport very seriously, especially water polo.

IK: Oh….what school was that?

Alice: xxxxxx [School name withheld for the publication]

IK: Oh…yes, they do take their sport especially water polo seriously.

IK: One final question if I may Alice. During high school did you engage in any training that was off the court or out of the pool?

Alice: Yes, I did gym. [strength training]

IK: Mmm…..that’s interesting.

Alice: Now gym is all that I can do.

Prior to the post 2000 period, I could count on one hand the number of elite female athletes I have worked on who had undergone shoulder or knee reconstruction.

My first shoulder reconstruction rehabilitation case with an elite female was with a 1984 Olympian. Prior to 2000 I cannot recall meeting a single elite (and I mean Olympian or similar) female who had shoulder and knee surgeries. And I am talking about elite athletes, with a decade or more of high level training.

Now the list of high school girls having one or both or similarly significant surgery is extensive. It’s the new norm. But why? Does it need to be?

There is a perception that surgery is ‘free’ i.e. there will be no consequences. This is not accurate. Take knee reconstructions. 100% of all reconstruction cases will suffer premature arthritis and 50% will have further knee surgery. Their lives will never be the same.

These injuries are unnecessary and avoidable. If anyone, parents included, cared enough to understand why in a few short decades, the world has changed so much.

Last week I went into another retail outlet and was served by a young male, about the same age as Alice, who I had coached in a a one-off field session in rugby. Let’s call him ‘Alan’. [Yes, Alice was her real name, but that doesn’t matter because Alice will never read this article, few if any teenagers will read this article, and those few parents that do will find a way to dismiss my perspective and go on their merry way endorsing the values and habits that are degrading their children’s lives forever.)

I engaged in conversation with ‘Alan’ about his rugby.

IK: ‘Are you still playing rugby?’

Alan: ‘No. I got hit in a game in my first season out of school and tore my biceps femoris [lateral hamstring] off the bone.’

He turned sideways and showed me his right lateral hamstring, bunched at about halfway up his thigh, with the obvious missing muscle leaving a visual gap at the upper end of his thigh where it would have otherwise attached to the hip.

IK: Wow! [shocked and saddened]

Alan: Yeah, it’s because of the way the game’s played, the way we are expected to take a wide stance and bend over and pilfer the ball.

IK: Really? I’m not sure its so simple. I believe there may be more to it and it didn’t need to have happened. As a matter of interest, what school did you go to?

Alan: xxxxxx [School name withheld for the publication].

IK: Say no more! (I didn’t need to ask my usual next question of ‘Tell me, during high school did you engage in any training that was off the court or out of the pool? Because I knew the answer….]

Alan: [Not buying into my inference that the injury was within his control and he was responsible for it] Yeah, but player [name withheld for the publication] did the same injury? [As if this made it okay, which I guess in a way is exactly what many now believe – it’s normal.]

IK: [Knowing the player involved from watching his career from a distance….] And what school did that player go to?

Alan: Oh….yeah…. [lost his argument there!]

I was in sport for over twenty years professionally before I heard of a rugby player pulling his hamstring off the bone. It took nearly another decade before a similar case, to which I was moved to joke about.

Now it is so common it doesn’t even raise eyebrows.

I could tell you exactly what is going on, and where it is going pear-shaped. But that information is mute and redundant unless you, as a parent, are willing to be different. This level of injury appears to be accepted as the new ‘normal’. So I would be wasting my energy giving the keys to injury prevention to a cohort of parents who believe what is happening and will happen to their children is normal, acceptable, inevitable, and unavoidable.

However in summary let me dismiss the claims the ‘game’ has changed. Yes, there may be some minor rule changes. Yes, more players look like they took the wrong door when they were really heading for the local bodybuilding competition.

However the game has not changed to such an extent to explain or justify the shift in injuries. Injuries that were rare at the elite level thirty years ago, are now common place at the teenage level. This is not right. And anyone who believes it is I assume also supports child abuse. Not meaning to make politically correct inaccurate assupmtions – rather what I am saying is what is being done to the young athlete –whilst still legally a minor – is akin to child abuse.

The fact that the incidence and severity of injures are currently perceived as normal and acceptable is not good enough. The reality is only a parent would care enough to advocate for the child, and then only the parent willing to swim against the tide.

I understand what is going on first hand. My children are being denied selection in the top teams at high school if they do not submit to participating in the ‘strength and conditioning’ programs. Which now constitute approximately 50% of total training. It is a choice of conformity or be ostracized. I understand it.

I estimate that 20% of the upper high school students playing in the ‘A’ teams will have surgery in the next 12 months, 40% of them will not be able to play sport past the age of 20 due to injuries, 60% will not be able to play sport past the age of 24 years, and 80% of them will suffer injuries that will significantly and negatively impact their quality of life in their so-called ‘golden years’ or earlier. Just estimates….And yes, you, as a parent, are throwing the dice for them in this lottery called ‘talent identified youth sport’.

My question to you, parent is this – what price are you willing to pay (and I mean what price are you willing to have your child pay) in your child’s future quality of life, on their behalf, to be seen to be conforming, for something that is clearly and eventually not right, not in the best long-term interests of your child?

The case studies I have shared are not fictitious, nor are they rare. They are the new norm. You just need to decide if you want them to be your child’s new norm?

—-

Footnote. If and when Alice realises that the pain she will experience for the rest of her life from the injuries and surgeries obtained in the name of ‘sport’ and ‘strength and conditioning’ could have been prevented, I hope she can find it in herself to forgive her parents, teachers, sports coaches, and the so-called ‘strength and conditioning coaches’ that were responsible. I could say forgive them for they knew what what they were doing, however I believe it more accurate to say ‘forgive them for they didn’t bother to dig deep enough to obtain the information that was available but not mainstream, that could have prevented the conditions that the ‘Alice’s’ and ‘Alan’s’ of the world will suffer.

Ian King

Considerations before you pick up a Kettlebell again

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Seven factors to reflect upon before picking up another Kettlebell

Over time new ways to train are continually introduced, and in many cases these ‘new ways’ include new training devices. In some cases the ‘new device is intended to replace the conventional external loading options, and in some cases they are intended to supplement them. In most cases the basis for the ‘new’ training devices is that they provide a training benefit that the more conventional external loading does not.

You might never have heard anyone challenge the relevance and appropriateness of Kettlebell training for athletes. That’s okay, nor have I. After many years of reflection and reluctance to do so, I have decided to share my thoughts.

My hesitation to date to speak out is for a number of reasons. Firstly, when one challenges dominant paradigms, you need to put on your Kevlar vests, and this gets boring. Sometimes I would rather retire quietly than deal with the BS that comes from upsetting some well-marketed US ‘guru’…[i]

Secondly, when they attack the messenger, the message can get lost. [ii]

Thirdly there are some good people involved in Kettlebells and it is not my intention to offend them. [iii]

Fourthly, there are some big players whose commercial reliance on the dominant trend is strong, and they will kick back like a mule. I am less concerned about them however, and those who put profit before principle should not be feared.[iv]

So as always, take it or leave it. I have no intention to prevent the power of commercially and ego driven trends from rolling. They have been doing so since the first machine for strength training was invented, and they are not about to stop. I simply intend to give those who care about transfer to sport (and their health) to reconsider their application of this dominant trend in training equipment and associated exercises.

To begin with I go back to my first exposure to a concept that we called ‘Soviet Scam’. Back in the days of the Iron Curtain (and I suggest it continues today) a ‘Soviet Coach’ in the USA realized the commercial value of the word ‘Russian’ or similar. So anything that can have a ‘Russian’ connection has a automatic leg-up in marketing! Back in the 1980s the NSCA of America, under the then Executive Director Ken Kontor, would arrange an annual trip to various Soviet states. I would love to hear their stories about the presence or otherwise of this training device….

So lets get into it with some key, simple yet significant ‘considerations regarding the use of Kettlebells.

Consideration #1 – Load placement relative to the center of gravity of the body

The shape of the upper body posture is potentially compromised when the loading is placed in the front of the body. Put simply there is a risk that the lifter will or chooses to lean backwards. This can compromise the center of gravity backwards and or result in trunk extension, and rising condition contaminating many lifts as they are executed globally that I have described as ‘thoracic extension’.

This problem existed (and continues to do so) in selected conventional exercises such as the military press (shoulder press with bar to front of the head); the Lat Pull-down to the front o the body; the front squat; and the front DB raise, to name a few.

In the image below you can see the impact of the bar placement to the front of the body on the extension of the trunk.

In the below image you can see the increased extension at the middle point of the movement.

In the below image you can see the extension of the spine at the top of the movement, courtesy of the bar travelling to the front of the body during the majority of the lift.

In theory with the bar potentially returning to a position in line with the body, the trunk could be returned to neutral. This would require coaching on this point, and a shape in the body (including flexibility around the neck, shoulders and intervertebral joints) that would allow this.

This movement resulted in so much lean back that it was removed from the Olympic lifting competition schedule. You can see the changes in trunk extension that have occurred from the start to the finish position in the military press pictures provided.

However, if we took a snapshot of say the decade half a century (50 years) ago, what percentage of the exercises being performed by the average lifter placed the load in front of the center of gravity? I suggest the minority. Lets say 10%.

Fast-forward to the last ten years and pose the same question – what percentage of lifts being performed by the masses place load to the front of the center of gravity? I suggest, at least in the case of the Kettlebell, the majority are with the load in front of the body.

The majority of exercises involving Kettlebells occur with the Kettlebell held in front of your body. How does this impact your center of gravity? It shifts it forward. What do you do to compensate? You lean back.

What’s the problem with this? There may be none, if you believe that optimal posture and shape for performance and health is either attained through more weight on the heels than the ball of the feet and shoulder placement behind hip placement.

On the other hand, if you believe that optimal performance and posture is achieve with load distribution through the feet more forward than backwards, and that the shoulders should be above or slightly in front of the hips, then you have a problem.

Specifically what problem you ask?

  • From a sporting perspective, unless you are in those hard to find sports where weight on the heels is optimal, you are creating a non-specific adaption in load distribution through the feet.
  • From a health perspective, under what conditions are you better off with a lean-back torso posture? You are placing the lower back and hip joints under unnecessary pressure, highly correlated with conditions of pain.

Now I can go on, however at this level of discussions most readers are probably having their values challenged, and more information will not change their determination to kill the concept. For example, I have yet do discuss never transmission impact, use of levers between lower and upper and so on.

What is the impact of this shift in percentage of exercises performed where the loading is in front of the body? I suggest massive. I suggest we are seeing an increase in postural deviations whereby the shoulders are placed behind the hips in the postural plane, resulting in an increase activation or recruitment pattern of engaging the thoracic extensors out of context and inappropriately in all or at least too many exercises

[I just need to pause to adjust the anti-intercontinental missile device around my house before I go any further….]

Consideration #2 – Load placement to the front of the center of gravity exacerbated by the length of the resistance lever

Basic biomechanics suggest that when you extend the length of the resistance lever, you increase the load.

Are any Kettlebell exercises performed with straight arms out to the front of the body? If so how many or what percent of all Kettlebell exercises involve this situation? And does this constitute a greater number of exercises with long resistance levers to the front of the body (in the sagittal plane) compared to the number of similar exercises used fifty (50) years ago? In the absence of accurate statistical date, I am going to speculate or hypothesize that this is the case – that there are more long resistance lever in the sagittal plane exercises in the last 10 years than in the decade 50 years prior.

Exercises with these long levers out in front of the body in the sagittal plan typically result in or are associated with increased use of the thoracic extensors, potentially providing a negative contribution to the ‘thoracic extension’ condition I have drawn attention to.

Building on the first consideration, the impact on the center of gravity is exaggerated by the distance of the load from the body. As many Kettlebell exercises engage in a straight-arm action to the front of the body, the resulting leaning back of the body to accommodate the change in the combined center of gravity magnifies this condition.

The simple act of shifting the bar from the back of the body in say a standing shoulder press to the front of the body in what some call the military press, is an example of what I refer to. If you are not sure about what I am talking about, try these two positions when you are in a calm, empty cup, reflective mood.

Then consider the further impact of taking that barbell and holding it at full arm’s length in front of the body. For every unit of distance from the unloaded center of gravity of the body, the body leans back a unit.

[I have not been bombed yet, however I appreciate many of you may be still building your counter-attack strategy…..]

Consideration #3 – The shape of the spine in long lever to the front of the body exercise

This third consideration builds on the predominance of standing and swinging the load to the front of the body in an arc movement. Leg drive will create vertical displacement and overcome initial inertia. However to complete an arc movement with load, gravity requires that the trunk must be extended, including extending past vertical.

So what’s wrong with this?

Check out the posture and muscle development of a person who has extensive involvement in these movements. Firstly you might note what I refer to as ‘thoracic extension dominance’, where the muscles that extend the middle back are over-developed. Secondly you may note the postural deviation, where the adaption to the rotational movement and thoracic extension results in a permanent leaning back posture.

Now I know there will be some who will say you can complete the rotational arc of a Kettlebell swing without engaging the thoracic extensors beyond the vertical. Sure, and you can also go out an only have one alcoholic drink, but really, how often does that occur…

The conditions I describe in this third ‘challenge’ are exacerbated by fatigue, excessive load, and or the acceptance (in many cases the encouragement) of a cheat movement.

Consideration #4 – The shape of the shoulders in long lever to the front of the body exercise

I begin with again asking the question – are there more ‘to the front of the body with a long resistance arm’ exercises being performed now than a decade later? The second question I pose is what is the typical upper body share in the horizontal plane in these exercise conditions? Are the shoulders ‘square’ or rounded?

When I refer to ‘square shoulders’ I am referring to a condition where the scapula are retracted and depressed and the shoulder musculature block vision of the upper back when viewed from the side. A rounded position the the complete opposite.

I suggest that irrespective of intention, most Kettlebell exercises performed with a long straight arm in front of the body are executed with a rounded upper back shape.

For those who appreciate the importance of the shape of the body under load and the way the body adapts to shape from load, this is critical. My ‘Shape Theory’ (which I had explained in the unpublished article rejected by the high profile internet magazine) which simply put says ‘The shape under which you load is the shape you adopt’, referring to the risk of sub-optimal musculoskeletal adaptations that negatively impact what we call your posture.

Consideration #5 – The downside of unilateral loading affecting the spine

Unilateral exercises, along with a number of other theoretically sound but mis-used concepts such as close chain exercises (feet on the ground), multi-planar movements, combined exercises etc. are a dominant trend in the current landscape.

The rise of rotation through the spine to the extent to which it is evident is a whole new challenge facing the strength training community. There was a time when you had to participate in unilateral sports such as golf or baseball or tennis to develop the musculo-skeletal challenges associated with rotation of the spine. This is no longer the case. You can simply engage in strength training with your local personal trainer, one who has bought blindingly into every ‘cutting edge’ training principle espoused by their leading professional organization, and you can develop and advanced level of dysfunction through rotation of the spine.

Spinal rotations are amongst the toughest musculo-skeletal challenges to solve, and their side effect varied and extensive. They are developed by a high volume of unilateral life or sport exercises (such as those listed above), or exercise conducted in a unilateral fashion – irrespective of the fact that ultimately both sides are trained.

When untrained people under the supervision of those not competent enough to ensure the side effects (and I suggest that is the majority of service providers in the fitness and sport industries) engage in high volume unilateral exercises they typically perform the movement asymmetrically, influenced by existing strengths and weakness. The end result is the exacerbation of their imbalances.

Variables such as dynamic (cheating) movements, excessive load, fatigue, technical breakdown etc. (all of which are in some way associated) accelerate the degradation.

Kettlebell exercises are a ripe platform for this outcome.

Consideration #6 – The impact of rotation on the wrists

Despite dogma teaching to the contrary, I suggest the rotational forces on the wrists from many Kettlebell exercises is both unnecessary and inappropriate. When compared to other devices, it could be argued they provide an advantage.

In this case, the question remains – are unilateral (load in each hand) dynamic movements necessary? For hypertrophy? No. For sports performance? No. For health? No. Of course, that’s just my opinion, so many would say – where is the science? Perhaps you have not been exposed to my belief that ‘research’ is a lagging indicator and by the time (if at all) that ‘research’ provides the answers that anyone with effective intuition can work out in a couple of weeks, there’s been a lot of collateral damage. Are you going to be amongst that collateral damage?

Why not try this simple method – conduct an anonymous, no penalties survey of a group of personal trainers and others doing a Kettlebell training day or weekend course – how do your wrists feel? You won’t need to wait for the ‘research’…Hold, that is research! Just not a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal of your dogma….

Consideration #7 – The impact of the entire musculo-skeletal system

Let’s take a global view of the musculo-skeletal system and its impact on related systems such as the nervous system – an approach well-supported since so many have now been exposed to Tom Myer’s book on Anatomy Trains.

And let’s flip the question. Rather than giving examples of exercises that damage the posture and degrade transfer to sport and health, help me understand which of the more popular and more commonly performed Kettlebell exercises are positive for posture and transfer?

Now I appreciate this question and the answer will be influenced by your definition and understanding of how strength training exercises transfer to life and sport and impact posture. From my perspective this reflection is rarely done, and the real-world, applicable dialogue is rare.

The fact that you can create hypertrophy from Kettlebell exercise meets only those who act on short-term outcomes. I can hit myself on the head repetitively with a sledge hammer and argue for the hypertrophy benefits in the biceps and forearms. But what of the long term impacts?

I suggest that the images used above provide examples of hypertrophy that are heading toward significant, career threatening, quality of life threatening injuries. I know, that’s just my opinion, where’s the ‘research’, blah blah blah. For the economic benefits to the injury rehabilitation, this is cause for celebration – humans willingness to cause self-inflicted damage in the blatant denial of consideration of long term damage.

For an insight in a typical posture model used in and adapted to by the body from the way many Kettlebell exercises are being taught, check out this video! Yes, it is satire. In this instances, study the posture being adopted by the ‘client’. There is a message here.

Conclusion

So there are the first three reasons why you may want to reconsider your Kettlebell involvement. I know, many of you are either going to reject this information outright or find a way to ‘compromise’ so that you can keep doing it, due an range of emotional attachments.

So I put it this way – would you suffer any loss of training outcomes for sport, health or hypertrophy if you let go of your Kettlebell exercises and reverted to less trending, more old school (God forbid, I am just going to say those heretical words…) barbells and dumbbells?

No. At least not in my opinion.

Would it be tough to let go from a ‘what will others think of me’? Absolutely.

Would it be tough to let go because it may mean acknowledging I was sucked in by a non-beneficial trend? Absolutely.

Would it be tough to do if you are teaching your clients Kettlebells one day and the next you are not? Absolutely.

So what’s going to happen?

The majority are going to do just as Schopenhauer[i] suggested many years ago – ridicule and reject what I have said. And that will work, because the majority of your associates will do the same.

And then, when EVERYONE one knows it, and the trend dies off, you can simply pretend that you were aware of what I am teaching and it’s old news now, who cares. And really, everyone else will be so embarrassed and looking to hide their prior association with the Kettelbell that no-one will be looking in your back yard so it will be all good.

Except for the price you pay in your body continuing to do Kettlebells, waiting for EVERYONE to wake up…..Oh, and if you are a personal trainer or coach, the price in the body of your clients and athletes…..

WATCH VIDEO

Watch a short video discussing some of the considerations covered in this blog article here.

SIDE BAR NOTES

[i] “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

[i] …Like the time I had the audacity in a New York seminar in the late 1990s to suggest that a chin up does not balance out the bench press (this was in the days when the only publications of the ‘Lines of Movement’ concept were my own). Wow, did that upset the local guru! What happened to me in the next few years may be of little interest to you, but what happened to you may – because instead of embracing the flaws in teaching, this guru gave you the ‘scapula chin up’….and the problem remained….

[ii] …Like the time in a Boston seminar that I laid out concepts such as loading is over-rated and why use external loading when most athletes struggle with their own bodyweight, and here are some unique original unilateral lower body exercises. The local ‘guru’ held a union meeting at the break, and took the majority of the attendees out of the seminar as a protest against the ‘utter rubbish’ I was teaching, before publishing a series of books on the content. What happened to me following that event is of little interest to you. What happened to you should be, as you all now lift your back leg up when you do my single leg stiff, legged deadlift….

[iii] …Like the time a prominent US internet magazine owner tried to entice me with money and when I said no, he said ‘Damn it, there are only two of you that have ever said no to me!’ […the other person was involved in Kettelbells!…] What happened to me is of no interest to you, but what happened to you should be. One of the ‘replacement’ writer had a massive Pinocchio nose-growing challenge and you went off and followed the training guidance….

[iv] ….Like the unsolicited article I wrote and submitted asking no payment, to a particular high profile internet website. I am not sure if it killed the deal, but I left my notes at the bottom of the article, and they were summarizing the ‘interesting’ things I had seen of their writers performing a series of exercises with Kettlebells….I never heard back. What happened to me is of no interest to you, but what happened to you should be because you were denied the opportunity to review and reflect on what you are doing with those Kettlebells…

 

Copyright 2017 Ian King & King Sports International Inc. All rights reserved.