Question:

Are Kettlebells safe?  I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

RTS:

Kettlebells by themselves have never hurt anybody. They don’t explode and spew shrapnel. They don’t roll down the street and squash babies in their strollers. They are inanimate objects that sit on the floor/rack and have never intentionally with premeditation attacked a single soul. It’s what people DO with kettlebells that may be the benefit… or the detriment, as is often the case!

Most so-called experts that devise the exercises have no clue about the body (joint tolerances) nor the device (moment arm and inertial properties) and therefore, in an attempt to make a “rock’n workout” often sacrifice their followers along the way.

Get a simple fishing scale and hang a 5# wt from it. If you lift and lower it at the speed most people train, and certainly with the acceleration and decelaration that is typically associated with kettlebell usage, the scale fluctuates between 0# and 20#. Now this is not a problem if it is strategic (i.e., for the right joint position, right neuromuscular responses/goals, and most importantly for someone who has been evaluated for Neuromuscular Integrity at each joint via a process such as MAT and was properly MicroProgressed as a beginner up to this advanced level). But that is RARELY the case.

Only with an understanding of both the “inside view” of bodily structures and the objective properties and mechanics of the tools we use can a “certified trainer” eventually become the true Exercise Professional that both the trainer and the client mistakenly thinks he/she is. All evidence indicates that currently this only occurs at an RTS course!

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