Injury prevention in GS, or, stuff I should have done

So earlier this month I injured my left arm. It was just the second rep of a planned 10 minute set. I had planned to break my personal record for 2x28kg long cycle, maybe even get CMS numbers. Instead I injured myself, and had to stop doing jerks for a couple weeks. That stunk.
That incident forced me to own up to one major shortcoming of my sport conditioning:

I did almost nothing for injury prevention.

Like most US kettlebell sport athletes, I am an amateur (and an over-40-year-old amateur, at that). Like many of my fellow athletes, I have a regular job, and family responsibilities, too. So I try to streamline and eliminate any part of my routine that is not absolutely necessary.

It turns out injury prevention is necessary.

I think before this happened, I would have agreed with the last sentence with my mouth, but not with my actions. Sure, I stretched a little during the cool-down phase of my workouts. But that was it. But it took straining my left triceps badly enough that I could not even do cleans (much less jerks or snatches) in order to internalize this lesson and really learn it.

So in the meanwhile I improvised. I started doing jump squats with a barbell, as well as kettlebell swings. Gradually, I added back cleans, then bumps and (very) light barbell jerks, then one-armed jerks with a light weight. Last night was my first night back doing long cycle clean and jerk, albeit with the 20kg bells instead of my usual 28's.

I also took this time to study what the pros do. It turns out joint mobility work and stretching are a big deal. I saw an interview with World Champion and Master of Sport World Class athlete Denis Vasiliev and here's a summary of what he said about his stretching routine (as recorded by Tom Corrigan):

[Denis Vasiliev] believes that having a great stretching session can be even more important than having a great lifting session. His reasoning is that if he has a great lifting session, but a poor stretching session, he will recover less, sleep worse and not be ready to train as hard the next day. But if he has a poor training session (i.e. not meeting his goals) but has a great stretching session, his muscles will feel better, he will sleep great, and he will be able to train harder and better the next day.

Tom recorded Vasiliev's stretching sessions, and a video of one appears below. Note: Tom's record of Vasiliev's comments appear when the video is viewed at the YouTube site here.



Just as importantly, Tom recorded Vasiliev's pre-workout joint mobility warm up:



Tom noted: Here is the joint mobility warm up of KB Sport World Champion Denis Vasil'ev. He does this after a general warm up of his body done by running on a treadmill or an elliptical machine. He systematically works through his joints, making sure he is ready to start working hard.
The rest of Tom's comments may be found when watching the video here.

So now I've added a joint mobility warm up and cool down to my routine, and I've expanded the stretching I do once I'm done. I must confess that I had neglected true stretching for so long that I had no idea how much flexibility and range of motion I had lost. I'm thinking of adding a yoga workout to my off days.

On the bright side, many of my kettlebell compatriots offered me well wishes and helpful advice. Steven Khuong, in particular, was very encouraging, and even sent me two get well gifts. Here I am wearing the first one:



In case you missed the logo on the shirt, here is a closeup:



As many of you know, the Ice Chamber is one of the top kettlebell sport gyms in North America. Steven Khuong and Maya Garcia are the founders. Maya actually wrote an excellent article about restorative stretches for kettlebell sport just last week.

Recently, The Ice Chamber was host to an excellent sport camp that featured (among others) absolute world record holder Ivan Denisov. (Edited to add: I am told that the camp also featured coach Cate Imes and the legendary Valery Fedorenko, so you can imagine how good the camp was). Denisov is widely considered to be one of the best (if not the best) kettlebell sport athletes in the world. My other gift from Steven was a calender featuring Denisov, signed by the champion himself. Here is a photo:



After my injury, I asked for help designing a convalescent workout regimen at the WKC forum. Steven not only offered suggestions, but offered to send get well gifts. I was truly touched that Steven sent such thoughtful gifts to me. I hope its not long before I meet him, and the other great athletes from the Ice Chamber.

In the meantime, I'm back on the training road. I've decided that now its unlikely that I will make the Candidate for Master of Sport Rank (CMS) this summer at the state championships, although its still a reasonable goal for the year. We will see. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a photo follow up from my last two posts. It seems that my youngest daughter Maddie thinks the best thing about the Perform Better Kettlebells is the foam packaging they send their KB's in. Turns out they can be used as planters for summer tomatoes. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Follow up on review of Perform Better Competition Kettlebells

I was surprised at the volume and immediacy of the responses I received to my last post reviewing Perform Better's latest generation of competition kettlebells.

Based on the content and the amount of responses, I'd like to add the following information to my review:

I don't work for WKC, and I did not rely on any information from WKC in writing my review. I uncovered (sometimes literally) the facts for this review myself, and I documented my experiences with photos.
Although the review contains my own impressions, certain facts are indisputable:

1. WKC began selling competition-style kettlebells several years ago. Initially, some of them had defects that were covered in bondo and then painted, even in the handle area. There were some complaints about the quality of these early bells.

2. In approximately 2008, WKC began shipping bells with pre-stripped handles, among other upgrades. My 20kg WKC bell is an example. These bells were higher quality than the previous bells, and did not contain bondo-covered defects. WKC stopped selling the previous bells that were of lower quality.

3. At some point, PB began selling the exact same bells that WKC had stopped selling before their upgrade. The bells Perform Better sold were simply WKC's pre-upgrade kettlebell's with WKC's logo (along with any defects) covered with bondo and an epoxy that easily chipped off during normal use.

4. WKC upgraded their bells again in 2009. This is when they went to the polished handles. At that same time PB was still selling the bondo and epoxy-covered KB's that WKC no longer sold. (I call them "rejects" because WKC no longer sold
them anymore, and they obviously did not meet WKC's new standards).

5. PB started selling bells with pre-stripped handles. I ordered one to review it, and reported the defects I found.

Those are the facts.

Since that time, some folks have contacted me to say they were happy with their PB bells, but many more have noticed the same defects on their PB bells, including the mysterious tape repairs and sloppy bondo fixes. The 8kg bell seems to be the one most prone to defects, perhaps, as one poster noted, because "8kg bells are the hardest to make and the easiest to [mess] up. The thin shell is the problem. Any defect pretty much equals a hole".

However, the defects were noted on many weights of many PB bells, not just the 8kg.
No tape or bondo fixes were reported on any second or third generation WKC bells. Instead, I received unsolicited reports on the high quality of WKC bells, and photos like these:



I did receive one report from one lifter about a problem with a second or third generation WKC 8kg bell that cracked. He reported: "I had it for a year before it cracked due to it being more frequently used" and that AKC/WKC replaced the bell upon request. The same lifter reportedly purchased 12 new generation PB bells; 5 of them had the tape repair. The five bells weighed 8kg (2), 12kg (2), and 20kg (1) respectively. That same lifter reported that "1 PB and 1 WKC [8kg]bell are exactly identical, down to finish on handle and even shade of pink paint". Taking all of the facts I've gathered together, it strongly suggests that PB and WKC still share a common manufacturer. The most obvious explanation for the difference in quality is that WKC has higher quality control standards; they don't accept defective bells that have been repaired by bondo and tape from the manufacturer. PB does. It's simply a matter of what each company will agree to accept, and then pass on to their consumers.
I've since read that many other retailers have begun selling competition-style kettlebells. I may review some of them if I get a chance. In the meantime, I stick with my recommendation that WKC's competition kettlebells are the best buy available.

Review of Perform Better's latest generation of competition kettlebells

I have previously reviewed AKC/WKC's competition style kettlebells. They are officially called "VF Prograde Kettlebells", and are available at the World Kettlebell Club's store here. In two previous reviews in December and June of 2009, I found them to be of very high quality, and to be the "best buy" in competition kettlebells on the market. I have also compared their bells to those sold by Perform Better, and later learned that Perform Better had been selling WKC Prograde rejects as their own competition bells. I documented that discovery here.
Perform Better has since changed the competition bells that they offer. Officially known as "First Place Competition Kettlebells", these kettlebells now come with the handles pre-stripped so that the athlete will not have to strip the handle with a file and sander or other tool. Another benefit to the consumer is that it will be obvious if the handle contains multiple imperfections that could tear his hands. A manufacturer or dealer cannot hide the imperfections with bondo and paint on a stripped and polished steel surface.
Since Perform Better instituted these changes, their competition kettlebells have become popular with kettlebell sport athletes, and many recommend them. Recently my wife and daughter have expressed an interest in kettlebell lifting, and asked me to order them one to share. I decided to order one of Perform Better's 8kg models, and report my findings.
Here is what arrived:



Notice that Perform Better's website is cast into the kettlebell. This bell is an obvious improvement over PB's last offering. However, I noticed a number of imperfections that indicated painted-over repairs.
First, there are two spots on the bell where some type of tape was placed on the bell, and then painted over. Here is the small taped spot:



Here is the larger one:



Another view of the large taped portion in brighter light:



In addition to the sections of tape that were applied and painted over, there is a large patch of what appears to be bondo that has been painted over. Here are two views:





Note: the marks that look like scuffs on the bell are not scuffs, but are places where the paint was not completely and evenly applied, and part of the bell was not painted at the factory. Basically, the paint job is really shoddy.

What to think? Well, I was shocked, honestly. Perform Better has an excellent reputation. They send confirmation of orders quickly, and ship promptly. I have heard of anecdotes of other consumers who have been very pleased. But this is the second time I have ordered a kettlebell from them, and the second time they have sent a substandard product. It's troubling to me that this happened, especially since the last time I told them they sold me a competition bell that was not suitable for competition, they replied that I should not have taken the finish off the handle in order to use it, and would not offer a replacement or refund (I wonder if they know I figured out their secret about where they were getting their bells and why they covered them with so much bondo and epoxy?). Back then I tried to explain that competitors have to strip and sand the handles if they actually want to compete with their product, but they denied that. Since then, as I said, they only sell bells with handles that are pre-stripped.
So what's the bottom line? From what I can tell, the defects in the bell won't be an issue unless we use the bell for double kettlebell lifts and the paint and bondo get knocked off when the bells clang together. I doubt that will be a problem. I bought the bell for my wife and daughter, and even if they want to use it to train to reach reach Rank IV or III with the WKC, it won't hinder them. The real problem is that defects like this don't leave a good impression, especially when you have received two in a row.
Perform Better and WKC seem to be in a perpetual pricing war (maybe that's just my impression). But it varies day to day which company is offering the lowest prices on kettlebells. The day I ordered this bell, I think it was $10 cheaper than the WKC's.
Based on my experiences, I wish I had paid the extra $10 and ordered from WKC. This experience has only confirmed my earlier impression, and what I now believe is not merely an opinion, but an objective fact:

The AKC/WKC VF Prograde Kettlebells are some of the best you can buy, and are by far, the best for the money.

On the bright side, my daughter Caroline has really taken to kettlebell lifting, and has been practicing her swings almost every night. Here she is below:



Good lifting and God bless,

David