How To Recover From Injury With Kettlebell Exercises
Therapeutic Fitness is the practice of using fitness principles for pain relief, recovering from injury, and preventing future problems. Learning how to move properly while improving strength ensures that we load our joints properly and thus, avoiding the pain we associate with getting older.
In this weeks article we look at a few ways we incorporate the kettlebell into the rehabilitative/recovery process.
1. Kettlebell Lifts
Kettlebell lifts incorporate the low back sparing exercise (the hip hinge) while teaching the body to lift objects using our glutes and hamstrings
To perform: Hinging at the hips, bring your hips backward (shins should stay relatively verticle). When the bell (or hands) gets to knee level, lower your butt and bend the knees to place safely down.
2. Kettlebell Swings
Kettlebell swings teach the body how to generate power from the hips while ingraining the hip hinge in a more functional exercise. Remember, the goal of the hip hinge isn't to understand the concept, but to ingrain it through repetition so the next time something unexpected happens, we automatically default to the proper position.
To perform: Lift kettlebell from ground (see first image). Hinge hips backwards, shoot hips forward and use momentum to bring kettlebell and arms parallel to ground. As the kettlebell falls, hinge at the hips (bell will go between legs), shoot hips forward again and repeat,
3. Goblet Squats
Goblet squats train the functional squat movement and are also extremely beneficial for working on hip and ankle mobility.
To perform: Hold a kettlebell as close to your body as possible (chest level). Perform an air squat until thighs are parallel to ground. Stay in squat position for one minute for a hip/ankle mobility challenge. Or stand up and repeats for strength challenge.
How we move impacts every aspect of our life. Improving movement and strength not only helps avoid the pain we associate with getting older, but improves productivity and confidence at work, improves how we interact with those around us and gives us confidence to enjoy the activities we love.
WE HELP ADULTS 40+ BUILD THE STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE TO PUT AN END TO PAIN SO THEY CAN CONTINUE TO WHAT THEY LOVE - WITHOUT THE USE OF PAIN PILLS, INJECTIONS OR SURGERY.