WHY Does It Work?



The Wolf ...He A Thinkith!


I think it is healthy that people know their weaknesses. One that I will profess is my LACK of in-depth knowledge of physiology... or WHY? something works. Yes, I took the classes. I have the diploma. I have several certifications and that is all well and good. But...When I was in college I spent more time in the “laboratory” of the weightroom rather than in the academic halls of the classroom. Through that practical, hands on learning and experimentation I feel I gleaned a great deal of knowledge of WHAT works rather than WHY. 
"If only I knew (or remembered) now what I should have learned then".....Alas, a balance would have been better, but the Weightroom was so much more fun!

Given that history I am a very performance driven guy. If we are both training for similar goals and your training a certain way that is giving you results that I am not able to attain through my training...I want to know WHAT you are doing. I really don’t care what the science, or lack there of, behind it is. Like many things academic or scientific...the findings gained from a certain study or research don’t necessarily show the same results in practical application.

Case in point...
Over the last couple of years, I have turned my kettlebell training “on its ear” so to speak. If you have visited here even sparingly you already know that I have all but abandoned shorter set/rep formats of training. Instead opting for higher rep, longer duration timed sets. Now...the conventional wisdom, as well as some science says that adopting such training will lead you down the endurance pathway, yielding very little in the way of strength improvements. The performance results that myself and my training partners have seen wholly contradict that premiss. We have seen increases in endurance (as expected), increases in strength endurance, and to a lesser but still present extent increase in absolute strength in many of the movements we typically perform. I have come to the point now were I want to know more of the WHY?.

I have looked to various resources for the answer and have not found very much concrete information. Perhaps much of the reason in the “tool”we use. The kettlebell. Most of the studies and findings that I have seen use more traditional means like the squat or the bench press as the focus of their review. Even some on the bicep curl. Maybe it is because the kettlebell, although somewhat aged in other parts of the world, is still a relatively new phenomenon in this country.

To that, there are no shortage of online videos of kettlebell athletes performing amazing feats of endurance and strength. Seeing a 75kg athlete jerk a 200lb kettlebell for reps with one arm, at least for me, was a wake up call. I mean after all...Its basically, Long Slow Duration, which produces endurance right? Not strength. Although exhibits of that strength may not be commonplace, there are no shortage of what I would call extraordinary performances by lifters who routinely practice with moderate weight bells for a large number of reps over extended time periods. If they know the WHY?, they are not sharing it. In their cases there is very little of the HOW as well. Maybe it is because many of these lifters are competitive and don’t want to give away training info that could allow others to excel also. Maybe it is because we have not had a demand for that knowledge, being content with more traditional applications. It seems more a case of broad strokes...”I lift using x methods and this is what I can do.”, but very little in the way of training specifics.

There appear in several publications, support for the effectiveness of this type of training, but yet again very little actual informational literature as to why it is so effective to produce these results. Again, probably lack of demand, and an opting for a more marketable approach to using the kettlebell that many in this country find more user friendly and that they are more accustomed to.

SO...Given my aforementioned lack of physiological recall...Over the next series of post, I'll throw a few shots in the dark. Maybe some will be on the right track or maybe they are way off base. It will be my own personal quest of the WHY does is work?

Any of you with a greater physiological acumen than I, are urged to chime in. I think it is something many of us can learn and benefit from.