We Need More.....Kettlebell

8. May 2014 Amber B Exercise (0)
You either love them or you hate them.

When you are in love with kettlebells, like I am, you enjoy the multi-muscle group movements.  Kettlebell workouts are fluid, like a dance, putting together a chain of movements that leave your heart pounding and sweat pouring.  Yes, there’s some sneaky cardio component to a kettlebell workout.   A great blend of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.

If you hate kettlebells it’s because kettlebell exercises keep you honest with proper exercise execution.  Form is imperative to moves like the kettlebell swing or the kettlebell snatch.  Do it incorrectly and you’ll be either sore or have bruised wrists the next day.  But this is no reason to shy away from the kettlebell.  You have way too much to gain from this odd looking piece of exercise equipment.  

You will get a mega -caloric burn.  The American council on Exercise states that the average kettlebell workout burns 20 calories per minute.  That’s 1200 calories in just one hour.   Kettlebell workouts utilize many muscle groups to give you an efficient, total body conditioning workout.  

If you’re looking for a toned back side get a kettlebell.  The classic kettlebell swing works all the posterior muscles like your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back.  But only if you use correct form.  Otherwise you'll find yourself with nagging back pain, instead of a better butt.  

Kettlebell exercises are functional movements that will allow you to play hard without getting injured.  If you are an athlete, a nature enthusiast, or just want to keep up with the kids then you need to give kettlebells a try.  During a workout, the exercises will target movements that will make getting up and down off the floor easier, as well as bending over to pick something up.

If you are interested in doing kettlebell workouts start with a coach or take class.  You can’t fake form with kettlebell exercises or you could end up hurt.  I’m not trying to scare anyone away because good form is easy to learn.   Your body will memorize the correct movement pattern and you’ll be on your way to a successful kettlebell workout.  
Conventional therapy vs. alternative therapy

Conventional therapy vs. alternative therapy

11. March 2008 William Davis (5)
Rose is a 75-year old woman, mother of four, grandmother of many more.

Rose's story started after a heart attack 18 months ago that resulted in two stents. She was advised to follow an American Heart Association diet and take Lipitor. However, some months later, after her fourth stent, she became disilluioned in the conventional approach to heart disease and sought alternative therapies to help reduce or reverse her heart disease.

She found an alternative health practitioner who advised chelation, antioxidant vitamins for "excessive oxidation," and several homeopathic preparations.

Nothing was said about diet or exercise. Nothing was said about the baked flour products and pastries that occupied at least two meals every day. Nothing was said about the candies she indulged in several times per day, nor the soft drinks. Nothing was said about the wildly fluctuating blood sugars, poorly controlled by an oral diabetes agent. Thirty pounds of weight gain over the past 5 years with no exercise or physical activity? No comment here, too.

In short, Rose was the "graduate" of the conventional approach, as typically offered nationwide thousands of times a week. She was also the recipient of the insight of at least one alternative health practitioner, eager to reject conventional notions of how to achieve heart health.

So I then met her. She was experiencing chest pains every day, several times per day. Blood pressure over 200. At 5 ft, 3 inches, weight: 186 lbs.

Initial laboratory results:

HDL cholesterol 42 mg/dl
LDL 132 mg/dl
Triglycerides 263 mg/dl
Blood sugar 173 mg/dl


You can fill in the rest. In short, Rose was a disaster. Despite the attentions of several professionals from both the conventional as well as alternative camps, she was careening rapidly towards failure. She'd been given various crutches, Band-Aids, and salves, none of which resulted in any possibility of long-term relief from her aggressive disease.

My point: As I've said previously, all we want is truth. We want effective, rational approaches that yield real benefit. A stent? All that provides is temporary restoration of blood flow. Statin agents? They do indeed reduce LDL cholesterol. But what if Rose has 8, 9, or 10 other causes of heart disease unaffected by the statin drug? It will do little or nothing.

Nobody had addressed many of the root causes of Rose's disease: insulin resistance, high triglycerides, inactivity, obesity, hypertension (and identifying the reasons why her blood pressure was so high), vitamin D deficiency (virtually guarantted to be severe), junk foods including the ones known as "whole grains."

My message: Success in heart disease, as well as all aspects of health for that matter, doesn't necessarily have to come from an "alternative" approach, nor a "conventional" approach. It comes from applying what is truly effective, regardless of what label someone applied to it.

I would no sooner trust my health and life to an alternative health practitioner hawking unusual herbs and remedies than I would submit to a heart catheterization, three stents, followed by a statin drug. There's small benefit in both approaches, but none are the best. You've got to look elsewhere for that.


Copyright 2008 William Davis, MD
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Comments (5) -

  • Sue

    3/10/2008 11:19:00 PM |

    I'm really dismayed that the alternative practitioner did not look at diet (most do) but if they did I'm sure they would have recommended the usual low fat. Herbs can be very useful but only if combined with appropriate diet.

  • mike V

    3/10/2008 11:53:00 PM |

    Re: Rose

    Please follow up on Rose's TYP progress from time to time.
    We can find all kinds of studies and other info. Only your blog provides us with real world practical feedback on results with real patients.

    Thanks
    MikeV

  • Danimal

    3/11/2008 12:45:00 AM |

    I hear ya, Dr. Davis. My dad just had his 2nd bypass during an aortic pseudo-aneurism operation. He had a rock the size of my thumb knuckle removed from his aorta, his chest cracked, and still has massive occlusion of his arteries. Still, my RN-having stepmadre insists on him pursuing an AHA-approved low-fat, high-carb diet, and won't even consider putting him on Vitamin D and Niacin. How can you fight against the experts of the AHA?

  • Sravana

    3/11/2008 6:51:00 PM |

    As an alternative healthcare provider (acupuncturist/herbalist), you can BET that I would be talking to her about diet and exercise. I would've taken her BP, and probably sent her to an MD immediately to get that taken care of.

    Now, given that she was a wreck, what kind of exercise program would you put her on? I'm thinking a 20 minute walk every day, at whatever pace she could manage without chest pain - but she's already *having* chest pain! I'm curious how you handle that.

  • Anonymous

    8/31/2008 12:09:00 AM |

    "There is a clear need for a rapid, simple, safe, and sensitive method of determining the type and intensity of inflammation in the gut mucosa in clinical practice. In this study, we have evaluated the potential of a new method, the mucosal patch technique, in patients with and without apparent gut inflammation, as assessed by conventional diagnostic procedures.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15542519

    "In 18 of 20 patients gluten challenge induced neutrophil activation defined as increased [myeloperoxidase] MPO release and increased NO synthesis. Ten of these 20 patients showed a similarly strong inflammatory reaction to CM challenge."

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17302893

    "Molecular chlorine generated by the myeloperoxidase-hydrogen peroxide-chloride system of phagocytes converts low density lipoprotein cholesterol into a family of chlorinated sterols."

    Myeloperoxidase, a heme protein secreted by phagocytes, is a potent catalyst for LDL oxidation in vitro, and active enzyme is present in human atherosclerotic lesions. ... Our observations suggest that Cl2 generation in acidic compartments may constitute one pathway for oxidation of LDL cholesterol in the artery wall.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8798498

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