v1kkedude

I am currently teaching a friend to deadlift. I get him into correct position, back flat and it’s looking ok. But when he lifts, he gets a dull feeling or pain in the back, even though his lumbar spine stays flat. I had the same issue before myself. Until I learned how to get enough air into my belly to stiffen up the trunk. But this takes a lot of time and practice to learn. I wonder if you know a better way of doing it and what’s your experience with beginners who get back issues even though it looks like they are doing it correctly.

Walter Palmer

I would not rule out the possibility that these guys do not know the difference between pain and discomfort given his own description that they have not trained before. With these types of trainees, I find that they often confuse discomfort or exertion that is inherent in producing a volitional force against the weight with pain.

Walter Palmer

Here are some ways that I assess for this issue:

1. Observation of correct form to eliminate technique areas that can cause pain.
2. Titrating the weights up to determine their reaction at light, medium, and heavier weights.
3. Assessing how they perceive pain in other movements, e.g. do they find all exertions to feel like a "dull" pain?
4. Interviewing them about any injury history or medical issues.
5. Assessing their level of motivation.

APT79

Do barbell strength training & kettlebell conditioning go together?

I tried CrossFit for a little bit and just saw the 2014 Crossfit Games. My left knee was in pain because I used poor form on the deadlifts and cleans and I concluded that I will see some new injuries if I continue with the program. I think going back to basics like in high school (powerlifting and Olympic lifting teams) will be a good start but I do like kettlebells. too. Does anyone here mix it up with both BBs and KBs?

Nicholas Soleyn

I have spent a lot of time around kettlebell enthusiasts and am married to a SFG kettlebell instructor. Kettlebells are too cumbersome at even moderately heavy weights to be a useful tool for strength training and, as Rip pointed out, there are much better options for conditioning that will interfere less with your strength training.

Very heavy, low-rep swings might be useful for something similar to dynamic effort sets, but power cleans are better, because you have to rack them.

My wife says, if you want to get strong stick to basic barbell training; if you want to build your conditioning, do high intensity intervals with a sled; if you want to do kettlebells, realize it's just for fun and probably counterproductive.