Mental benefits of "GS" lifting

As you know, there are 2 or 3 main philosophies of kettlebell lifting in this country.



1. The first (not necessarily the best!) and most popular for now: The kettlebell is a tool for physical development, mostly metabolic. The purpose is to lift it as "hard" as you can with maximal tension. The set/rep scheme is usually freestyle and as fast and as dense as possible. You mix bodybuilding moves, feats of strength and a few ballistic moves (swing and snatch done as hard and fast as possible).



#2 comes from decades of collective experience and research from top athletes and scientists. They have done all the leg work for us and have observed that, with a kettlebell, the most sure and best, life-long gains in strength, wind, resiliency, etc., come from lifting heavy things off the ground and over your head many times. The snatch, jerk, and long-cycle clean and jerk rule. Swings and occasional presses can fill it in when necessary. These few lifts are done within a time period, without putting the weight down until you are done. Reps are spaced out evenly in order to focus fully on your lifting technique. Efficiency and relaxation and deep, purposeful breathing with your body's movements help maximize your work capacity. This matrix is a true test of mental endurance and physical fitness.



Pick any one and stick to it and you will get great physical results. But in my opinion, they sharply divert when it comes to the mental aspects of training and its effects on the rest of your life. In the long run, even the physical will divert. One will take you to a plateau and eventually diminish your returns, and the other will keep you like the turtle in the race: slow, steady, methodical, focused. It is easy to see which philosophy requires more mental sharpness and discipline.

The whole concept of paced lifting over a relatively long time is special and unique. One must hone deep concentration to:
1. Perform a perfect rep, 1 at a time, every time.
2. Relax in between reps to save energy
3. Breathe deep, slow, and along with the body's movement.
4. Find mental strategies to reduce stress and deal with fatigue.
5. Use leverage and manage pain.
6. Improve body awareness in space.
7. Discipline one's self to be safe but not to fail, to stick it out to the end.

Building these skills with regular, daily practice helps the body and mind deal with a load. Obviously there is the physical load of weight that your body is holding and moving. Also, weight or not, there is a mental load, or stress. This practice primes your mind to command itself and the body to behave under the load, or "stress" of any other area of life.

At work, I drive a car or pedal a bike. Sometimes I must go very fast then immediately stop and deal with a tense situation, mental or physical. Would I want to let the stress build on the way, or would I want to breathe, relax, and prepare for the possible "fight for my life?" I can go 110 mph on a city street with clenched teeth and white-knuckle, or do the same with steady breathing, relaxed, and calm. It makes a huge difference in the mind and body.

Our lives in the 21st century are filled with stress. Most fitness programs maximize stress and tension. Why should you get fit for an hour and have to spend another hour (which I do not have) doing yoga or qigong (all great things), just to come down off the physical stress? Why, when you can do it while you are lifting weights? Tension and stress come in physical, emotional, and mental forms. They will always be there and there is only so much we can do to minimize them. What matters is what control we have over our minds and bodies under them and how we react during the load.

When I was doing workouts labeled by 3-letter combinations (ETK, RKC, etc.), the mental component was never addressed. Relaxation and restoration was only addressed in other forms, but not while actively working. In a year and a half, there are already many personal events where classical kettlebell lifting philosophy has benefited me in very profound and unexpected ways. I will highlight them in future installments. Happy lifting!