I strained my back badly while deadlifting 405 lbs for 10 after heavy Olympic lifting. On rep 8, something went “POP.” Like a typical gym enthusiast, I wiggled to check, then finished the set. The next morning, I could just move, and when I tried to get out of bed, I couldn’t. My body froze for two weeks. I couldn’t bend or take a deep breath.
That was January 2002.
Fast-forward 3 years to January 2005, and I damaged my labrum after one of my best Power Clean workouts ever - 140kg - for 16 sets of 1 - OTM - warming up on a Squat Clean.
All told, it took me until April 2012 to realize to myself that I was fully healed.
And yes, you’re right, that’s a lengthy time.
See, I barely did any true “core” work until 1995, when Mark Cohen, my first weightlifting coach, made me do focused work.
I did that for about a year.
My second coach, Alfonso Duran, didn’t really think direct core work was necessary.
In fact, many strength coaches “back in the day” didn’t think it was necessary.
The “big lifts” will automatically work your abs.
Taken a step further, others advocate(d) actively contracting your abs during your big lifts.
This is the “general” stance in the kettlebell community at large.
Contracting your abs (bracing) while you Swing, Clean, Press, Snatch, and Squat with your kettlebell(s) is enough “core work.”
[NOTE: Interestingly enough, I tightened the bejeezus out of my abs from 2002 to 2006 and still had lower back issues doing 2-Hand Swings.
Even though I had either used or was using all the popular core stability / strength training techniques of the day.]
The Truth?
It certainly can be.
For the suitable individual.
Who’s that?
Primarily the individual who’s -
1- Never slowed down and been active his entire life and
2- Never had a lower back or lower extremity injury or surgery, or
3- Has no history of abdominal injury or surgeries.
For the rest of us?
Including those of us who sit all day and have chronically restricted hip flexors?
More likely than not, we need to do some focused core work to augment our KB training. Why?
Here’s what the research says happens once you rack up a back injury, a surgery scar, or years of desk-chair hip flexor abuse:
Your nervous system “slaps the snooze button " on the deep core stabilizers - particularly the Transverse Abdominis and Multifidus. Their firing becomes weak and - worse - late. [1]
Late firing means your spine’s “natural weight belt” isn’t tightened when the load hits. Shear forces increase - increasing your injury chances.
Bracing harder shifts even more force into the front of your hips and your lumbar spine’s facet joints - exactly how I damaged my labrums over thousands of earnest Pulls and Swings. [2]
So the issue isn’t that kettlebell work lacks core engagement …
It’s that the right muscles may be inactive when you do the work.
So, how do you fix it?
Step-by-step.
First, you address your core stability - specifically reflexive stability. (Also called “reflex stabilization”.)
Using a specific series of drills - starting with diaphragmatic breathing.
Work up to thirty breaths in a row lying on your back in a natural position.
Diaphragmatic breathing and stability exercises amplify the signal - the neural drive - between your CNS and your deep abdominal musculature so your Transverse Abdominis and Multifidus are recruited on time - instead of late, like the research shows.
You also rebuild those muscles, along with the pelvic floor and your diaphragm.
As more info a result, you now have the ability to create the IAP - Intra-Abdominal Pressure - essential for protecting your spine on Swings, Cleans, Squats, Snatches, etc.
Next, you build up your “Outer Unit” - the muscles that actually transmit force from your center to your arms and legs.
And finally, you add Power - advanced and/or explosive movement.
This is called “The SSP Model” - Stability - Force - Explosiveness.
That’s the basics to get you started.