Now this article by Tara Pope that I found on the well blogs page of the New York Times website I found quite interesting.
I don't know about readers of this back pain blog but I always thought that kettlebell workouts were the choice of eastern european athletes, in particular for muscle building.
It seems that using this ancient piece of equipment could be just the thing for easing back pain, along with neck pain and shoulder pain.
Most people with back pain tend to avoid weight training for fear of aggravating their symptoms. However a Danish study, carried out by Lars L. Anderson and his team, has shown that correctly done, strength training can reduce pain and prevent re-injury.
In the past most research in this field has focussed on traditional weight training exercises. The Danish researchers however studied the effects of using kettlebells. So called due to their superficial resemblance to a tea kettle.
Kettlebells require a different technique to the more usual lifting type weight training, which involves the swinging and lifting of the weights. A tricky thing to get the hang of for beginners.
The study recruited 40 middle-aged women who had back, shoulder, and/or neck pain. These volunteers were assigned randomly to a kettlebell workout regime or a control group who were just encouraged to exercise.
The kettlebell group did 20 minute sessions two or three times a week for 8 weeks.
The result was that those women that used the kettlebells reported less pain as well as improved core muscle strength, as compared with the control group. The actual figures showed as a 57 percent reduction in lower back pain, and a 46 percent reduction in neck and shoulder pain.
Pretty impressive I would say. The full report contains much more detail as well as safety issues that need to be considered. I think it's a most interesting read. You can find it here.
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