Optimizing Synergy Fitness

Strength coach Charles Staley has a great saying, "everything has a cost, not everything has a benefit." This is especially true when it comes to determining different implements to train with. I would have to say most training implements do have some benefit, but they can vary greatly to how much. EVERY training tool has a cost to the body, whether it is to the nervous system or some risk to the health of the joints and muscles. 

One inherent risk to every training tool is that you become very good at one form of training. Your body does "groove" to each training tool and becomes more efficient with the movements. This is actually a good thing as you do want some level of adaptation to cause positive changes to your body's systems. 

This is a big reason I was so excited to create the Synergy program. Many people have already seen the great behind kettlebells, but fell for the trap of performing a high amount of repeated movements. This has the same downfalls as jogging, or other very repetitive movements. We already know that cyclists, runners, and swimmers develop repetitive stress injuries, yet, for some reason people don't think it will happen when they perform high rep swings or snatches day after day.

That is why combining sandbags and kettlebells can be so important in not only performance enhancement, but injury prevention as well. By challenging the body with new stimulus' one could potentially avoid a lot of common overuse injuries that comes with this form of training. 

Now, it is obvious that sandbags and kettlebells are amazing combined together in various programs as I outlined in the Synergy DVD. However, another favorite method of mine is to alternate sets of similar patterns between sandbags and kettlebells. This not only prevents those overuse injuries, but can improve the performance of specific lifts. In the video below I have demonstrated how easy, yet, powerful such training can be.