Updation
I have a bunch of cool videos shot and some more “hacks” for range of motion, but my dissertation is taking longer than I thought, so I will have them up this Saturday.
It seems my header on my blog went goofy, so I am working on that and hope to have it fixed early next week. Still working to get it more compatible with our Mac friends too.
In the meantime, I have a very special treat for all of you!
It is a true honor and privilege to have a very special guest post from By Josh Hanagarne, World’s
Strongest Librarian.
Be sure to check out his awesome blog at
Take it away Josh!
Moving My Body, Saving A Life
By Josh Hanagarne, World’s
Strongest Librarian
Has your body ever betrayed you? How about your brain? Do they ever seem like they’re doing whatever they want? Do they ever seem to want different things?
I ask because I can answer YES to all of those questions…and then some. I was in Washington D.C. one sunny day when I suddenly punched myself in the face as hard as I could. This surprised the other people near me, but they weren’t surprised as much as I was.
But all I could do was look down at my bloody shirt and think, I need to do laundry.
Tic, Tic, Boom
In 9th grade I got diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome and we all thought, “Hmm, this is sort of weird.”
Tourette’s makes you do two sorts of things:
1.You move involuntarily
2.You make noises involuntarily
For about ten years it was just a nuisance. Then I went one round with myself in D.C. and things started ramping up from there. I screamed uncontrollably until I got a hernia from the pressure. I dislocated fingers. I chewed my mouth to pieces, and so on.
And on and on and on. And if it sounds miserable, it was.
Things are no different now, but things are wonderful
For nearly 15 years, my body was my enemy. Rather than engage it, I chose to ignore it. That didn’t work very well. But later when I got into weights and kettlebells, things changed. I learned to dominate this sack of flesh and it began to change.
My symptoms didn’t change. They never will. But the discipline I’ve picked up along the way makes everything seem bearable. Once you’ve picked up kettlebells and worked hard, nothing else feels as intimidating. Not even the knowledge that either one of my hands might break my jaw at any moment.
If it happens, it happens. As long as it doesn’t interrupt my training, I’ll keep smiling. Getting stronger is the answer for me. But the point came where I couldn’t figure out how to maintain my rate of progress.
Mobility – The Missing Ingredient
I recently spent one week training with “Unbreakable” Adam T. Glass in Minot, North Dakota. Adam knows a lot about the body and how it works.
I’d dabbled in mobility work before. Mike T. Nelson of this very website did a ZHealt session with me before the RKC and it cleared up some lingering problems for me.
During the week with Adam I learned that Mike is one of Adam’s coaches. We spent more time that week talking about mobility than anything else. I had no idea that I knew so little. But rather than be intimidated, I was inspired and excited.
It’s hard not to be when you start hitting personal records (PRs) again. After about 5 minutes of Z-Health work, Adam fixed my shoulder that had been bothering me for a year. Five minutes after that, I pressed a 92 lb kettlebell with the arm that hadn’t pressed for that year. It was a huge PR and my eyebrows shot up just as quickly as that kettlebell.
I could go on all day about this, but I won’t
If I could say one thing to you and have it stick, it would be this: forget what you think you know about the body. I would love nothing more than to pick Mike’s brain for a year and be one of his guinea pigs.
I thought it was fun to get stronger, but feeling my body move better is satisfying in a different way. And the two are inseparable. I had used weights and kettlebells to take control of my life again. Now I’m seeing that mobility work will let me take control of the weights and kettlebells at a much higher level.
No matter where you’re at in your training, no matter what your relationship with your body is, both can improve-drastically.
Find someone who knows more than you do about the body. Help yourself and let them help you. You cannot overestimate the potential of a perfectly functioning body. And the perfectly functioning body is the one that breaks records and reaches its potential.
I hear Mike Nelson is pretty good at this stuff.
I’ve seen these principles of mobility in action. My training saved my life. Mobility is improving the rest.
Josh Hanagarne
Get Stronger, Get Smarter, Live Better…Every Day
About the Author: Josh Hanagarne, RKC, is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, kettlebells, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6′8″, old-time strongman training, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.
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