How Kettlebell Training Suports Stress Regulation with Jodi Barrett

Explore how kettlebell training supports stress regulation, resilience, and holistic health. Hosted by Dr. Erin Nitschke, featuring kettlebell expert Jodi Barrett, discussing the mental and physical benefits of kettlebell training and how to integrate it into long-term health strategies.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Fitness Education Online for the US and Canada. I am your host, Dr. Aaron, and I'm here once again with Jody. And we are excited to have her back. The first time we had her on the show, we talked about what the fitness industry is missing when we are training new trainers to succeed in this space. And today she is back because she is a kettlebell training expert. She has developed her own program, KB Stronger. And we're going to talk about how strength training with kettlebells can be really tools for stress regulation and resilience. So, Jodi, welcome back. Thank you for being here with me.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Thank you for having me back again. It's lovely to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Yes, I am so excited to dive into like your real niche area and your top, your topic of expertise and to let our pros know the power that resides within strength training with kettlebells. So if you're ready, we'll just dive right in. Absolutely. Let's do it. Perfect. Okay. So one of the things that I think is a theme is that many people think that strength train think of strength training purely in terms of physical results, right? It's for an aesthetic reason. And while that is not necessarily untrue, there's more to it than that. So tell our audience, how can kettlebell training also support the stress regulation, our nervous system? Why is it good for you in a more holistic perspective? I love this question.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

So let me dive in. So Mr. Lang, kettlebell is my go-to training tool for that. And with training with a lot of my clients, is it is that self-regulation, the rhythm of the bell, the weight of the bell. Like there's so many different ways you can use it. Like we always talk about the strength part about it, but I really like to get people to find a weight that feels right. And you think about when you put like a blanket on or a jacket on, something that is weighted, right? Usually gives you some support. And now you think about using that with a weight as a tool to move energy. But so you're not lifting it a super heavy with it all the time. Sometimes I always say that people like play with your weight. You'll find a weight where it feels right. And there's I there actually could give you a range for people, but I really like people to explore the feel of it. And when they find it, they can, you know, you know, they I sometimes people I sometimes do it before a meeting. I'll jump on. Or I have clients that, you know, lawyers that have it at the office with them. And it's just that you have to move energy because sometimes sitting quietly doesn't always do the trick for everybody, right? So it's that flip side of the coin where, you know, some people can sit and meditate and be okay with that. I have a lot of people, myself included, was, you know, when you're anxious, you got anxious energy and to move it, right? And move it at a pace that is rhythmic so that you can breathe. And then you're going into your parasympathetic nervous system, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Love that. And what it just brought to the surface for me is what a great way for people with busy minds. You know, and I I love meditation, but I have to be in the right mood and space for it. Because with so many demands on your plate and you're running in all these directions, like you said, sometimes you just need to move energy in a rhythmic fashion. So there is sort of an element of meditation to it. It's just meditation in a different way. You're responding to a rhythm. And then also the science nerd in me is like energy is neither created nor destroyed. It's merely transferred, right? It changes shape, so to speak. So you're you're basically offering this other outlet because there is a rhythm to it and it can allow you to move that energy in a way that helps to regulate that nervous system or kind of get out that anxious energy. And I think that you put it in a really beautiful phrase, you know, to move energy in a rhythmic way.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yeah. And the other piece of that is the fact that with kettlebell training, it is a very like you have to be present, right? You have to be aware. You're swinging a bell, you're maybe going into a complex of flow. That's the nicest thing about it is you actually it pulls you out of your day and it puts you there. So when you were asked me the difference between a like a dumbbell and a kettlebell, I would say probably, you know, you can stand and do reps, right? Versus if you're doing a complex where you're just even if you're putting in two things together, you have to think, you have to coordinate. And it's a strategy I use with a lot of my clients to, you know, if they are spiraling with something, it's like, okay, go set the timer, go do this, and then we'll come back and talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

I love that. What a great way to, I would say, channel the energy or maybe the stress that they're feeling into something that is productive. And it's it's getting it out and making them more ready to participate in whatever it is you have planned for them. It's kind of like a movement sequence that serves as a pre-session, like check-in, so to speak. You're you're dealing with something. So I'm gonna have you go do this for 20 seconds, then we'll come back and we'll be focused. Yeah. Is that a terror?

SPEAKER_01 5:14

A closed state to an open state.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. So you started to talk a little bit more about this, but how really describe for us the uniqueness of kettlebells compared to the other strength tools that we have available to us in the industry when it comes to building not just physical capacity, but also mental capacity. Like what are the unique components or why why kettlebells?

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah. So I think one of the most unique things is A, you swing it. Your swing allows a rhythm, right? There's not, you know, a ballistic rhythm, right? So it's in that curvilinear and it, you know, you're engaging. You have to engage throughout your whole body. So your stabilizers are firing. And just the fact of you can use it so, so different, like different positions. Like I could give you, you know, one exercise, and I can give you five different ways, just depending on how you're holding it. Right. So the beauty of, I would say the beauty of the bell is even if you have one bell at home or wherever you're training is, and I used to say this with my trainers all the time, is if they're on a budget for bells, you know, equipment's expensive over time, especially when you're getting like a lot of it, but you can use one bell, you change the position of how you hold it, and it's progressing your movement pattern. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Yeah. They're an incredibly versatile tool.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

And like you said, there's there's a pattern to it, and it that pattern can shift. And when you do that, you're progressing the movement without necessarily progressing the weight, so to speak. It's just the way in which you're controlling that pattern or fighting that gravity in a new way so that it does progress it and it is something that is a different stimulus for the body.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah. And then you're like, for the weight-wise, if I was to do like, and then I try not to get into kind of vocabulary of it, but like a regular hold with an overhead press, if I can do that really easy, if I change that to a bottoms up where I'm holding it by the handle and the belly is at the top, you know, that is a game changer for a press and without even changing the weight. So you're challenging your body without a weight change, just without by the positioning of the belt.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

I love that because when we think about the concept and the principle of progressive overload, we often lean heavily into, well, let's increase the weight. Sure, that's one way to progress it, but so is manipulating the reps, the sets, the speed, the vault, the total volume. But in this case, we can add pattern or a different type of movement sequence in a way that the implement is positioned versus just going to our go-to traditional sort of markers of how can we manipulate this movement to progressively overload it? You just gave a perfect example of having the bell at the top to do an overhead press versus the other way with the bell facing down. So we often, I think, think about progressive overload in too strictive terms. And maybe we need to throw pattern in there or position in there as well without changing weight or reps.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Yeah, because it it's it's just a completely different way to train and way to think of training, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. So I'm curious if you can share some examples of how shifting the focus from workout performance to capacity building changes the way coaches can structure sessions with their clients.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Yeah, this is a great question. I love this. I've been playing in this area for a little bit now. So I'm kind of excited to talk about it. Okay. I do a lot of we kind of have I have a 10, like a 10 minute rule for capacity. Okay. And it's kind of like at 10 minutes, do you how are you feeling? And just understanding at that 10 minutes. I have clients that they, when we talk about it, they talk about the light switch moment. It's where the light switch is coming on, we're ready to go. Ready to go. It didn't come on. Right. And I really I think it's so important that we get our clients to own where they are, give them permission to be where they are. Training used to be you go in, you sweat, you be done, you go home. And I think because there's a disconnect there, because we're not even becoming aware that what what our day is. Like we go to work and you run in, you do your training session, and you leave. Instead of asking yourself some questions, questions I always ask is, did you fuel today good? Like, was it good fueling? Your hydration, where's this at? Where's your sleep at? Where's your level? The last thing I ask is, how's your body feel right now? Because what I want to do is try to get people, when we talk about capacity, for them to understand that their training should change within their capacity, they actually need to know where they're at. And just, you know, doing the check-in gives them, you know, to start to go, that's kind of why I feel like that today. You get a lot of aha moments where people go, Oh, I I actually have only had four cups of coffee, I've had no water, you know? So it's it's like that. So then once you have to create that awareness first, because I could talk about capacity all day long. And if you don't even know where you're at in it, it's not gonna serve you, you won't, you won't understand it. But then from there, you can start to that's when you would implement the 10 minute strategy.

unknown 10:36

Right?

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Because then they would understand. And they're and then if they go the 10 minutes and they're like, the light switch didn't come on, but I know at the beginning I said I didn't eat yet today, and I've had four cups of coffee. So now I can start to put together possibly why I'm not at my capacity, or maybe stress is really heavy. And then you make some decisions there. You kind of go, okay, I I want to move my body today. I'm here, but how do I do it safely?

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Right. I love what you said about bringing that sense of awareness because capacity is one thing. But if you're not even aware of where you're at right now in terms of how you feel, how you slept, your hydration, your fuel, was it good fuel? Was it laggy fuel? Like what was it? Then your capacity almost doesn't matter because you got to dial in those other pieces. And you've done two things there. You've brought the level of awareness for a client to the forefront because they often can rush into a session and be like, let's ready to go. And then there's no check-in and their performance suffers. But you've also collected data, like qualitative data that helps you make better coaching decisions, but you've also preserved client autonomy. When you hand it to them and you say, How are you feeling? How's your sleep? All of those things, they start to kind of unravel in their minds why they feel the way that they do. We know that when we preserve client autonomy, their adherence to something increases. Like that is well established. And you're just reinforcing that by offering a moment of reflection to answer these very thoughtful questions. And then if something is sort of off, their recovery is low, they haven't hydrated, then you can make an in the moment kind of just in time coaching decision to shift their session for the day. Or maybe they do need to hit the kettlebell right away and you need to just do some swings and get that anxious energy out. Then we come back, then we regulate, then we focus on the next steps.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Yeah, I think it's becoming aware, you as the trainer becoming aware of what they need and then putting that, like you mean, there is that piece where it has to, they have to, it's kind of like, you know, you want to teach somebody how to fish and then they'll eat forever, right? Like you, you want to give, you want to give them responsibility for how they show up and how they're taking, taking that on.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Right. And and when we do that as coaches, we are coaching with the long term in mind, not the short-term results. We're we're coaching for what that looks like down the road. Cause isn't that really the purpose? Is like the work is being done now, but it's in mind of so I can move better in 10 years, so I have less pain in 15 years, so I can play with my grandkids when they arrive. Like we're coaching for the long term. And it's not this sort of like immediate result that we're trying to help our clients focus on. So we're preserving that autonomy that allows them to get to that point with our guidance, of course. But there is like, in order to do that, there has to be that level of awareness and self-respect, I would almost say as well. That if you're not fueling well and you're showing up dehydrated and maybe your recovery score is low, well, then we need to do some things to take care of those pieces because all the work we do in the gym isn't gonna matter if that stuff is just a wreck, because that's where the repair is done, is in that rest, in that regulation.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

And I think it brings it back into a holistic picture. Right. Like it's not just this little piece over here. It's not just this workout that's going to change your entire life. It's like we need to look at the whole picture.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Yeah, absolutely. And that and our clients are whole people. And what I love about having been in the industry for so long, and I know you have so many years of experience as well that have gotten you to this point. But what I love about the the look back that you can do over, say, even the last 15, 20 years, is we are becoming more and more aware and respectful of that our clients come to us as whole people. And in the past, like I know when I first started out as a trainer, like you trained the physical, but now we're looking at like the resilience component, the mental wellness component, the sleep fitness component, your sleep hygiene, your hydration, all in and recovery is like a huge theme right now. And I love that our industry and our focus has evolved simultaneously because we're starting to recognize that we can hit it hard in the gym. But if the client is not recovering in a way that is meaningful, purposeful, and intentional, that work we just did won't result in anything other than a greater decrease in recovery. So it's not going to move the needle. And so we've learned to sort of pull back. I know I've been in situations with clients where they show up. I had ones, one always sticks out to me is she shows up and is I could tell she'd been crying like a nightmare day, had been dealing with sick kids, really didn't have a great supportive work environment. She was not ready to focus on a hit session. Right. It was like, okay, so let's talk about what's going on. Well, I didn't sleep and I haven't eaten today, and I knew I needed to come here to do the work. We actually did recovery that day. No, girl, you need recovery. You do not need to be lifting and doing these heavy hit sessions right now. We need to dial in those other pieces. And that's what I love about your approach as well, is it's very much centered on the whole person and like what is going on in their own little ecosystem that's going to affect the work that they do with you in a session.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Yeah, it's it's super important to just understand the whole picture, what you're bringing to the table and that day and giving yourself permission. I find that is that is a big one. And I think I rep at them so much all the time that inside my head, I'm like, I probably sound like a broken record, but I just want them to understand that as they become aware that it doesn't mean that you failed today if you have to change what your training looks like. Right. Just I think of it as a success because you've actually tuned in to what your body needs and what your mind needs, and you go, I'm gonna move, but I'm gonna move differently.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Yes. And that there's so much power in the reframe, right? And and there is that sort of like noise of if I don't check the thing that's on the list in the way that it what it showed up or in the way that I'm supposed to do it, I have somehow not done myself a service. I've somehow, as you said, failed. I screwed up, I messed up, I fell off track. And that's simply not true. You're actually keeping yourself better on track by tuning in because your body is throwing signals at. This is why we have a nervous system, right? Like it's our communication system, it's our signal, it's our beacon, it's like our bat signal. And it's like we have to listen to that because the other stuff doesn't really matter if that part's not dialed in and is not ready to, you're not ready to participate in a way that is going to yield results. And it's just gonna kind of like train yourself into a hole. That's not what we want. And so we are like, that's what I appreciate so much about your approach with clients too, is like that level of awareness of wait a minute, are you ready? And let's talk about like on a scale of one to five, how ready are you? And if it's at a three, why is it a three and not a four? You're allowing, like you said, permission. So really giving them grace and space to evaluate that. And it doesn't take very long. It's not like it eats into 25 minutes of a session.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

No, it's a couple of minutes. And while you're doing, like I mean, uh I always we're we're warming up, like moving, like doing light movements, you know, where you're having a conversation, moving on the spot, forward and back. And it's just that, just that little bit to go, okay, where are we at? Where are we at? Where are we gonna go with it?

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Yeah, it's self-connection that's guided in a way that leads to these very intentional responses that then kind of the light bulb moment of, oh, yeah, I'm I did not hydrate today. Or I'm amazing. Like sometimes as coaches, I think that that's one of the most important parts of our job is creating that space for a client to think more clearly.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Yes. And for them to think.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Yes, absolutely, a hundred percent. Like you need to tune in. Sometimes it's really just about asking better questions, not in a pushy way, not in an interrogative way. It's asking deeper, better questions that allow the client to just kind of hit pause and really like think, have that executive function turned on, answer the question and be like, yes, I'm ready, or no, I'm not. And here's what I think we need to do. So again, preserving their autonomy.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah. And I always add like, as a trainer, you're learning, you're like, you're going through it too, right? Like I'd uh probably six, seven weeks ago, maybe a little bit further, I was doing a Turkish getup with a barbell. So it's not the easiest thing to execute. I've never missed it, but I slipped that day and I dropped it and I like I totally like hyperextended both of my fingers. And I left, I left the session going, like questioning myself, going, what happened there? Like something was off. And I sat down with it, was my capacity. I was, yeah, I had lots going on. And I just went, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Check in. You know, if I and myself, because I mean, you own that we're all human and we give those moments, but you you practice it yourself as a trainer. Ask yourself those things because I I came back to my apartment and I was like, oh yeah, I should have like I missed that today.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Yeah. So sometimes it's the reminder of giving ourselves permission, grace, and space to just recognize when capacity is less so than it would be a different day. And for you, that was like a kind of a reflective, should have done this. And yeah, it's part of the human condition, right? But then you you hit it the next time, or at least you're more aware of capacity and how you're feeling. But maybe you choose not to do that that day. Maybe you do something different that still targets the same thing, but is more reflective of the energetic capacity you have that particular day.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

And it's just teaching, teaching yourself, teaching your clients and repping it.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Yeah, 100%. And your work with KB Stronger, and I think that's a perfect segue into this question about your program. And because you focus on certifying trainers versed in kettlebell training with a broader perspective. Like it's not about the kettlebell training, it's about what it offers and how it can diversify your coaching skills and your coaching mindset in a way that offers growth. So I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about what the core principles are that you emphasize with the coaches that you are certifying in how to apply kettlebell training for that long-term success that is in that broader perspective of both strength and resilience.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Yeah. So with the programming, like always the foundation is your training. You're working on your skills also. But the broader part of it is how to teach it so that you can walk your clients through that. And you know, I have a group of trainers that, you know, they're a community of trainers who get to share their experiences and they have great connection of because everybody gets little different cues and things of how the journey goes. And when I first started doing certifications, my goal was like I would get certified in something and then I felt like I got a certification and I I just went away. You go like you've never had any touch. Move on. Right. And I wanted to build a community that if you wanted to stay, you can stay and become, you know, someone who is in the space all the time training the program because when I find when you train it, you breathe it and you have to bring that to your clients, right? So I have trainers that come on and they train right on the platform with my other clients, the program. So they're in it. So not only do they when they get certified with me, we go through the foundations of the kettlebell, we go through the teaching how to teach it. And then, you know, as we as the capacity training gets to be a bigger part of it, they get to live in that space with it. And then they actually get to like pretty much they embrace the whole experience of it.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Right. So it's very much like an integration. It's not a certification. It's an integration and what that then means to you as that coach and how you practice those core principles and how those core principles show up in your own training, but then in how you're teaching your clients and then likely how you're mentoring other coaches on into the future. So it's yes, it falls under the category of a certification, right? But it's more of an integration. And I think if we think about it that way, we recognize the power that it has to offer in teaching us something, but then in the way in which we influence our clients to train better for multiple multiple reasons, not just the strength component, but like you said, the resilience, the capacity, the stress regulation.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Just and just understanding that as a whole, right? That's not just oh not just a kettlebell, right? Yes. If you think about what a kettlebell can bring and I think about this a lot because when I first started so many years ago, I I had to when I flew back from San Fran when I did that one podcast, I was thinking because they were like, what was the reason? And I was and was like strength training, core, weight loss, absorbing I was laughing because I was like I was sitting with someone I was like for me it was never that. The reason I when I started kettlebell training, it was because it regulated me. Because I was in a tough space that the first time when I first came across training and it was the first time like I was so scattered. I couldn't sit I used to love to read. I couldn't sit down and read a book and people kept saying to me Jody just sit. Be still but you couldn't be one with the world and I was like I'm gonna scream if I have to sit down. I don't want to do that. Right? And it was the bell I I moved the and I tell you I I can go back to that first time I I swung a kettlebell and I was like it was like a big relief and I so when I bring in training into the program and with other trainers you're gifting them so much more than strength so much more than weight loss. You actually have the ability to help ground them yeah yeah so really the bell is the bell is more of a portal than it is a tool. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Yes oh I love that I love that that was like a mic drop moment what you just shared which leads us perfectly into kind of this lightning round that I have for you today. Jody in 30 seconds or less bear kettlebells your favorite tool because they ground me perfect. That was like two seconds that's perfect. I love it yeah yeah because they ground you I love it okay so in 30 seconds or less kettlebells or dumbbells why kettlebells because you can change the position to increase the difficulty. Absolutely yeah love it okay last one in 30 seconds or less what's one kettlebell move every client should master and why kettlebell swing.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

The swing swing with a mid-rack because you get a pause in between I say that because you can regulate your breathing and it's a it's a tool you can use to help ground yourself and regulate.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

And it's rhythmic. It all goes back to that rhythm. I love it. Those were perfect responses Jody absolutely yeah absolutely so many little like great mic drop moments for sure like it it grounds me and you know it's a portal into something else versus just the strength component it's a broader perspective. It's all of those things right like it's a way to get energy out or move energy in a way that allows for grace and space to become more focused and grounded. So yeah, absolutely I would very much love to take your training. I need a little grounding I need a little grounding myself. So Jody, as always, thank you for spending time talking about this amazing certification that you have and also just what it can do for not just clients, but for the people who engage in this certification it makes you a better coach. It makes you more mindful it offers a broader perspective and really reinforces that notion of grounding yourself in a different way and moving energy in a way that allows you to regain your focus if perhaps you are unable to sit still like you experienced early on. I think I think this could could open doors for a lot of coaches that maybe aren't feeling as connected to traditional routes as they otherwise would if they went a different direction and started kind of reframing what strength training has to offer.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah. And I think because I think we're becoming more aware and I think it's a great certification to say you know we're gonna have a we're gonna do a class that is like very rhythmic, light, and that your focus for that class actually isn't strength, but it's regulation and grounding.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Yeah, absolutely. Gives a whole new meaning to how does strength training benefit you right there's a nervous system component it's not always all about the muscle gain or anything like that. It's it's more about like what it can do for you at a very basic nervous system level.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Yeah. And I think it's I think it's you can look at it as this, you know, the things that go underneath the umbrella, the bell at the top and because because you want people want the strength they want the the weight loss and I'm like but wow what if we can put all of this in, you know, and you get the benefits of all of them.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yeah absolutely and when you do take that broader perspective like that nervous system regulation helps with all of those other outcomes.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Yes. Right? Yes you'll will you perform better.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

You perform better because your capacity is greater. You're not as stressed. You have honored the place that you're in and allows you to perform better and get those gains that you probably initially started weight training for without thought or respect to what it can offer at a nervous system level at, you know, like that grounding level it just makes those outcomes better because you can achieve them faster and in a more intentional way because you have honored the nervous system, which is like again like our bat signal. It's gonna scream at us if we choose to ignore it. And it does it in ways that are really unpleasant.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Well they're never joyful.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

They're never joyful it is always an absolutely upside down sort of circus ride. So absolutely like pay attention to your bat signal and Jody thank you for for sharing your wisdom and your insights if you could just remind our listeners where they can connect with you and learn more about KB Stronger.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Yeah you can find it at kbstronger.com and you can find me just about on any social platform. And I always say just reach out, ask a question you know it it just starts there.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Yeah absolutely well thank you again for your time and we hope to have all of you listeners back in our next episode.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Thank you so much for having me.