Folks, I've decided to consolidate all of my blogs into one - http://kettlebellslosangeles.blogspot.com

Please update your bookmarks and I'll look forward to seeing you there!

Best always,

"Doc" Mark Cheng, RKC II

Viral brachial plexopathy... Who in the hell ever heard of that?!?!?

Certainly not me. I've been involved with orthopedic medicine for a few years now, and that was a new one to me. I've heard of and treated people with virus-based diseases that attacked the nervous system - such as shingles & Guillain-Barre - but I definitely didn't recall learning about any disease where a virus attacks a specific branch of nerves, causing debility.... until it struck me.

A little more than 2 weeks ago, I started noticing some discomfort in my left arm. I figured it was just mild soreness from training, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Around the same time, I'd also had a mild stomach flu, so I assumed that the shoulder discomfort had to do with some flu-related body-aches as well.

The only problem was that the mild discomfort progressed into real pain, especially along the side of my neck and at the shoulder joint itself. The pain also came with pronounced weakness. Usually, most people can't differentiate weakness caused by pain inhibition and actual motor deficit. In my case, I've learned how to differentiate motor weakness from mere pain inhibition in my own body, and I could clearly tell that the arm/shoulder was getting seriously weak. I'd gone from working on pressing a 70 lb kettlebell to being unable to do a pushup.

I tried backtracking... What did I do that might have caused this? Did I strain it? Did I overtrain it? Did I take a bad breakfall in Shuai-Chiao? Did I hit something from a bad angle? Did I sleep on it funny? Did I get a venomous spider bite? Did I aggravate a pre-existing shoulder injury?

The answer to all of the above were a resounding NEGATIVE. So I started calling on my health care connections and made appointments to get treatment from 5 different doctors - 2 chiropractors, 1 osteopath, 1 acupuncturist, and 1 neurologist.

- All the standard orthopedics tests for rotator cuff tears or impingement were negative.

- The tests for nerve root compression were negative.

- And the only theory that sounded remotely credible (albeit weird) was that the root cause was viral.

I didn't get much explanation about that "viral" thing, and I assumed that to mean that the problem was lymphatic, so a good lymphatic drainage would lead to a major reversal in my symptoms... A little too presumptuous, however.

The posterior parts of my shoulder & arm were tightening up and really bothering me now. The teres muscles and the triceps were throbbing more often than not. It hurt to type, it hurt to treat patients, and it hurt to sleep! I was getting more miserable and increasingly desperate to find solid answers about what was going on. I knew this felt radically different from the rotator cuff injuries and tendinopathies I'd had over the years and from the shoulder joint injuries I'd also suffered.

Finally, a former student of mine, Dr. Tony C. Lin, who's a hot-shot orthopedics specialist in Hawaii, e-mailed me with a great explanation - viral brachioplexopathy. Immediately remembering that the other physicians mentioned a viral cause, although not giving me an explanation of the mechanism of injury, Dr. Lin's explanation made perfect sense.

The bottom line is this. The shoulder/arm/neck will hurt for a couple of weeks, and then the patient (me) will be left with lingering weakness and possible loss of range of motion for anywhere from 2 months to 2 years.

This same problem attacked one of my kettlebell students, and he told me that it hits him about once every 5 years. Now that the acute phase is over, where I was in nothing but pain, now I'm left quite weak on my left side.

But that's no problem. I'm not going to be left looking like the 1-armed bandit. Using a light kettlebell, I've begun rehabilitating my left side. While I can clean a 53-lb KB with certainty, I can't press more than 26 lbs right now with any measure of stability. No problem.

Slow, steady, consistent progress is the way to make things happen. It still hurts to type since my left arm starts tiring and locking up, and last night was a difficult night of sleep. But I'm focused on making this get better.

I'll keep you posted.

One of the most commonly asked questions from my students and clients is "What do I do if I have to travel, and there are no kettlebells where I'm going?"

People have tried all sorts of things to take the place of their beloved kettlebells. You name it, I've heard of it... swinging dumbbells, using water jugs, swinging their kids, filling their duffle bags with sand, etc., etc., etc..... Seems like I've heard of everything but swinging around major appliances.

Let's put the question to rest once and for all.

There is NO substitute for a kettlebell, folks. No other configuration of weight and structure will train your body in the same way as a kettlebell. While standard weights may be a decent way of doing resistance training, it's certainly not the same because of the off-centered balance of a kettlebell.

So instead of trying to train your body in the SAME way, using the SAME exercises as you would with a kettlebell, do something slightly DIFFERENT instead.

Will it give you a tremendous systemic workout? Heck, yeah!
Will it use similar principles as the RKC's Hard Style kettlebell training? Heck, yeah!
Will it strengthen your "core"? Heck, yeah!
Will it help rehabilitate injuries or pre-hab your body to prevent injury? Heck, yeah!

To me, there are 3 main exercises that I like to do, and 2 of them are straight out of Pavel Tsatsouline's manual, The Naked Warrior. I chose these 3 exercises to suit my own personal needs and biases (e.g., I hate running, I don't like pushups, etc.). They are:
1. Tactical Pullup
2. Pistol
3. Naked Get-Up

The Naked Get-Up is my own modification of the Turkish Get-Up, and I'll be posting more about that in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Now if you're thinking, "Good grief, I can't even do a full pullup!!!", don't sweat. All of these exercises can be modified such that ANYONE can benefit from them.

For example, sometimes I like to just work on engaging my lats, so instead of doing a full pullup, sometimes I'll keep my elbows locked out and just work on firing my lats. Next, I'll work on doing the Hard Style breathing with the glute clench at the same time as I fire my lats, working on "shortening" my spine and shoving my shoulder blades down into my back pocket.

More on the pullup progression and the pistol progression coming!

And if you're in the LA area, please check out www.kettlebellslosangeles.com for information on our Sunday beach class and monthly workshops at the Inosanto Academy!

A lot's been said already on so many different fronts to thank the armed forces personnel who put their lives & safety on the line for us. Screw the talk... here's the action.

For any US armed forces veteran who comes to train with Kettlebells Los Angeles's Sunday beach class, you will train for the month of July as my honored guests.

For any first responders, you will also train as my guests for the month of July.

For any active duty personnel, you are also welcome to train as my guests for the month of July.

I ask only that you show any of the instructional staff some identification or discharge papers, so that we may properly honor you.

America owes you. Kettlebells Los Angeles would like to do a little something to pay you back.

With respect & gratitude,
Dr. Mark Cheng, RKC II