I have discovered I’ve been taking a legal muscle enhancer for a while and never even knew that was one of it’s functions. Now that I know, I guess I am not taking enough!

What am I talking about? Well it seems taking daily recommended dosages of ibuprofren or acetominophen for pain and inflammation has an effect on building muscle mass…legally. Here is the study, done at Ball State’s Human Performance Laboratory, with implications for the adaptation to old folks to exercise and astronauts exposed to long-term weightlessness.

Ibuprofen or acetaminophen in long-term resistance training increases muscle mass/strength

What a bonus! I was happy enough the ibuprofren was reducing the inflammation; (I don’t think acetominophen is anti-inflammatory, though).

We have been having fun with kettlebells over here. Not only do we swing and snatch them, but we paint ‘em too!

You have seen my blue-green 24 kilo creation and the candy apple Big Red 32 kg paperweight. Those were my modest attempts at kettlebell creativity and about as far as I want to go. I would rather go ballistic with them.

Torri Lehman painted this beauty and recently presented Val with her own customized hot pink kettlebell. In the works is one for a female MMA fighter and another for Todd Medina’s Fight School adjacent to our training pit in Costa Mesa, CA.

If you would like to get a kettlebell or two or three and then get them painted by Torri, contact Val at Val’s Kettlebells. Just click the tab at the top of this page.

Ok, ladies, let’s get to some kettlebell swingin’.

Melanie Roach is a 117 lb former gymnast-turned Olympic weightlifting hopeful who who can put double her bodyweight over her head and is fond of saying weightlifting is the easiest part of her day. Read the amazing story of Melanie Roach.