{"id":4505,"date":"2025-05-20T10:06:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T00:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/how-portsmouth-kettlebell-club-in-the-united-states-fights-back-against-addiction\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T10:06:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T00:06:59","slug":"how-portsmouth-kettlebell-club-in-the-united-states-fights-back-against-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/how-portsmouth-kettlebell-club-in-the-united-states-fights-back-against-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"How Portsmouth Kettlebell Club in the United States Fights Back Against Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"weightlifter\"Portsmouth, Ohio, once wore the grim label \u201cOpioid Crisis Capital of America.\u201d But in the heart of this struggling city, the Portsmouth Kettlebell Club offers more than fitness \u2013 it offers hope, purpose, and proof that community effort can fuel real recovery.<\/p>\n

An Ohio Kettlebell Club Challenges the Cycle of Addiction: <\/strong>Just 100 miles east of Cincinnati, Portsmouth sits alongside the Ohio River. At the turn of the century, it suffered greatly from the opioid crisis. Local businesses shuttered, crime rates spiked, and despair took hold. Dale King, a native of Portsmouth, returned from active duty in Iraq only to find a scarred community. \u201cNo one is coming to save us,\u201d King says. His solution? Teach strength. Both physical and mental.<\/p>\n

Building Strength, One Rep at a Time: <\/strong>King discovered CrossFit in 2007, drawn by its ability to provide both psychological and physical gains. By 2010, he opened the Portsmouth Spartan Kettlebell Club in a downtown warehouse, offering $5 workouts. But the PSKC is far more than just another Ohio kettlebell club.<\/p>\n

At PSKC, King\u2019s team has created the \u201cPortsmouth Method\u201d \u2013 a blend of CrossFit, behavioural therapy, and nutritional guidance. \u201cThe most important part of recovery is effort, and we train that,\u201d King explains.<\/p>\n

Partner and team workouts are at the core of their approach, cultivating teamwork, accountability, and communication. These life skills, developed in the gym, help club members stay resilient in their personal battles.<\/p>\n

Portsmouth Kettlebell Club at the Heart of Community Change: <\/strong>King\u2019s club welcomes people from all backgrounds, including many rebuilding their lives. He\u2019s hired former addicts as staff, and works with local counselling facilities and prisons to make exercise central to rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

The ripple effect of the gym has been powerful, sparking new business in what was a deserted city centre. \u201cTo see the domino effect has been awesome. In a town devastated by weakness, we chose strength,\u201d says King.<\/p>\n

Today, Portsmouth Kettlebell Club has 120 devoted members. Many, like the group that calls itself the \u201cNasty Nooners,\u201d turn up regardless of the weather or holiday. (for complete story WRD News<\/a><\/strong>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Portsmouth, Ohio, once wore the grim label \u201cOpioid Crisis Capital of America.\u201d But in the heart of this struggling city, the Portsmouth Kettlebell Club offers more than fitness \u2013 it offers hope, purpose, and proof that community effort can fuel real recovery. An Ohio Kettlebell Club Challenges the Cycle of Addiction: Just 100 miles east of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-need-counselling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}