3 Extremely Effective Ways to use Kettlebells to Get into Incredible Shape FAST!

If you haven’t heard of kettlebells yet, you must have been hiding under a…dumbbell. Kettlebells are one of the newest pieces of exercise equipment to hit the US and are growing rapidly in popularity because of the results they help others achieve in very little time.
For those in the know, kettlebells are new to the US, but they are not new by any means. In fact, kettlebells have been around for HUNDREDS of years. They were basically unknown in the West sans some pictures of strongmen using them in the last 1800’s and early 1900’s until exercise specialist and Russian ex-Special Forces member Pavel Tsatsouline re introduced them around 2000.

Read the rest of this entry

I Couldn’t Believe What I Was Seeing When I Saw This Little Woman Lifting This Huge Metal Ball…

To be honest, I started laughing. I thought maybe I was witnessing a crazy person right in front of my eyes. I was taking a relaxing stroll in the park when I spotted her out of the corner of my eye. There she was, a slight woman of maybe 100 pounds or so and she was squatting down and bouncing up quickly and I saw there was a huge ball hanging from the end of her outstretched arms.

Read the rest of this entry

Ok, so here is the debate. We are all familiar with dumbbells, and for many of us, they represent our first foray into working out. I can remember the first time I grabbed a pair myself. They were the 10lb ones with the red plastic casing. The kind filled with cement that after awhile started dropping cement dust all over the place. I remember how great it felt to do those curls and feel my biceps burn. Yep, dumbbells represent many a fond memory for most of us which is why it is so hard for some to accept that there may be another player on the scene that is a WHOLE lot more effective and burning fat and getting you into shape.

You might have guessed from the title that I am talking about kettlebells. Described by some as “cannonballs with handle”, kettlebells are fairly new to the US but have been making quite a splash of late in the world of fitness. I often snicker when I overhear “fitness experts” (read: MUSCLEHEADS) at the gym talking about the FAD of kettlebells and how it is a worthless piece of equipment and will never compare to the workout you can get with a dumbbell. I even overheard some cry out “you can’t even do bench presses with them!” Well, here are the facts…

Kettlebells, while they may be new to you, are NOT new at all. In fact, history finds them showing up in a Russian dictionary as early as 1704, with some estimates dating them much earlier. Kettlebells, unlike dumbbells, require the use of your entire body when performing many of the exercises. Dumbbells often revolve around isolating one muscle at a time. For instance, one of the core exercises of the kettlebell, the swing, recruits just about every major muscle group to perform the movement. This type of workout will not only burn more fat than simply curling or pressing using a dumbbell, it will work to stretch and strengthen your entire body at the same time. As you build muscle over your ENTIRE frame, that increased muscle will in turn burn more calories working to speed up the fat loss you experience from using kettlebells.

To truly experience the difference, all you have to do is watch someone who is skilled with using a kettlebell alongside someone who is skilled at using dumbbells. The kettlebeller will be squatting, exploding upward, forcing the kettlebell through the air, and performing a full body workout while moving the whole time. The person handling the dumbbell will…curl their arm…lay on a bench and press up…stand still while doing triceps extensions…need I say more? But listen, don’t take my word for it…I have lost so much fat lately using the kettlebell, my brain may not be working right…;-) Pick up a kettlebell and get some instruction from a certified kettlebell instructor. After a few sessions, you may never pick up a dumbbell again. Heck, you may never NEED to…

Do you want a unique fat burning whole body workout in 30 minutes or less?

It seems pretty trite to say that we all want to get ripped and lean but do so in the shortest amount of time, but it is a trite saying that I hear over and over again. Everyone will ALWAYS be looking for shortcuts to weight loss and physical fitness. The problem is, many people look to pills and potions as their “shortcuts” and they would rather believe the crazy claims made by TV commercials than sound exercise principals. A little hard work can go a LONG way, but some folks are just too lazy to move off the couch and into the world of exercise.

For those that aren’t afraid of a little hard work, the good news is that there ARE ways in which you can get ripped and lean and it will only take you about 30 minutes a day. I am talking about COMPOUND MOVEMENTS. A compound movement is any movement in which you will engage many muscles of your body at one time. This type of exercise will allow you to work out many muscles at one time, burn more calories, and greatly speed up the time it takes for you to get in incredible shape. One piece of exercise equipment that features compound movements as part of its core principles is the kettlebell.

The kettlebell is a piece of equipment that looks like a bowling ball with a handle. Russian in origin, the kettlebell has been around for hundreds of years, but has just recently been introduced to the US. To workout using the kettlebell, you have to engage almost every muscle in your entire body. Each list is unilateral (when using only one kettlebell of course) and this forces you to maximize the principles of core stabilization to help support the lift and move the weight through the different planes of motion. Full body muscular recruitment coupled with a focus on core stabilization…sound like an effective workout to anyone? I hope so…

Ok, now, let’s talk about what I promised you. Here is how to get a fat burning whole body workout in 30 minutes or less. Just swing baby! Using a kettlebell that is. The kettlebell swing is the core foundational exercise of the kettlebell. It incorporates just about every muscle in your body and it will keep you moving the entire time helping you burn calories and shred the fat off in no time at all. To perform the exercise, you will grasp the handle of the kettlebell with two hands. Then, thrust your hips forward, keep your arms loose but extended and allow the kettlebell to swing forward. Then, allow it to swing back down and through your legs. Now, thrust your hips again increasing the momentum. Make sure you don’t over extend your back when the bell goes forward, but instead, stabilize your core when the kettlebell moves forward and keep your back fairly straight up and down. Sounds simple, huh? Well, it is fairly easy to get the hang of it, but you will soon realize, the work is NOT easy. Even with a fairly light weight, you will probably have trouble knocking out 20 or more swings at a time. Put it this way, for your first workout of kettlebell swings, you will probably not want to go for more than about 5-10 minutes of swings at the most. This will give you an incredible workout and depending how you feel the next day, you can alter the time and weight accordingly. Most folks are surprised at just how intense and effective this workout can be, so take it slow, be safe, and start incorporating one of the most effective exercises that exists into your regimen. A fat burning whole body workout in 30 minutes or less? Yep, kettlebell swings are the answer!