HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) (with TWO “I’s”!) – is all the rage these days. It’s focused on cardiovascular fitness and fat burning. However, HIIT is NOT what today’s kettlebell workout is about!

HIT (High-Intensity Training), on the other hand, though it sounds similar, is actually quite different. HIT (with a kettlebell twist) is what we’re focused on in today’s workout, and this coming month’s 28-day Challenge. It’s a style of weight training that involves performing a limited number of exercises with maximum effort to stimulate muscle growth. It typically involves using heavier weights and fewer repetitions, with longer rest periods between sets. It is geared towards building muscle and strength.

The HIT movement can be traced back to the work of Arthur Jones, a self-taught exercise physiologist and inventor who founded Nautilus, Inc., a company that developed and marketed high-tech weight training equipment. It was used and popularized by bodybuilders such as Mike Mentzer, Dorian Yates, and Casey Viator.

In today’s workout – and this month’s 28-day Kettlebell Challenge – we are going to take the old-school HIT training methods for muscle and strength, and adapt them so that anyone can do them at home with a kettlebell or two and 20-30 minutes, 3-4 days per week! The workouts are also adapted to be intense so that you get great results, but also easy on the body and joints for the 40-and-up crowd that I specialize in working with.

Try today’s sample workout, and if you love it, keep an eye out for Challenge registration opening later this week:

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HIT (High Intensity Training) – Kettlebell Body Shocker

1 – Kettlebell Goblet Squat – (2 warm up sets at sub-maximal effort, then) 1 set of 10-20 reps, to muscular failure

2 – Kettlebell Single-Arm Row – (2 warm up sets at sub-maximal effort, then) 1 set of 10-20 reps per arm, to muscular failure

3 – Kettlebell Overhead Press – (2 warm up sets at sub-maximal effort, then) 1 set of 5-10 reps per arm, to muscular failure

4 – Finish with 4-5 sets of 15-20 kettlebell swings at a challenging but SUB-maximal weight

For each exercise, use a weight that allows you to perform reps with proper form, and continue until you reach muscular failure, meaning you cannot complete another full repetition with proper form. Rest for 2-3 minutes between exercises.