Regular cardio is essential for maintaining heart health. Additionally, if your goal is to shed excess fat and maintain a lean physique, incorporating cardio into your routine can be highly beneficial for more calorie burn!

Now running was something I relied on for YEARS as a highly efficient way to get my cardio done. I could get my heart rate up quick, burn a solid amount of calories, and feel very productive in a short amount of time – 30 or 45 minutes!

HOWEVER – the problem is, as the years have ticked by, running seems to be harder and harded on the joints. There are some ways I still incorporate it into my routine (things like rucking and sprinting are two things that I still like and my body sesms to tolerate)… but that’s why kettlebells are also a staple of my cardio plan.

*If you want a full kettlebell plan that’s focused on helping you get low-impact cardio to burn more calories in less time, check out our upcoming 21-day Holiday Shred Challenge, starting Monday Dec 4th:

-> Lose 7-10 Pounds with KBs in 21 Days

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Take the kettlebell snatch test we have to do to become RKC certified, for example. Complete the test itself – 100 KB snatches in 5 minutes with a 53 lb KB (men) or 16 lb KB (women), and you are TOAST! Your heart rate is EXTREMELY high after doing this test (if you can survive!), not to mention how it stays elevated for a period of time afterwards, and you continue to burn calories at a high rate for a while too.

This is not even to mention, the workouts you do in prep for doing a test like this. You might do something like KB snatch ladders a couple / few of times per week for a couple / few months leading up to the cert:

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KB “Snatch Ladder” Low-Impact Cardio Workout

KB SNATCH

Set your timer for 30 second intervals.

First interval, do 4 reps on the right side.

Your rest is the time it takes you to complete the set until the next 30
second interval starts.

Second interval, do 4 reps on the left side.

Repeat for 9 rounds on EACH side, INCREASING the reps by one per side
till you get to 8, THEN going back down the “ladder”.

So you’ll go:

4/4
5/5
6/6
7/7
8/8
7/7
6/6
5/5
4/4

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Do that KB snatch workout (or even some scaled-down version of it!)… and TELL me you don’t get a tremendous cardiovascular workout!!

To sum up, cardiovascular exercise is something you need to be doing. Activities like running can be highly efficient, but they are also higher impact on the body, and as we age, lower impact replacements are great to find. Kettlebells can be one of those lower impact replacements, and the sample kettlebell snatch ladder workout I shared with you today is a great example of how you can get some tremendous cardio exercise with kettlebells in a low impact way.

If you want a full kettlebell plan that’s focused on helping you get low-impact cardio to burn more calories in less time, check out our upcoming 21-day Holiday Shred Challenge, starting Monday Dec 4th:

-> Lose 7-10 Pounds with KBs in 21 Days

-Forest and the FVT Team — KettlebellBasics.net — ForestVanceTraining.com