Category: General

Kettlebell Training: The Great Equalizer

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There’s this guy that works out at the same gym as I do. I see him there every day mid-afternoon and he’s getting after it, throwing the weights around, training chest and biceps four times a week.

His passion and intensity level is inspiring; but I also know, because he’s a nice guy and I talk to him almost every day, that he wants to lose fat. And I know that there’s probably a more effective way to go about doing it than his current training system – to say the least.

My almost daily exposure to this spectacle has got me thinking: kettlebell training is like the ‘great equalizer’. Take someone who thinks they’re training hard, who’s training using this body part split, bodybuilding style workout, and have them do swings for 10 or 15 minutes. I’ve done it lots of times, and I know that this person gets smoked 9 times out of 10. In fact, most times they can’t make it the full 15 minutes.

On the other hand, I have female clients who are under 130 pounds that can do more swings and squats with a 24 kilo (53 pound) kettlebell than most men.

The point is, kettlebell training has a tendency of evening the playing field. If you think you’re in good shape, get someone who knows what they’re talking about to teach you the basics (or at the very least pick up a copy of the KettlebellBasics.net Quick Start Guide) and give kettlebell training a try.

And to help you learn more about the basics of training with kettlebells, here are a few posts from the archives to get you going:

The Swing

The Get Up

A Beginner Kettlebell Workout

Keep training hard!

40% Off Sale For Two More Days On My New ‘Plateau-Buster’ Toolkit

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Has progress with your kettlebell training slowed to a halt?

My new Ultimate Fitness Resource Toolkit has the workouts, the meal plan, and the ‘mindset’ tools you need to smash through your current plateau …

It’s the formula that worked for me, hundreds of my personal clients, and it’s guaranteed to work for you … or your money back! (Check out the website for details)

And the best news of all: it’s on sale for the next two days!! You can get 40% off the already low regular price if you act quickly!

Click here grab your copy now:

http://ultimatefitnessresourcetoolkit.com

Has Your Progress Stalled Out? Here’s How To Get It Going Again …

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A couple of weeks ago, we talked about how you can’t train with kettlebells forever … and it’s the truth.  Even the greatest training program ever stops working after a while.

Here’s the deal: we’ve got a new product launching this Sunday that’s specifically designed for helping you get over the ‘hump’ that we all experience eventually with our training … and we’re giving away two free copies – it’s totally simple to enter; here’s what you have to do:

Go to this post at thefitnessmonster.com, and just leave a comment detailing the frustrations you’re personally having breaking through your own fitness plateau.  It’s that simple … it’ll take just a few minutes of your time, and you’ll get the chance to win something free – who doesn’t like that?!

You only have until this Friday, so make sure to head over now and leave your comment!  Click the link below:

Smash Your Fat Loss Plateau – The Ultimate Fitness Resource Toolkit

Positives And Negatives Of YouTube For Learning How To Use Kettlebells

On By adminIn General, Tips and Tricks3 Comments

So I’m typically not one to say anything negative about other ‘fitness approaches’, if you will … with all the conflicting information out there, I think there’s a lot of perfectly fine ways to reach a goal, whether that’s gaining muscle, losing fat, etc.

However, I just wanted to give a quick example of what I’m talking about when I say that YouTube has some questionable instructional material with regards to kettlebell training … even when it comes to videos that have hundreds of thousands of views!  One of the main problems is that there’s some very good stuff on YouTube as well, and if you’re a newb, it can be hard to filter out the good and the bad.  If you will, let me know what you think about this particular video in the comments section of this post – I don’t think you even have to know much about kettlebell training to wonder wtf is going on here:

The moral of the story is to make sure you’re getting good, quality, qualified training advice.  If it’s kettlebell instruction you’re after, an RKC instructor is going to have the knowledge and experience to get you quality training and to help you learn the basic kettlebell movements safely and effectively.  ‘Nuff said.  To find one in your area, click here.

Why You Can’t Train With Kettlebells Forever … How To Mix Things Up

On By adminIn General, Kettlebell Workouts1 Comment

As much as we love training with kettlebells, the reality is that we can’t train with them exclusively forever and expect balanced development. Kettlebells are great for building strength-endurance and for improving your overall condition, but they aren’t so good for some other things – like building maximal strength. And, just like any training stimulus, you’re going to eventually adapt to kettlebell training. So what’s the best way to mix them with other training modalities and still get the results you’re looking for?

There are two basic approaches to mixing in other types of training with your kettlebell work. The first approach would be to utilize a kettlebell-only program, like the one found in Enter The Kettlebell by Pavel for a four to eight week period.  When your progress stalls out on this program, you would then switch to a program such one found in Beyond Bodybuilding – a more traditional barbell, dumbell, and body weight based routine – for another four to eight weeks.  Once adapted to this program, you would switch back to your kettlebell-only routine.

The second approach would be to use a program like the one found here on my main fitness blog, thefitnessmonster.com, that mixes kettlebell training and more traditional strength work together. This program kind of gives you the best of both worlds in that you train with kettlebells a couple of days a week and lift heavy a couple of days week.

There are pluses and minuses with both approaches.  While focusing on one specific goal for a given period of time does help you make a little faster progress towards that goal, a drawback can be that you lose a little bit of what you worked so hard for in your last training period.  Mixing kettlebell training with the rest of your strength work helps you avoid losing what you gained – but you might not make as fast of progress towards a specific goal as if you focused on it completely.

So those are the two approaches to mixing in more traditional strength training with your kettlebell work.  In the end, it comes down to your specific goals and what’s going to work best for you when you decide how to organize your training schedule.  Keep training hard and good luck!

Have you signed up for our newsletter yet?  Sign up by dropping your name and email into the box in the upper right hand corner of the page – and grab your free kettlebell training video while you’re at it!!

The Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification

On By adminIn General, Product Reviews3 Comments

Becoming a Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor was, for me, one of the more memorable events thus far in my life as a fitness professional.  It requires a big commitment for anyone interested – from a physical, mental, and financial standpoint.

The three days of training this certification requires is no joke – in fact, though most people train for months to get ready, there’s about a 30% fail rate – I know a handfull of people from my group of about 10 didn’t pass.

The cert didn’t come with a cheap price tag, either – once all is said and done, after paying for your certification fees, your hotel, meals, and airfare, you end up spending at least three grand.

Honestly, I think all of this is good – it makes the experience much more meaningful. My RKC certification is the one I’m most proud of, without a doubt – I feel like I earned it, which I can’t really say about any of my other four ‘nationally accredited’ certifications. But, not everyone wants or is even physically capable of the standards the RKC requires – which is where the new HKC, or Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification, comes in.

To give you a quick idea of what to expect from this still very new certification course, check out this YouTube video:

The best part about this certification is that it is taught with the same high standard that Dragon Door and Pavel have become famous for. At the HKC, you’ll learn, among other things:

*Knowledge and competency to perform the three most basic kettlebell drills – the swing, the get up, and the goblet squat

*Techniques and drills for core activiation, flexibility, increased power, strength, and athletic performance

*The HKC template for designing an infinate number of kettlebell workouts

And a lot more –

The RKC is a three day course, while the HKC is a one day course. The RKC requires a 100-rep snatch test, while the HKC requires a basic pull up test. The RKC comes with a nearly $2500 price tag, while the HKC can be taken for $599 – and early registration gets you another $100 off.

The last thing that’s really cool is that the immense popularity of the HKC since its launch late last year (you can see this in the video above) has led to these courses springing up all over the country! For more details, to check for availability in your area, to register early and and to get $100 off, click the banner below:

HKC (HardStyle Kettlebell Certified) Instructor Workshops

Two Part Interview At lifeisntover.wordpress.com

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Jeff over at lifeisntover.wordpress.com was nice enough to have me do a two-part interview about kettlebells on his blog over this last week.  Thought these interviews might be of interest to some of you – a few of the topics we covered:

-How the kettlebellbasics.net site got started
-My own personal kettlebell ‘mentor’
-Lessons I’ve learned from training with kettlebells
-Favorite kettlebell workouts
-Perfecting the snatch and clean
-What size KB to start with
-Proper length of a kettlebell workout
-The best brands of kettlebells

And a lot more! You can check out Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.

Another quick heads up – if you’re on the fence about purchasing the KettlebellBasics.net Quick Start Guide, you’ve got until Friday night at 11:59pm PST to grab it at the promo launch price of 50% off – you can order it now by clicking here.

Enjoy the interview and let me know what you think!

KettlebellBasics.net Quick Start Guide Contest Results and 50% Off Sale

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Thanks to everyone who entered the contest … Issac and Trent have been randomly selected as the winners (I had my assistant randomly pick two entries to make it fair)!  I’ve sent both of you an email with a link to download your free copy of the product.

If you’d still like to grab a copy, the entire product package, including the Quick Start Guide, coaching mp3’s and bonus 10 minute workout report is currently on sale for $9.95 – 50% off the regular price!  This special promo pricing won’t last for long, so make sure to grab a copy ASAP.

Click HERE for more details and to order.

Win A Free Copy Of The New KettlebellBasics.net Quick Start Guide!

On By adminIn General23 Comments

I’m really excited about this new kettlebell training manual … it’s been in the works for a while and it’s finally coming to fruition.  The KettlebellBasics.net Quick Start Guide is going to be released next Monday, January 25th, 2010 … it’s a guide I’ve put together to help you learn the basics of safe and effective kettlebell training.  It brings together all the ideas we’ve covered thus far here on KettlebellBasics.net – and obviously a lot more – into an instructional manual and workout guide.  Click HERE for a little more detailed info on the new product.

As an appreciation to the readers of this blog, I’m going to do a little contest: I’ll be giving away two free copies of the guide on the 25th.  The catch: just leave a comment on this post detailing your #1 problem or frustration with learning the basics of kettlebell training before 12am Monday morning.  That’s it!  Pretty simple way to get somethin’ for free … all I’ll ask is for a little feedback from the winners after they’ve reviewed the guide.

So leave a comment already and get yourself entered to win!

3 Tips For Building A Solid Kettlebell Routine

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Whether you’re trying to evaluate a pre-designed kettlebell routine or you’re attempting to design one yourself, you’ve got to have a way to determine if it’s going to be effective for helping you reach your goals.  While there are a lot of factors that can make or break a kettlebell routine, a detailed plan, focus on great technique and emphasis on the basics are three things that are very important components of a solid kettlebell routine.

The number one thing when evaluating a kettlebell routine is to make sure it lays out a very specific and detailed plan.  What you don’t want to do is just randomly piece together workouts from this blog or any other source; you want a complete program, such as the one(s) found in theKettlebellBasics.net Quick Start Guide.

Secondly, great technique is paramount. If you’re training with sloppy form, you’re not only shortchanging yourself on results, you’re putting yourself at a greater risk of injury.  Get some instruction, watch videos, study books (probably in that order of importance, too) to master the basics of safe and effective kettlebell training technique.

Lastly, focus on the basics.  You don’t need to be doing crecent swings or slingshots if you can’t do a basic swing or snatch; you truly can cover all of your major muscle groups by focusing exclusively on swings, get ups, clean and presses, squats, and snatches.

Having a specific and detailed plan, using great technique, and focusing on the basics are three of the most important things you can do when putting together or evaluating a kettlebell routine. If you want a guide to proper kettlebell training technique and a workout plan to go with it, check out theKettlebellBasics.net Quick Start Guide.  I put this guide together to solve the basic problems that so many people have when getting started with kettlebells.  Keep training hard!

P.S. While you’re here, don’t forget to sign up for your free KB training video – drop your name and email in the box in the upper right hand corner of the page!