PS – If you find this video helpful, imagine working with me IN PERSON to not only give you dozens – if not HUNDREDS – more tips like this one, but also coach YOU personally, and help you fix your kettlebell form so that you can enjoy safer, better, and more effective workouts …
You want to lose fat, build muscle, and get into great shape … but you have a few obstacles that are keeping you from getting there.
For one, you have limited time. Maybe back in the day, you had an hour or two to train each day, but those times are long gone. Now 3-4x per week, 20-30 mins per session is what you got – tops! – to make it happen.
The time it takes to drive to the gym for a workout is also a real challenge. This adds a good 30-45 mins (plus) to the whole process, and with your busy lifestyle, that’s just not always realistic.
Enter the Basement Badass Workout!
You are going to use TOUGH – but short, and highly effective – minimal equipment workouts that you can do in your basement, garage, backyard, etc … so that you can improve training consistency, remove the guesswork and FINALLY get awesome results!
It’s going to take effort and dedication – but with this training method, you CAN become a “basement badass” in just 3-4x per week, in 20-30 minutes of training time per day.
Let’s get to it!
The Basement Badass Workout
Part 1 – Mobility / Flexibility
Flexibility, mobility, and high quality movement is KEY to becoming a basement badass.
For one, this will help with your nagging aches and pains.
But also, you’ll just be able to do all your workouts BETTER … and you’ll get more out of them as a result.
Check out this video to see a quick and efficient sequence you can do before your workout in around 5-7 minutes, that puts all of these components together:
Part 2 – Strength Training
Next up is the strength training portion of your workout.
You’ll do one of the following lifts:
– Deadlift – sumo or conventional
– Squat – front or back
– Bench press
– Military press
Each day.
You’ll use the following simple – but HIGHLY effective – progression for your rep range / intensity level:
Weeks 1 – learn the new lift, keep the weight light, work up to a set of about 5 at around 60-70% of your one rep max
Weeks 2+3 – work up to two hard sets of 8 reps at 70% of your one rep max
Weeks 4+5 – work up to two hard sets of 5 reps at 80% of your one rep max
Weeks 6+7 – work up to two hard sets of 3 reps at 90% of your one rep max
On week eight, you’ll take it easy – NO lifting – and then choose two new lifts and start all over again!
I have lots of videos on the FVT YouTube channel on how to do the main barbell lifts, mistakes to avoid, etc, but here are a couple to get you started:
One common deadlift mistake, and how to fix it:
Military press mistake to avoid:
Part 3 – Metabolic Conditioning
Now we’re around 15 mins in to our training session … 5-7 mins for the warm up, and 8-10 mins for our “main lift” …
We’re going to follow up this main lift with a metabolic conditioning circuit using COMPLIMENTARY bodyweight / kettlebell / conditioning movements.
This portion of the workout will hit movement patterns that are NOT hit in the main lift.
Programming this portion of your training training is both an art and a science, and there are MANY options that could work… a couple things to keep in mind:
— On both a daily AND weekly level, you want to hit all of your major movement patterns evenly
— Stick with the same movements for a good four weeks before you switch it up … sooner than that, and it’s hard to make tangible progress
Here are a couple sequences that could work well in this portion of the Basement Badass approach:
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Honestly, you could end the workout here, and be TOTALLY fine. At this point, you are going to be about 20-25 minutes in. I do things this way sometimes myself when
I’m pressed for time.
But if you have time and are feeling strong / energetic / etc, you can include …
Part 4 (optional) – The “Finisher”
To finish off the workout, you can optionally do a “finisher”.
This should last around 5 minutes. And here again, there are MANY ways to set these up that will work … one big thing to remember is, again, do something again that
compliments the main training session.
You could do something that focuses on a specific body part, if the main workout has already been conditioning heavy, like this:
Or, you could do something to get your heart rate up and burn some extra fat, like this:
— 10 swings every 30 seconds for 5 minutes!
How to swing:
And that it’s for our Basement Badass workout!!
To wrap up – you want to get strong, lean, and athletic – in short, be a beast.
But you have a few obstacles that are keeping you from getting there – such as time, equipment to train with, and more.
Well, follow my Basement Badass plan, and you’ll be on your way to getting your old body back – training just 3-4x per week, 20-30 mins at a pop, using minimal equipment in your basement, garage, or own back yard.
Train hard, and talk soon –
– Forest Vance
ForestVance.com
PS – One more thing … in addition to this, to get the BEST results, you’re also going to do 30-45 mins of ‘cardio’ each week … but it’s probably not how you’re accustomed to doing this type of activity.
The goal is to just get out and move. Bike, run, play a sport – do something you ENJOY.
Doing activity you actually LIKE is great for many reasons – one, you are far more likely to stick with it for the long term … two, a variety of movement patterns are great for keeping you healthy and moving great … and much more.
PPS – There are some details that I left out of this plan … it is really intended as a sort of framework, or philosiphy, for you to build your own training on.
That being said, if you have questions about anything at all, let me know in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to help. Thanks!
Here’s a jump rope workout you can do as part of a workout as your “metabolic conditioning” piece … OR even as a short, stand-alone, full body high intensity routine.
This one takes me about 7 minutes to complete if I use a 32 kilo ‘bell, and really push the pace –
Can you beat my time? Give it a try, and let me know! 😉
*Take the 21 day “Dominate Your Double Unders” Challenge to improve your jump rope skills and potentially take MINUTES off your time for workouts like this one*
10 kettlebell “ground to overhead
5 pull ups
(if standard pull ups are too hard, do 10 recline rows instead … if they are too easy, add weight!)
15 double unders
Do 4 rounds as FAST as possible!
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Enjoy! 😉
– Forest Vance
ForestVance.com
PS – You can search all around, but you’ll have a hard time finding a better course than “Dominate Your Double Unders” when it comes to learning how to PROPERLY jump rope – from the basics, to dominating your double unders:
When I first started training with kettlebells … coming from more of a lifting / bodybuilding – type background … I was taken a bit by surprise …
Because in NONE of the main kettlebell exercises, do you get what we would call “direct arm work”! That is – no moves specifically for the biceps / triceps / etc …
So, I came up with a few short KB workouts for arms, that I could “plug in” at the end of my regular kettlebell training sessions, to get my arm training fix … and I share one of my favorite ones with you in today’s video.
Here’s how it goes:
— 15 KB towel curl
— 10 KB halo + behind-the-head tricep extension
— Complete 3 sets of each with as little rest as possible
Now you too can get strong, lean arms in about 5 minutes, using just a single kettlebell.
Just got back from a great weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area at the NorCal Fitness Summit.
It was a top – notch lineup of presenters, and I also got the chance to meet and connect with folks doing some really amazing things in the fitness industry.
So on the drive home yesterday afternoon, I got to thinking – on pretty much EVERY occasion that I spend the time and money to go to an event, sign up for a coaching program, invest in a home-study course, etc – I almost ALWAYS get many times the return.
For example – this last weekend, I got several HUGE take-aways that will be worth MANY times the cost of my ticket / travel / lodging / etc.
And this is how I always look at it. Even if I just get ONE big take-away from a course, coaching program, or live event … it’s WELL worth the time / energy / cost of doing it.
So that’s why I think whether you are a beginner kettlebell user, or you are highly experienced, you should check this out:
I have one of my best-selling home-study courses – “The Top 13 Kettlebell Training Mistakes … and How to Fix Them!” – on sale this week.
It’s a course that includes both a 13 video series, and a couple of e-manuals.
And I think that no matter WHAT your level of kettlebell training expertise, in this course, you will find at least a few training tips that will take your KB workouts to the next level … and that will be worth many times the cost of the program.
Just a few of the things that I cover (there’s TONS more in the full course):
— Why most people mess up the swing and do it wrong – and how to fix it
— How to avoid whacking and bruising your forearms on the KB clean
— A simple way to instantly boost your KB pressing power 10-20%
— How to do perfect snatches, every time
Get more info and grab your copy at the link below:
To sum up – investing in yourself is SO important. Getting a little better and moving ever-so-slightly towards your goals each and every day, really adds up. So whatever your goals are, make TODAY the day that you take ACTION, and do what you need to do to get one step closer to them!
The Turkish get up is an AWESOME exercise, and offers so many benefits … from strengthening the core, to shoulder / hip mobility / stability, and SO much more …
But it’s also a tricky one to master, and it’s got a lot of moving parts.
Specifically, one portion of the drill that folks often have trouble with is standing up from the lunge position.
In today’s video, I cover a simple technique you can use to slightly modify the exercise at this stage … and in the process, build the strength to eventually do the full move with perfect form.
Check it out, and give it a try today!!
– Forest Vance, RKC II
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If you found this video useful, you might also like:
PS – We have some LIVE kettlebell workshops in the works and scheduled for several locations around the US in 2016 … exciting stuff! Stay tuned for more details coming soon …
How to properly rack a kettlebell is a topic that comes up over and over in client sessions, so I thought I’d put together a quick tutorial to help.
Here’s a video where I break down how to properly rack a kettlebell:
And here are the main points I touched on in the video:
Proper rack position is important when you’re doing presses, squats, or any move that starts with the ‘bell at the shoulder.
It gives you a stronger, more stable base to do these exercises from … plus your training will be generally safer and more effective.
Start by cleaning the KB up to your shoulder. When it gets there, here are a few things to focus on:
1 – Your thumb should be able to touch your collar bone in the rack position
2 – The KB should touch both your forarm and your upper arm
3 – The forearm should be straight up and down
Now you know how to properly rack a kettlebell. Hope this helps you with safer, stronger, more effective kettlebell workouts!
This is a training system designed to get you SHOCKING fat loss results in just 42 days … using kettlebell / bodyweight workouts that can be done ANYWHERE, in about 20 minutes.
But, it’s only available at a discount for a limited time, so be sure to check it out ASAP if you’re interested:
