2 Beginner Kettlebell Workouts

Most of the Kettlebell Workouts I have seen on YouTube have been extremely advanced, performed by muscle-clad supermen. Admittedly, those supermen have programs, classes or DVDs to sell you, so they need to look the part. While there is nothing wrong with ambition, you need to crawl before you can walk, so in this article I present two very simple workouts for the newbie kettlebeller (girevik). This article is not intended as a guide to actually doing the exercises, you should get one of Pavel’s books or DVD’s for that, it is presented only as a starting point for your journey.

Workout 1 – On The Field

This is a workout I did with my Dad at the local football field. I don’t know how big fields are in the United States, but in Australia, the football field is 100 metres (109 yards) long and 70 metres (76.5 yards). The workout basically consists of kettlebelling and jogging around the field (or half field) between sets.

The basic workout is a ladder using three different bell weights. In this case 12,16 and 24 kg (26,36,53 pounds) kettlebells. If you are an absolute beginner, then there are four sets.

* 12kg two arm swings (20 reps), one lap of the field (jog)

* 16kg two arm swings(12 reps), one lap of the field (jog)

* 24kg two arm swings (8 reps), half lap of the field

* 12kg clean and jerk (5 reps per arm), one lap of the field (walk).

This is followed by stretching. You should stretch the arms, chest, hamstrings and calves.

This workout is quite intense, and you should adjust it to your own level of fitness. I also highly recommend getting a heart rate monitor. If you are unfit, and your heart rate reaches 160, it is time to stop the intense exercises, and slowly bring your heart rate down by walking around and stretching. Another thing about this workout, is that you need three kettlebells to perform it, which is not so good if you are on a budget. You can change this workout to work with a single kettlebell. I recommend either the 12 or 16kg (26 or 36lb). Start with 12 repetitions on the first set, 18 reps second set and 22 reps on the third set.

Workout 2 – On the Deck

Sometimes (most of the time), I am too lazy to get to the local football field, so I have a second (shorter) workout that I do on the front deck. Now I do NOT recommend swinging kettlebells on your deck, I just mention it because you don’t need a lot of room to get a great workout. If you can swing a cat, you can swing a kettlebell. You can do this workout in a small courtyard. In theory you could do this workout inside, but I highly recommend that you do not.

This routine is very short, and very intense (well, for me anyway). I recommend that you wait until you are comfortable with Workout 1 above, and build your fitness before moving on to Workout 2.

The routine uses either a 16kg and a 12kg, or just a 16kg bell, depending on how sassy I feel at the time, and consists of only two types of kettlebell exercise, the one armed swing, and a particular variation of the press that has the kettlebell in the upright position at the end of the press. I use this variation of the press because I am personally not interested in ‘ballistic shock’ training. I am not a martial artist, boxer, or sportsman. I only use kettlebells to keep fit and strong. The routine is as follows.

With the 16kg (36lb) kettlebell:

* one arm swing – right arm – 10 repetitions

* one arm swing – left arm – 10 repetitions

* one arm swing – alternating arms – 20 repetitions

- Rest

With the 12kg or 16kg kettlebell (depending on fitness/strength):

* right arm press – 10 repetitions

* left arm press – 10 repetitions

For me, this is enough to keep fit and strong. If you are starting serious training for sports or martial arts however, you will want to increase the weight of the kettlebell you use, but keep the repetitions the same. The goal here is not to increase the quantity of exercise, but the intensity. Short intense workouts are the ideal for burning fat,losing weight and getting strong and fit.

Don’t be fooled by how the workout looks on paper, this is an intense workout for beginners, and can be kept intense as you progress by increasing the weight of the bell you use.

So that’s it, two basic beginner workouts to get you started on your way to strength and fitness. Feel free to modify them to suit your needs, but always keep in mind the basics of kettlebell training and you will be gold.

Dosvydanya

Ian Thompson of KettlebellWorkoutOnline.com has been training with kettlebells for 6 months and has already felt the benefit in strength and fitness that this unique training equipment provides. For more articles and tips to use in your kettlebell training, go to the Kettlebell Workout Online website

Author: Ian Thompson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Tissot virtual reality