Tag Archives: Fat Burn

Basic Kettlebell Move Combos

Posted on by
Reply

Was doing the following routine for the last couple of months in a 60-15 interval fashion:

- Kettlebell Squats (KB in Right Hand)
- Pushups
- 1 Handed Kettlebell Swings (Right Hand)
- Turkish Get-Ups (Right Hand)
- Kettlebell Squats (KB in Left Hand)
- Pushups
- 1 Handed Kettlebell Swings (Left Hand)
- Turkish Get-Ups (Left Hand)
- Kettlebell Goblet Squats
- Pushups
- 2 Handed Kettlebell Swings
- Turkish Get-Ups (Right Hand then Left Hand)

This is one set of 20 minutes with 30 seconds of lead and 90 seconds of trail time.
Usually one set will do but you can repeat as many as you want, just watch your form and grip strength.

Last two weeks I alternated the above with this one, exercises are back to back with 1 minute or so rest in between:

- 3 1H KB Swings (R)
- 3 KB High Pulls (R)
- 3 KB Snatches (R)
- 3 KB Windmills (R)
- 3 KB Squats (R)
- 3 KB Reverse Lunges (R)
- 3 KB Jerks (R)
- 3 KB Presses (R)
- 1 TGU (R) (First down the up)
- 3 Pushups
- 3 1H KB Swings (L)
- 3 KB High Pulls (L)
- 3 KB Snatches (L)
- 3 KB Windmills (L)
- 3 KB Squats (L)
- 3 KB Reverse Lunges (L)
- 3 KB Jerks (L)
- 3 KB Presses (L)
- 1 TGU (L) (First down the up)
- 3 Pushups

2 sets of the above is a decent workout, I sometimes dared to complete 3 sets 🙂

This week I added another flavor to the mix:

- 5 Double KB Push Presses
- 5 Double KB Rows
- 5 Double KB Swings
- 5 Double KB Squats
- Double KB Farmers Walk (for about a minute)
- Rest for a minute or less

As I do not own a second 24 kg KB, I did a asymmetrical double with a 16 kg KB. 4 sets of this and I was good to hit the showers 🙂

Fast Basics 300 Kettlebell Workout

Posted on by
Reply

This is most probably not for everyone, not even for me actually, but I did it anyway since I can be dumb at times 😀

Alternative names to call it, among others, can be ‘Fast Path to Injury 300’ ‘Racing Inefficiency 300’ etc. 🙂
Try it at your own risk, if you need some rest then DO rest, warm up and cool down properly unless you are as stupid as I am (btw. I did not get injured or sore doing this with a 24 kg Kettlebell but towards the end of the workout my right knee signaled a potential for injury and my lower back told me I sacrificed form to gain speed).
This took me 25 minutes to complete, whereas the Basics 300 takes me about 35-40 minutes but although I do the same moves for the same numbers of repetition, its not quite the same.

Do the following back to back (no rest where possible):
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
10 Turkish Getups (5R-5L)
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
20 One Armed Kettlebell Rows (10L-10R)
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
20 One Armed Kettlebell Rows (10L-10R)
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
10 Goblet Squats
10 Strict Pushups
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
10 Goblet Squats
10 Strict Pushups
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
10 Windmills (5L-5R)
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
10 Goblet Squats
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
10 Windmills (5L-5R)
20 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings

HKC Run Away

Posted on by
Reply

Apparently the 3 moves I do lately (Swings, TGUs and Goblet Squats) are the nuts and bolts of the HKC (Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge).
In my previous post I mentioned that I intended to add 400m sprints to the mix.
Well I did.
That Friday I did exactly as written in that post.

This Wednesday and today I did it the following way:

With 32kg Kettlebell
20 A1H KB Sw | 1L-1R TGUs | 10 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400 m sprint | 90 s walk
20 A1H KB Sw | 1L-1R TGUs | 10 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400 m sprint | 90 s walk
With 24kg Kettlebell
30 A1H KB Sw | 2L-2R TGUs | 15 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400m sprint | 90 s walk
30 A1H KB Sw | 1L-1R TGUs | 15 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400m sprint | 90 s walk

Took me about 35 minutes to complete. As you see by dividing the reps with sprints I am back at my original rep counts (100 A1H KB Swings, 10 TGUs and 50 Goblet Squats) with the added sprint distance of 1600 meters (1 mile) and I’m not counting the distance I walk in between (which is about 900 meters).

Feel the burn 🙂

Easy 30 Kettlebell Workout with Mixed Weights

Posted on by
Reply

Its been three months since my last post, no spectacular changes, only consistency and perseverance.

Not trying to downplay anything, being consistent and persevering is not a small deed. At least not for me anyway. It requires mental strength and discipline. Both very prone to reluctance, one of the major diseases of our age ruled by attention deficit disorder.

My grip was quite weak when I first started using the 32 kg kettlebell, this is still work in progress.

The Easy 30 Kettlebell Workout from www.liftkettlebells.com is a good mix of ballistic and strength moves with the Kettlebell with some bodyweight exercises thrown in to help balance the load and enhance recovery. Here is how I do it these days:

30s Jumping Jacks 
30s Body Squats 
60s 2H Swings 32kg 
30s Rest 
30s Front Squat L 16kg 
30s Front Squat R 16kg 
30s Rest 
60s Windmill L 32kg 5 reps only then rest
60s Windmill R 32kg 5 reps only then rest
30s 2H Swings Waist High 32kg 
30s 2H Swings Head High 32kg 
30s Swings L 16kg 
30s Swings R 16kg 
60s Rest 
30s Military Press L 16kg 
30s Military Press R 16kg 
30s Rest 
60s Jumping Jacks 
30s Pushups 
60s Rest 
60s 2H Swings 16kg 
30s 2H Swings Overhead 16kg 
60s Rest 
60s One Armed Rows 8 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
30s One Armed Rows 4 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
45s Pullovers 16kg 
30s Floor Press L 16kg 
30s Floor Press R 16kg 
30s Floor Press L 16kg 
30s Floor Press R 16kg 
30s Pullovers 16kg 
60s Rest 
60s One Armed Rows 8 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
30s One Armed Rows 4 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
60s Jumping Jacks 
60s Rest 
30s Snatch L 16kg 
30s Snatch R 16kg 
60s Snatch L 16kg 
60s Snatch R 16kg 
30s Snatch L 16kg 
30s Snatch R 16kg

Leangains…

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes following links in links from links in web sites you follow can bring you to interesting places. This was the case for me discovering a curious site called Leangains.

The site owner has adopted the Intermittent Fasting approach, put his own twist on it, after extensive trials done by himself and his clients and coupled it with some very basic but powerful weight training exercises.

The results speak for themselves but neither do I nor does the site owner Martin Berkhan want you to believe straight out that this works. You should put some effort reading and understanding the underlying concepts of his approach. If you are ready to spent loads of money and time into ‘magic pill solutions’ which usually do not work at advertised, you can at least take a fraction of that effort and READ this method which makes no magical promises and demands you to workout and eat SMART and most important of all PACE YOURSELF. 🙂

Although I still am not 100% convinced that his approach is cut for my circumstances, as I have Hashimoto’s, I still decided to give it a sensible shot. I changed my IF from Warrior Diet (20/4 hour fast/eat) to Leangains (16/8 hour fast/eat) since last week. I will incorporate the basic weight exercises in that system into my training days as well.

Plain Swinging

Posted on by
Reply

Done 150 two handed kettlebell swings in 6 sets of 25 reps, calluses becoming back part of my appearance.

Added 10  inclined push-ups, 10 pull-ups (from the edge of a table) and 10 pistol squats. Lots of stretching and rest in between as I still kind of strain my lower back a bit, trying to get used to the much heavier weight.

I will try to increase the reps and decrease the sets, maybe 3 sets 0f 50 reps? I hope my hands and forearms do agree with this 🙂

Back to Square One

Posted on by
Reply

Going straight to 32 kg today after 20 months with 16 kg (last 2 months doing TGUs with 24kg) got my arse kicked properly.

I feel like I’m starting anew. I originally planned on doing the GtG routine I do lately then throw in a 10 minute 40-20 swing session to kill me off for good.

Well, I only managed 10 TGUs (5L-5R), 10 Pistol Squats (5L-5R), barely did the 40-20 for two minutes and I was done. Sitting on the floor… barely, because I had to work my thighs like I haven’t in a looong time. After doing 5 inclined pushups I called it a day.

I might consider going back to the Easy 20 Kettlebell Workout to get things rolling again with the 32 kg.

Never look back, never back down, stay alert and act sensibly.

What I am up to lately? Turkish Getups :)

Posted on by
Reply

Two months have passed since my last post.

I have slowed things down a bit since then, exercise-wise.

With more focus on the Turkish Getup and complementary body weight movements doing them SLOW!

Yes, you heard me, slow. I realized I was rushing the moves lately, resulting in sloppy style not utilizing the core muscles properly. For some moves slower is better if you are not opting for cardio and/or endurance. Well you kinda get the endurance bit with slow.

Last time around I mentioned doing TGUs with the 36-36 HIIT protocol and I did. I was able to squeeze (literally) 4 TGUs inside 36 seconds. I thought I was super, I thought “Well this has gotten easy with the 16 kg kettlebell, I definitely need to move up to 24 kg”.

While I still should get the 24 kg for the ballistic moves (swings snatches etc.) I couldn’t be more wrong about my mastery of the TGU using the 16 kg bell.

I took it the other way around, stretching a single full TGU cycle over 40-50 seconds, doing proper footwork, stance and the bridge.

Turned out that 5 reps on each side at this pace was a complete workout on its own. Really working all the muscles that should get involved… properly! 🙂

Now I am taking the slow path for non-ballistic kettlebell moves to improve form, stability and balance. I also slowed down the cardio moves like for example the squat thrust.

This way I revisited the 300 Meltdown Kettlebel workout. Taking it slower to improve and emphasize proper form instead of rushing the moves trying to beat the time made a world of difference as how my muscles feel and look 😉

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRpbM9nzDcM

Turkish Get Up Combo Workout

Posted on by
Reply

After a short holiday down south for 5 days I am back with another Turkish Get Up workout in form of a combo set:

Starting out with 5 Snatches (preferably on your weaker side) then switch to 1 TGU while the kettlebell is over your head, get down then up, rack it on your chest and do 5 squats then 5 presses then 5 cleans and finally 5 1 handed swings where after you switch hands (or if you need to rest, do rest) and do the same super set with your other hand. Repeat this cycle 5 times with appropriate rests in between. I took 1-2 minute rests in 2-1-2 fashion.

This workout was taken from the fine site http://trainersteve.tumblr.com/post/9584433175