Tag Archives: Kettlebell

Spartacus Workout 2.0 Take 2

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OK so I did the workout the way I described in the last post for 3 days but it turned out that my modifications where not neat enough resulting in knee pain. Especially the first move, I completely replaced it with a two handed KB swing.

I also changed the intervals from 40-20 to 60-15 and did one run per exercise set, rounding down the time to 27 minutes but with the weight of the Kettlebell and the increased time of exercise and decreased time of rest, the end effect was comparable to the original 46 minutes long one.

Spartacus Workout 2.0

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It’s been a while since I last posted here but despite being busy with lifes other challenges I did continue to do my workouts.

And I tried new things as well, here is the first: Spartacus Workout 2.0!

Doesn’t sound too new eh? Well actually it is. Especially when you try doing it with one Kettlebell. When take a look at the original workout in following this link: http://my.menshealth.com/workout/The-Spartacus-Workout-2.0 , you will see that some of the dumbbell exercises there may pose a challenge if not injury if you try them as is with your current Kettlebell (if you have access to a lighter KB its less of a hassle really).

Originally you do 40 second exercise 20 second rest cycles for the first set of 5 twice, rest 2 minutes and then do the same set of 5 exercises again with 40-20 intervals. Rest another 2 minutes and the second set of 5 exercises the same way. At the end you will have done each exercise 4 times and the whole thing will take something like 46 minutes without warmup and streching.

And the dumbbells weigh less then the 16kg Kettlebell that I have, so the first time I tried this I was wasted before the last 10 minutes set. Here are my moves:

1. Kettlebell Hang Pull: Fully improvised KB adaptation of the DB original. Two hands holding the KB between the legs, pulling up to the chest will going slightly backwards and on your toes. This one got modified in later tries.

2. Offset Kettlebell Reverse Lunge: Pretty much the same works, but without trying to offset too much to prevent injury.

3. Single Arm Kettlebell Swing

4. Kettlebell Thrusters: I modified this to a Kettlebell Jerk one side per set and then the other.

5. Single-Leg Single-Arm Underhand Grip Kettlebell Row: Pretty much the same but beware as the Kettlebell is much heavier.

Second Round of Exercises:

1. Kettlebell Wood Chop: Now if you do this with your regular Kettlebell without prior training it, as I did, you may experience some pain in your joints, particularly your knees. For proper form you can watch this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGS7G6MOkjM

2. Plank Walkup to Pushup

3. Rotational Kettlebell Straight-Leg Deadlift: Your regular Kettlebell may pose a real challenge with this move as well, touch something level with your spare hand to assist. Your knees will thank you 🙂

4. Squat Thrusts (Burpess)

5. Jump Squat

Taking it easy but…

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Since I had to shift my Monday workout to Tuesday and decided to stick with the routine days I did another Easy 30 Kettlebell workout today to take it easy.

It indeed was not much of a challenge but now an hour later as the things settle I feel  the slight pain in my left shoulder joint is back. I guess I can blame the lying Kettlebell presses for this or the fact I’ve been exercising two days in a row without a recovery day… or both 🙂

I’m looking around on the web for more variety in my workouts to keep it interesting for my body. It adopts quite fast on well known and overused workouts like this one.

Watch out for new things in the coming days and take care 😉

Spartacus Workout Take 2

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So today I did the Spartacus Workout one more time.

This time I did it in 40-20 Workout-Rest intervals and completed full 3 sets with 2 minutes rests between sets. Total time 34 minutes and I was done, fully soaked with sweat! Definitely going to keep this in my workout rotation list. 🙂

Mens Health Spartacus Workout

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It’s time to re-visit a workout from a source that usually isn’t: Mens Health Magazine 🙂

But this workout inspired by the Starz television series Spartacus is a real piece of work.

It’s a 60-15 High Intensity Interval Workout with exercises that work almost every muscle in your body. Click here for the page on Mens Health website and here to download the poster PDF which you can print having all exercises in one page. You can also download a MP3 from the WorkoutMuse website for free. This way you don’t have to keep track of your time yourself. Its rather generic so you can re-arrange or change the exercises to create different 60-15 10 exercise workouts on your own.

Since I only have a 16kg Kettlebell and no interest in buying dumbbells I slightly modified the workout to my needs and condition:

Station 1 Kettlebell Goblet Squat (Hold Kettlebell at chest level)
Station 2 Mountain Climber
Station 3 Single-arm Kettlebell Swing (The real deal :) )
Station 4 T-pushup (16kg too heavy for me, did it weightless)
Station 5 Split Jump
Station 6 Kettlebell row (30 seconds on each side)
Station 7 Kettlebell side lunge and touch
          (KB in opposite hand and switching at touch point)
Station 8 Pushup-position row
          (Uneven pushup position with single KB rotating to alternate)
Station 9 Kettlebell lunge and rotation
Station 10 Kettlebell push press (Single KB 30 seconds on each side)

Did this in 60-30 exercise-rest intervals for two sets. With a 16kg Kettlebell this was intense enough for me 😀

On and off these days…

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I try to do my workouts during my noon break at the office Mon-Wed-Fri but some times other things come up and I am forced to skip or shift.

Last week was one of those times, I was only able to workout on Tue and Wed, first being a the 300 Meltdown and second being full body-weight only (12 minutes of interval Burpees to be more precise).

This week I hope to be back on track with yet another Easy Kettlebell 30 minutes routine with a slight difference. Lately I noticed that I tend to slack on form and technique as my arms got stronger and I’m still at 16kg for the Kettlebell. Primary drive of the core and hip almost disappeared and I feel like I’m going backwards with my strength and stamina.

Therefore today’s focus was almost exclusively on tightening the core and hips for proper drive rather then speed and quantity.

Easy 30 Kettlebell Workout Day

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Since I did a 300 Workout yesterday (which I should have done Monday but more important matters pressed), I did the Easy 30 Kettlebell Workout to take it “easy” 🙂

This is the workout I did initially when getting into Kettlebells, well actually I did the Easy 20 which is a slightly stripped down version. 30 and 20 stand for minutes it takes to complete the workout.

Its basically a time based interval training workout for which more details can be found at LiftKettlebells.com . You can download mp3 files where you get instructed when to do what which comes in handy if you don’t have a interval timer to help you. The MP3s have two versions, with background music and instructions only so you can mix your own music on top of it 🙂

Give it a try and don’t let the name fool you. Its quite a nice workout for all but the most hardcore guys/gals 😉

Yet another 300 Kettlebell Workout

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40 Kettlebell Swings (2 Handed)
10 Turkish Get-Ups (5 Left 5 Right)
40 Kettlebell Snatches (20 Left 20 Right)
10 Kettlebell Windmills (5 Left 5 Right)
40 Kettlebell Swings (2 Handed)
10 Push-Ups (Slow)
40 Kettlebell Snatches (10L-10R-8L-8R-2L-2R Grip issue had me alternate)
10 Kettlebell Windmills (5 Left 5 Right)
50 Mountain Climbers

I noticed I have trouble with my grip over the course of these custom 300 workouts.
I use a cheap 16kg filled plastic Kettlebell which has a larger then standard handle and body. Looks more like a 24kg or even 32kg proper solid iron Kettlebell. So doing consecutive Kettlebell moves with little rest in between goes really tough on my lower arm.

Apart from this issue I am really happy to chop and change the order and intensity of my workouts. Up until 3-4 weeks ago I was sticking to some workouts I found on the Internet but with these my progress began to plateau. So I decided to add variety to unsettle my body and make it actually work.

Recently I switched back to more lower body kind of exercises as I seem to bulk up too much too soon with upper body intensive choices. And also I had a small accident some 5 months ago which causes my left shoulder to ache if I get too keen on working it 🙂

That said, I do revisit the workouts I initially found as they have become part of the variety.