Kettlebell And Strength Blog

I have always had to break down barriers with women in regards to strength training. There is an old mindset out there that women associate weight-lifting and strength training to building huge bulky muscles! This couldn't be further from the truth. I will cover 2 misconceptions and give an explanation that will inform you on the truth about why women should engage full force in a strength and conditioning program to build the body of every man and woman's dreams!

Myth 1: "If I start lifting heavy weights I will either get hurt or I will look like a bodybuilder." (Truth) You could get hurt talking on the cell phone and driving your car at the same time. The injury excuse is just that to me, an excuse. If you study and seek proper guidance on training you won't likely get injured. Of course, if you blindly walk into something then you are likely to not have a good result. (Truth) Working out with free-weights in an effective strength and conditioning program is the very best way to cut body fat and to speed up overall weight-loss.

Also, this fear of looking like a bodybuilder is absurd. First of all, women don't naturally contain enough of the muscle building hormone in their body that we know as testosterone. The women that are freakish looking are more than likely injecting something like this into their body's , as well as, spending hours and hours a week in the gym. Plus they are training their body's for size characteristics so they are getting that result. You may not like the way they look, but at least they are achieving the desired result, what are you doing?

Myth 2: "I'm just going to run off all of this excess weight." (Truth) Yes, you can run to burn off excess weight, but you can actually burn off excess lean muscle mass as well. Lean muscle mass is the very ingredient that burns off fat! If you are burning away the ingredient that burns away your fat then what? What happens is that you may lose weight but look like what I call a skinny fat person. In other words, your body is smaller but there is no definition, your skin is loose, and you have no muscular defining curves.

You can look at yourself one of two ways. You can be thinner and fitter or thinner and plain. Remember that your body will develop the way you train it. Strength training to increase a lean body is the truthful answer to your questions about these workout myths.

The infamous pull-up is a great measure of upper body strength that most people are incapable of doing. Most people think that it is unrealistic for them to achieve this impressive measure of strength. The fact is that with consistent and repetitive practice this exercise can be achieved by virtually anyone.

Step 1: I first want to start out by assuming that you are totally incapable of doing a pull-up, but have at least enough upper body strength to hang from the bar. Assuming this you are at the start of being able to execute a pull-up. To begin all you have to do is somehow hoist yourself up and hold your body up with your chin above the bar for as long as possible. You can use a spotter for each of these steps if necessary. As you get better at this increase the amount of time you hold yourself above the bar.

Step 2: After consistently practicing by holding yourself above the bar you then will move on to the controlled descent. This is where you control the downward movement of your body until your arms are fully extended. Descend as slowly as you can. Repeat this 2 or 3 times in a row with a spotter if needed. Eventually move up to practicing for one set 2 to 3 times a day everyday.

Step 3: As you get good at the controlled descent then utilize your spotter for an assist in you pulling yourself up from the hanging position. Hang from the bar and with assistance from the spotter pull-up and control your descent. Repeat this process and practice frequently as before.

In time your strength will explode with this exercise. Remember that you must practice. This is the tip of the iceberg when talking about accomplishing super feats of strength!

I want to talk about the most gruesome and sadistic strength training device known to man. A device that will make you wish you never competed in a sporting event or started working out because of its extreme ability to tax the body like nothing you've ever experienced. This tool of fat destruction and ultimate body construction that I am talking about is the kettlebell! I have worked in training many different populations of athletes, law enforcement, and average citizens to know that the one tool they all respect is the kettlebell.

To start, if you are any type of athlete this tool should be the staple of your program. However, in this article I am addressing the endurance athlete. Whether you are a marathoner, cyclist, swimmer, or triathlete this is a tool that I guarantee will improve your cardiovascular endurance, staying power, resiliency, and supreme total-body fitness. A learned and properly applied kettlebell program will allow the endurance athlete to compete at the highest level by not having to devote full time to practicing their specific athletic event. One particular basic kettlebell lift is the swing and it just about targets every major muscle that is utilized in every endurance event. The swing targets the shoulder girdle, abs, forearms, deltoids, traps, mid-back, low-back, glutes, hamstrings, hips, and most of all the heart! This is why a great deal of the training done with the bell translates over to athletic competition.

I want to make clear that I would not discourage you from practicing the event in which you are competing. However, with a kettlebell I wouldn't discourage cutting back on a good deal of your time devoted to practicing the event to replace it with a kettlebell program. Just make sure that you take the time to learn the most effective ways to manipulate your kettlebell program for you to achieve optimal fitness in your endurance training!

Linear speed is a fancy way of saying "Fast." However, it is specific to running fast in a straight line. We all have wanted to be fast a one time or another and that mindset has certainly not changed in today's competing athletes. I have spent the last 8 years of my life working with athletes at all levels of competition. The two things that they all have in common is that they want to be strong and fast!

The first and most basic variable in building linear speed is making sure that your running mechanics are sound. Too many athletes have poor running form, or technique and usually end up wasting a lot of motion when they are trying to develop speed. The fastest distance between two points is a straight line and often when athletes run there arm and foot placement causes them to shift from side to side when accelerating into a sprint. This is the first and most basic principle in building speed and can be quickly improved.

The next step is by loading the athlete in order to create resistance for resistance speed training. The athlete can be resisted in a number of ways ranging from a bungee chord device, weighted vest, or resistance rope. This resistance adds additional stress to the athlete's body causing his or her muscles to adapt and contract more forcefully due to being trained in this fashion.

Finally, the last method I want to discuss is assisted speed training. Some examples of this can include running with the assistance of a bungee chord device, an over-stride trainer device, or by running on a slight down hill slope. This causes the athlete to run at a faster pace than he or she is capable. By doing this the athlete takes longer quicker strides than normal. This in turn stimulates the nervous system causing the muscles to contract in rapid succession.

These three steps should be carefully studied before applying if you attempt them on your own. I will say that these examples are pretty basic in nature, but that with proper instruction and application your linear speed will drastically improve! In other words, "You'll get Faster!"

Fitness goals are something that everyone should consider when beginning an exercise program in order to accomplish what they want. To me this is obvious, but for those that need to hear this I'll elaborate further in this article. Here are a couple of quick lessons that will be worth thinking about before you start.

Lesson 1: You have to understand the specificity of training. You are probably wondering what this means. Specificity of training means that your body will respond to training based on how your workout program is structured. For instance, if you are a football player would it make sense for you to condition yourself like a marathon runner? Of course not. This is where a lot of people get off track when starting to design a plan for their workouts.

If you train the body for weight-loss then you'll lose weight, if you train the body for size characteristics then you'll gain size, if you want big bulging muscles then you should train like a bodybuilder. This is something that I have always had to deal with when training people. They either really don't know what they want or are totally ignorant as to what to do in order to get to where they want to go.

Lesson 2: The next big important variable is nutrition. This is 90% of your journey. Again, this has a direct effect on how the body will develop. Think about the obvious. If you sit around all day and eat twinkies your body will have a certain look. If you eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of protein and nutrients then your body will look completely the opposite of the couch potato. Remember that your nutrition plan has to be adjusted along with your exercise plan. When you start exercising your metabolism speeds up and to keep it up you have to "feed the engine." Its just like a car engine. When it speeds up it burns more fuel so to keep it burning fast you have to keep giving it fuel.

Always have a plan before beginning any new venture. Remember that a well accomplished plan will bring the well accomplished result. Know your fitness and exercise goals and design the plan to obtain those goals!

The first thing that we are going to look at is achieving tremendous cardiovascular conditioning with only a limited amount of space and time. To do this we are going to look at a couple of different movements. Again we will use the resistance of body weight in order to accomplish our goal. Remember that these steps are not the only answer, but they sure are effective.

I would like to let you know that this little program will cause you to sweat, stay out of breath, and feel overall miserable! Don't worry though because "Pain is temporary and pride is forever!" I would like to introduce the 3 count squat thrust. This is the first step of the two that I want to explain. It is a toned down version of a military conditioning exercise known as a blurpee, which I'll get into in the second step of this dominating little workout. To begin, a squat thrust involves 3 simple movements. The first movement starts with you standing with your feet about shoulder width apart and bending down to place your hands on the ground in front of you. The second step is to then kick your feet back until your body is fully extended so you are positioned in an upright push-up. Finally, you simply kick your feet back up in one single movement to return to the first position and simply stand up. All 3 of these movements count for one repetition. From here if you want tremendous cardio this will be the first half of your workout because you want to try to complete 50 of these in a row! This will be absolutely miserable and you are only halfway there.

The second exercise I want to look at is called a blurpee. It has a funny name, but you won't be laughing when you start doing it. This exercise basically involves the same steps as the squat thrust but it will have a push-up and a jump added into the mix. The first step, like the squat thrust, is to begin standing with your feet shoulder width apart and crouch down placing your hands on the ground in front of you. Next you want to kick your feet back extending your body into the upright push-up position. Third you want to execute a single push-up. Next you want to bring your feet back up until you are in the crouched position. The final movement here is to stand up and jump. This is all one repetition. Go ahead and get mentally geared up because you've got 50 of these in a row too.

This program has a total count of 100 miserable, sweaty, nauseating reps that will get you into optimal shape. This is only a simple ingredient in the whole program. Make the change to gain sick cardiovascular conditioning!

I want to start by trying to get your attention really fast. What if I told you that I could guarantee that you could increase your athletic strength to increase your vertical jump by almost 2-3 inches in just 3 weeks? Not only can it be done, but the 2-3 inches is the low end of the guarantee. I have seen others jump as much as 4 or 5 inches in the same time. As I explain in the steps to follow pay close attention to what I am trying to teach you. Understand that what I am talking about is obtainable if practiced flawlessly, consistently, and frequently. Note that everyone has varying levels of athletic ability and each drill can be modified from low intensity to high intensity depending on the individual level of the athlete.

Step 1: To begin, the vertical jump is a well-known measuring stick for athletic performance. It is a measure of core strength and leg power. Because it is a measure of these two physical tasks these are the two areas that have to be focused on in an attempt at increasing one's vertical jump. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!" Well after you attempt these simple, but gruesome drills you will completely understand that old saying. First you must include a variation of plyometrics.

Plyometrics involve specific exercises that stimulate the body's nervous system and cause the muscles to stretch and shorten by contracting in rapid succession. Some good examples of plyometrics involve bounding over hurdles, box jumps, single leg bounds, and squat jumps. The plyometric exercises that I want to recommend involves a series of box jumps and squat jumps. Depending on your level or ability you can start with box jumps with a height range from 12 inches all the way to 24 inches.

If you don't own these they can be easily constructed with plywood. The most effective progression can be multiple boxes starting at the lowest height of 12 inches and increasing every 6 inches to the highest box at 24 inches. From here you can structure your box jumps however you like, but be sure to obtain a volume of repetitions that total 80! This is an average of 20 repetition jumps at each box height. When you jump from the ground to the box you should be executing a perfect squat jump. You should be landing on the box each jump with your feet at about shoulder width distance and absorbing your landing each time by making contact with the box heal to toe. To intensify this drill you can execute the jumps by adding some kind of resistance. Holding a pair of dumbells is an excellent way to do this. Note that for optimal results these should be practiced at least 3 times per week.

Step 2: The next area to target is going to be the development of core strength. One way to do this simply in the comfort of your home or in your front yard is by doing planks. Planks involve lying prone (or face down) on the ground with only your elbows and toes (or balls of your feet) touching the ground. Your body should be perfectly straight and rigid like a plank or bridge. This is a static hold and you can start by minimally doing each set for 1 minute! Friends these are intense. You should do these on the days you do your plyometrics. You should also complete 3 sets of 1 minute in week one. Each week you should increase a minute working up to 3 minutes per plank for 3 sets in the third week!

These two steps will undoubtedly improve your conditioning and vertical jumping power. Remember that this is only a basic home drill and is merely a taste of the main course. Further modifications to this and other areas of your program can drastically improve your overall athletic performance.

You are probably wondering how in the world you can create a knock-out fitness and strength program without using any weights, machines, or by having to buy a gym membership. Remember that no matter your goals you absolutely have to increase your level of physical exertion in order to achieve optimal strength and muscular development. In order to do this you have to incorporate certain body movements that involve the overall tension and action of multi-joint exercise. Remember that if I want to work my chest muscles then why do a fly movement when I can do a push-up. This way I not only work my chest muscles, but target my shoulders, abdomen, triceps, and hips all from this single movement.

Lets start out by you asking yourself a question. How many exercises can you think of right now that involve using nothing but you and your living room floor or front yard? How ever many you came up with that number is a good start for this body-weight strength program. Also, thinking in this way will cause your program to be better because you have to get more creative in order to challenge yourself and to get to greek-god status! Now I'm going to start by helping you think in a creative way like a "strength and conditioning specialist" would think.

I have always thought of ways to challenge the athletes and clients I work with because a true strength and conditioning program has to be ever-changing and highly innovative. Lets look at the age old exercise that we know as the Push-up. Now you might not be capable of doing a single push-up, you might be able to do 10 or 20, or you may even be able to do a 100 push-ups! Nonetheless all levels can be improved. For instance, the individual that is not capable of a push-up should be. He or she can practice lower intensity drills like doing them on their knees or with their hands elevated on a bench putting more force on the feet instead of the upper body. As they get better at these they can eventually progress to the floor to execute ordinary push-ups. If we look at the person that can do 10 or 20 then he or she can start into practicing more intense one arm drills like the one-arm push-up. They can start their practice in ways like the no push-up group mentioned above by starting with one-arm on a bench with having more weight distributed to their feet until they are ready to go to the floor. Looking at the third group that is capable of doing a 100 push-ups we can still challenge their abilities by including even more intense drills like the very dynamic dive-bomber push-up or the one-arm one-leg push-up! These are both intense and impressive my friend.

Next, lets think of a way that you can challenge more of your legs and cardiovascular system. Here you can perform a normal standing squat. Just like the push-up you are familiar with the squat. You may not be capable of executing a proper squat, you may be able to do 10 or 20, or you may be capable of doing a 100 standing squats. Just like the push-up drills we can learn the basic squat and once mastered we can learn and execute other more intense variations of squats. For the person that isn't capable of a proper squat we can learn this technique with the use of a wall. We'll use the wall to incorporate a drill I like to call a "form drill." First, you need to walk up and face a wall with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width. You should only be about 3 to 4 inches from the wall. From here execute the form drill by squatting and lowering your body in a controlled manner down the wall. The key here is to not "frog" the knees or "bow" them out. You must descend in a controlled manner or you will bump the wall with either your face or your knees. You should feel the muscles in your spine tension. This is a proper "form squat." You want to progress by going as low as possible. Just like the push-up drills the people that are capable of doing 10 or 20 squats at a time can move on to practicing single leg squat drills with the aid of a chair or bench. You can do this by lifting a leg in front of you and then on one leg lower your rear to touch the bench or chair before standing up. From here you can lower the bench until you progress to eventually going all the way to the floor. For the people that can do a 100 squats we can incorporate similar drills and continue to challenge them with the inclusion of more dynamic movements like squat jumps and single leg squat jumps!

I think you get the picture. Hopefully you understand that the basic exercises of the push-up and squat can be utilized to create more results for you than any other method of training you have ever done. You now should understand that a basic push-up or squat can be manipulated into many variations to continually challenge you for explosive results! Think like a "strength and conditioning specialist!"

I had a friend the other day that was just starting back into working out and he asked me "what is the best thing for me to do to get back into shape?" He is an ex-athlete like myself and I asked him if he remembered how hard his workouts were in college. He, of course, said yes and I proceeded to tell him that he needs to start training like an athlete again. Why, he asked? I followed up by asking him at what point in his life was he in the greatest shape and he replied "when I was doing preseason workouts for football in college." I rest my case. Most of the time people don't want to revert to doing what they used to because they have forgotten how, they are lazy, or maybe they have never had an effective training regimen in their life.

Step 1: The first step in building the ultimate greek-god or goddess-like body is to implement Olympic Lifting into your strength training program. The three main lifts that people are familiar with in olympic lifting are the snatch, clean, and jerk. All three lifts are incredible in developing explosive power, strength, and animal-like resiliency. By including these lifts and variations of them into your strength program you will find that you will get a much quicker workout because of the intensity of the lifts. Also, these lifts can be structured into your workouts as a primary lift which can be readily combined with the remaining lift and workout strategies I will explain in Steps 2 and 3.

Step 2: The second step in your journey for elite fitness status involves the inclusion of Kettlebells. Yes, kettlebells are a tremendous way to supplement your Olympic Lifts that you might execute with barbells and bumper plates, but with kettlebells, certain olympic lifts can be executed as well. Because of its shape and size many different lifts with different objectives can be executed readily with the bell. This allows you to bypass a normal training obstacle that occurs frequently with other free weights like having to slow down to change around weights, racking plates, and having to move to a different area for another lift. In other words, there is no interruption of your workout, therefore your intensity level stays in HIGH GEAR! The bell can be used for heavy explosive type lifts, conditioning-oriented lifts, and slower lifts that create tremendous muscular tension! All are effective for constructing your body and getting to greek-god status.

Step 3: The third step in getting ridiculously quick results in your program is making sure to add in Plyometrics. Plyometrics involve completing intense quick explosive movements that stretch and shorten the muscles rapidly. They stimulate the nervous system causing the muscles to react quicker so athletic movements like sprinting, jumping, and agility can be effectively executed. This is also a great way to gain tremendous conditioning and to reduce the risk of injury by stressing the body in this manner.

Remember that none of these three steps should be included into your program unless you are 100% confident in your technique. Don't be a knucklehead and do something that would injure you and put you out of commission. However, you should take the time to study, research, and flawlessly practice these steps. Once you do your INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT will be completed way before anyone else's deadline!

I like to refer to the kettlebell as the "Frankenstein of Fitness" because it will bring your dead workouts to life! You are probably wondering what is a kettlebell? Well, a kettlebell is a strength training device that resembles a cannonball with a handle attached to it. It originated in Russia and has been around for centuries. This is my fitness tool of choice when it comes to down right hard-body results. The good news is that now they are becoming more popular here in the U.S. and I am here to say that it is a tool that will transform your workouts and your body forever.

To begin, the kettlebell is a very dynamic and different way to train your body. There are many different types of lifts that can be executed with the kettlebell to strengthen the body as a whole. When working out with this tool you can pretty much throw the isolated or single-joint movements out the window. For me this is why this gruesome fat destroying weapon is so effective in building total-body strength and fitness. It can be utilized to integrate push and pull type movements which are the basis of human function.

For the sake of time I want to discuss two basic lifts that cover the push and pull dynamic. I'll start with the big pull movement. The first of these is the double-arm swing. This is a movement that basically involves picking the bell up from the floor from between your legs. After you pick up the bell your feet should be about slightly wider than shoulder width with complete extension of your knees and hips. The bell should be hanging in front of you slightly below your hips and in front of your groin area. From this point you want to sit your hips back with about a quarter-squat and have a slight bend of the knees. At this stage you should have a slight bend of both the knees and hips. In a continuous back and forth movement you want to extend the knees and hips allowing the kettlebell to build momentum as it swings back and forth between your legs. Make sure you are continuing to flex and extend the knees and hips to build the swinging momentum of the bell. When finished you want to utilize a proper squat to lower the kettlebell back to the ground between your feet from where you started.

The second lift I want to discuss involves a push exercise of the kettlebell. The lift to which I am going refer is the overhead static press and walk. To begin this exercise you must first execute a proper clean lift to get the bell from the floor to chest level. The "Clean" is a term that weightlifters use that means to lift the weight from the floor to chest level in one single "Clean" movement. This is done by starting with the bell on the floor in the same manner as the swing lift. You must then execute a proper squat and grab the bell using one arm. From the floor then lift the kettlebell simultaneously pulling it up and corkscrewing your arm to allow the bell to come to a rest on the outside of your forearm. From this standing position with your arm and kettlebell resting in front and against your body then press the bell overhead. Once you lock your shoulder and elbow into place with the bell straight overhead then simply walk on a flat surface at a desired distance. When you are done then follow the steps in reverse from lifting the bell to putting it safely back on the floor. From here just switch arms and repeat the lift.

To put it mildly your workouts have been dead until now! Learn how to utilize the power of this tool of muscle construction to kickstart your workouts. Remember that the kettlebell is a different way to train and you shouldn't try anything unless you are confident in your technique. From here watch your results explode from the intense kettlebell!