CrossFit Workouts

I don’t know what kettle balls are.

Basically, I have an exercise mat, kettlebells(3kg, 6kg and 8kg). Weights (dumbells), perfect pushup rotators, an ab wheel and I do Shodokan Aikido… Does anyone have a home made workout for 6pack abs, pecks and muscle?

There’s some good home workouts at the link below (no equipment needed):

http://hubpages.com/hub/Office-Home-Fitness-Workouts

You can add some further exercises and resistance using the kettlebells and dumbbells.

I just started exercising with kettlebells and after the morning after the muscles in my thighs and the backs of my legs where so sore that I could barely walk. I just want to know if this is normal or have I pulled something as I have never exercised with kettlebells

If its muscle soreness, it’s normal. If you feel like you’ve torn something, it’s not.

So do you only use kettlebells, or other equipment in conjunction with kettlebells? what other equipment do you use, and what exercise for that piece of equipment?

There are guys(and girls) who use only kettlebells. Not good, it’s recommended to vary. You don’t HAVE TO use a barbell, but body work could or should be used together with kettlebells.

Kettlebells are used for explosive work. Doing only explosive work puts a lot of strain on your body, which is why it’s best to vary with other exercises.
And kettlebells are usually too light to be used other than explosive-tools.

What is a good way to warm up and cool down if your going to exercise with kettlebells?

Do some muscle stretches (before and after the workout) to ensure that your muscles are supple, and jogging for 5 minutes in order to elevate your heart rate before the workout is also a good way of warming up your body. Walking or jogging for 5-10 minutes at the end of the workout is also good. Have a look at this site as it gives you a good warm up and cool down routine: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/warmup.htm

i have seen 3kg 4kg 5kg 6kg 8kg 10kg and 12kg kettlebells. i want to be doing these exercises 4 times a week for 30 minutes but dont want to become muscly by the kettle bell being too heavy,but also dont want it to be too light. which shall i get?
my goal is weightloss and toning…..i have been told that this exercise burns a lot of calories quickly.

I do not recommend this for exercise. You can injure yourself. If you herniate a disc, for example, doing these exercises, you can be in big trouble.

What is your goal? Why kettlebells? How about biking, walking, running, swimming? Or go to a gym and lift weights with supervision – on a bench. The best fitness combines endurance (walking, running, biking, swimming, etc.) with strength training (weights).

I strongly advise against kettlebells. It’s too easy to injure yourself.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Okay – weight loss and training should be done without the kettlebells. They are a fad these days. I see I got three thumbs down – amazing. You have a doctor here giving good medical advice and some of these folks don’t like it. Ah, well. I really only care about helping you here.

Please don’t use them – I’ve seen quite a few injuries from kettlebell exercise and I don’t want that to happen to you. The human skeleton, muscles, and connective tissues weren’t made to be used in this way. You can injure your back, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, fingers, hips, knees, ankles, and feet in ways that will bother you the rest of your life. I’m talking about the joints here – as for your connective tissues – muscles, ligaments, and tendons – well, those can be injured, as well. Muscle can repair itself, but ligaments and tendons cannot.

Please take this seriously – walking, running, swimming, biking – all of those are good for cardiovascular fitness. For strength training, you can get an exercise band for a lot less money and bother than a kettlebell – and you put them in a doorjamb and pull on them. There are a zillion videos on YouTube from physical therapists and personal trainers telling you how to use them and strengthen without hurting yourself. You can use cans of soup for weights, or you can buy freeweights. I do not recommend heavy weights – for strength training, it’s all about technique. You want to lift slowly with proper posture – check out YouTube.

Also, you could get a Yoga or Pilates DVD. They are very affordable. You get GREAT strength training that way.

Kettlebells are a fad and they are injuring people. I’ve had to tell several of my own patients that they are going to have a "tricky" shoulder, back, or knee for the rest of their lives because of these dreadful things. It’s usually not a discreet injury – it happens over time. You realize your neck hurts a little or your left knee is a bit sore. Maybe your hip has a twinge or it’s hard to brush your hair because your shoulder or wrist is bothering you. That’s usually how it starts – and it’s the development of a lifelong problem.

I have one 21 year old patient (female) who is VERY fit and strong. She was doing her usual workout and simply leaned over to pick up the kettlebell – before she even touched it, she felt a "POP" in her back. She herniated a disc. She ended up having neurosurgery; the surgeon said that if she had not been using the kettlebells she likely would never have herniated her disc. Unfortunately, she had gone to a chiropractor first and he caused permanent nerve damage. So this healthy, fit, beautiful young woman will walk with a cane the rest of her life because that one leg is not getting enough of a signal from her brain and spinal cord.

This is very serious business – I do hope you will take my advice to heart here. There are SO many ways to achieve your goal. It’s always so sad to doctors when we see injuries that we know will be lifelong and they are preventable. Here I am after hours on Yahoo Answers to spare someone an injury. I keep reading in the medical journals about permanent injuries from these wretched things – and there is absolutely nothing special about them! Why are so many people using these?

Please don’t do it – ask your doctor about good exercises or search the Internet for websites where physical therapists tell you how to exercise.

Im female, aged 28, good level of fitness,
I have a full double set of kettlebells from 4kg through to 32kg, and I know the correct names for the individual exercises.
Please can anyone suggest a good workout that will give me good cardio and all round body toning and strenthening. I want it to last about 40mins.
ta. x

First, welcome to kettlebells. They are cannonballs with handles. I assume you know correct form. If you don’t, do some serious research to avoid injury.

My favorite cardio killer workout at the moment is a simple but brutal mixture of kettlebell swings and calisthenics. I call it Bud Jeffrie’s Bastard after the RKC who invented it. It works the abs and posterior chain (the entire back of the body), both of which power about 80% of all locomotive movement. It has made me capable of running long distances, lifting heavy things, and seducing women with a steely gaze. The workout goes like this:

Do 10 swings (with both hands or 5 swings per hand) followed by 3 hanging leg raises. Do this with minimal rest until you’ve amassed 100 swings.

Your cardio endurance, muscle definition, and strength will develop very quickly once you can complete it nonstop in perfect form with a decent sized kettlebell. Work up slow or face the consequences.

For the hanging leg raise, you hang from a pullup bar with your shoulders tucked down and your arms and legs straight. Then, using your hip flexors and abs, you pull your straight legs up to touch the bar and slowly lower them. It is a very challenging movement. If you can’t do it yet, just pull your knees to your chest, straighten your legs, then slowly lower your legs back down. No swinging. Save that for the kettlebell. Keep your abs and glutes tight to avoid lower back injury. If your lower back hurts, stop working out and try again another day. Injuries aren’t productive.

Throughout the workout, occasionally replace leg raises with other strength calisthenics like 1 legged squats, 1 armed pushups, regular pushups, pullups, dips, or bodyweight squats.

If you do this about 2 times per week, you should get in great shape fast, depending on the size of the kettlebell.

Have you been thinking of going on a diet and exercise program but every time it rolls around your head you automatically think of all your friends who have tried some of these programs but only lasted a few weeks on it?

The reason they have failed is because they set themselves up to fail. If you are going to be successful at diet and exercise you need to think it through throughly and then set your self up to win by knowing what’s going to happen and how it’s going to happen.

By doing this you will be ready for the changes in your life and will know what to expect. So here are the seven secrets to creating an effective diet and exercise program:

Step 1: Recognize the Importance of Diet and Exercise

This may sound simplistic but you need to recognize the importance of a good diet and exercise plan. If you’re just thinking about dieting and firming up…Forget it! You need to realize how vital diet and exercise routine is to your health.

You need to have a good reason to want to do the program. Ex.: You want to live a long time. You want time to enjoy your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

You might want to write a book or climb a mountain or cruise around in your motor home not knowing or caring where your next nights stop is going to be. The point is you need to have a reason to stop the neglect of your body. The alternative is looking at the bottom side of daisies and that is not very appealing.

The fact that you want to live a good healthy life has to sink in and be accepted by you and not just something you might want to try.

Step 2: Select a Diet and Exercise Program You Will Enjoy

There are all kind of diet and exercise programs out there. Most of them are pure junk! There are some very good ones though and at our web site we review some of the very best.

If you don’t like to cook then a lot of the programs are not for you. Trying to become a gourmet cook at the same time as going on the diet and exercise program will frustrate you and all those around you.

There are a couple of great programs that deliver tasty meals right to your doorstep so all you need to do is push the microwave button and you have a delicious nutritious meal.

Pick a type of exercise program that you enjoy. Picking something you don’t like to do is pure drudgery and you are too important to set your self up to fail.

The main thing is to get your body moving enough to raise your pulse above it’s resting rate. Here’s a partial list of activities that would do that:

Bicycling Jogging

Bowling Stair Climbing

Cross-country skiing Bicycling

Dancing Swimming

Gardening Tennis

Golfing Treadmill

Heavy house cleaning Walking briskly

Jazzercise Weight lifting

Kettlebells Hula-hooping

Try picking 4 or 5 of these activities and vary your routine. That way you won’t get bored by doing the same thing every time. Remember pick things you enjoy doing.

Step 3: Monitor Your Diet and Exercise Program Religiously

While you’re exercising, monitor your heart rate. In most gyms they have a machine to do this but it is just as easily done at home. Place your middle and index finger of one hand on your opposite wrist, or on the side of your neck just below the angle of your jaw. Beginning with zero count the number of heart beats for six seconds.

For your pulse rate add a 0 to this number. If you counted thirteen beats add a 0 and your pulse rare is 130.

To find your training rate subtract you age from 185. So if your age is 50 subtract 50 from 185 and your training rate would be 135.

Keep track of the weight you lose also. You will go through periods when you don’t see any results but don’t disparage, things are happening inside your body and will eventually show up on the scale.

Step 4: Do Your Diet and Exercise Program Often

“Bodies to Die For” are not built in a day but by sticking to your diet and exercise routine every day, one day at a time. Don’t worry about tomorrow it will take care of it’s self. Concentrate on today and do your thing. It won’t be long till you and all those around you will recognize the new you.

Step 5: Make it Exciting.

If you can find a workout and diet partner do it. Find a couple of people you know whom you would like to go walking with. By setting up a date to go walking you will certainly be more regular than if you rely on your own good intentions.

Try something different like hula-hooping. Get a couple of balanced hula-hoops, some good music to hoop to and get the body moving. Shake-it-up!

Step 6: Stay Excited

Stay excited and motivated. Read or page through some of the diet and fitness magazines, look at the pictures and imagine what you’re going to look like when you are all buffed up.

Set small realistic goals that are doable. Success breeds success. Write down your daily goals and check them off when you have accomplished them.

As I have said before don’t do the same thing every day. You will tire of the routine. Mix up your exercise routine the same as your diet. You wouldn’t want to eat the same thing day in and day out. Don’t do the same exercises every day.

Step 7: If in doubt Consult A Good Doctor

If you are over 40 or in bad physical shape you should consult a good Doctor. Exercise and diet change can be harmful if your heart is not able to take the increased demands on it.

Don’t allow yourself to use the Doctor visit as an excuse not to start your diet and exercise routine. Get up right now. Call a Good Doctor and make an appointment. Go to healthfood-guide.com and choose a diet and exercise program that’s right for you and you’re on day one of a very healthy and satisfying rest of your life.

Terry Schierer
http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/seven-secrets-to-creating-an-effective-diet-and-exercise-program-140435.html

There is no doubt that thousands of people give up their bodyweight exercises before they begin to show any results. This is because the exercises are not going to show any results. How long must a person wait before they begin to notice any change in their body weight and overall health.

There is no need to go out and buy expensive home gym equipment in order to try to lose that extra weight or stay in shape. Or stand in line waiting your turn at the cardio machine at the gym you attend. Commuting to and from a gym can be a drag most of the time. This is another reason most people loss out on their exercises.

All this changed with the turbulence training program combined with the Kettle Fat Loss system developed by the experts who have achieved fantastic results using the techniques.

The Kettlebell turbulence training program works well with men and women alike. Even adolescents who require a bodyweight exercises program that really works can sign up for the program and begin to see results in as little as 120 hours of exercising per week.

In fact, anyone from 18 to 81 can sign up for this program and begin to burn fat and see their bodies transform within a matter of a few days from the start of the program.

Kettlebell exercises can be done at anytime inside or outside at ones own convenience. It is the perfect cardio workout combined with the best weight loss techniques that delivers results within days not months.

However, even with the many pictures of before and after results we are not quite sure ho long the after results will last. Like other weight loss programs the before results seems to come hoping back in a matter of months. While we do not know how long the fat will stay away with the turbulence system we know for sure it stays away longer than any other bodyweight exercises can guarantee.

No doubt, bodybuilding and physical fitness is an art of its own. On the same note Kettlebell fitness training is based upon technique, strength and determination.

Since history itself, people from different vicinities of the world have been involved in developing muscles and working on their physical health. Some consider it as a sport while others simply felt honored.

There are numerous methods and techniques to build muscles and work on ones body. Even in today’s World, a certain race is going on amongst the Physical fitness instructors by claiming that their methods & training programs are the best.

Similarly, Kettlebell fitness is one of the most epically historic systems of body fitness training. Quintessentially, it is a centuries old Russian training gadget that looks like a ball with a handle. During that era, it was not considered to be a real sport. It was more a form of entertainment.

In city celebrations men would show off their abilities with kettlebells. These were used to compare power, stamina, and skill. However, this system allows the opportunity to the people who usually cant spend much time in the gyms but want to lose weight or gain muscles with great results.

Enhancing efficiency by integrating it with the turbulence training fitness system gives men and women of any age the opportunity to lose body fat rapidly, gain muscles and become physically fit in very effective yet less time consuming fashion. It involves all body muscle movements and can be used by males as well as females.

This fitness program benefited the primitive men and can also benefit todays people who are frustrated from tough gym workouts and other hard cardio routines and helps acquire loads of energy and self satisfaction.

Some claimed to have back pains and improper lifting could cause problems in the later age. This ancient technique still remains very fortunate to some why other look for other ways to stay fit.