Kettlebell?
 

Anyone using kettlebells in their workout routine? I've always seen them and thought I would finally give them a try. I gotta say... wow. Only 3 sets of 15 swings on a 16kg bell and I can really feel it. I think I'm going to like this! Too bad the store only had a 16kg as the largest. I could order online, but eh. I need to break myself in on the 16, then I will work up to the 20kg or 24kg. My legs are my weakest link for sure, so this is a bit of a challenge for me, but thats what I like. Plus I don't feel like a douche doing this in the yard. Can't do many workouts in the yard like you can with this thing. I've let my fitness level drop a ton since I stopped working in construction where heavy lifting and hard work was a daily thing. Now I work sitting in an office chair all day and don't have time to do much working out.

Yea they are good to work out with. I work them in every few days. They are not my favorite thing, but it is always good to keep your body guessing so I like to switch it up.

Dragondoor.com
 

Good source for bells....pick up one of these fuckers:

The Beast:
The Beast - 106lb (48kg) Russian Kettlebell

Yeah... I could do a farmers walk with 2 of them, but thats about it. My 35lb bell is kicking my ass already, which upsets me. I thought I was in better shape and stronger than that.

Turkish Get-ups are good to do with kettle bells. You may need to start with a smaller one, though. Check youtube if you haven't seen one before. Looks easy, but will kick your ass.

I almost got a set the other day at sports authority. I definitely plan on getting some to add to my workout.

I went to sports authority to check out their heavy bags and got the big boy. Only had it for 2 days and I fucking love it. I've been boxing for years but never graduated to the 100lb bag status. Now that I have one I wish I got it years ago.

I also picked up a heavy bag yesterday when I got the kettlebell. Got a 70lb and some new gloves and swaps. Never done any boxing, but figured it would be a good workout. Should have seen my car loaded down with a bag and kettlebell, and it was already full of other junk. I don't know if I trust my mounting of the bag. I was going to use a 1/2'' x 8'' eye bolt and mount a 2x6 between my rafters to mount the eye bolt to, and drill a 1/2'' hole through the sheetrock, but ended up chancing it with a 3/8'' x 3'' lag bolt with a hook on the end drilled straight into the bottom edge of the rafter. I'm thinking after a few days of swaying it will work itself loose and fall, but maybe it won't.

Tricker, what exactly are the get-ups good for. I can see they would work out a lot of different muscles, but it just looks like a very slow workout. Seems like you would need to do that for an hour to get any real results. But I guess so many people do it, it must work.

My girlfriend got me 2x 1 pood (52lbs) KBs for christmas <3. I do KB exercises 1-2 times a week, and also do weights, crossfit, heavy bag, and krav maga/bjj. It took me a little bit of strength training before I could do some things with the KBs. I'm only now getting able to do a press with them. Before, I could only do push presses.

Turkish getups are very good for total body coordination. They get a lot of your little bullshit stabilizer muscles. If you are using a heavy weight or KB for a getup, the trick is to nail your heel to the floor and push off with that hard. For a long time, I was just trying to crunch up, which is ridiculously difficult with a heavy weight. Make sure to keep proper posture and don't hunch your back. It's not easy. My weightlifting buddy who can bench a lot more than me nearly killed himself when he tried a TGU. Practice TGUs with either lighter weights or no weight at all a bunch. Stupid wackass exercises like TGUs stimulate your brain because you are moving in unexpected ways. In the end, that type of stimulation will help you with your kinesthetic awareness and help you avoid injury.

It will take me some more work before I can use both KBs at the same time but it will be an accomplishment to aim for :)

They really are fantastic for anaerobic workouts as well as strength and stamina.

Thats why I started with a lighter weight KB (and the fact that it was the largest the store had in stock) I could do more weight, but I figured correct technique was more important than raw power. Once I get used to all of the motions, I will try to locate some 1 poods. I'd hate to buy online, shipping on 2 x 52lb iron ball couldn't be cheap.

Right, you need technique or your spine will erupt out of your back.. or something similarly disasterous. just make sure that for swings you are actually getting the swing going with your legs and hip pop vs. arms. with lighter bells people tend to use arms more than they should for swings.

I hope im not the only one that is laughing at the thought of someone reaching for their present under the tree only to have it be like 10 times heavier then they imagined.

What he said. They're a lot harder than they look. They're the type of thing that will make muscles hurt you never knew you had. I have never been able to do more than like 10 at a time per set. They're exhausting.

I do find myself using my arms more than I should, and I have to force myself to use my legs. My legs are pitiful. I have always ignored them when working out, so they are far behind. Today I started with squats, will be doing them as a regular part of my workout. After 3 sets of 20 while holding the 35lb KB, it amazing how hard it was to walk down a flight of stairs to get a drink. Felt like I was wearing a 200lb backpack. :giggle: I'm weak shit in the legs.

Ah good, a new set of beer glasses... let me just pick these up... GOOD GOD!

I've got the fever. And the only prescription is more kettlebell.