Getting started in kettlebell training

[jqmaverick]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've skimmed through the other thread and decided to get enter the kettlebell book and dvd along with a 16kg and 24kg kettlebell.

I understand the book and dvd are beginner routines. What is the next book/dvd to progress from here?

[Blarg]

Check out Steve Cotter's FullKOntact.com for his video samples. He has a two volume encyclopedia out, and also two others(I have them, they're great) with an emphasis on preparing the body for fighting/fighting sports with kettlebells.

For Pavel's stuff, I'd recommend reading The Naked Warrior for good stuff about proper tension techniques. But get it at Amazon, so it will be much much cheaper. The book isn't about kettlebells, just exercise principles.

[Neko]

So my kettlebell from Agatsu Canada arrived on Fri but I didn't get a change to do a real workout until yesterday. I spent $114CAD for a 16kg bell, an instructional DVD and it also came with an e-book that demonstrated a bunch of different excercises. Seemed like a decent deal and that price included courier service. Took 3 days from ordering to door-step (DVD hasn't arrived yet though) .

The kettlebell seems to be made as well as a hunk of iron can be, handle is smooth, and the finish is really nice.

Initial impressions:

1) holy [censored] I'm weak. I thought 32lbs was going to be to light, but I would say that it is actually the perfect wait for me to start out on. Any lighter and I wouldn't really feel like I was working, and with the next size up my form would really suffer.

2) The only time I ever lifted before was in HS gym class and I hated it. After using this kettlebell for one day I know that I will have no problem keeping this up 3-4 times a week.

3) My form probably sucks pretty bad. I watched a couple of videos on proper squat technique and I think I am squatting and swinging okay. I had my gf watch my squats/swings to make sure I was mainting some resemblance to proper form for those.

The things that I feel like I probably could be doing better is the, cleans and presses. The kettlebell is banging pretty hard into my forearm on cleans, I have tried adding a punching motion at the end of the clean to help, but I must be doing something wrong here.

On 1 handed presses, I don't really know what the proper path of motion should be. Like should the weight be starting from the 'clean' position every time, should my arm be rotating at all as I extend it etc etc. Does Enter The Kettlebell cover proper form?

4) not kettlebell related really, but I have no idea about how to best go about achieving my goals of getting stronger. What I did was:

10 two handed swings,
7 one handed presses on each hand (only cleaned the kb on the first one th)
10 goblet squats
30 around the body passes in each direction.

I repeated this 4 times and I don't feel to sore today, my legs definitley feel like they were worked yesterday but other than that not too bad, no lower back pain etc. I just guessed about how many reps to do for each excercise, cuz I really have no idea what I should be doing.

Does this look like an okay program to start out with if I do it every other day, with an hour of cycling on most other days? My goals are just to get stronger, particularly in my core since I sit at a computer all day/night.

5) Just in general, the workout was easy to get into and took a half hour or less. I don't thing I'll have trouble getting motivated to do it (for the first few weeks anyways) and I can tell already it's going to make a big difference (duh).

All in all I'm really happy I decided to try them out and am looking forward to improving my form and technique.

[Blarg]

Glad you gave them a try; I agree that they aren't nearly as boring as regular weight lifting, because the balance factor means you really feel that working them is a challenging skill practice rather than just moving weight alone. It gives you something to conquer in the way a sport does, so a work-out is not just a work-out. I usually have to force myself to put the bells down or leave them alone, because my body may have had enough, but I really still want to be messing around working on my form and such.

On the forearm thing, it will come in time. Try dropping your elbow in and moving it up and forward. You can also squat a bit at the knees to help get your body in position and to take a bit of the shock. Everybody finds this a little tricky at first, but keep working on it. This is one reason why it's good for everyone to get the bell size you got, too. Imagine having a 54 or 70 pounder banging on your forearm when you're a beginner instead. It would really be offputting. Master form on the 35 pounder first.

I have no idea what goblet squats are.

In general, you should have at least one full-body leg exercise, one upper body push, and one upper body pull. You need to get your back in there somewhere. A light kettlebell isn't the greatest for that. Maybe do some pull-ups? I'd suggest buying ETK for a more rounded program, or the Russian Kettlebell Challenge, for a whole bunch of different exercises that are fun to learn, like the windmill, turkish get-up, etc. Around the body passes seem more like something you should do when you have your basics covered first.

[Neko]

Blarg, I just tried cleaning the KB while dropping my knees a bit when it got to the top and it definitely helps.

Thanks for the routine advice, I am actually doing pullups quite a bit too. I have a bar in the door frame of my office and use it fairly regularly as a quick stress reliever. I just ordered ETK so we'll see how that goes.

This guy does a goblet squat around 30 sec in. Basically jsut a squat with the KB held upside down by the handle in front of you.

[Blarg]

You can get some really good leg exercise by doing pistols(one legged squats), too, and if you add a kettlebell, it can even make balancing easier. It's much harder than what you're doing, so give it a try when you're ready to move up a bit.

[longbody]

On the presses, do the Arnold Press. Clean the bell and immediately cramp the lat (pointing the elbow to the ground helps), and focus on keeping the shoulder packed down throughout the movement. After the clean your palm should be facing the midline of your body and as you press it, your arm will rotate so that the palm of your hand is facing away from you at the top. Also imagine pushing yourself away from the weight.
Knowing that, and keeping your wrist and forearm straight, will allow you to find the proper path with a little practice.

Hope that helps. The most helpful thing is to keep that lat cramped. That will carryover to heavy bent presses, side presses, get-ups, etc. and will kind of dictate the proper path on the press. Some of the finer points don't become apparent until the weights start to increase.

[suzzer99]

All I know is if my personal trainer had me doing kettlebells, 10 of you would be on here telling me to demand my money back. I think that would happen anyway.

[Rootabager]

ten retards?

[Neko]

t.y.v.m. longbody, very helpful.