The goal of our workout is to improve the overall fitness of the participants. The kettlebells offer an excellent method of resistance training and cardio. Our last two kettlebell sessions we have added sprint sessions between each kettlebell set. These sprinting sessions help increase the heart rate between sessions giving us a longer duration of optimal calorie burning. The focus today was on incorporating legs with our workout so we did sets of squats and presses and after each set of 12 reps we did a one minute run of 30 seconds sprinting 30 seconds jogging.
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Yesterday was kettlebell day and Michael, Michele and I tried four new kettlebell exercises. I am using 12 kg kettlebells, Michael is using 16 kg and Michele is using 8 kg kettlebells:
1. Lawnmower pull – stand with feet at shoulder width, kettlebell at rest next to left foot. With right arm, reach down and across body, grasp kettlebell handle and pull slowly across body. Make sure to keep stress off lower back by bending at the knees and keeping body weight towards heels. Pull kettlebell across body and straight up to the right. Repeat 15 times with the left arm and 15 times with the right. We did three sets of these, running sprints in between sets. Note that I started with my right arm because I am left handed – a right hander would start with the left arm.
2. Standing dip – stand with feet at shoulder width and kettlebell between feet. Bending at the knees lower body and grasp kettlebell handle, raising to waist. 15 dips constitute a set. Do three sets total, breaking up each set with a sprint or other exercise.
3. Upper body raise – stand with feet at shoulder width and kettlebell held in both hands at waist. Raise arms to chest level keeping elbows extended. 15 raises constitute a set. Do three sets. Michael did this exercise with two kettlebells, one in each hand. Michele and I used only one.
4. Back dip – stand with feet at shoulder width and kettlebell in hands behind body. Slowly dip into squatting position. Note that this exercise was actually quite easy as the weight of the kettlebell held behind the body did not really trigger any stabilizing muscles. Do three sets of 15 reps.
5. Standing arm extension – standing with feet at shoulder width, hold the kettlebell at chest level and rotate upwards towards face, taking care not to hit your face with the handle! Three sets of 15 reps.
6. Kettlebell planks – start in pushup position with hands on the round part of the bell. Hold pushup position for 45 seconds. Secondly, vary position from low to ground, high and middle – 15 seconds each for a total of 60 seconds.
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My kettlebells have arrived and Michael, Michele and I have integrated them into our morning workouts. Right now, we are using two 8kg (17.6 lbs.) kettlebells and two 12kg (26.4) kettlebells.
Today we did the following exercises:
1) standing cross arm pull – from a standing position with the kettlebell to the left of my left foot, I reached down (making sure to bend my knees), grabbed the handle with my right hand and pulled diagonally upwards into a full extension on the right. Then, I returned the kettlebell to the starting position. Think of the motion you would use in starting a power lawnmower. I did 12 reps using the right arm and 12 on the left.
2) "stars" with the kettlebell. I started by lying on my right side on an exercise mat. With my legs extended and my left foot on top of my right, I balanced and braced myself using my right arm only. In my left hand, with left arm extended, I held the 8kg kettlebell over my head. In theory, I should be able to hold this position for 30 seconds – in reality, today, I held it for less than 15. I then changed arms and was able to brace with my left, holding the kettlebell in my right hand. I was able to hold this position for 25 seconds. Note that I am left handed so my left arm is stronger.
My workout partners Michael and Michele had more success than me – they were both able to hold both the left and right positions for 30 seconds.
3) balance ball with kettlebell. I started by sitting on the balance ball and slowly rolled the ball to the point where I was parallel to the ground, with the balance ball between my shoulder blades. I then did three kettlebell exercises.
First, I did a chest press by holding an 8kg kettlebell in each hand and extending straight up for 12 repetitions.
Second, I did a rounded press starting with the kettlebells at shoulder width and height and, by forming a rounded "C" brought my hands together for 12 repetitions.
Third, I did a press holding the kettlebells at waist level for 12 repetitions.
We did three sets of each of these exercises with minimal rest in between.
Our final kettlebell exercise was aerobic and took place in the basketball gym. First each of us did two sprints across the gym diagonally. Next we did two sets of "suicide"s. Our final "suicide" was a kettlebell haul – run to the free throw line, leave the kettlebell and run back. Next, run to pick up the kettlebell and bring it to midcourt, leave it and run back. Next, run to pick up the kettlebell and haul it to the far free throw line, leave it and back. Next, run to pick up the kettlebell run to the end line, leave it and back. And finally, run to pick up the kettlebell, and run with it back to the base line.
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If you have ever worked out with kettlebells, you know that a kettlebell workout differs significantly from free weight or dumbbell exercises. Although kettlebells may be equivalent in weight to dumbbells, they engage different muscles because the center of gravity in a kettlebell exists on a vertical rather than a horizontal plane.
When, for example you initially grip a kettlebell placed on the floor, you hold it by a handle. As you begin lifting the kettlebell, you are engaged in a pulling motion. As you raise the kettlebell, its center of gravity relative to your body begins to shift and at approximately shoulder height, the pull on your bicep, tricep and shoulder muscles becomes a pushing motion.
The effect of this change in the center of gravity in this sample exercise is to engage stabilizing muscles at multiple points in and around your arm and core. By contrast, a standard biceps curl engages only those stabilizing muscles necessary to support your arm in a single plane of motion.
While kettlebells offer advantages over dumbbells, both are far superior to using exercise machines commonly found in exercise gyms. This past Thursday, my regular workout partner, Michael, and I conducted an experiment to examine this difference. The exercise we selected was an overhead triceps curl. Our regular triceps exercise involves lying on an exercise ball with arms extended overhead, grabbing a 70lb. weight and raising 45 degrees until the weight is directly overhead. My maximum for this exercise is currently 70 lbs. and Michael's is 75.
We decided to test our capacity on a pulldown machine, which triggers approximately the same muscles. Each of us was able to comfortably pull down close to 150 lbs. The reason – the pulldown machine does not engage any stabilizing muscles and requires movement in only one plane. All muscle energy can be focused on one controlled movement. This machine might be helpful building bulk, but I suspect that it would not be helpful creating strength.
Our next step is to substitute a kettlebell for the dumbbell in our exercise ball routine. I would imagine that the center of gravity weight shift will occur at about a 20 degrees angle of lift.
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