Tag: workout

Monday’s Kettlebell Workout – The Ladder

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Mommy, you need to get off the couch and do your workout!

This past December, I was e-mailed a new workout by the same SparkFriend who had sent me my original timed workout. At the time, he described it as “The Twelve Bells of Christmas”. I was supposed to do this workout only from about mid-December through the New Year. Unlike the previous workout, it’s untimed, and is in a ladder format.

A ladder workout is a method of strength and sports training where you perform one or more exercises with an ascending and descending repetition pattern. Ladders are muscular endurance and conditioning workouts designed to help you increase your overall training volumes while maintaining proper form and technique. The number of exercises per workout and the number of reps between sets depends on your muscular strength and endurance. In general, beginner ladders involve one exercise, while advanced ladders involve two or three. (Source: http://livehealthy.chron.com/ladder-workouts-4564.html)

Basically, you pretend you’re singing the Twelve Days of Christmas, and begin the first round by doing only the first move. Then, the second round is the second move, done twice, followed by the first move done once. Third round is the third move, done three times, followed by the second move, done twice, followed by the first move, done once, et cetera, et cetera and so forth until you’ve done all twelve rounds. Take a short break in between rounds, but only as needed (and you’ll need it towards the end, I assure you).

Without further ado, here is the workout:

  1. Goblet Squat
  2. Sumo Dead Lifts
  3. Clean and Press (switch sides each round)
  4. High Pulls (switch sides each round)
  5. Toe Touches/Windmills (switch sides each round)
  6. Squat Press
  7. Around the World (switch directions each round)
  8. 2-Handed Swing
  9. Bent Over Row (switch sides each round)
  10. Figure 8s
  11. Around the Body Stalls (switch directions each round)
  12. 1-Arm Swings (per side, 24 total)*

This workout is serious business, but, with it not being timed, you can focus on form. I workout in front of a full length mirror so I can watch my form and make sure I’m not going to injure myself.

Wednesday’s Kettlebell Workout – The Circuit

Back sweat, baby!
Back sweat, baby!

This workout was provided to me by a SparkFriend in early September, and I spent at least a week being downright afraid of it. I was still doing the 8-minute video I started out with, so the idea of doing such an intense workout that was three times the length was seriously intimidating. But after a little encouragement, I gave it a shot. Never before had I had sweat drip down my shins. MY SHINS! It was hard, but doable and ridiculously satisfying.

The whole shebang takes about 30 minutes. You do each move for 1 minute, then move onto the next. I have an app on my phone that let’s me have 8 1-minute timers with a 5-second timer in between for changing positions. You don’t want to leave too much time between each move or your heart rate will drop and you’ll lose the cardio benefit. Once you finish the first round, then you can take a 2-3 minute break. Repeat twice for a total of 3 rounds.

1. 2-Handed Swing

2. 1-Arm Swings (per side, 24 total)*

3. High Elbows

4. Toe Touches/Windmills (switch sides each round)

5. Squat Press

6. Sumo Dead Lifts

7. Clean and Press (switch sides each round)

8. Figure 8s

I started doing this workout three days a week, and now I do it on Wednesdays. It’s my shortest workout, so perfect for hump day. This workout is pretty intense, due to its timed nature, but you can start with low, slow reps at the beginning until you get the hang of it, then build up your speed and intensity as you master the moves. I always do a quick ab circuit after this one, which I’ll detail at a later date. If you try this workout, let me know how it goes!

Kettlebells: My Introduction to Loving Exercise – Part I

Who doesn't love getting their butt kicked by a ball of iron?
Who doesn’t love getting their butt kicked by a ball of iron?

I am not a fan of exercise. Okay, that’s a lie. I love certain exercise. I love kettlebells. LOVE. I love kettlebells so much I brought my 30-lb kettlebell on vacation with me to my mom’s house. I also love hiking and walking, but RUNNING? Ugh. I mean, I might do a 5k over the summer, but it’s not really something I’m into. Yoga? I might do yoga or pilates from time to time. I dabbled in Tae Bo. I’ve dabbled in a lot of things. But the only thing I’ve found that I have no problem doing consistently is kettlebells.

What are kettlebells, you ask? Well, BodyBuilding.com says the following:

dotSo just what is a kettlebell? A kettlebell is a cast iron ball with a handle attached to the top of it (picture a cannonball with a handle on the top). This design makes kettlebells different from training with dumbbells because the weight of a kettlebell is not distributed evenly, thus creating the need to counter balance and stabilize during your workout (Aha … core strength!).

The most common weight of a kettlebell ranges between 9 pounds and 105 pounds. I start most women with an 18-pound bell, but some of my women in their 60’s use a 13-pound for some exercises and 18 pounds for the rest. Most women I work with work up to a 26-pound bell.

I started with a 20-lb bell, because I don’t have a lot of money to spend on fitness equipment, and I’d been using 10-lb hand weights for months. If I could use 10-lbs in one hand, I assumed I could use 20-lbs in two hands. Turns out for me, I was right, despite a few people (you know who you are) thinking I was being a bit overzealous.

As is the story of my life, I started slow (I am mostly Taurus after all). I began my kettlebell workouts with a simple 8-minute video:

This was a great way to start. The moves are easy to learn, and they have several people to watch, none of which are meatheads. The movements are slow, and are explained well. I did this workout for a couple of weeks, and I realized it was EASY. I needed more if I was going to get any benefit at all, because less face it, 8 minutes isn’t very long. So I upgraded to this FitnessBlender video:

IMG_20150211_065905683Woo! Talk about working up a sweat! Never before had I had sweat drip down my SHINS while doing strength training. I’d always thought strength training was sitting on a bench and doing biceps curls. But kettlebells combine some cardio with strength training for a full body workout. They’re challenging, and dynamic, and they make me feel like a beast. Doesn’t everyone want to feel like they could take over the world? When I do kettlebells, I am an Amazon, a warrior queen. I am BADASS. It didn’t actually take long for me to outgrow this video, too. The progression I experienced in kettlebells was pretty rapid. Soon a friend e-mailed me a new workout, and I was HOOKED.

It didn’t take me long before I ordered a 30-lb bell. Now I use both in my workouts, with the majority of the time defaulting to the heavier bell. Very soon I’ll be posting my current workouts with instructional videos to show you how to do some more moves, but for now, I hope you enjoy the two videos I’ve posted!

What exercise made YOU finally love working out?