I have to admit that the circuit in the video below has been adapted over the last few years to serve as a warm-up for me before my higher work capacity/short bout training sessions.
I use it for two reasons:
It gets my brain and eyes focused on what’s about to happen (hand to hand exchange helps this).
Physically, I warm-up every muscle in my body in one shot (after foam rolling/static/dynamic stretch)
In the video below, I am using my trusty 20kgkettlebell, that’s 44lbs for all of the Americans reading this.
This is my warm-up bell, my hand to hand swing bell, and my long cycle snatch bell.
Initially, when I started kettlebell training it was all I could handle weight-wise. That’s my indirect advice to you to start slow, and progressing at an your intelligent pace. Don’t “Hail Mary” your training or you may find yourself in the emergency room.
All in good time.
Enjoy the music…
The details:
5 reps of all movements (keep it simple!).
All movement patterns must be addressed (with exception of upper extremity pulling).
Don’t put the kettlebell down until the circuit is complete.
A couple tips…
Tip #1: Use a dry erase board to map out what movements you’ve programmed and what order you want to perform them. This helps a lot. Double clutching a 44lb kettlebell rarely has a positive end result.
Tip #2: Treadmills and ellipticals are $2,000 coat racks. Sell your old useless fitness equipment and go buy some Lifeline kettlebells or PowerBlocks.
Have fun, tell me how it goes…
Coming soon: Why single kettlebell/dumbbell training is where it’s at…
This workout includes two foundational kettlebell exercises (Turkish Get-Ups and Kettlebell Swings) and is perfect for a home gym workout.
Who doesn’t love a home gym workout these days? Time-efficient and minimalistic workouts are PERFECT proving the superiority of the home gym workout experience.
Clearly, I’m an outspoken advocate for creating a home gym space.
In the kettlebell training world, turkish get-ups and swings are two of the best exercises a person could learn, practice, and improve on.
I stand firm on this statement. Call it “my truth” or whatever. I’ve spent years working these two movements and the benefits of my efforts include sustained power, strength, and a consistently lean and muscular physique.
Aesthetics might seem superficial, but no one trains hard to stay fat.
There are HUNDREDS of other great exercises, I support them all, but going full-on minimalistic mode, I know that attacking turkish get-ups and swings would make a lot of people happy with the time investment.
It’s a powerful combo.
Kettlebell swings are a ballistic hip hinging exercise that’ll improve power, train fast-twitch muscle fibers and if organized accordingly, build conditioning in a really unique way.
Turkish Get-Ups are a pure loaded movement-rich exercise. Few other exercises are as humbling, addicting, total body, and rewarding as practicing turkish get-ups on a regular basis.
You feel less like a Lego exercising while doing turkish get-ups, and more human.
Equipment needed: Timer and kettlebell
15 minutes Alternating Turkish Get-Ups
+
2-Hand Kettlebell Swings (24 rounds of 15sec on/15 sec off)
The TGU’s
15 minutes of continuous turkish get-ups is a lot of work, so if the duration needs to be decreased a bit, please do it.
Start with 5 minutes, see how you feel.
If 5 minutes is a breeze, add 2 more minutes and see how that feels.
There are very few secrets to fitness. Actually, there are none. Only what you know, and what do you don’t know… and how consistently and effectively you are at practicing what you know.
The key to building fitness safely, is auditing and be honest with your fitness level, and adjusting any pre-formatted workouts (like this one) to match your abilities.
Turkish get-ups, like any other exercise, are not supposed to be sloppy.
A full turkish get-up is a marathon of an exercise, multi-segmented, with many steps/moves/transitions on the way up and down.
The technique, timing, hand and foot placements, breathing and coordination are just a few key things to pay attention to while performing Turkish get-ups.
Poor technique… can result in tweaks, strains and injuries, which is not the point of exercising in the first place.
We exercise to improve our lives, not make it worse.
Regressions may be necessary, and the person who acknowledges they need to scale back a workout is a person I RESPECT!
The Swings
24 rounds of 15 seconds on (swinging) and 15 seconds off (rest) equates to 12 total minutes.
6 out of 12 minutes are spent performing kettlebell swings.
Pausing to think about how potent kettlebell swings are for fat loss (among other benefits), it’s pretty amazing a measly six minutes can have such a dramatic impact on body composition over time.
When I first started shaping this workout years ago, I used a 24kg kettlebell.
Today, I like to use a 32kg or my 40kg for the swings.
Exercise Variations for the Workout
Establish familiarity with both turkish get-ups and kettlebell swings BEFORE diving into a workout like this one.
Here are the recommended variations of each exercise:
In my 4 year training hiatus away from traditional gyms, I have learned a lot about strength and conditioning.
I’ve learned that fancy equipment is NOT a necessity, and that a small investment in large ROI (return on investment) tools like the kettlebell are well worth the money spent.
I was introduced to kettlebells through the internet. Honestly, the first time that I ever witnessed a person swinging a kettlebell was on YouTube while in Detroit, MI. I have to admit that I was stubborn in my training philosophy then, so I hated them.
“Another exercise fad! That’s insane and dangerous!”
I believe that to be my initial reaction that after watching the video clip.
Kettlebells weren’t a thought in my mind until a year after watching that clip. What a mistake.
Perform Better and Gray Cook…
While attending a Perform Better conference in Chicago, I decided to listen in on Gray Cook’s seminar as he raved about the kettlebell’s versatility when it came to rehab, strength and power development. Gray isn’t known for being a fat loss guru, but he made a point to touch on the effectiveness of kettlebell training for burning fat.
One point that Gray made was an experience that he had working with the Indianapolis Colts, having 260-320lb NFL athletes try and walk 50 yards with a 53lb (24kg) kettlebell held in full extension over their head.
Not one guy could do it.
Pound for pound, we are talking about some of the strongest athletes in the world. Many of these guys can probably press 100+ pounds vertically, yet not one could overhead carry load half of that (53lb) for 50 yards?!?!
No shoulder stability. Many of these guys were ticking time bombs for injury. Very interesting.
After Gray’s seminar, I ventured over to the product display table where they had a 20kg kettlebell out for trainers to play around with. As soon as I picked it up, I felt like I hadn’t trained in years. The feel of it was so unique.
One short, awkward, off-balance kettlebell workout later that night in the hotel room and I knew that there was something incredibly valuable about the kettlebell. The rest is history.
Here are some reasons to love KB’s…
Kettlebell Design…
The weight of a kettlebell is off-center that of the handle, unlike a dumbbell where the weight is evenly distributed on either side of your hand grip. First impressions after picking up the 20kg bell at the convention told me that I needed to give it a shot. I purchased a 20kg kettlebell and my introduction to alternative training methods began.
Most of the kettlebells that I recommend purchasing as made of a cast iron mold. Lifeline and Dragon Door are the two major players, with companies like Perform Better and Art of Strength having a market presence also.
You are going to find two different styles of kettlebell on the market today.
1) The first is the competition kettlebell and looks like this:
2) The second (and more common) kettlebell that you will often see is what is known as the “hardstyle” kettlebell. This kettlebell design was used by the Russian’s to condition their military for years. Pavel Psatsouline pioneered the kettlebell craze in the Western world in the early 2000’s, and his methods have since grown like wild-fire in popularity.
Here is what the “hardstyle” kettlebell looks like:
Flow…
The flow of kettelbell training is what makes it so addicting. Virtually every movement in a kettlebell workout is completed in standing position, so transitioning from a 2-handed swing to a 1-handed swing to a 1-arm clean into a vertical press… is actually quite simple. It’s all about grace and flow while maintaining enough muscular tension to move the bell through space.
Ground based training with constant transitions from movement to movement is total body in nature, and extremely fatiguing. The indirect core training that occurs as a result of a vertically standing posture is one of the many perks of ground based training. Muscles are called upon to contribute as they would in a real world situation.
This is functional training. No gimmicks, just amazing real world carryover from the workout to life.
Relaxed-Tension…
Kettlebell training is a skill and an art. Creating tension where it is needed yet remaining relaxed is something the is so non-traditional compared to traditional strength training methods. Sure, you can perform the grunt lifts, but the balance of “relaxed-tension” is something to be marveled at with a kettlebell workout. Martial artists have known the value of relaxed-tension for hundreds of years.
Relaxed-tension demonstrated in the Bottom’s Up Turkish Get Up
Basic movements, huge training effect…
Simplicity will trump everything with kettlebell training. A steady diet of kettlebell swings, cleans, snatches, vertical presses, bent rows, reverse lunges, turkish get ups and carrying variations will keep you progressing for months both aesthetically and athletically.
Forget about fancy moves from the get go. Train the foundational movement patterns listed above and you’ll develop strength while consistently decreasing your waist circumference.
A lot of people struggle with sticking to a training regimen because they get paralysis by analysis. Men’s Health and their trivial information sends people in 10 different directions, which often times causes the tiring spinning effect in a training
Stick to the basics.
Stay tuned as I load this blog up with more videos and demonstrations.
M(eaux)tion Fitness 