Quotes About Training

girevik, or 'a kettlebell man'.

What is a kettlebell? It's a cannonball with a handle. It's an extreme handheld gym. It's a statement: "I'm sick of your metrosexual gyms! I'm a man, and I'll train like a man!" Lifting a kettlebell is liberating and as aggressive as medieval swordplay. It's a manifestation of what Ori Hofmekler has called the "warrior instinct.

Time to start by buying a 300 pound Olympic weight set: a barbell with plates.

The kettlebell delivers extreme all-around fitness. All-purpose strength. Staying power. Flexibility. Fat loss without the dishonor of aerobics. All accomplished in one to two hours of weekly training. All done with one compact and virtually indestructible tool that can be used anywhere.

10K forced march in full kit, an obstacle course and rappelling, plus another 10K run. A cherry on the top when you are beyond smoked is a 12-minute full-contact sparring session—with fresh opponents rotating in every three minutes. Once on the team, operators aggressively compete against their colleagues in the frequently held law enforcement sports events. Their specialties: hand-to-hand combat and the kettlebell sport. A matter of specificity and pride.

The kettlebell is one of the best grip and forearm developers in existence. It has been hailed by such grip greats as John Brookfield. Dr. Fred Hatfield, a powerlifting legend and strength training expert, once quipped, "The best grip exercises are always going to be pulling at heavy weights ballistically." High-rep snatches forge steel trap fingers and painfully pump the forearms to new growth. Their action is similar to the ballistic repetitive loading of rock climbing.

An average man should start with a 35-pounder. What is "average"? —Given the bench press as a typical, albeit misguided, standard of strength, men with a bench press under 200 pounds should start with a 35-pounder. If you bench more than 200, a 44 that weighs as much as a big barbell plate will do the trick. Unless you are a powerlifter or a strongman, you have no business starting with a 53.

To generate enough lactic acid to promote fat loss, you have to extend your sets to about a minute, then rest for a minute, then move on to your next set. (Nobody said it was easier than aerobics.)

Kettleweights are also the working class alternative to plyometrics.

Do you need two kettlebells of the same size? —Not yet. Double kettlebell drills are great—look what they have done for Senior RKC Mike Mahler—but they are not for beginners. Get good with one bell, address your strength imbalances, work up to the snatch and press goals listed toward the end of this book, then we'll talk.

An average woman should start with an 18-pounder. A strong woman can go for a 26-pounder. Most women should advance to a 35-pounder.

The one arm snatch will work as many muscles as a single exercise could. It strengthens the back, from the tips of your traps all the way down to your butt, every bit as well as the deadlift.

Perform your exercises in a circuit. Allow at least a few minutes of rest between the sets; do not rush if your focus is strength. Compress the rest periods to favor endurance, muscular and cardiovascular, over strength. Do not practice exercises which require great coordination, e.g. the bent press, if you choose brief rest periods.

Never contest for space with a kettlebell.

Start your practice with the most technically demanding exercises, e.g. the two hands anyhow. Do not engage in any endurance activities before your kettlebell practice.

The total number of sets is up to you, anywhere from three to as many as twenty sets per exercise are acceptable but should be varied.

Never go to failure but vary the difficulty of your sets. For example, your estimated best in the side press is four reps. Some sets do one or two reps, others three. Play by the seat of your pants.

The heavy kettlebell is determined to bend your wrist backward. Don't let it happen! Stick your hand far inside the handle so the weight rests on the heel of your palm. Then counter with the wrist flexors, the muscles that gooseneck your wrist.

Listen to your hands. If your skin begins to pull, tingle or give indications of a blister or tear, listen to it and stop. Halting a set early to save your hands is far preferable to ignoring the warning and allowing a tear to occur which can derail your training.

Periodically speed up or slow down the movement from the comfortable pace. For example, snatch at the limit of your explosiveness or at a near stall. When pressing, lowering the kettlebell fast but lifting it slow or vice versa is an option. If you have been following the Power to the People! workout, alternate a 2-4 week period of kettlebell training with a PTP cycle.

Don't try to get yourself smoked; this will come soon enough. A 30-minute practice is about right. When done, you should feel energized rather than wiped out. You should hardly be sore the day after.

Do not freak out about training the same movement or the same body part for two or more days in a row. It is a standard operating procedure among Russian athletes. For example, the Russian National Powerlifting Team benches up to eight times a week. The key to successful frequent training is constant variation of the loading variables: weights, reps, sets, rest periods, tempo, exercise order, exercise selection, etc.

To make sure you're swinging without using your arms, attach a lifting strap or very short rope [or a towel] to a kettlebell... "Try a few swings. If you're driving the weight up with your hips, the bell, rope, and arm should all be in one line throughout the rep. If you're using your arms, your hands will rise up above the strap and bell.

Do not be afraid to push into slight overtraining and then back off with lighter workouts. As a Lithuanian saying goes, "A river with a dam has more power.