Tag bodybuilding

Before learning how to avoid hitting a strength training plateau, we have to first know what causes one; in a word adaptation.

The human body can quickly learn how to make the most of a situation. So if you are eating about the same number (and types) of calories and doing the same strength training routines, your body adapts to that scenario and trains itself to do the same amount of work more efficiently.

To avoid hitting a those strength training plateaus, keep these four things in mind…

1) Eating

Not getting the right number or types of calories can affect your strength training progress. If you are looking to gain muscle, getting the right amount of protein is very important. Experts recommend eating 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight per day. Serious bodybuilders tend to eat five or six moderately-sized meals spread throughout the day rather than three larger meals. Eating this way keeps your metabolism functioning at a higher level throughout the day.

2) Resting

If you start to feel tired and you are seeing your motivation going downhill, you may need to take some time off from your routine. This doesn’t mean sit around and do nothing; instead use this time to go for walks, do yoga and spend time with your family. To help avoid hitting a plateau in the first place, plan to take about a week off training every three to four months.

3) Sleeping

The body repairs itself and builds muscle during the time you are sleeping. If you are not giving it enough time to accomplish its maintenance task, it can affect your progress. Most training adults need seven to eight hours per night.

4) Routines

Some bodybuilders use a training system called periodization where they break down their training year into three periods – each with a different goal. One period might focus on strength, another on endurance, and a third on muscle tone. Because each period focuses on a different goal, the strength training exercises in each period are different thus preventing their body from adapting to a specific routine.

Other athletes use their same strength training routine, but change the intensity of their workout or take shorter rest periods between sets. Or they may use less weight, but add a significant number of repetitions per set.

Some athletes make minor changes such as the order of the exercises in their workouts. The point is there are many ways you can change your routine – even if the changes are small – that will challenge your body so it doesn’t get accustomed to a specific one.

Hitting a plateau can be more emotionally draining than physical. To keep from hitting one, keep these four things in mind when doing your exercises, listen to your body and consistently change things up.

Strength training is a type of workout which is based on the principle that resistance (such as weights) causes your muscles to contract. These exercises build physical strength, improve endurance, and increase the size of your muscles.

The Best Strength Training Workouts of Ancient Times

Strength training is not exactly a new thing. In fact, it’s been practiced for thousands of years. Excavation of some ancient Egyptian tombs revealed pictures of people lifting bags filled with sand or stone for exercise. Lifting weights became part of modern Olympics because the ancient Greeks themselves had weight lifting contests. Hippocrates declared that using muscles develops them and on the other hand, not using them will cause muscle wasting. Legend has it that the wrestler Milo of Croton used to carry a newborn calf on his back each day until it was fully grown.

All of these early people didn’t have any of the fancy equipment that we have today but they were still compelled to lift heavy objects because for them it was fun, because they wanted to see who was stronger, and they wanted to be fit and healthy.

The Best Strength Training Workouts of the 1700’s

As the centuries rolled on, man’s interest in lifting weights did not waver, and they began to come up with new ways of boosting their strength. Did you know that the dumbbell was first invented back in the 1700’s? They put a rod in between church bells, and removed the clapper that hit the side of the bell. When the clapper was taken out, the bells became dumb, which at the time meant mute or silent. That’s how they came up with the term dumbbell for the contraption.

The Best Strength Training Workouts of the 1800’s

In the 1800’s, people used Indian clubs, which originated from what the ancient Persians called “meels”. By the late 19th century they also developed the barbell, and by the early 20th century the adjustable, plate-loading barbells became more common.

The Best Strength Training Workouts of the 1900’s

Then came the 1930’s and the fame of Charles Atlas. Bodybuilding competitions soon became popular, starting with the contests on the aptly named Muscle Beach in Venice, California. When the Nautilus variable resistance machines became popular in the 1970s, more and more people became interested, as the new machines were less intimidating than the barbells. The 1970s also saw the fitness craze boom with the increased interest in jogging and of course, weight lifting.

Quite a few celebrities were known for their physiques, including such luminaries as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and a host of professional wrestlers and boxers. Today, the benefits of lifting weights are well known, and every serious professional athlete incorporates some sort of strength training in their workouts.

Even golf, supposedly the most relaxed and composed of sports, demonstrated the need for strength training when Tiger Woods – the most dominant golfer of his era and perhaps of all time – revealed that strength training was an integral component of his preparation.

Some of the best strength training workouts today can be found at MyFitnessNut.com with a few good examples being the Dumbbell Exercises at http://myfitnessnut.com/dumbbell-exercises and the Kettlebell Exercises at http://myfitnessnut.com/kettlebell-exercises. Both of those are complete strength training workout programs with written and video instructions.

It’s commonly known by people in the bodybuilding world that protein is required to build muscle mass. What’s really important to know is that your protein intake amount is adequate enough to feed your hard working muscles. If it’s not, your muscles will not develop well in contrast to the amount of work you’re putting in.

One way to know how much more protein to eat is to first figure out the overall calories you need to be eating for optimal muscle growth.

Building your muscles is much like gaining weight it takes between 300 – 500 calories to put on extra muscle mass or weight. Eating 500 calories extra every day will have you putting on about one extra pound every week. Keep in mind that you must be working your muscles to burn these extra calories so that they don’t end up as stored fat opposed to built muscle mass.

Now, if your plan is to use these extra consumed calories to build your muscles then you’ll want to convert the 300 – 500 calories into mostly protein. You don’t want to be increasing the amount of fat that your ingesting, although some fat is important. Lean cuts of meat will contain some fat, nuts will contain some fat and well designed protein shakes will contain some fat.

So, at any rate, don’t go overboard thinking you have to avoid fat completely. You do want your protein calories to be the bulk of these additional calories that you are consuming in order to accelerate your muscle building venture.

Work Your Muscles Hard but Ensure Proper Protein Intake When You Do.

Learning the concept of consuming the correct protein intake for building muscle is to understand that protein is the foundational building block for gaining muscle mass. With these protein building blocks in your system, when you train your muscles, you are stimulating your muscle growth cycle to develop your muscles at a much faster pace.

So it makes sense to work your muscles really hard but only if you have good amounts of protein in your body to feed those hungry worked muscles.

Why Building Muscle Mass without Proper Protein Intake is a Bad Idea

You may have heard the saying “Turn fat into muscle” and while it is true that when you workout, you’ll be losing fat and as long as you are maintaining a good protein level in your body, you’ll be gaining muscle. But you’re not actually turning muscle into fat.

The bottom line is that if you don’t consume the right amount of protein based on how rigorously you work your muscles, your muscles will not grow no matter how hard you work them. And on the flip side, you never want to over eat if you’re not burning the calories you consume because you will pack on fat pounds and that’s the exact opposite of what you want to achieve.

Many of the weight training professionals will recommend not eating extra on your rest and recover days even if your body and brain are screaming to be fed more food. Instead, they advocate physically resting up more on your rest days. What this habit will do is create an energy surplus in your body without feeding it more.

The benefit is that when you re-engage in performing an intense workout, your body will draw upon this surplus reducing your body fat stores. And as we all know, the less body fat you have surrounding you, the more your magnificent muscle tone shows itself off. Many times, the muscle tone is there… it’s just hiding.

How to Add More Protein to Your Diet

There are no one-size-fits-all answers to how much protein you should add because it can differ greatly from person to person. While one person might want to simply shape up, the next person may be looking at competition bodybuilding. One might want to get their increased protein intake from food, others may want to supplement; others will want to do both.

Increasing Your Protein Intake with Food

Everyone wanting to build up their muscles will have protein requirements unique to them so it’s a good idea to start slower rather than too fast. Keeping in tune with what was said earlier, you’ll want to start out by adding in an extra 300 calories of protein each day that you workout for three months.

Take a step back and see where you are at. If you’re not seeing the muscle growth you were expecting, increase your protein intake to 500 calories and compare notes in three more months. A local bodybuilding coach can help get you on the road to reaching your goals much faster because they can personalize this task for you and your goals.

Increasing Your Protein Intake with Supplements

Most protein choices contain higher amounts of fat and research has shown that low fat protein choices work just as effectively in building muscle. While you can easily add in low fat dairy items, lean meats like chicken, fish and turkey; a good quality protein supplement is a convenient way to “beef up” your protein intake.

There are many protein supplements to choose from; some good, some great and some that are not so good – even downright bad for you sorry to say. The most important thing to glean from this article is to find a way to increase your protein intake when your goal is to build muscles.

Secondly, your goal is most likely to simultaneously lose fat while building up your muscle tone. So, as logic plays out in our search for a good quality protein supplement you will want to look for low fat, low sugar, no artificial ingredients whatsoever; basically you want as pure of protein you can get in the supplement you choose and avoid all the garbage so many manufacturers throw in their products merely for the sake of marketing buzzwords.

Read the labels and like anything you’re thinking about putting in your body, it there’s a word you don’t understand… find out what the heck it is before you consume it!

You can learn more about whole food protein and protein supplements at http://MyFitnessNut.com but the big takeaway for this article is that you must increase your protein intake if you want to increase your muscle mass. You can lift weights from morning until the sun goes down and still not build muscle mass. That would be sad.

Reason; if you don’t feed your muscles protein when they’re being worked, your muscles will tear down and feed upon their very own protein leaving your muscle building goals stuck in the mud. Increase your protein intake to the amount that works for you and you’ll be smiling at the results of your efforts instead of wondering why your workouts aren’t working as well as you like.

We’ve been mentioning form and technique from the beginning of this Burn Body Fat Kettlebell Training Guide so it’s about time that we discuss both, and what makes them important as far as doing a Kettlebell workout is concerned.

When using Kettlebells as a fitness tool, form and technique go together. Mastering one is useless, if you don’t have the other.

Kettlebell Exercise Form

The actions listed below should be done immediately before doing Kettlebell exercises.

Note the position of your legs. Some Kettlebell exercises require that they be positioned about 5 inches more than your shoulder width. Some don’t. Observe the proper position so that you can always maintain your balance.

• Let your body weight be supported by your heels.
• Keep your chest up. This helps you in maintaining proper breathing.
• Retract your shoulders, or keep them squared back.
• Loosen your arm muscles, but be ready to have the muscles contract and expand when you pick up the Kettlebell.
• Make sure you have a steady grip.
• Avoid slouching.
• Relax your neck muscles. Let them support your head, which shouldn’t be positioned stiffly downwards or upwards.

For certain Kettlebell exercises, your head position should allow your eyes to naturally focus on the ground, about 5 to 6 feet ahead. For other exercises, your eyes would need to follow the movements of the Kettlebell. Do check the demonstration videos that accompany this training guide for more specific directions.

Finally, tighten your butt, abs, and thighs as you do each of your Kettlebell exercises.

Kettlebell Exercise Technique

Your techniques will depend on what Kettlebell exercises you are doing during your Kettlebell workout. The 22 demonstration videos that accompany this guide will be very helpful to you in using the proper techniques, as each video provides clear and easy to follow audio and visual steps.

Still, it’s useful and always a source of comfort to keep these general pointers about technique in mind, particularly when you are just starting with Kettlebell exercises.

Don’t be intimidated by the skill of others doing a Kettlebell workout. Remember that everyone was a beginner before. Just focus on your own performance and keep steadily at it, until you notice improvements happening.

Consider the condition of your own body. Kettlebell exercises can be very engaging, to the point that you will be tempted to repeat them beyond what is recommended. You may also be inclined to speed up the movements. Doing such things is counterproductive to your fitness and wellness goals.

Remember that steady progress is more important than speed.

A Kettlebell workout should be fun, not physically taxing to the point of sheer exhaustion and frustration. So, enjoy doing all your Kettlebell exercises by focusing on the way your body feels and how it’s improving as weeks go by. Remind yourself always that all your exertions will be worth it once you accomplish what you set out to achieve: a leaner, stronger physique.

For readers of the MyFitnessNut.com website, you can get the entire “Burn Body Fat Kettlebell Training Guide” and Kettlebell training videos at no cost by subscribing to our newsletter to get the videos, then go to the beginning of this series and start on the first Kettlebell training article and follow along as you work toward your goals.

It’s funny how Kettlebell squats also go by the alias of the “Killer Exercises.” But Kettlebell squats are a different breed of “killers.” Instead of doing away with us, they actually help in making us enjoy life longer by making us fit and by making us healthier and stronger.

Kettlebell Squats – Weird but Healthy

To be very frank about it, a squat is a weird or unnatural position to take. Humans weren’t meant to squat. But in Kettlebell workouts, squats are a routine part of exercising. And, surprise, surprise! When you do Kettlebell squats, you’ll notice that the benefits will outweigh any sort of inconvenience you might feel for a short time.

In a nutshell, a squatting position is really unusual, but it’s healthy, so go on and do it if you are in good enough shape to be able to do so! Start slow and build up while being mindful to avoid injury from pushing yourself into something you are not ready for.

How Healthy is Healthy?

The question of just how healthy is healthy will arise among non-believers. That’s a good attitude to take, so don’t let snake oil slither into your life. Anyway, here’s proof that Kettlebell squats are great for you:

They improve mobility, which is perfect for those with creaky bones and tight muscles

They make your lower back, legs, core, and hips stronger, more powerful for running, walking, cycling, bending, and kicking (be careful of what you kick!)

They burn calories and melt your fat

And, if you continue with your Kettlebell workouts, you can be sure that if ever they make a sequel of the movie 300, you’ll be able to audition for one of the roles reserved for one of the beefy warriors!

Hey, why not?

It’s what Gerard Butler did. He had to undergo 4 months of training, of which Kettlebells were a featured performer. 4 months of training to get a warrior’s physique! Well, of course, he also did other exercises, but without the Kettlebell routines, he probably wouldn’t have made a convincing King Leonidas.

Here’s a Demonstration of a Kettlebell Goblet Squat:

Remember what we talked about in the “Inside Kettlebell Heaven” section of this guide…

You’ll understand this well when you first get hold of a Kettlebell. When you are new to it, you’ll most likely be caught off-guard when you try to swing it for the first time: What the heck, does this funny looking iron thing have a mind of its own? Is it trying to make me turn left even if I’m trying to swing right?

So, how about it? Are you ready to pick up a Kettlebell and add Kettlebell squats to your exercise routine? Review the videos that go along with this article then pick up the whole set by subscribing to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter at MyFitnessNut.com. Last thing, before you start exercising the Kettlebell way, check out the “Form and Technique are Crucial in Kettlebell Exercises” segment of this guide for some final but important information.

One of the things that are so great about living in this day and age is the fact that information exchange is so fast. For instance, if you were informed that doing a Kettlebell deadlift exercise is a surefire way to strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, and the lower part of your back, that’s good information on its own already.

But, that’s the kind of information that doesn’t really let you know the details that you want to find out, as in, WHY you should want a Kettlebell deadlift to strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, and the lower part of your back. So, let’s explore for a moment.

Doing the Kettlebell Deadlift for Your Glutes and Your Back

Your glutes and the lower part of your back have an essential function and it’s not just to make you look sexy from behind while you’re walking away. Aside from that, of course, these two parts of your body should be strong because they are necessary for performing a number of common chores in daily life.

Your glutes need to be strong to enable you to sit down and get up from a chair properly. Your glutes are indispensable for walking, running, bending, and squatting.

As for your lower back muscles, they function in harmony with your glutes (barring a medical issue) to provide you support. Having a strong back also means that you’ll be dealing less with things such as back pain, because your lower back can withstand more.

Kettlebell Deadlift Demonstration Video:

Doing the Kettlebell Deadlift for Your Hamstrings

Your hamstrings also benefit from a Kettlebell deadlift. Having strong hamstrings means that your knees are protected from injury, because the hamstrings are the muscles that handle the stresses which would otherwise fall on the knee to manage.

So, if you want to lead a more active lifestyle and rise above your present physical limitations arising from a weak lower back, and underdeveloped glutes and hamstrings, you can do a Kettlebell deadlift and see the positive changes happen over a short time.

Remember, though, that if you have an existing medical condition, you first need to get medical clearance before performing any kind of exercise.

Next we’ll move on to what a little Kettlebell cardio can do if you reach that dreaded platuea. And if you haven’t done so by now, go grab the free Kettlebell workout videos that you get when subscribing to the MyFitnessNut.com Newsletter at the top of the home page.

Reach Your Impossible Dream with a Kettlebell Windmill

Aside from being a very well-known symbol of Holland, windmills also represent a strong force to contend with, a very formidable opponent, in fact. Blame that last one on Don Quixote de la Mancha. He’s the guy popularized in many works of art that include a novel, plays, films, and even a song (“The Impossible Dream”). Delusional dude, Don Quixote was, although he had the most noble of intentions. He fought windmills, thinking that they were ferocious giants.

So, what does all that have to do with a Kettlebell windmill, aside from the name?

Plenty. For one thing, many people think that their fat-loss and strength building goals are impossible to achieve. That’s probably because most of these people have already tried numerous diets and an assortment of exercises ranging from cardio to endurance building moves, such as weight lifting.

Yet, for all that, they still remain in the same unfit condition as when they started.

The Kettlebell Windmill to the Rescue

In such a situation, a Kettlebell windmill can come to the rescue. Although in the works of art mentioned earlier, windmills were the bad guys, in Kettlebell workouts, a windmill is an exercise that can turn your fitness, health and wellness goals into reality.

The main muscles that are “attacked” (in keeping with our Don Quixote theme for this chapter) by the Kettlebell windmill exercise are the:

• Abdominals (core, stomach muscles)
• Hamstrings (back of the thighs)
• Glutes (the butt)
• Lower back muscles
• Triceps
• Shoulder muscles
• Upper back muscles

A Kettlebell windmill is not recommended for building muscles, but it sure builds up endurance and it sure burns the fat.

A Warm-Up Exercise that Can Stand on its Own

What makes a Kettlebell windmill unique is that it is primarily designed to be a warm-up exercise. However, because it is challenging, many Kettlebell workout enthusiasts perform this exercise as a stand-alone endurance move on its own.

Due to the fact that a Kettlebell windmill has been proven to increase mobility in both the hips and the shoulders, it is one of the exercises that have become a favorite among those who need to have strong shoulders and hips that do not “lock,” or are capable of executing fluid, graceful motions.

Athletes, fashion models, and gymnasts have been known to incorporate a Kettlebell windmill into their workouts to gain the best of benefits, which include:

• Increased coordination
• More strength
• Fat reduction
• A resilient core
• Better sense of balance
• Heightened stability of the shoulders
• Key Precautions Doing the Kettlebell Windmill

Owing to the challenging nature of the Kettlebell windmill (which could motivate enthusiasts to push themselves harder while doing it) the following precautions need to be observed to avoid injuries:

Do not ever attempt to do this exercise if you feel that your back is “off” – this means that if you suspect that you have a pulled muscle in your back or even a pinched nerve in the area of your shoulders with pain that radiates to any part of your back, you should not do a Kettlebell windmill.

Do not exercise to the point of muscle failure – the release of endorphins or pain killers during consistent and continued physical activity can make the Kettlebell handler ignore the burn that is building up in his or her muscles.

Be sensitive to your body’s condition in order to avoid any kind damage to your muscles or to your spine and never do any exercise that you are not totally confident that you are doing correctly.

Okay, that wraps up the Kettlebell windmill section so be sure to check out the video that comes with this guide and follow me on over to the Kettlebell ab exercises section and we’ll look at why Kettlebells are a great tool for getting rid of that horrendous belly fat.

Do the Kettlebell Clean – But Don’t Let it Burn Baby

In the course of time, there are many unusual beliefs that have been promoted in the name of physical fitness, body sculpting, and health and wellness. Among these is the belief that you have to feel a “burn” with each of the exercises that you do, because if you don’t, then it means you didn’t do your workout well.

Baloney.

The truth is, when you do your workouts, what you should do when you experience a burn, is to ease back a bit on your exertions, because a burn is an alert coming from your body that a possible injury is inching its way to happening, and making a mess of your muscles.

Fortunately, with Kettlebell workouts, there are exercises that are good for keeping muscles tidily toned. One of the more prominent ones for doing so is the Kettlebell clean. To understand more fully, let’s discuss muscle burns first.

Lactic Acid Sends a Burning Message

Have you ever tried exercising regularly? If yes, there’s a good chance that gym instructors, fitness trainers, health and wellness gurus, and even your couch potato friend that you dragged like a wet bag of fertilizer to the gym to be your spotter, have probably screamed at you to “feel the burn!” – inspired no doubt by your sweaty, wide-eyed, panting look of pained desperation for more oxygen and rest.

The truth is, instead of thinking that a burn should motivate you to go harder and faster and to do more, you should start feeling concerned when you start feeling a muscle burn. That’s because a burn is a reliable sign of muscle fatigue starting to make its ugly head seen.

In response to this fatigue, your body produces lactic acid. No, it’s not the same thing that lactating mothers feed their babies with.

Lactic acid is what your body uses to inform you through a burning, heavy feeling in your legs or whatever part of your body has been receiving the most pressure during your exercise, that your muscles are already tired, and could you just give everyone a short break?

Ignore this plaintive plea from your muscles and they’ll hit back with a vengeance: how about a week of being sidelined with sore muscles and even a high fever?

Demonstration of the Kettlebell One Arm Clean:

The Kettlebell Clean and Your Muscles

It’s a good thing that Kettlebell exercises such as a Kettlebell clean are not recommended to be done until you feel that pesky burn. In fact, if anyone tells you that you should, you could hand over one of your Kettlebells to them and tell them to go knock their head with it.

Seriously, do not do a Kettlebell clean to the point of muscle fatigue. Your forearms and your shoulders, which are the primary movers involved in a Kettlebell clean, should not hurt.

Don’t listen to anyone who insists that a Kettlebell clean is meant to make your forearms harder and more sinewy. While it is true that a Kettlebell clean can be fat burning and endurance building, as is the case with other Kettlebell exercises, it doesn’t have to be so rough and tough in execution that you start thinking of Boris and his comrades and wishing they had never thought of converting a crop weighing tool into a piece of fitness equipment.

Remember, when in doubt about how to do a Kettlebell exercise properly, just refer to the Kettlebell workout videos that you get when subscribing to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter found at the top of MyFitnessNut.com. Simply open the page with the Kettlebell Videos on it and scroll down until you see “Kettlebell Clean”. Next, we’ll cover doing the Kettlebell Windmill which you will also find on the videos.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “snatch?” If you say you think of a rough, fast move that takes away something from where it originally was, then you’ve got a good grasp of the typical definition held by many people.

Kettlebell fitness enthusiasts however, would most likely think of something else when they hear the phrase “Kettlebell snatch” and that is: totally powerful, full-body exercise.

You can get rid of approximately 300 calories during a 20-minute snatching session; maybe more depending on your body type. That is equivalent to the calories you expend running for 20-25 minutes at a speed of 6 minutes per mile.

What Happens During a Kettlebell Snatch?

Falling in love then getting engaged is nothing new. In fact, it’s considered as the normal turn of events. But it’s the reverse with doing a Kettlebell snatch because what happens is that, first, you engage yourself in the activity, and then, you fall in love with doing the snatches.

This will happen when you realize all the benefits that you get from such an engagement, you’ll want to do it over and over again.

A Kettlebell snatch features some advanced movements…

When you assume the partial squat position, and you swing the Kettlebell in-between your open legs, you are using your:

• Biceps – the front muscles of your upper arms
• Erector spinae – the lower back muscles
• Gastrocnemius and soleus – the back of your lower legs
• Abdominals – the stomach or core
• Gluteus maximus – the butt
• Hamstrings – the muscles in the back of the thighs
• Quadriceps – the muscles in the front of the thighs
• Latissimus dorsi – the large, triangular muscle in the middle of your back
• Rhomboids – the muscles between your shoulder blades

When you stand up, bringing the Kettlebell with you, you are primarily using your hips.

Your hamstrings, back muscles, and shoulders are still involved, of course, but it is your thrusting hips that provide the power or momentum when you raise the Kettlebell.

If you don’t thrust your hips forward, you risk losing balance and falling down because of the weight of the Kettlebell that’s being raised in an arc by your arm.

Secondary to your hip movements is the support of your gluteus maximus. Your butt muscles tighten up when you thrust your hips, and that’s why when you do a Kettlebell snatch, you end up looking sexy from the shoulders and all the way down.

Demonstration of the Kettlebell Snatch:

Safety Tips When Doing Kettlebell Snatches

If you’re not careful, it’s not that hard to get injured while doing a snatch. To help to avoid injuries, always observe these fundamental tips:

1. Make sure your hands are dry, not sweaty, because a good, firm grip is essential to do proper Kettlebell snatch.
2. Make sure that the size or weight of the Kettlebell you are using is appropriate to your fitness level and gender (see “The Kettlebell Saga: From Farmers to Fitness Nuts” for details).
3. Do not hurry in jerking the Kettlebell from the ground, especially if you are new to exercising with Kettlebells. Follow the “easy does it” rule. You can increase the speed of your movements after you get used to handling the weight and movement you are doing.
4. Maintain the straightness of your wrists during the “catch” part of the snatch, and make sure that your arm is extended.

A Kettlebell snatch makes use of both speed and full body coordination. You can be tempted into going faster and faster, but, again, do your best to do the snatch with moderation until you master it. Your body will thank you for it.

Remember that you can always get the full set of Kettlebell Workout Videos, the ones that go along with the information we’re sharing with you here, when you subscribe to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter at MyFitnessNut.com. In the next article, “Keep Your Muscles Toned with the Kettlebell Clean” (also included in the videos) will give you the next step in developing your own personal Kettlebell workout routine.

The Kettlebell swing is the Elvis Presley of the fitness world. This is because in the same way that Elvis is known as the King of Rock ‘n Roll, the Kettlebell swing is known for being the King of Exercises.

How’s that for cool?

Anyway, doesn’t that phrase just make you smile? “Kettlebell Swing” – sounds like a hot, retro kind of dance, doesn’t it? (Can’t stop thinking about Elvis shaking his pelvis, huh?)

A Special Victory Dance

But enough of the King of Rock ‘n Roll for a moment, and let’s focus on the King of Exercises. If you’re the creative, imaginative type, and you were to think that Kettlebell swings are like a special kind of victory dance, you’d sort of have a good point going.

Only, instead of you and your legs going backwards and forwards, or even sideways like some crazy crab on the dance floor, what you do when swinging a Kettlebell is mostly stay in place, and do your moves energetically while in that same place.

You let your arm or arms (depending on what kind of swing exercise you’re doing) do the energetic movements, but there’s no real pressure on your arms, just like in dancing (unless, of course, you were to do hip-hop-type handstands).

Your feet, especially your heels, would support your weight. Your hamstrings or the backs of your thighs would feel the pressure, contracting and expanding as you squatted or stood. And, you’d also let your hips move forward and backward.

Kettlebell Swings From the Feet Up

Anyway, moving in those ways makes it possible for the engagement of numerous muscles in your body from your feet up to your shoulders. The reason that a basic Kettlebell swing resembles a victory gesture is that the raising of your arm much like what is done by a person who just won a competition is a main feature of the exercise.

There is no leaping or fast leg movements involved, but the effect on your cardiovascular system with all the squatting, standing, arm raising, and hip thrusting is such that after a few repetitions, you could feel that you had just finished a grueling one hour run.

Clearly, Elvis had the right idea when he kept gyrating his hips and raising his arms while performing.

Firm and Strong Butts From Kettlebell Swings

Kettlebell swings are popular because the movements are very simple, and you always have a choice about how much weight you want to swing. More than those considerations, however, are the facts that Kettlebell swings that are correctly performed can really increase the definition of your butt.

Now, why is this important? The butt is at the back, and that being the case, people you approach won’t see it right off, anyway. In other words, you don’t need a well toned butt to make a good impression. Wrong or right?

Wrong.

The fact is, you need a shapely behind to make people think that you know how to take care of yourself, that you value your body, and that you most likely spend time working out, which is good, because you clearly live a healthy lifestyle.

Why would they think all of that just from looking at your butt? It’s because the buttocks are one of the hardest parts of the body to sculpt, and the reason for that is, there is too much fat surrounding the muscles of your buttocks.

So, does this mean that doing a Kettlebell swing can make your butt look leaner and firmer? Yes! That’s exactly one of the great things that Kettlebell swings can do for you – give you a beautiful butt!

Remember, each Kettlebell exercise is a fat blaster. The fat on your butt isn’t immune to such blasting. How many other forms of exercise can deliver on that promise? Bet you’ll have a hard time coming up with an answer, and that’s because Kettlebell swings are the best butt-developing exercises ever, bar none.

Bodybuilding Hip Thrusting Power

It’s the hip thrusting that does it. When you thrust your hip forward while doing the exercise, your buttocks also tighten, firming up your precious gluteus maximus. And while you do that, your posture is also improved, because you cannot afford to slouch or have a rounded back while you’re doing a swing.

Otherwise, your back will hurt, and you run the risk of having an injury. As for your abs, they also tighten when you squat, which helps greatly in sculpting them.

So – great butt, great posture, great abs… aren’t Kettlebells just great?

Kinds of Kettlebell Swings

At this point, we need to clear up an important misconception. See, there are numerous kinds or variations of Kettlebell swings. These are the most popular:

• One-arm or one-hand swing
• Two-arms or two-hands swing
• Alternating arms swing – this involves transferring the Kettlebell from one hand/arm to the other while the Kettlebell is in motion or swinging through the air
• Stalling or pausing-at-the-top swing
• Sideways swing
• Pivoting swing

Now, online, the available information could confuse you, because there are some exercise sites that mistakenly identify and show a Kettlebell snatch as being the same as a Kettlebell swing.

That’s probably because aside from the original swing, also known as the Russian swing, which raises the Kettlebell only up to the shoulders, there’s another version known as the American swing, which raises the Kettlebell over the head.

The American swing can look a lot like a Kettlebell snatch, especially to those who are new to using Kettlebells, so, it’s understandable if some confusion ensues. Still, you shouldn’t let such misleading information take away your interest and enthusiasm about working out with Kettlebells.

What’s important to know is that you don’t have to worry about being misled, because you’re in good hands. More detailed instructions about doing a Kettlebell swing and other Kettlebell exercises can be found in the 22 Kettlebell videos you get (like the demo above) when subscribing to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter at the top of MyFitnessNut.com.

Just keep in mind that Kettlebell swings are basic exercises. On the other hand, Kettlebell snatches are more advanced. Let’s move on to the next section that we’ve titled “The Kettlebell Snatch: Explosive Power in One Go” and find out what snatches are all about.