Tag muscle building

When you go online, you’ll probably realize right away that there are millions of websites dedicated to diets. Most diets are about losing weight, others focus on health, and there are even diets for ethical or religious reasons. But if you want to build muscle, you also need the right muscle building diet.

Of course, the “right” diet is open for debate, because many experts have different opinions. What is obvious is that a specific diet needs to be customized to your requirements and circumstances. While a nutritionist can probably help you out, there are some things which you can do yourself when you are looking for the right muscle building diet for you.

A Good Muscle Building Diet Requires Monitoring Your Calories

The first thing you’ll need to do is to figure out how many calories you need per day. For that, you can go online and use a calorie calculator. This calculator estimates the minimum number of calories you need to consume.

If your aim is to lose weight, then you’ll need to eat less than what your body uses up. But if your goal is to pack on more muscle mass, then you may have to consume more calories than what you burn.

You can start by consuming about 20 calories for each pound of body weight if you want to gain weight. After a month or so, you can change this if you’re not gaining weight or if the weight gain is too much.

Now, this means you need to do some research on how many calories each meal will have. Canned and packaged foods have this info on the label and there are also many guides online for calorie content of common food items. Just track the number of calories you consume each day, so you can tweak your muscle building diet accordingly.

Plan on Eating Smaller Meals More Often

Now figure how many calories you need per meal. You should plan on eating 6 small meals a day, instead of three large ones. It’s easy; just take your normal meal and divide it in two, and then eat the other half three hours later. Eating six small meals means you won’t get hungry often because your food intake is spaced out.

Tracking Your “Muscle Building” Protein Intake

Next, track your protein intake. This is just as important as your calorie intake, because protein and amino acids are the building blocks for muscle growth. If your protein intake is insufficient, you won’t be able to grow as much muscle you want.

While some top-level bodybuilding athletes do is gobble up massive amounts of protein, for you it will be different. You can start by taking about a gram of protein for each pound of body weight, although you can go up to 1.5 grams per pound.

Carbs are a Necessary Part of Your Muscle Building Diet

Get enough carbs. Some people forget about carbs and concentrate on protein when building muscle, and then later on they complain why they’re not getting bigger and stronger. What they don’t realize is that carbs should be where most of your calories are coming from.

You can start by consuming about 2 grams per pound of body weight. Some may suggest as much as 3 grams per pound, but it’s a better idea to start low. You can always just increase the carb consumption if when you don’t gain muscle mass after a month.

Generally, you should opt for slow-burning carbs to raise your glycogen levels, which boosts your stored energy. Examples of these include oatmeal and quinoa.

For breakfast and for your post-workout meals, you should switch to starchy simple carbs. These raise your insulin levels, which helps you absorb nutrients more efficiently. You can also choose quick-burning carbs to replace your oatmeal or quinoa if you find it difficult to gain mass.

Fats are an Important Part of Your Muscle Building Diet

Don’t forget fat in your diet. This is also important if you want to build muscle. In fact, the rest of your diet should be fat after protein and carbs.

Fat has 9 calories per gram while protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram. If you weigh 200 pounds, then you may be aiming for 300 grams of protein and 400 grams of carbs, which gives you 2,800 calories. If you are aiming for 4,000 calories a day in your muscle building diet, then the rest of the 1,200 calories comes from about 133 grams of fat.

As you may have noticed, these are not hard and fast rules. Just make sure you track your food intake and monitor your gains. Then tweak your muscle building diet routine when you want to make improvements or if you’re not making any improvement. It’s as simple as that.

Many people seem to think that it’s easy to learn how to gain muscle mass. The problem is that most of them don’t do enough research. So what happens is that they make a lot of mistakes, and then they become frustrated when all their efforts don’t pay off.

There’s a Right Way and Wrong Way to Gain Muscle Mass

To avoid such problems, here are some clear-cut rules you need to follow so that you will gain muscle mass more effectively:

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• Define your focus. Some people think that bodybuilding and weight loss are synonymous, but for workouts, these are two completely different objectives. That’s why high intensity training is good for people who want to lose weight, but it’s actually counterproductive if you’re a pipsqueak who wants to be bigger, stronger, and more muscular. For that, you need heavy weights and lots of calories.
• Eat more. We’ll presume for the moment that you’re on a sensible diet and you’ve actually done your research on what and what not to eat. But when you start learning how to gain muscle mass, you’ll need calories. About 500 more calories than your usual intake should suffice. Do not take too much calories though, because you’ll just turn the extra calories into fat instead of muscle.
• Space out your meals. Instead of three big meals a day, try eating 6 small meals. This keeps you from getting hungry, and the meals also provide you with the protein and carbs you need.
• Drink protein and carb shakes. Whole foods are great, but then protein shakes are good too. With shakes (Recommendation: Zeal for Life Protein Shakes), you make sure you get adequate carbs and protein that your diet may not provide. For the most part, they’re also much easier to digest.
• Don’t forget to stretch. Quite a few people keep forgetting the very important step when they work out. Stretching is not just for yoga fanatics. Stretching before and after a workout makes you more flexible, improves your recovery, and also prevents you from getting injured.If you keep on having pains after working out, that may mean you didn’t stretch properly.
• Limit your cardio workouts. About twice or three times a week of jogging should suffice. And don’t jog for a couple of hours at a time. Instead, keep it to 30 minutes. Your best bet is to sprint for a full minute then alternate with a couple of minutes of jogging.
• Don’t spend too much time on your lifting exercises. Your proper weightlifting workout for the day should last for just 45 minutes. You should make sure you warm up before your workout, and you need a cool-down routine as well. About a dozen sets for each muscle group is okay, but more than 20 sets is overkill. Your reps for each set should range anywhere from 6 to 12, so that you only spend 40 to 70 seconds each set. When you lift weights, after an hour your body will start producing cortisol in response to the physical stress, and this will impede on your progress. Cortisol signals your body to store fat and burn muscle.
• Perform exercises that focus on several muscle groups at once. These exercises include pull-ups, rows, deadlifts, and squats. You can train your entire body or concentrate on either your upper your lower parts, but this is more efficient than working on just a single muscle group per session. By doing this, you reduce the risk of injury when you work out. You become stronger and your muscle development gets better. Besides, it helps you look so much more attractive.
• Change your workouts regularly. The body has a strange way of adapting to various strenuous events. So after a month or so, you may want to vary your workout a bit. Your 45 minutes per workout is enough for about 6 to 8 different exercises, and each one should have alternatives. Or, you can just vary the sequence of the exercises instead.
  You should note down your workout details in your journal, so that you have an accurate record of what you’ve been doing.
• Get enough rest. Make sure that you give your muscles enough time to heal, grow and develop by resting them after a workout. Get enough sleep as well.

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Learning how to gain muscle mass also means appreciating the time needed to attain noticeable results. Shortcuts aren’t recommended because they may eventually become harmful for you. Just make a habit of lifting weights and following your muscle building program. Give it time and dedication and you’ll begin to gain the muscle mass you want.

Almost everyone knows the benefits of bodybuilding and by using these 15 bodybuilding tips, you’ll be on your way to sculpting your body to be the best it can be.

Bodybuilding does wonders for your social and professional life, and it also gives you considerable health benefits as well. But you only get these benefits if you do your workouts properly and exercise a little patience as well. It takes much time and energy for your body to develop into a lean, toned, muscular work of art.

These tips are a fit for both men and women; even though women do not normally put on as bulky of muscles as men do, the strength and appearance benefits both in the same way.

Crucial Bodybuilding Tips to Keep in Mind:

1. Create a bodybuilding plan. You can ask a personal trainer about this or you can do some research online. But you can’t just buy bodybuilding equipment or go to the gym and do any random exercise. You need a good plan that outlines the specific exercises needed, the exact number of reps and sets, and a time frame.
2. Start a healthy diet. No list of bodybuilding tips is complete without mentioning the need for a proper diet, because workouts are just one aspect of your bodybuilding plan. Make sure your body gets enough nutrients, especially protein. Take some supplements as well, since your diet probably can’t give you all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body needs.
3. Get enough protein. As a rule for highly physically active people, you need at least a gram (or even up to a gram and a half) of protein for every pound of body weight. So that means if you weigh 200 pounds, you should consume 200 to 300 grams of protein per day.
4. Don’t forget about BCAAs. These Brain Chain Amino Acids are necessary for bodybuilding, and they’re available in supplement form.
5. You must have a rest day. You can’t workout every day. This is a very common mistake, and even some bodybuilders who have been at it for quite a while still make this mistake. They train too hard, and too often, so as a result, they become prone to injury and they’re not getting the results they want. Keep your workouts to just three times a week. At the very least, you need two days off each week.
6. Get enough sleep. It’s when you’re resting that your muscles repair and grow, and they can’t do that properly when you’re not getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can affect hormones crucial to bodybuilding, and it also makes you too tired to want to exercise.
7. Make sure you target every muscle group each week. You can’t neglect a specific muscle group. When people commit this mistake, the results can be rather off-putting. You could end up with a huge torso and stick-thin legs.
8. Start with the basic equipment. If you’re a beginner, you should stick to the basics. Don’t waste your time trying to learn all the fancy new bodybuilding equipment in your gym. Just focus on free weights such as dumbbells and barbells.
9. Stick to fundamental exercises. There are numerous types of exercises out there, but the basics never go out of fashion. These exercises include the squat and the deadlift, as well as bench press and the military shoulder press.
10. Forget the written descriptions of exercises. Watch the videos on YouTube instead of reading manuals and guides. Take note of the proper form, and watch how the hands and legs are positioned.
11. Gradually increase your weights. Track your weights, and then every two weeks you should increase the weight slightly. Your muscles will need to be challenged continuously. What this means is that if you find a certain weight “easy”, then you’re not lifting enough. Lift heavier weights that really challenge you.
12. Vary your workouts every two weeks. Maybe you can change the exercises you’re doing, or this can be a simple matter of changing the order of the workouts. But you need variety so that your body doesn’t adapt and reach a plateau when you don’t progress.
13. Track your 1-rep weight. Every few weeks or so, find out how much weight you can handle with just one rep of a particular exercise. This weight should increase every time. Doing this tells you how much progress you’ve made in your strength training and it also helps motivate you into continuing your efforts.
14. Make your safety a priority. That means taking care of your weights properly, using a safety belt for heavy weights, and having a spotter near you. The point of all these workouts is to make you healthier. You’re not supposed to get injured while you build your muscles.
15. Be patient. Regardless of what you may have heard or read online, your muscles won’t grow overnight. You can change this with steroids, but this isn’t only illegal, it’s also unhealthy as well. So just be patient, keep doing what you’re doing and pretty soon you will have the body you’ve always wanted.

Of course, you have to think and act like a true competitor during this period in your life. Eat right, avoid bad habits, and commit to a healthy lifestyle. None of these bodybuilding tips will matter unless you do all these.

A workout is the combination of exercises that you do in a single session. And remember that you can’t (and shouldn’t) do the same workouts every day. Strength training involves tearing muscle fibers, so that means you need rest periods for each muscle group so that they can rebuild into bigger and stronger muscles.

So, you should exercise two or three times a week, but not on consecutive days. Your muscles will need at least 48 hours to rest and repair before they can grow. If you’re not doing a full body workout, you can focus on different muscle groups.

Before anything else, makes sure that it’s safe for you to work out. There are many possible reasons why you should refrain from strength training, but it boils down to one thing: if you don’t feel well, don’t force yourself. If you’re feeling tired or experiencing some pain, strength training workouts may do more harm than good.

Always listen to what your body is telling you.

Next, make sure you have your equipment handy. Strength training requires a few bits of equipment beyond a good pair of shoes and comfortable clothes. That may be good enough for jogging, but not for strength training workouts. To begin with, you’ll need ample space, perhaps a chair without arms and one that doesn’t rock, barbells and dumbbells, and maybe even some sort of special training balls.

Gauging the Intensity of Your Strength Training Workouts

Once you get into your exercises, you need to determine the right intensity for you. You need to progress to increase your strength, and at the same time you need to be careful that you don’t injure yourself by trying too hard. Go for light weights at first, and then increase as you become accustomed to each weight.

Watching others do a strength training workout session such as in the video below can be very helpful.

You also need to track your reps (repetitions of doing a certain exercise). For example, if you cannot complete two sets of 10 reps in good form, reduce the weight until you can lift it properly for 10 reps. Rest for a minute or two, and then do another set. When you can do 10 reps and you need to rest because the weight is too heavy after ten reps, then you’re working at the proper intensity. And if you can do twenty reps straight, this means you will need heavier weights next time.

Progression is essential if you want your strength training workouts to provide you with the maximum benefits. Continuously challenging your muscles is the key to strength training. To help you put your workout routine together, you can borrow our muscle building training series on video (no cost) when you subscribe to the MyFitnessNut.com Newsletter.

Many women not familiar with the benefits of weight lifting tend to stay on the cardio side of the gym and avoid the weight lifting part for fear of developing too muscular of a body frame. When done properly, weight lifting will give them a more defined and toned body, but without the worry of “bulking up”; it just won’t happen and here’s why.

Muscle development is largely due to the amount of testosterone in the body. Men naturally have significantly more than women, so they tend to develop bigger muscles. Women have a small amount of testosterone naturally, but not enough to create large muscles.

Even women that try to pack on the bulk have a very hard time doing it without resorting to testosterone supplementation. So put that fear aside and start hitting the gym to gain these benefits from weight lifting:

Lift Weights for a Faster Metabolic Rate

Women work out at weightlifting for a number of reasons, however, one common thread is to lose weight. We all know that to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in and one way to burn more calories is to speed up your metabolism.

As you lift weights, you create tiny tears in the muscle fibers of the muscle group you are exercising. To repair these tears, the body must burn more calories than it would otherwise if you did not have the tears. And you are burning calories while working out.

Lift Weight for Greater Muscle Definition without Bulking Up

Another plus – it takes more calories to fuel muscles than it does body fat – 9 calories per pound of fat per day verses 2 calories per pound of fat (both at the resting metabolic rate) – so while you won’t bulk up, your muscles will become more defined or toned and your body fat will decrease. So you get the immediate benefit of your body burning calories to help repair itself and a long-term benefit of your body requiring more calories to fuel the extra muscle definition.

Lift Weight for More Functional Strength

As your muscles develop you get stronger. Everyday tasks that used to wear you out, such as vacuuming, laundry and carrying in groceries, are suddenly easier. Also stronger muscles reduce your risk of injury if you participate in sports or other physical activities.

So fear weights no longer! See http://myfitnessnut.com/building-muscles-for-men-and-women and start a weight lifting program so that you can begin enjoying the many benefits of an increased metabolism, greater muscle definition and easier everyday activities. Your body will thank you for it.

What is The Overload Principle in strength training, and why should you care? The overload principle is a fact of strength training, and you probably want to pay close attention, because it can be harnessed to deliver bigger, better and faster results.

Basically stated, the overload principle says that your body cannot be adapted the way you want unless it is overloaded.

The American College of Sports Medicine, without using a bunch of fancy medical terms, explains simply that this means your muscles must be stimulated to greater than normal activity if they are to grow.

When you properly apply the correct amount of muscle overload, you begin to see results far more rapidly. And they last for the long term, where in the past you may have felt that you were simply wasting time with your strength training workout.

While you may not have thought that scientific concepts and formulas were at the basis of proper strength training, whether you are aware of what is going on or not inside your body, your muscles understand and respond properly when the overload principle is applied correctly.

And the good news is that whether you are a beginner or veteran weightlifter or strength trainer, you can increase muscle size, bulk and power by incorporating an ongoing overload formula into your strength training regimen.

This is great news to those of you who are just beginning strength training. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, and begin overloading your muscles, you will begin to see the desired results quickly. If you are not used to lifting 10 pounds very often, then lifting 10 or 15 pounds with only a couple of weightlifting sessions a week will begin to show improved muscle definition and strength almost immediately.

And the National Strength and Conditioning Association also points out that while the overload principle works for veterans as well as beginners, it may take creative and progressive overload to see a dramatic improvement. If you have already begun to sculpt your body and you strength train regularly, you are going to have to increase the overall load your body lifts in your workouts to benefit from this body adapting fact.

Experienced weightlifters and strength trainers can shorten the amount of time spent resting between sets and increase reps and sets to harness the power of this principle. Just remember, when you consistently and progressively increase the amount of weight, the repetitions per set, and the number of sets you perform in your strength training workout, you harness the incredible power of the overload principle, thereby improving muscle mass and strength.

When you workout, you’ll want to incorporate a good diet for building muscles. But what exactly constitutes a “good diet for building muscle” anyway?

For some people the only adjustments they’ll need to make is to add in additional calories. Those calories need to come from food sources that are proven to build muscles. Common names are high protein diets and weight gain diets. So, it’s not as simple as just adding in additional calories; you need the right kind of calories that also provide much needed nutrients that aid in cell rejuvenation and muscle development.

The Purpose of a Diet for Building Muscles

The entire reason to adopt a diet for building muscles is to make sure that your are providing your muscles with the proper nutrients they need when they are being worked, torn down and in recovery. The nutrients that you feed your muscles will have a direct impact on how quickly and how effectively repair and build up.

Your purpose is to gain weight in the muscle department but at the same time you want to be careful that the calories you are adding are not going to pack the fat on. Nothing can hide muscle definition, and your hard workouts, more than excess body fat.

How Do You Know What a Good Diet for Building Muscle is?

A rigorous weight training workout schedule is taxing on your entire body. By making sure that you fuel your body with the right nutrients you will be helping ensure that you have the energy to start and finish your workout as well as the ability to repair your muscle afterwards.

Since your body uses the protein that you consume to build muscles, you need to eat enough lean protein such as salmon, trout, halibut, cod, eggs, chicken and lean servings of beef, pork or buffalo. These lower fat foods will help you get the protein calories you need while helping you to avoid packing on body fat.

Most people that want to put on weight should eat 500 calories more each day, some a little more, some a little less by 500 calories extra a day equates to about a pound a week in body weight gain. We’re talking about muscle weight gain here so you need those extra calories to be primarily protein.

If you find it hard to eat more protein foods, you can always reach for protein supplements or meal replacement shakes. A couple of shakes a day mixed with milk can easily get you to those 500 calories in extra protein a day mark.

What is The Single Best Diet for Building Muscle Mass?

Due to the fact that people’s body’s and food choices are so entirely different, it’s hard to recommend any one single diet for building muscles. You must have the additional protein but you must also have the many nutrients your body needs everyday. For example, you can’t use protein powders for meal replacement because mostly all that they provide is the protein. You would need a meal replacement shake in this case that provides the many different nutrients your body needs.

A good way to find what works best for you is to experiment a little and try different ones every two weeks or so and see how your body is responding. You can learn more about your choices and what to look for in the article “Why Protein Intake for Building Muscles” and look at http://MyFitnessNut.com for more information on protein, supplements, muscle building and fitness in general.

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.

Iron Man Suit or a Kettlebell Workout Routine?

Robert Downey, Jr. sure makes it look easy. And no, this is not about the way he hopped back into the limelight and resumed being a much admired Hollywood actor after nearly wrecking his career and personal life. Some guys have all the luck, as Rod Stewart sang, but that’s neither here or there, as far as this article is concerned.

Actually, what we’re talking about is part of the way that Robert Downey, Jr. portrays Iron Man, especially the way he makes wearing that suit or armor look like he’s wearing air, meaning, it just looks so light to wear… even if it isn’t.

Sure, it’s not really a technologically-advanced suit of ultra high carbon iron and steel hybrid alloy that he wore in the Iron Man movies; it’s just a movie costume, after all. But suspend your disbelief for a while and imagine a real guy with the same height and build of RDJ moving around in a real cumbersome suit of armor. Never mind if it’s got high technology powering it, it’s still an iron and steel hybrid alloy suit, just the same.

Now, imagine yourself geared up in Iron Man’s suit. And, imagine yourself wearing that same armor for a few hours. Would you enjoy it? Or would you end up complaining that it’s just too much of an imposition, it’s dang heavy, and you’re not some superhero?

Yeah, we thought so too.

So, when you start your Kettlebell workout routines, and you find the going challenging, just think of Iron Man and his suit of armor and be glad that you’ve got your Kettlebell routines instead of that costume.

Swinging Kettlebells, doing a Kettlebell squat, a Kettlebell press, or just about anything connected with exercising using that fitness equipment made out of iron or steel has got to be way more manageable and enjoyable than clanking your way through life wearing a suit of armor.

In other words, while you need to condition your mind so that you’ll be prepared to be challenged by Kettlebell routines, you also need to remember that those workout routines can be fun and totally engaging!

Tips to Have a Fulfilling Kettlebell Workout

Are you the sedentary type who just got it into your head that Kettlebell workout routines would be nice to do because your friends are all talking about it, and you’d best try it out too so that you won’t feel out of place when they swap stories about how they’re “kettlebelling” their way to being mean and lean?

Are you a weekend warrior who knows something about exercise, and why it’s good for you, and why you should exercise more aside from the weekend jogs you do, if you could only find more time or motivation to do so?

Are you a total newbie to working out? Does the mere mention of the words and phrases “metabolism,” “muscles,” “moving properly,” and “minding your technique and form” make you gulp out of nervousness?

Wherever you may be on the fitness scale right now, you can have a fulfilling time doing Kettlebell routines. Just make sure that 1) you have a clean bill of health before exercising with Kettlebells, and 2) you keep the following tips in mind:

Kettlebell workout routines require your full attention. When you exercise with Kettlebells, you cannot just rely on movements done by rote.

When you use a treadmill, you can continue moving even as your attention is on what’s showing on your TV. There are even some people who are able to read a newspaper or magazine while on the treadmill (depending on the speed and incline being used, of course).

On the other hand, if your attention is diverted when you are using Kettlebells during a workout, you run the risk of getting injured.

Kettlebell routines are not only for cardiovascular strengthening and for developing endurance through building muscles; they are also meant to improve balance, flexibility, and mobility.

As such, you always need to make sure that your form and technique do not place you at a disadvantage while training. This means you must pay attention to positioning your hip properly, as well as maintaining your balance.

Be Clear on Your Reasons for Doing Kettlebell Workouts

Get it clear in your mind what your goal is for using a Kettlebell. Sure, the general goals are fitness, and health and wellness. But what about your own specific and primary reasons?

Review some of the possible reasons, as given below. Keep in mind that these may not be the only reasons for you wanting to go on a Kettlebell workout. The thing is, when you know what your specific or primary reason is, then it is easier to determine which routines would be best to use, in order of your goals.

• Do you want to lose fat?
• Do you want to develop cardio endurance?
• Do you want to improve your balance?
• Do you want to work on your flexibility and mobility?
• Do you want to build lean muscle mass?
• Do you want to improve your focus or concentration?
• Do you want to lessen your susceptibility to getting stressed?

Make sure that you use the correct size of Kettlebell, depending on the exercise(s) that you will do.

Check your planned workout area and see to it that it is clean, with enough room for your maneuvers while doing your Kettlebell routines and that it is free of clutter or any kind of objects that are not relevant to your workout.

Don’t forget to get your instructional videos ready. These videos are the ones that come with your free subscription to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter found at the top of MyFitnessNut.com.

Ensure that the videos you want to use are in queue so that you can clearly watch them. Remove any obstacles that can obscure or block your view because you might miss an important part of the instructions.

Warm-up properly before you start doing the exercises. In the same way, you should also cool down after you are done with your Kettlebell workout routines.

Other Kettlebell Workout Routine Considerations:

• Familiarize yourself with the language used with reference to Kettlebell workouts, so that you’ll be able to do the exercises competently:
• Intensity – this refers to how much weight you will be targeting, or what is the heaviest weight that you want to use during the workout.
• Reps – this means repetitions, or how often you repeat certain moves or exercises
• Sets – this refers to the number of reps that you will do within the workout, with no rest-time factored in.
• Intervals – these are when you do as many reps as you can under a specific time limit. Intervals are good for pushing the importance of cardiovascular endurance to the forefront of your workout.
• Gear – these are materials that are necessary for the Kettlebell routines that you will do. These include:
• Appropriate workout attire
• An exercise mat (as needed by any particular exercise)
• A stopwatch or timer (as needed by any particular exercise)
• Kettlebells of the correct size and number
• Kettlebell demonstration videos

We’re now getting deeper into our Kettlebell exercises, so make sure that your workout area is already prepared before you precede with your Kettlebell workout routines. In the next article “Kettlebell Swings: Doing It Like Elvis”, we’ll work on one of the more popular exercises called the Kettlebell swing.

Read Along and Enter Kettlebell Heaven

Now that you’re in the proper frame of mind, let’s enter Kettlebell heaven, where many old school methods and ideas concerning fitness, fat burning, and muscle building get shoved out of the window.

For real. For good.

Kettlebell training is innovative. As was earlier mentioned in the Introduction of this training guide, a Kettlebell workout is focused on making the best use of time to strengthen your muscles and bones, firm up your core, and give your cardiovascular system a thorough boost.

One of the best parts of such training is that you can achieve your goals by working out with Kettlebells in only twenty to thirty minutes, at least three to four times a week.

When you’ve already got the hang of Kettlebell swings, Kettlebell snatches, and Kettlebell squats, you’ll probably want to go through your exercise routines for the whole week, but that’s another story altogether, and will be discussed in another chapter.

Anyway, when you choose to get fit through Kettlebell exercises, there’ll be no more huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf on the treadmill for one hour or more, just to reach the best metabolic rate sufficient to burn calories.

When Doing Kettlebell Training There Will be No More…

No more pumping your legs up and down over and over on a stationary bike, as if you were trying to cycle your way to and through China.

No more dreading the weights that you’ll have to lift, worrying that you’ll need to make the weights go heavier and heavier until failure, because if you don’t add to the weights as your sessions go by, you’ll just be wasting your time.

No more of those aggravating concerns. Instead, you will be doing twenty to thirty minutes of a power workout – then that’s it!

Twenty to thirty minutes 3-4 times a week; think about it.

That’s about the time it would ordinarily take you to watch your favorite sitcom, assuming you can stand watching even the advertisements, while your life as a couch potato silently scrolls on by in the background.

When you decide to train with Kettlebells, you’ll be able to make one of the best uses of twenty to thirty minutes of your life and each day that you pick up a Kettlebell you’ll repeat that.

We call working out with Kettlebells as Kettlebell heaven because Kettlebell training involves getting into a determined but relaxed state of mind in order to reach your ideal physical fulfillment.

Solid Kettlebell Training Benefits

Now, we already know in a general sense that a Kettlebell is really advantageous for us. We know that working out with a Kettlebell is great because it combines both weight training and cardio. But are there any other advantages?

What are the other Kettlebell benefits that we can look forward to?

Kettlebell training can ensure that you won’t need to shell out exorbitant amounts of money to buy gym equipment that in all probability will be sold second hand for cheap or just moulder away, collecting dust and rusting silently in a corner of your home before collapsing into a pile of junk.

This will never happen with Kettlebells for the simple reason that they are cheap!

Besides, when starting out, you will only most likely need to buy one Kettlebell. You read that right. Just one initially and it’s good, because they don’t come in matching pairs, unlike noisy lovebirds that always do. (Note that a Kettlebell is quiet and all it thinks about is how to get you fit chop-chop!)

It’s your choice whether to buy different Kettlebell weights immediately (this will be discussed in the next article), or to go slow and buy one at a time.

Kettlebell benefits include exercising your mental muscles, as well as your physical ones, because while working out with Kettlebells, your mind will be busy thinking of ways to keep the workout safe and efficient for you.

You’ll understand this better 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?

Don’t worry! First of all, Kettlebell exercises don’t require Mensa membership. They’re not that hard to do.

Second, the 22 demonstration videos that accompany this guide will show you the exact moves you need to do, the exact form that you need to adopt, and the techniques that would lead you to achieve your fitness and health and wellness goals, so, it’s all good!

Kettlebell Training Works 8 Major Muscle Groups

Kettlebell training will maximize the use of all of your eight major muscle groups instead of just one isolated muscle per session. Imagine your abs working harmoniously with your back, your shoulders, your arms, your chest, your calves, and your thighs, and even your butt!

That’s the Kettlebell Benefits We’re Talking About

Yes, Kettlebell benefits also include enabling your butt to finally take center stage with your abs at the same time! No longer will you worry about the indignity of having ripped abs in front, but a sagging or flat butt at the back.

Think of yourself looking gorgeous in a body-hugging tee, and even more gorgeous in a well-fitting pair of jeans that proudly show off a well-developed butt! Cheers for Kettlebells!

Loving those Kettlebell benefits yet? There’s more!

When you regularly work out with Kettlebells for about a month to a month and a half, you’ll be able to train your body how to properly move and this will go a long way to help you handle basic, functional movements in your daily life.

If you’re the type who frequently (by accident) bumps into objects that you encounter or pass by, or if you find yourself unable to carry bags of groceries without feeling worn out, then training with a Kettlebell benefits you because you will be able to build up strength, coordination, flexibility, and balance.

Go Solo or Get a Trainer with Kettlebell Certification?

The inherent beauty of Kettlebell training is that you can have a choice of training solo, or getting a trainer who has passed a Kettlebell certification program.

When you have access to training or instructional videos, like the ones provided as accompaniments to this guide, then it is possible to begin training on your own. The basic information that you would need to get started is covered in the articles that follow while the videos demonstrate how to do the exercises, paying particular attention to correct technique and form.

When you start having an interest in more advanced moves, then it could be a good idea to think about getting the services of a professional instructor who has gone through a Kettlebell certification program.

A Kettlebell certification program qualifies the trainer to give professional-level training. There are numerous Kettlebell instructor training courses that can be availed of, to eventually acquire Kettlebell certification. This certification is proof that an instructor has gained expertise and is qualified to provide new Kettlebell students and or enthusiasts with the kind of training that can help them in working towards athletic level conditioning.

In the next article I’ll talk a little bit about the origin of Kettlebells and different types of there are. If you already have a Kettlebell or set of and are happy, you can blow past this next article titled “The Kettlebell Saga: From Farmers to Fitness Nuts” or read it for entertainment and some good information. After that, we’ll move on to Kettlebell training workout routines and begin reaping the benefits we’ve been talking about here. Isn’t it time to start getting your own little piece of Kettlebell Heaven?