Kettlebell Workouts, It's all about pace for fat loss and abs!
Posted Aug 24 2008 5:48pm
People are always asking me what is the magic exercise to burn fat and get abs with Russian Kettlebell? While there are certain exercises that work better than others for fat loss, the fact is there are no magic exercises. The real key to burning fat with a kettlebell is the pace of your workout. The faster the pace, the more work you can cram into less time. This means more metabolic stress on your body and a more efficient workout. Short snappy workouts are the key to healthy hormones and a balanced life, but the workout must be dense enough to force results.
What I am trying to say here is that if you can take a one hour workout and cram it into 30 minutes, you will not only save time, but burn more fat! Sounds like a deal right? So why do so many people train for an hour? Well, number one it is easier to space out your sets with a good rest and number two most people have it in their head that they have to train for one hour.
Forget it, when I use a kettlebell it is 30-45 minutes max! And the session is so tough that I would not be able to go for an hour if I wanted to! The keys is a fast pace, and this means short rests.
With kettlebell training you should always strive to shorten your rest periods as part of your progression. This is the best way to improve conditioning and workout density. These days I go so far as to count sprint and rest time instead of sets and reps.
Here is an example. Grab a kettlebell and a clock. Then pick one exercise only, say the swing. Pick an amount of time to sprint (swing the kettlebell) and an amount of time to rest between each set. The difference between sprint and rest will vary based on your conditioning. I strive for twice as much sprint as rest. Start the clock and go! Don't count your reps, just do the intervals prescribed as per the clock. You will not believe how much hard it is! You know why? Because you no longer stop at a specific rep number even though you can go on. Also, you start again when the clock says go, not when you want to!
To use the interval training option long term I would pick several exercises and then rotate through them using one drill per session. As you progress slowly work on increasing the set sprint time and decreasing the rep time. If you follow this you are guaranteed to see results in both fat loss and conditioning!
What I am trying to say here is that if you can take a one hour workout and cram it into 30 minutes, you will not only save time, but burn more fat! Sounds like a deal right? So why do so many people train for an hour? Well, number one it is easier to space out your sets with a good rest and number two most people have it in their head that they have to train for one hour.
Forget it, when I use a kettlebell it is 30-45 minutes max! And the session is so tough that I would not be able to go for an hour if I wanted to! The keys is a fast pace, and this means short rests.
With kettlebell training you should always strive to shorten your rest periods as part of your progression. This is the best way to improve conditioning and workout density. These days I go so far as to count sprint and rest time instead of sets and reps.
Here is an example. Grab a kettlebell and a clock. Then pick one exercise only, say the swing. Pick an amount of time to sprint (swing the kettlebell) and an amount of time to rest between each set. The difference between sprint and rest will vary based on your conditioning. I strive for twice as much sprint as rest. Start the clock and go! Don't count your reps, just do the intervals prescribed as per the clock. You will not believe how much hard it is! You know why? Because you no longer stop at a specific rep number even though you can go on. Also, you start again when the clock says go, not when you want to!
To use the interval training option long term I would pick several exercises and then rotate through them using one drill per session. As you progress slowly work on increasing the set sprint time and decreasing the rep time. If you follow this you are guaranteed to see results in both fat loss and conditioning!