Bring On The Kettlebells!

A few years ago during rehab for a knee surgery my physical therapist, Tim Stump, suggested I check out kettlebells.  Kettlebells are pretty legendary on the cross fit scene but haven't gained main stream use in regular gyms.  This is in part due to the "active" lifting one does while performing kettlebell lifts and partly due to the fact that the motions require a good deal of athletic coordination.  In other words, if people don't have the right knowledge of how to lift with kettlebells the gym could potentially have 20 to 50 pound weights flying through the air!

So last week I ordered an Ader Kettlebell, Coach Orton suggested I start with a 20 kg/ 44 lbs kettlebell because of my previous power lifting experience.  And for point of reference this is what the kettlebell looks like:

Since kettlebell lifts are all done activley they provide both a muscular and cardiovascular benefit.  Eric knows that I reduce stress by lifting.  I've been lifitng since I've been 14 years old so it's a huge part of my life.  My worst days can become better just through visiting the gym and hammering out a few reps - running and cycling always make me feel great, but lifiting makes me feel amazing.  So I'm really excited to try this out tonight.

The plan is to do kettlebell lifts twice a week through the offseason, and regular lifts once a week while continuing with Eric's NXT training.  This should help lean some of my muscle mass, improve core strength and potentially make me faster.  The goal is to be 175 lbs for IMCDA; if I can reduce the size of my arms and shoulders just a little bit while tightening my core, that shouldn't be  a problem.

I had planned to start the KB workouts last week but unfortunetely came down with a nasty cold so was out of comission.  I thought I was getting better on Thursday and decided to head to Darden's weekly Thursday night party.  At first I thought I was black out drunk off of a few beers, but when I totally lost my voice 30 minutes later I realized that my cold had come back 10 fold.  Of course I totally lost my voice on a night when there were non-Darden students at the bar with us, figures, my luck!  Not the worst thing in the world though since I'm taking alot of time to just focus on me.  So I spent most of the weekend in my apartment but was thankfully feeling well enough to head out for a 8 mile run on Sunday since it was gorgeous out in C'Ville!

The way I see it, sometime this week I'll either write about how I absolutely loved this workout, or I'll write about how I'm in the hospital because my arm ripped away from my body and flew across my apartment.  Unless you have something against two armed diabetics lets hope I write about really enjoying the kettlebell!