Simple Kettlebell Workouts For Strength and Fat Loss. Jody Beasley HMG Fitness Birmingham, AL hmgfit.com

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1 Simple Kettlebell Workouts For Strength and Fat Loss by Jody Beasley HMG Fitness Birmingham, AL hmgfit.com

2 Disclaimer You must get your physician s approval before beginning this exercise program. These recommendations are not medical guidelines but are for educational purposes only. You must consult your physician prior to starting this program or if you have any medical condition or injury that contraindicates physical activity. This program is designed for healthy individuals only. See your physician before starting any exercise or nutrition program. If you are taking any medications, you must talk to your physician before starting any exercise program, including this one. If you experience any lightheadedness, dizziness, or shortness of breath while exercising, stop the movement and consult a physician. It is strongly recommended that you have a complete physical examination if you are sedentary, if you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, if you are overweight, or if you are over 30 years old. Please discuss all nutritional changes with your physician or a registered dietician. If your physician recommends that you not perform the exercises and workouts provided, please follow your doctor s orders. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors and publishers advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this workout, be sure that your equipment is well maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training and fitness. The exercises and dietary guidelines in this program are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or treatment or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your physician. Don t lift heavy weights if you are alone, inexperienced, injured, or fatigued. Don t perform any exercise without proper instruction. Always perform a warm-up prior to all forms of training.

Simple Kettlebell Workouts for Strength and Fat Loss Get ready to build strength and burn fat in minimal time with these simple and effective full body workouts.

3 Simple Kettlebell Workouts for Strength and Fat Loss Get ready to build strength and burn fat in minimal time with these simple and effective full body workouts. Each session uses only the Kettlebell Swing, the Kettlebell Goblet Squat, and the Push-up, requiring just a single kettlebell. They can be used as stand-alone workouts, or as finishers added on to the end of your usual strength training session, stoking the fat burning furnace. They can be completed anywhere between minutes depending on your needs. What size bell should you use? You should use the bell that best allows you to perform the movements with near perfect form, yet is still challenging enough to facilitate gains. In general, women will begin with bells ranging from 8kg 16kg (18lb-35lb). Men will usually begin with a 16kg 24kg (35lb-53lb). It ultimately depends on your current level of strength and physical ability. Before beginning these workouts, make sure you understand and have practiced proper technique in all 3 exercises. Treat these workouts as a PRACTICE session. What does this mean? You should strive to make every rep perfect. Better quality leads to more quantity, not the other way around. Fatigue is rarely a good teacher, so by keeping a practice mindset, you will not only shield yourself from possible injury, but your training will become more effective, equaling greater results. I'm not saying you shouldn't train hard, just should train smart. The Kettlebell Swing Before you begin swinging a kettlebell, you must first know how to properly hinge at your hips. In a HINGE, the hips push back, loading the posterior chain consisting of the hamstrings and glutes, maximally flexing at the hips, and minimally flexing at the knees. The spine remains neutral and the torso will fold forward with no rounding of the upper or lower back. Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulders and slightly turned out. Push your hips back as if trying to touch a wall behind you with your backside. Let your knees and ankles bend naturally, keeping your focus on folding at the hips. Keep your weight centered over mid-foot without unloading the balls of the feet and toes. Once you've hinged back as far as your mobility allows, drive your feet down into the floor squeezing your glutes together, pushing your hips forward to stand up again, and locking out the knees and hips.

Now let's deadlift a kettlebell. Stand over a kettlebell with the same stance you used when practicing your hinge. You want the bell to be between your ankles, not in front of your feet.

4 Now let's deadlift a kettlebell. Stand over a kettlebell with the same stance you used when practicing your hinge. You want the bell to be between your ankles, not in front of your feet. Lower yourself down to the bell by hinging at the hips, reaching for the handle with your arms while keeping your spine neutral and your shoulders pushed down away from your ears (think the opposite of shrugging). Grab the handle with both hands and squeeze your armpits together, creating tension. Breathe into your stomach and brace your abs preparing to lift the kettlebell. Keep your eyes up without jamming your neck. It helps to look out on the ground or floor 10-15ft in front of you.

Stand up by pushing your feet hard into the floor and squeezing your glutes (crush a walnut) driving your hips forward into lockout. Keep your abs braced throughout. Exhale as you stand up.

5 Stand up by pushing your feet hard into the floor and squeezing your glutes (crush a walnut) driving your hips forward into lockout. Keep your abs braced throughout. Exhale as you stand up. Return to the start position by again hinging to lower the bell to the floor. Do not let your back round as your body folds forward. Aim the kettlebell back to the floor between your ankles. Repeat the process for reps. Practice the deadlift until you are proficient with it. Now that you are competent in the deadlift, time to swing!

The swing is simply an explosive deadlift, so your start position will be the same, only the bell will be placed in front of your feet about 6-12 inches depending on your arm length.

6 The swing is simply an explosive deadlift, so your start position will be the same, only the bell will be placed in front of your feet about 6-12 inches depending on your arm length. Keep your eyes forward. Hook your fingers around the handle with a loose grip and tilt the bell back toward you, the bell and your arms forming a straight line to the shoulders. Keep your shoulders packed, not letting your back round. Your weight should be centered over your mid-foot. Practice this setup and make it perfect. Your swings will only be as good as your setup. To begin the swing, hike the bell back between your legs, loading the glutes and hamstrings. Aim the bell high into your groin, placing your forearms high against your inner thighs. You may feel a slight weight shift over the feet, but your back and shoulder position should stay the same. Inhale as you hike the bell.

Once the bell is hiked, explosively stand up by driving your feet hard into the floor through your heels, squeezing the glutes and pushing your hips forward, standing tall in full lockout.

The bell rises because it has to as you are holding onto it. Notice how I have already reached my lockout before the bell has stopped traveling and reached its height.

7 Once the bell is hiked, explosively stand up by driving your feet hard into the floor through your heels, squeezing the glutes and pushing your hips forward, standing tall in full lockout. Exhale sharply and brace your abs as your hips meet the lockout position. Do not lift the bell up with your arms. Your explosive hip snap is the driving force, sending the bell forward. The bell rises because it has to as you are holding onto it. Notice how I have already reached my lockout before the bell has stopped traveling and reached its height. Let the bell continue to rise until it reaches around shoulder height, floating momentarily. Your lockout should remain firm with glutes, abs, and quads (leg muscles) tight and braced. Keep this position as the bell falls back down. Guide it towards your hips as you do with the hike pass. Wait until your upper arms connect to your ribs, then hinge back down loading for another swing. Repeat the process for the desired number of reps. Once your last rep is completed, safely return the bell back to the floor in the start position.

The Kettlebell Goblet Squat A squat is different from a hinge. In the squat, the hips and knees both flex at the same rate, dropping the hips slightly back and down.

Shoulders should be packed and pushed down into your hips away from your ears. Inhale into your groin, brace your abs, and lower yourself down by pulling your knees to your chest.

8 The Kettlebell Goblet Squat A squat is different from a hinge. In the squat, the hips and knees both flex at the same rate, dropping the hips slightly back and down. Think about how you would sit on a curb. Get the kettlebell in position by deadlifting it up, then holding it in front of your sternum grabbing it by the horns (the sides of the handle). Shoulders should be packed and pushed down into your hips away from your ears. Inhale into your groin, brace your abs, and lower yourself down by pulling your knees to your chest. This is actively lowering using your hip flexors and is much stronger and safer, versus passively lowering by collapsing and letting gravity do the work for you. Aim to get your hips below your knees, keeping the knees tracking the toes. Place your elbows inside your knees and do not let your back round. Pause briefly before standing up, refraining from bouncing out of the bottom when standing. To stand, drive your feet into the floor, squeezing your glutes and bringing your hips forward to lockout. The hips and shoulders should rise at the same rate. Begin the ascent with a grunt or exhale sharply, keeping the abs tight. Repeat for reps.

The Push-up The push-up is a time-tested exercise that doesn't need an introduction. We all know what it is and looks like. All the same, it is one of the more butchered exercises out there.

Make sure your body forms a straight line from the crown of your head to the heels of your feet, and keep the appropriate amount of tension in the glutes and abs, not letting the hips sag to the

Lower to the floor until your chest touches or almost touches. Keep your elbows tucked to your side or flaring out no greater than a 45-degree angle.

9 The Push-up The push-up is a time-tested exercise that doesn't need an introduction. We all know what it is and looks like. All the same, it is one of the more butchered exercises out there. Here are some pointers to make sure you're getting the most from your push-ups. The push-up is a basically a moving plank and should be treated as such. Make sure your body forms a straight line from the crown of your head to the heels of your feet, and keep the appropriate amount of tension in the glutes and abs, not letting the hips sag to the floor. The hands should be placed underneath the shoulders or slightly outside with the arms perpendicular to the floor in the start position. Lower to the floor until your chest touches or almost touches. Keep your elbows tucked to your side or flaring out no greater than a 45-degree angle. Do not let your chest fall between your shoulder blades or your head droop, or chicken neck, to the floor. Keeping a rigid torso, press your hands into the floor to push your body back up to the start position. Do not let your shoulders rise faster than your hips as you perform the push-up. Exhale as you push up. Visualize pushing the floor away from you, rather than pushing yourself away from the floor. This will help to make a stronger push-up. If push-ups are difficult for you, do them inclined to reduce the percentage of your body weight required to lift, making it easier.

10 Let's Get Training The workouts provided vary in sets, reps, and total volume, utilizing a combination of rep ladders, supersets, and circuits. Rep Ladder: each set of an exercise increases or decreases in the number of repetitions performed, resting between sets. Ex.- push-up ladder is performed 1 push-up, rest, 2 push-ups, rest, 3 push-ups, rest, repeat Superset: 2-3 exercises performed in succession for a set number of repetitions with no rest between sets Ex.- 5 push-ups + 5 squats, rest, repeat Circuit: 2 or more exercises performed in succession for a set number of repetitions, resting as necessary between sets Ex.- 10 kettlebell swings, rest, 5 push-ups, rest, 3 squats, rest, repeat These workouts are great to do on their own or in addition to your other training. If you're short on time, they can be done in as little as 10 minutes. You can also do them at the end of another workout as a 5-10 minute finisher to add a fat burning element to your current training program. You may find some of these workouts are better suited for this purpose than the others. The Workouts WO#1 10 swings 5 goblet squats 10 swings 5 push-ups Do this circuit for minutes, performing as many quality rounds as possible. WO#2 10 swings 5 goblet squats 3 push-ups Do this circuit for minutes, performing as many quality rounds as possible. WO#3 10 swings + 3 goblet squats 10 swings + 3 push-ups Do this workout for 10 minutes. Alternate between the supersets, doing one every minute. This is great to do as a finisher or as a stand-alone workout when short on time. WO#4 10 swings + 5 goblet squats + 5 push-ups 10 swings + 4 goblet squats + 4 push-ups 10 swings + 3 goblet squats + 3 push-ups 10 swings + 2 goblet squats + 2 push-ups 10 swings + 1 goblet squats + 1 push-up Do this 1-2 times through, resting as needed between supersets. This is great to do as a finisher or as a stand-alone workout when short on time.

11 WO#5 10 swings 10 goblet squats 10 push-ups 9 swings 9 goblet squats 9 push-ups 8 swings 8 goblet squats 8 push-ups. continue this descending ladder down to 1 swing 1 goblet squat 1 push-up Complete this descending ladder in as little time as possible. You could travel back up the ladder once you reach the bottom for an even tougher session. WO#6 1 goblet squat 1 push-up 1 swing 2 goblet squats 2 push-ups 2 swings 3 goblet squats 3 push-ups 3 swings. continue this ascending ladder up to 10 goblet squats 10 push-ups 10 swings Complete this ascending ladder in as little time as possible. You could also travel back down the ladder once you reach the top for an even tougher session. WO#7 5 goblet squats 5 push-ups 10 swings 10 goblet squats 10 push-ups 20 swings Do this circuit for minutes, performing as many quality rounds as possible. WO#8 1 push-up + 1 goblet squat + 5 swings 2 push-ups + 2 goblet squats + 10 swings 3 push-ups + 3 goblet squats + 15 swings Do this for minutes, performing as many quality rounds as possible.

12 WO#9 2 push-ups + 3 goblet squats + 5 swings 3 push-ups + 2 goblet squats + 10 swings 5 push-ups + 1 goblet squats + 15 swings Do this for minutes, performing as many quality rounds as possible. Notice the push-ups and swings go UP in reps as the squats go DOWN in reps. WO#10 5 goblet squats + 1 push-ups + 15 swings 3 goblet squats + 2 push-ups + 10 swings 2 goblet squats + 3 push-ups + 5 swings Do this for 20 minutes, performing as many quality rounds as possible. Notice the squats and swing go DOWN in reps as the push-ups go UP in reps. WO#11 10 swings + 5 goblet squats 10 swings + 1 push-up + 4 goblet squats 10 swings + 2 push-ups + 3 goblet squats 10 swings + 3 push-ups + 2 goblet squats 10 swings + 4 push-ups + 1 goblet squat 10 swings + 5 push-ups Do this as written with as little rest as possible for a great fat burning finisher, totaling 60 swings, 15 push-ups, 15 squats. Do it twice for double the volume. WO#12 20 swings + 1 goblet squat + 1 push-up 18 swings + 2 goblet squats + 2 push-ups 16 swings + 3 goblet squats + 3 push-ups 14 swings + 4 goblet squats + 4 push-ups 12 swings + 5 goblet squats + 5 push-ups 10 swings + 6 goblet squats + 6 push-ups 8 swings + 7 goblet squats + 7 push-ups 6 swings + 8 goblet squats + 8 push-ups 4 swings + 9 goblet squats + 9 push-ups 2 swings + 10 goblet squats + 10 push-ups Complete as written with perfect form. Rest as little as possible, just enough to ensure quality of reps. If you need to decrease the difficulty of any workout, you can use a regression of any exercise or simply decrease the number of reps prescribed. If you haven't yet developed a good swing, replace the swings with kettlebell deadlifts. If you can't do 20 swings without your technique breaking down, do 10 swings instead. If these workouts are too easy for you Grab a heavier kettlebell. Add a weight vest for push-ups or do a harder variation, such as on a decline. Increase the reps for each set by 1-5. Rest less between sets, doing the workouts faster, or do more total volume. I sincerely hope you not only achieve great results, but that you come to love kettlebells as much as I have. Feel free to share your progress with me. Train hard! Train smart! Have fun!

Daily. Workout MOBILITY WARM UP Exercise Descriptions. (See Below)

Daily. Workout MOBILITY WARM UP Exercise Descriptions. (See Below) MOBILITY WARM UP Pelvic Tilt Lateral Pelvic Tilt Hip Circles Lateral Spine Glide Spinal Flexion and Extension Lateral Spinal Flexion Neck Juts and Tucks Neck Glides Arm Screws Arm Circles Elbow Circles