Swing Your Way to Hard Core Fitness
Everyday you can flip on the tv and see dozens of different weight loss, fat loss, and body transformation infomercials and lets face it - just about all of them are pure 100% garbage! The fact is that fat loss is a war and getting in the best shape of your life is HARD friggin work - no way around it.
The thing is that most guys already strength train (albeit, horribly!) and they know that using resistance training is a must to get a physique that turns heads.
However when it comes to most guys thoughts towards "cardio" - there are two ends of the spectrum - guys who don't do any and guys who spend HOURS every week on a treadmill, elliptical or some other fancy piece of equipment.
Not only that, but most guys are extremely quad dominant, have lower back pain, knee pain, and are generally miserable - and all that cardio (repetitive stress) is NOT helping! Our solution to this problem is through hardcore interval style training using a variety of tools, but today we're going to be talking about high rep kettlebell swings perhaps the BEST use of a kettlebell.
In fact, timed sets of snatches and swings will turn your metabolism into a furnace and have you burning fat for DAYS after the actual workout.
The only caveat is that this stuff is plain old hard work - there is no easy way out, no escaping the brutality of the kettlebell.
When you first start using the kettlebell, it is advised to first master the swing, and for our purpose - the single handed swing.
If you strength train 3 days per week, then you are going to finish every workout swinging your kettlebell.
The swing will hammer your grip, upperback, core, and entire posterior chain - and to mention your heart (which will be beating through your chest!).
Our goal when swinging is eventually build up to a 10 minute set, without putting the kettlebell down.
This is definitely a progression, but when approached with tenacity, is certainly possible using a 36-53lb (or more!) kettlebell.
All of your sets are going to be timed, you are going to switch hands every 5 reps and continue on swinging until time has expired.
Remember, these are at the end of a full body (or upper/lower) training session and you will already be tired, so we don't need to do all that much to get the results that we want.
Short and to the point, baby! Here are your 8 progressions to get into insane "swinging shape".
All you need is a 36-53lb kettlebell and a timer or wall clock within clear view.
It is advised to stay with each progression for 1-2 weeks, depending on your current fitness level.
Each progression will have slightly more volume.
Keep rest periods to 60 seconds or less (preferably at around 30 seconds) between each set.
#1 4 sets of 1 minute rounds (4 minutes of work) #2 1 set of 2 minutes + 3 sets of 1 minute (5 minutes of work) #3 2 sets of 2 minutes + 2 sets of 1 minute (6 minutes of work) #4 1 set of 3 minutes + 2 sets of 2 minutes (7 minutes of work) #5 2 sets of 3 minutes + 1 sets of 2 minutes w/30 sec rest (8 minutes of work) #6 Max Reps In 10 Minutes.
Just keep a running clock and try to get in as many total reps in 10 minutes -- switch hands every 5-10 reps.
You can put the kettlebell down, but try to beat this number every time out with your goal eventually being able to swing for the entire 10 minutes.
Be forewarned, this is BRUTAL and should be attempted with caution.
Give yourself 4-12 weeks; depending on your current fitness level to go through the progression, and then you can play around with various timed or set/rep intervals to continuously challenge yourself.
Happy swinging!
The thing is that most guys already strength train (albeit, horribly!) and they know that using resistance training is a must to get a physique that turns heads.
However when it comes to most guys thoughts towards "cardio" - there are two ends of the spectrum - guys who don't do any and guys who spend HOURS every week on a treadmill, elliptical or some other fancy piece of equipment.
Not only that, but most guys are extremely quad dominant, have lower back pain, knee pain, and are generally miserable - and all that cardio (repetitive stress) is NOT helping! Our solution to this problem is through hardcore interval style training using a variety of tools, but today we're going to be talking about high rep kettlebell swings perhaps the BEST use of a kettlebell.
In fact, timed sets of snatches and swings will turn your metabolism into a furnace and have you burning fat for DAYS after the actual workout.
The only caveat is that this stuff is plain old hard work - there is no easy way out, no escaping the brutality of the kettlebell.
When you first start using the kettlebell, it is advised to first master the swing, and for our purpose - the single handed swing.
If you strength train 3 days per week, then you are going to finish every workout swinging your kettlebell.
The swing will hammer your grip, upperback, core, and entire posterior chain - and to mention your heart (which will be beating through your chest!).
Our goal when swinging is eventually build up to a 10 minute set, without putting the kettlebell down.
This is definitely a progression, but when approached with tenacity, is certainly possible using a 36-53lb (or more!) kettlebell.
All of your sets are going to be timed, you are going to switch hands every 5 reps and continue on swinging until time has expired.
Remember, these are at the end of a full body (or upper/lower) training session and you will already be tired, so we don't need to do all that much to get the results that we want.
Short and to the point, baby! Here are your 8 progressions to get into insane "swinging shape".
All you need is a 36-53lb kettlebell and a timer or wall clock within clear view.
It is advised to stay with each progression for 1-2 weeks, depending on your current fitness level.
Each progression will have slightly more volume.
Keep rest periods to 60 seconds or less (preferably at around 30 seconds) between each set.
#1 4 sets of 1 minute rounds (4 minutes of work) #2 1 set of 2 minutes + 3 sets of 1 minute (5 minutes of work) #3 2 sets of 2 minutes + 2 sets of 1 minute (6 minutes of work) #4 1 set of 3 minutes + 2 sets of 2 minutes (7 minutes of work) #5 2 sets of 3 minutes + 1 sets of 2 minutes w/30 sec rest (8 minutes of work) #6 Max Reps In 10 Minutes.
Just keep a running clock and try to get in as many total reps in 10 minutes -- switch hands every 5-10 reps.
You can put the kettlebell down, but try to beat this number every time out with your goal eventually being able to swing for the entire 10 minutes.
Be forewarned, this is BRUTAL and should be attempted with caution.
Give yourself 4-12 weeks; depending on your current fitness level to go through the progression, and then you can play around with various timed or set/rep intervals to continuously challenge yourself.
Happy swinging!
