Kettlebells

[Lost_Disciple]

I asked this question in another thread, but forgot which one, so I'll ask it here:

Has anybody used kettlebells or has any experience with them?
Could you give me your opinions of them?
Would they be worth getting for a simple weight routine to save myself the time, money, and commute to a gym?

Should be moving soon. Room probably won't be a problem. There's a good chance that finding a good place to live between work and the kwoon, is going to set me up for a helluva commute between one of them. I want to get used to training at home (or at least on my own) so it'll be easier to coordinate strength training with martial arts training. I'm looking at dumbells and kettlebells as possible solutions, because I don't have a workout partner. I'd also be open to machines like Cybex, Universal, Nautilas, Bowflex, Soloflex and the like. Money probably won't be much of a problem, whatever I don't have, I'll save up.

My ideal solution would be to have a room (or rooms) set up for:
a heavybag stand- w/pullup bar, banana bag, speed bag, and double ended bag stations
some form of weights
martial arts training implements (sandbags, etc).

Any advice on the weights?
PS-I already found a website for my ideal heavybag stand.

Thanks in advance.
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Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Silumkid]

Hey Lost,

If you are looking for inexpensive, bench and dumbbells...no question. I have no experience with kettlebells so can't really say about those.

I have heard good things about Bowflex, but also have no personal experience with it.

Amitabha!

We are trained in wushu; we must protect the Temple!

[Ford Prefect]

Hey LD,

It all depends on what your goals for training with them are. I think for getting a lot stronger in terms of increasing your maximal strength, then weights are the way to go. If all you want is to increase a little explosiveness, muscle endurance, and anaerobic threshold, then kbells are better than most things out there.

About 5 months back, I left the gym (and weights) in order to experiment with a routine based only on kettlebells, sand bags, and bodyweight exercises. 5 months later, I'm kicking myself in the rear for losing so much maximal strength in the time that I've taken off, and I'm getting a gym membership next week! I think the benefits you get from odd object lifting and kettlebells (muscular endurance, explosivesness which is mainly because of snatches, core strength, increase strength of stabilizers, etc) are better when they are performed to supplement your weight training.

I'm not saying that I'm not happy with the kettlebells as two kettlebell lifts are at the heart of my supplementary exercises: high-rep snatches & bent presses. One could even build a good level of conditioning with just these two lifts. However, I've yet to see anything that is as useful for gaining raw strength than barbells and dumbells.

BTW, forget about machines! ;)

[Lost_Disciple]

My goals are 3 fold.
First I wanna get back in decent conditioned shape. This last month off has put about 35 pounds back on me.
Second I wanna focus on fat loss for a while. I'm even thinking to go so far as intentionally losing muscle. I'd rather be 185 right now than 215. Just kinda tired of being thick.
Third whether or not I decide to be thick anymore, later on I want to use some form of strength training to supplement my martial arts training in terms of strength and explosive power.

Lemme just see if I'm on the right track:
1. Is explosive power training as good for fat burning and fat loss as training for hypertrophy?
2. Ketttlebells will improve conditioning and muscular endurance but not explosive power?
3. Joining a gym or a large set of dumbbells (reaching up to about 120~150lbs) would probably be a better solution for me?

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Ford Prefect]

Naw, bro. You'd be fine with the kb's. They'll will definately trim you down and muscle you up. The nature of the high-rep snatches will build explosivess (your exploding a 50 lb peice of iron from below your knees to over head many times in a row after all) and trim you down. Not only that, but you'll see a huge cross-over to fighting endurance. I'd probably get the video rather than the book, so you can see the lifts in motion. You can get real strong with just a few lifts. I have a few real good routines, so let me know if you want them.

[Lost_Disciple]

I'd really appreciate the routines.
I'm looking at a 3 month time frame (at least) until I can pick them up. Just trying to do some early research. :) .

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[shaolin_knight]

I want to get some kettlebells. **** they are expensive. I will save up though, don't know when I'll get them.

[shaolin_knight]

Check out dragondoor.com forum too.

[Lost_Disciple]

Been meaning to check that forum, but my internet connection right now is so sloooooow, I'm reluctant to surf beyond here and my e-mail.
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Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Ford Prefect]

LD,

I'll get those off to you within a week or so. I just moved yesterday, so I'm still getting organized. ;) The 500 lbs worth of Sandbags kicked my butt!

[Lost_Disciple]

Yah, I know how moving is. I'm in transition myself. No rush though. I still got over a month, almost 2, until I get out of transition.
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Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Ford Prefect]

Here's a couple sample workouts to do with the Kettlebell.

Workout A:
1) Superset Bent Press&Pistols 3x5 (rest 2 minutes between sets)
Circuit Train-
2) Two-hand KB swing x25
3) Kettlebell Cleans x3-5
4) KB Snatches (right hand) x25
5) KB Snatches (left) x25
rest 60 seconds and repeat 2 more times

Workout B: (ladder of death)
1) Bent Press 3x5 (2 minute between sets)
2) Ladder Kettlebell Snatch 1-10-1 format
ex: Do 1 snatch right handed, 1 snatch left handed, then 2 snatches right handed, 2 snatches left handed... up to 10 and back down to 1. No rest at all. The only rest your arm gets is when the other is snatching. ;)

Workout C:
1) Side Press 3x5
2) two-hand KB swing x30
3) Snatch left & right handed x15-25
4) Clean & Jerk (left and right handed) x15-25
5) Clean (left and right handed) x15-25
6) Overhead Squat (left and right handed) x20-30

That's the first installment. Let me know if you have any q's.

[Lost_Disciple]

awesome, thanks, just gonna make sure I come back to this thread in a month.
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Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Lost_Disciple]

Few more quick questions

Everything I've been reading about the Kettlebells are that the exercises are pretty high rep. I've been kind of avoiding high rep exercises as the build up of lactic acid isn't that conducive to maintaining working out and martial arts. Not trying to sound lazy, I'm just not a huge fan of muscle soreness.

Do kettlebells really build up the acid burn?
Are they reliant on the high rep exercises in order to burn calories?
Would I still get the same caloric or strength benefits lower reps?
What kind of splits would I be looking at either way? -if I was going to do kung fu almost everyday, with class about 4 times a week?
Good idea to do the kettlebells on the days of the week that I don't have class?
How long do the workouts usually take?

On a side note, I've been looking into getting a barbell with about 300 pounds of weight from Oshman's and a heavy medicine ball; in addition to forking out the cash for the kettlebells, the video, and power to the people. At least one of the 45 weight plates will be the rubber kind so I can work on some shuai chiao related exercises. The medicine ball will probably be my ab work out as well as possibly being a part of some plyometrics.

Thanks again.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus..