Cat Lover Sue
Slimming and Swinging!
Hi All - just wanted to add a thread for those folk who, like me, hate exercise! 
I first stumbled upon the Secret to Shaping Up thread when I was about 3 months into my WW diet. The weight was coming off ok but I knew that to continue to lose I would have to find some kind of exercise which would suit me. I was also terrified of losing weight and ending up dragging loads of loose skin around. Not a great look, I'm sure you'll agree.
To put it into context, I was 42, hadn't exercised in over two decades and had a BMI when I first started WW of over 40. Pretty grim. I also suffer from PCOS so tend to store the majority of my weight around my middle. Oh and I have a huge chest so anything that involved too much bouncing around was a complete no no. All in all, a bl00dy mess, quite frankly.
So I stumbled upon Kron's thread and was hooked instantly. Here was someone who had shifted a lot of weight and was also toned and like me wasn't into the whole running and jumping around thing. Kettleworx seemed too good to be true. Just 3 20minute sessions a week with a couple of weights could have this much effect? Well folk were doing it and seeing good results. And this is normal folk we are talking about here - not these numpties you see on the tv who one minute are dragging a fat carcass around and the next after a month are so thin and have abs so tight its a wonder they can fit all their internal organs in their body!
So I ordered my Kettleworx set and got a York 3 bell set from Argos. I did a few exercises Kron had kindly sent me links for on You tube whilst I waited for my DVDs to arrive. My first mistake was getting the vinyl bells. They are quite bulky - so go for cast iron. Tesco do a couple of great ones which are pretty cheap for example.
My DVDs arrived - I dutifully watched the Introduction DVD and even did the sample workout on it. Mistake number two - this is the actual Wk1 Cardio workout although it doesn't tell you that. This one is universally recognised by all the KW peeps as the worst one. So if you do decide to give KW a go then don't be put off by this session. So anyway I did the Intro workout on the Saturday and then followed it the next day with Cardio Wk1 - the same chuffing one. I could hardly walk for the next couple of days.
I did find the whole 18 sessions very challenging but by about wk 3 I was into the groove and looking forward to it! I also swapped bells at this point and got a Tesco 5kg one. This was a bit heavier than I was using but by the end of the whole thing I was fine with it. I still use it occasionally now for some moves.
That's the beauty of Kettlebells. You can invest in a bell but just because you move up to heavier ones, doesn't mean you don't need the lighter ones. Different exercises call for different weights. I would estimate my initial outlay for doing KW as £40 for the DVDs, £7 for the yoga mat, £2 for some extra long wrist bands off ebay (helps when the weight is pressing on your wrist) and £10 for the Tesco 5kg bell. I made money by selling my York set and the 5lb bell which came with the KW set - far too light. You don't need any special exercise gear for it - apart from the wrist bands which are great - and most people are either bare foot or wear socks.
Space wise as long as you can roll out a yoga mat and can lie down on it and stick your arms out either side you will be fine. You also need to have enough clearance overhead for you to have the bell lifted up in the air and also the same when you are laying down. Its a surprisingly compact form of exercise! And the bells are also great door stops!
I have progressed with KW - I did 3 rounds of the standard edition and then got the Advanced Set. I am on round 2 of this as I type. My results for each round (that's the full 6 weeks, 18 sessions in total) are posted in my signature. The difference in my body is amazing. Yes I still have issues with my mid section but I am getting there. Its a great supplement to my weight loss and I can build it into my life. I stick to Sunday for cardio, Tuesday for core and Thursday for resistance. The entire session takes around 30 minutes for me now - including the warm up and cool down - and a few cheeky breathers between exercises. When I first started it was probably about 45 minutes as I needed longer breaks. Its a great trade off in time versus results. I think, anyway.
KW is a cut and paste job. You get the same warm up and cool down on each session - that goes for standard and advanced versions. Each exercise has only been filmed once so for example when the plank comes up throughout the sessions, its the same clip replayed. I don't mind that - some folk hate it. The plus side for me is that Ryan (Mr Cheesy the trainer) explains the moves clearly and does try at being light hearted. Some of his jokes are dreadful and his obsession with skinny jeans is borderline creepy - but he is good. Especially for folk like me who are totally unfit and uncordinated. You can see clips on You Tube and on the KW website. This is also where you order the DVDs from - or via Amazon or occasionally Ideal World.
There are of course other KB DVDs available but I have stuck with KW. This is because I enjoy it, still find it challenging and I have paid out for it so I demand my value for money! Mr Sue is also converted and he has just finished his first round of it. We now have a selection of weights - 5kg, 7.5kg, 15lb (be careful with the lbs and kgs) and 10kg. I have just progressed to using the 10kg for as much as I can handle. Not bad for a complete novice less than a year ago!
I haven't got bored of it. I don't want to be entertained by my exercising, I am still a basically lazy person who is trying her best, and I want results for as little time spent as possible! For 30 minutes three times a week I am prepared to work very hard and sweat buckets (be prepared for this - its not a good look but you are in your own home) to get my results.
I hope this post hasn't sent you off to sleep and perhaps has inspired some folk who were wondering if KBs was for them. I have found this forum - well the thread, "Secret to Shaping up" invaluable and have made friends and swapped stories, tips and laughs for nearly a year now. I have been so inspired. Any questions I had when I first started were answered, so I try to do my bit now and answer questions if I can.
My inch loss figs are in my signature as well as my weight loss. I still follow WW and have a way to go yet. When I started I was wearing tight 22 jeans. I am now in 16s and am preparing to set light to my last pair of size 18 evans jeans. I am never, ever going to have to buy stuff from there again! Now isn't that worth 3 KW sessions a week?
I first stumbled upon the Secret to Shaping Up thread when I was about 3 months into my WW diet. The weight was coming off ok but I knew that to continue to lose I would have to find some kind of exercise which would suit me. I was also terrified of losing weight and ending up dragging loads of loose skin around. Not a great look, I'm sure you'll agree.
To put it into context, I was 42, hadn't exercised in over two decades and had a BMI when I first started WW of over 40. Pretty grim. I also suffer from PCOS so tend to store the majority of my weight around my middle. Oh and I have a huge chest so anything that involved too much bouncing around was a complete no no. All in all, a bl00dy mess, quite frankly.
So I stumbled upon Kron's thread and was hooked instantly. Here was someone who had shifted a lot of weight and was also toned and like me wasn't into the whole running and jumping around thing. Kettleworx seemed too good to be true. Just 3 20minute sessions a week with a couple of weights could have this much effect? Well folk were doing it and seeing good results. And this is normal folk we are talking about here - not these numpties you see on the tv who one minute are dragging a fat carcass around and the next after a month are so thin and have abs so tight its a wonder they can fit all their internal organs in their body!
So I ordered my Kettleworx set and got a York 3 bell set from Argos. I did a few exercises Kron had kindly sent me links for on You tube whilst I waited for my DVDs to arrive. My first mistake was getting the vinyl bells. They are quite bulky - so go for cast iron. Tesco do a couple of great ones which are pretty cheap for example.
My DVDs arrived - I dutifully watched the Introduction DVD and even did the sample workout on it. Mistake number two - this is the actual Wk1 Cardio workout although it doesn't tell you that. This one is universally recognised by all the KW peeps as the worst one. So if you do decide to give KW a go then don't be put off by this session. So anyway I did the Intro workout on the Saturday and then followed it the next day with Cardio Wk1 - the same chuffing one. I could hardly walk for the next couple of days
.I did find the whole 18 sessions very challenging but by about wk 3 I was into the groove and looking forward to it! I also swapped bells at this point and got a Tesco 5kg one. This was a bit heavier than I was using but by the end of the whole thing I was fine with it. I still use it occasionally now for some moves.
That's the beauty of Kettlebells. You can invest in a bell but just because you move up to heavier ones, doesn't mean you don't need the lighter ones. Different exercises call for different weights. I would estimate my initial outlay for doing KW as £40 for the DVDs, £7 for the yoga mat, £2 for some extra long wrist bands off ebay (helps when the weight is pressing on your wrist) and £10 for the Tesco 5kg bell. I made money by selling my York set and the 5lb bell which came with the KW set - far too light. You don't need any special exercise gear for it - apart from the wrist bands which are great - and most people are either bare foot or wear socks.
Space wise as long as you can roll out a yoga mat and can lie down on it and stick your arms out either side you will be fine. You also need to have enough clearance overhead for you to have the bell lifted up in the air and also the same when you are laying down. Its a surprisingly compact form of exercise! And the bells are also great door stops!
I have progressed with KW - I did 3 rounds of the standard edition and then got the Advanced Set. I am on round 2 of this as I type. My results for each round (that's the full 6 weeks, 18 sessions in total) are posted in my signature. The difference in my body is amazing. Yes I still have issues with my mid section but I am getting there. Its a great supplement to my weight loss and I can build it into my life. I stick to Sunday for cardio, Tuesday for core and Thursday for resistance. The entire session takes around 30 minutes for me now - including the warm up and cool down - and a few cheeky breathers between exercises. When I first started it was probably about 45 minutes as I needed longer breaks. Its a great trade off in time versus results. I think, anyway.
KW is a cut and paste job. You get the same warm up and cool down on each session - that goes for standard and advanced versions. Each exercise has only been filmed once so for example when the plank comes up throughout the sessions, its the same clip replayed. I don't mind that - some folk hate it. The plus side for me is that Ryan (Mr Cheesy the trainer) explains the moves clearly and does try at being light hearted. Some of his jokes are dreadful and his obsession with skinny jeans is borderline creepy - but he is good. Especially for folk like me who are totally unfit and uncordinated. You can see clips on You Tube and on the KW website. This is also where you order the DVDs from - or via Amazon or occasionally Ideal World.
There are of course other KB DVDs available but I have stuck with KW. This is because I enjoy it, still find it challenging and I have paid out for it so I demand my value for money!
Mr Sue is also converted and he has just finished his first round of it. We now have a selection of weights - 5kg, 7.5kg, 15lb (be careful with the lbs and kgs) and 10kg. I have just progressed to using the 10kg for as much as I can handle. Not bad for a complete novice less than a year ago! I haven't got bored of it. I don't want to be entertained by my exercising, I am still a basically lazy person who is trying her best, and I want results for as little time spent as possible!
For 30 minutes three times a week I am prepared to work very hard and sweat buckets (be prepared for this - its not a good look but you are in your own home) to get my results. I hope this post hasn't sent you off to sleep and perhaps has inspired some folk who were wondering if KBs was for them. I have found this forum - well the thread, "Secret to Shaping up" invaluable and have made friends and swapped stories, tips and laughs for nearly a year now. I have been so inspired. Any questions I had when I first started were answered, so I try to do my bit now and answer questions if I can.
My inch loss figs are in my signature as well as my weight loss. I still follow WW and have a way to go yet. When I started I was wearing tight 22 jeans. I am now in 16s and am preparing to set light to my last pair of size 18 evans jeans. I am never, ever going to have to buy stuff from there again! Now isn't that worth 3 KW sessions a week?
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