From Fat to Fit- My Journey

[icklerockchick]

Yeh I tried my first ever kettlebell class on Monday and had the worst DOMS ever for 2 days could barely move lol!

Enjoyed it though x

 

[sarah.w]

it really is a fantastic workout and because its short you dont feel lazy about doing it, the thought of working out for an hour at the gym sometimes used to put me off exercise, but you can do this at home as well which suits me more, and the best part is that im achieving results quicker than i have with anything else, and i dont have to do extra exercises for toning because is is an all in one exercise

 

[sarah88]

it really is a fantastic workout and because its short you dont feel lazy about doing it, the thought of working out for an hour at the gym sometimes used to put me off exercise, but you can do this at home as well which suits me more, and the best part is that im achieving results quicker than i have with anything else, and i dont have to do extra exercises for toning because is is an all in one exercise

Does it work the whole body?

 

[sarah88]

There is a ketlercise DVD and a bob harper DVD! Ketlercise DVD looks really good eBay for £24.99 and u don't even get a kettlebell! What weight kettlebell would u recommend for me?

 

[bulldogdaisy]

its a very good question but to start of with i bought the kettlebell from tesco direct because its really cheap there (if your interested go for cast iron) and was just doing the workouts from Youtube. Then my cousin told me that groupon was doing a great deal on the Kettleworx set so i bought it because otherwise its to expensive. It is painful to begin with, but now it doesnt really hurt as much because my muscles are used to it. It will only really hurt after your muscles have relaxed like if your sitting for long or sleeping.
Kettlebell workouts are designed in a way that works major muscle groups at the same time which is why its a short workout combining core, cardio and resistance exercises, many other workouts only work one or two areas of the body, and because its working different areas at the same time the workout is more intense. I can personally attest to its success, its helped me loose a lot of weight and tone up at the same time. Theres a very interesting study taken by the American Council of Exercise which shows that 20 minutes of kettlebells is the equivalent of working out for an hour at the gym, but many people are skeptical because they dont think you can get good results from such a short workout, but personally i feel like its enough, you get tired and after you feel like its been a good workout like (i know this is disgusting) but you sweat a lot! so its not as easy as it looks because at first i didnt think it would be enough but boy did i learn the hard way! lol
www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/kettlebells012010.pdf
Also many celebs do it like Penelope Cruz, her hubbie Mathew, Jlo (especially after giving birth to her children) and Navy special forces use it to train but they ovbiously work much harder. If your interested then start with 5kg kettlebell which is a good one for women.

Theres a kettlebell section in the exercise section in this forum, and theres a huggee thread by a user 'Kron' called 'Secret to shaping up' here:
http://www.minimins.com/kettlebells/219703-secret-shaping-up.html

I'm tempted to try this myself sometime :0)

 

[sarah88]

I'm gonna go for the kettlercise for women DVD with 4kg kettlebell on eBay 4 £39.95 but reviews sound worth it! I have some bday money to spend!! Plus I may sell my cross trainer an do this instead plus my 2 jillian DVDs came this morning, 6 wk 6 pack and buns and thighs, both half an hour long so that should b enough exercise in a day!!

 

[bulldogdaisy]

I'm gonna go for the kettlercise for women DVD with 4kg kettlebell on eBay 4 £39.95 but reviews sound worth it! I have some bday money to spend!! Plus I may sell my cross trainer an do this instead plus my 2 jillian DVDs came this morning, 6 wk 6 pack and buns and thighs, both half an hour long so that should b enough exercise in a day!!

This all sounds really good,be good to see how you get on and what you think of it!

 

[sarah.w]

im glad this has peaked your interest because it really works, for a beginner i would suggest using a 5kg kettlebell, you can buy one from tesco direct for a tenner here:
Buy One Body 5kg Kettlebell from our Weights range - Tesco.com

Im still using the 5kg kettlebell and its worked fine for me. I havent tried the Bob Harper or Gillian ones but ive heard theyre good, im doing kettleworx by Ryan Shanahan and his workouts are good because you get your 3 DVD's (cardio, core, resistence) for 6 week challenges (each week gets more intense with all 3 challenges), another 4 DVDs each one that works a specific area e.g. butt and hips, shoulders and arms, a 5 pound kettlebell and 2 extra DVD's for a fast fat burn and fast ab workout, and his nutrition DVD as well. The only downside is that its expensive and he skips to the next workout really quickly so you have to keep pausing to get up but im used to it now.

Sarah88- yes it works the whole body because he makes you do exercises that work many muscle groups at the same time such as the one arm swing, two arm swing, shoulder presses (with squats) so your working upper body and lower body with the addition of resistance, cardio and core workouts all integrated.

The best thing ever about doing a kettlebell workout is that theres no jumping or running around, its all with two feet on the ground
Ive been doing it for arond 3 and a half months and ive dropped 3 dress sizes and ive never been able to do that this fast!!

Good luck everyone and let me know how it goes for you!!

Also in the kettlebells section in the exercise forum theres before and after pics of people who did kettlebells and its really inspirational

 

[sarah.w]

Also, i have some really good workout videos on youtube if anyones interested, just let me know and ill post them here

 

[icklerockchick]

Yeh Sarah I would say 4kg is a bit low you would need heavier one really quickly. I did my first ever kettlebell class and the lightest they have is 8kg to start with - they said there wasn't much point using anything lighter and that 8kg is the minimum they would recommend for starting out. X

 

[Atomic pink]

Thanks for that, it was a really comprehensive answer! I might well give the class a go in the next couple of weeks. I think its just that going to the gym full stop was such a scary experience for me so when I found a few classes that I really enjoyed and felt comfortable in I felt like I didn't want to come out of that comfort zone too quickly. And it was also the thought of being unable to lift my pen or cup of tea for the rest of the day at work that put me off as the only class I could get to unless on annual leave is the 6:45am one :0

Oh and amazing achievement on the 3 dress sizes in 3 and a bit months. That's fabulous! Well done.

 

[sarah.w]

thanks Atomic pink

i dont think i could cope with an 8kg kettlebell, im just about coping with 5kg!! but its good that you can, that way your workout will be more intense and you can loose more, but 5kg is a good one for me. I dont want to push my body so far so soon, whwn ive done my 6 week challenge and i feel stronger i might buy the 7.5 one and see how that goes. How are the classes? i enjoy doing my workouts at home and in my own time but i think i might start up the classes for support and proper guidance if its any good

 

[sarah.w]

thanks Atomic pink

i dont think i could cope with an 8kg kettlebell, im just about coping with 5kg!! but its good that you can, that way your workout will be more intense and you can loose more, but 5kg is a good one for me. I dont want to push my body so far so soon, when ive done my 6 week challenge and i feel stronger i might buy the 7.5 one and see how that goes. How are the classes? i enjoy doing my workouts at home and in my own time but i think i might start up the classes for support and proper guidance if its any good

 

[sarah88]

I have asked for the 6kg one instead!

 

[sarah.w]

hi all,
feels like forever since i last wrote here, but basically i had a very naughty weekend completely off plan which went into yesterday, but im back on point from today onwards. The weekend was full of weddings ans sadly a funeral as well and a birthday which didnt exactly go to plan but i have to stick to my plan if im to loose anything before the holidays start, its already July and i really need to focus!! will update with food diary later

Hope everyones weekend went well

 

[bulldogdaisy]

Sorry to hear about the funeral! Can understand you going off plan with so much going on! I hope you're ok and well done for getting straight back into things :0) had my daughter stay for the weekend,had a nice time.

 

[Atomic pink]

Sounds like a hectic and emotional weekend so totally understandable that food wasn't on plan. Sometimes life is more important. But you are back on track today and that's great. And no easy achievement when you have had a few days off.

Had kettlebells class this morning at 6:45am (!). I got there a little bit later than I had intended and most people were already there and had collected all the smaller kettlebells so I had to use an 8kg one for the whole class. Didn't think it was too bad at first but after several repetitions I was definitely wishing I had got there earlier and bagged the 6kg one. Don't feel too achy yet though, we shall see!

 

[sarah.w]

thanks guys! it was a hectic weekend but i guess its a part of life. Anyways im glad the kettlebell classes were good for you Atomic, and im glad you had a lovely weekend with your daughter Bulldogdaisy
Ive never done classes as such but i do want to try them out if its any good, you will probably experience some muscle aches when you wake up tomorrow morning (as i did) but that just shows that its working. If your muscles dont ache then give it a couple of weeks to see how it goes, you should notice some difference. In my first two weeks i lost 2 inches!! so hopefully you'll see fantastic results aswell Good luck

So heres my day:

10/07/2012

Brekkie:
2 toasts with low fat cheddar (thinly sliced) 4pp
2 WW ginger biccis and tea with 1 sugar 4pp

Lunch:
half pasta salad 5pp
fruit compote 4pp
1 banana 0pp

Dinner:
red kidney bean soup with nimble bread dippers 9pp

Snack:
1 homemade bicci and options hot choc 3pp

Total dailies used: 29/29
Total weeklies used: 0/49

 

[bulldogdaisy]

Day looks good.Thats amazing that you lost 2 inches in 2 weeks!! And call me Daisy :0)

 

[sarah88]

thanks guys! it was a hectic weekend but i guess its a part of life. Anyways im glad the kettlebell classes were good for you Atomic, and im glad you had a lovely weekend with your daughter Bulldogdaisy
Ive never done classes as such but i do want to try them out if its any good, you will probably experience some muscle aches when you wake up tomorrow morning (as i did) but that just shows that its working. If your muscles dont ache then give it a couple of weeks to see how it goes, you should notice some difference. In my first two weeks i lost 2 inches!! so hopefully you'll see fantastic results aswell Good luck

So heres my day:

10/07/2012

Brekkie:
2 toasts with low fat cheddar (thinly sliced) 4pp
2 WW ginger biccis and tea with 1 sugar 4pp

Lunch:
half pasta salad 5pp
fruit compote 4pp
1 banana 0pp

Dinner:
red kidney bean soup with nimble bread dippers 9pp

Snack:
1 homemade bicci and options hot choc 3pp

Total dailies used: 29/29
Total weeklies used: 0/49

Was that 2 inches overall or in one place? I just done my 50 min kettlercise DVD and it was tough! My muscles already hurt! That's with 6kg kettlebell! It was great tho!