Day 1: Kettlebell Bootcamp

Today was a very eventful one as my wife and I get up at 5:30am on our anniversary to head out to kettlebell bootcamp.  It was actually a beautiful morning as the temperature was 65 degrees when we started.  We had two new additions to class as well and Nikki and I so David (our instructor) began the class from the very beginning, the anatomy of the swing.  After warm ups we practiced our technique on the swing and David was good at giving us cues to help us perform better.  We also practiced the art of dropping the kettlebell instead of setting it down.

Then we performed a squat ladder with a partner.  Nikki and I both squatted down facing each other and then one of us would thrust our hips forward and stand then back down for a count of one, meanwhile I was in the bottom of my squat until she came back down.  Nik would do 1, then I would do 1, then 2 and 2 and so forth until we got to 5.  I tell you, I was never so happy to squat because the hard part was staying down in the squat for so long with a 16kg kettlebell in my hands.

After that we performed a circuit of push ups for time, 30 sec rest and then kettlebell swings for time and we did 4 rounds of that.  David instructed me that I am using my quads way to much and need to use my glutes way more and reach back.  I will try and get you a video of Nikki and myself doing swings.

All in all great first class, my max heart rate was 189 and my calorie burn was 484.

Kettlebell Bootcamp

The wife and I have decided to try something new and join a kettlebell bootcamp.

What is a kettlebell you ask? Well according to www.dragondoor.com.

A 'kettlebell' or girya (Russ.) is a traditional Russian cast iron weight that looks like a cannonball with a handle. The kettlebell goes way back, it first appeared in a Russian dictionary in 1704 (Cherkikh, 1994). So popular were kettlebells in Tsarist Russia that any strongman or weightlifter was referred to as a girevik, or 'a kettlebell man'.

I began learning about kettlebells about a year ago and started to investegate them a bit thinking that they would be a fitness craze and not last very long. It got to the point to when Nikki and I moved to Nashville we ended up buying 2 kettlebells from Target, a 16 pound one for me, and an 8 pound one for Nik. The first couple times we used it we could not walk or sit for a few days due to our glutes being so sore. That is a good thing by the way, I was surprised because I thought I had strong glutes, but I was sorely mistaken. We used them now and then but not as much as we should.

So I went to the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) in Boston, MA hosted by Lee Burton and Gray Cook. Come to find out that Gray uses kettlebells for training athletes AS WELL AS using it as a rehabiliation/corrective exercise tool. He showed some pretty cool things and I was very interested to learn more. When I got back to Nashville, I looked up on www.dragondoor.com to see who in the area was a Certified Russian Kettlebell Instructor (RKC). I was very pleased to find out that one of the RKC Senior Instructors (David Whitley, www.irontamer.com) lived here in Nashville and holds a bootcamp three mornings a week. It was also very pleasing to me that he was FMS certified as well. I contacted him about upcoming bootcamps and he invited us out to come to a few morning classes.

The first morning David asked us to come in after class and teach us a few techniques. He spoke with us on how much we knew about kettlebells and we said "a little". He asked us to show him what we knew and the moves we were comfortable with. We found out a few things: 1) we were using way too light of kettlebells (why you ask? I will tell you more later). 2) our technique was "ok" but we had a lot of practicing to do. We learned how to do a swing properly as well as a "turkish getup". I tell you, no video or book can compare to having someone right beside you queing you to perform a move better. David was terrific and all the instruction he gave was very informative and he made the instruction session difficult but fun. He invited us back the following week to participate in the actual bootcamp.

The bootcamp the following week was a tough one. We did 10 "deck squats" followed by 10 push ups (see video) as many sets as we could until time was up, then we performed turkish getups 1 rep each side for time, the last thing we did was swings for time followed by a 40 yard run down and back and then repeated for I believe 4 sets. What a workout.

David was great at teaching us the techniques and spotting us if we needed. We signed up for 4 months of bootcamps right then and there.

I plan on once per week updating everyone on how the bootcamp is going. I will try and sneek in some pictures as well as video of Nikki and I here and there if I get a chance. If you are interested in finding a kettlebell instructor, go to www.dragondoor.com.

To see some of the techniques performed by David. Check out. http://irontamer.homestead.com/video.html