Get Strong, and the Muscles Will Follow

9/4/08 Posted in Kettlebell Crazy  |  2 Comments

Well, it’s official:  kettlebells have entered the mainstream in Lansing:  available now at Target–and even Meijer’s!  So, now what?

It’s an issue that troubles fitness trainers like Josh Hillis.  Josh is a certified kettlebell instructor and owner-operator of Josh’s Garage in Denver, Colorado.  He’s seen the publicity generated by the slick, nationally syndicated fitness magazines; seen them incorporated into workouts by big-name fitness instructors on their cable network programs.  And–to put it mildly–it makes him mad!

Like the St. Bernard who chased the Volkswagen and didn’t know what to do with it when he caught it, many trainers seem to be at a loss to know what to do with a kettlebell.  Either they use them for working isolated muscle groups, as you would do with a dumbbell; or they stick you with doing too many reps with too light a weight.

Do read Josh’s website at www.josh-hillis-fitness.com and read why he’s irked–as you should be–at  fitness instructors who perpetuate the myth that “girls” should be weak.  Then scroll down to the bottom of his “Recent Posts” to read “Why Guy’s Magazine Workout Articles Still Suck” (take your time on his website.  He’s got a lot of neat stuff).  Also read Dragon Door’s interview with Missy Beavers at www.dragondoor.com/success_stories/MissyBeavers.html.  Ms. Beavers includes actress Katharine Heigl among her clients.  The first kettlebell Missy ever lifted weighed 53 pounds.  Check out her  picture on Josh’s website:  does she look “bulky” to you?

Then, after you’ve been sufficiently inspired, save yourself a trip and go out to Dick’s Sporting Goods for your kettlebells–a 20-pounder for snatches, if you’re a woman, and 25 pounds for swings, to begin with; and if you’re a guy, the 35-pounder for snatches, and 45 pounds for swings (call first to make sure the 45# is in stock; they _will_ get it for you if you ask).  And, if you haven’t already done so, for _heaven’s_ sake, get yourself a good comprehensive DVD by a reputable kettlebell instructor who has an RKC certification!  Currently, there is no such thing as an RKC instructor in the city of Lansing.  Kettlebell ownership confers upon you the responsibility to know what you are doing, and implies that you are taking charge of learning a revolutionary form of fitness that defies the conventional “wisdom” in today’s fitness world.  (Read Pavel’s “Power to the People”, available at www.dragondoor.com to learn his philosophy of strength.  Also, his latest, “Enter the Kettlebell” from the same source.)  Once again, my personal recommendation is Lisa Shaffer’s “Get in the Best Shape of Your Life!” workbook, and her DVD, “Kettlebell Basics” from www.nofearfitness.com.

So make strength your goal.  And have no fear:  the by-product of that strength will be the lean, toned,  and muscular physique you could hardly have imagined!