Kettlebell Fitness - My Arm as a Zipper

I thought I'd write my post as my arms are still shaking and the sweat is dripping in my eyes....I exaggerate not!!

If you remember from my last post, I wanted to try a new type of fitness class...the kettlebell.  Did you know that you can burn up to 20 calories per minute using kettlebells?  There is a new organization called Bell's Kettlebells that came to my area in November but that I haven't had the chance to try. 

As I'm still nursing bad shin splints, I decided not to run but to try a class instead.  I arrived a bit early and watched the Kettlebell Sport practice.  Kettlebell Sport is the competitive group of kettlebell users.  It's a fairly new sport with 5 in NS, 13 in NB, and 2 in PEI.  These same folks stayed for the Kettlebell Fitness class as well.  The instructor (Tim) set up 12 stations, 6 of which were kettlebell related!

 

After a quick warm up (static stretching = not good) we began. We had:  Windmills, Figure 8, 2 Handed Swing, Snatch, Clean & Press, and Single Leg Deadlift.

I used the pink KB...measuring 8kg.

Many of these exercises I had heard of before, but had not actually performed.   I had done the 2 handed swing and the single leg deadlift.  I learnt that when I am doing the clean & press, the kettlebell should be more in front of me, pretending my arm is a zipper as I press it up.

The next 3 stations involved the TRX.  We had alternating pistol squats, alternating reverse lunge, and rip trainer lat pull.

The final 3 stations consisted of the heavy battle ropes alternating slams, lebert bars tricep dips, and finally, 2 feet run in the octagon shaped ladders.

You did a tricep dip in each one, then turned around
and came back through.

We did 30 seconds at each station, 4 rounds with NO breaks.  Yes...you read that right.  No breaks!  As with my bootcamps, you worked at your own pace, if you needed a break, you stepped away, grabbed you breath...took a drink...and then jumped back in.

 

I'll be completely honest...I was ready to be done after the first 2 rounds.  LOL.  Swings, then snatches, then clean and presses use a lot of energy.  Then I'd grab a bit of my breath on the TRX, but use it on the ropes and ladder.

 

Tim was great at making sure I was doing the kettlebell exercises properly...he was giving me pointers continuously.  We chatted about what the class was like on Tuesday nights....he said it was more kettlebell heavy.  A couple of ladies took me under their wing as well and I really appreciate them welcoming me to the class.   At the end, Tim left us to stretch on our own.  We grabbed a stick and did all these shoulder stretches with it...I won't lie...some took a moment or two to coordinate.  LOL

 

You know what I loved the most?  Looking down at my hands and seeing these....

My gymnast friends will understand.

Will I go back?  I certainly will.  Tim mentioned that they have a 10 class pass, a monthly pass, etc...so it seems pretty flexible in terms of what you can do.  I got such a great workout, and Tim says that he changes up every class so that no one (including himself) gets bored.  I'm excited to see what other new exercises pop up in the future. 

So there you have it....I've checked one of my goals off my August to-do list!!!

Any one else have experience with kettlebells??