The FastDay Forum

So I refuse to join a gym. I have done so in the past many times and never felt comfortable and lost interest only to be stuck paying off the contract. I have done the walking but it too has too many draw backs to be consistent e.g.hot humid weather, pouring rain, snow. I have come to a point with my weight loss that I must incorporate exercise now. Kettlebells I thinks are the answer. I have done a lot of searching on the web and it appears that kb swings are most efficient for fat loss. Should I go for high reps or interval in which you alternate weight rep with say running in place? I have read that one minute of rep = 20 cals so I calculate 4 days at 45 minutes ea should = 1 pound loss per week. Has anyone one had good results with KB?

Went with Kettlenetics - light kettlebell, more sculpting and less weight-lifting, good DVD's and she's a great teacher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcWHbqZYEOg

Thanks for the info parrot. Right now I an not so concerned with toning as with increasing fat loss. Has anyone had good results increasing their fat loss via KB?

I would probably go the other way, less volume, higher weights for short amounts of time.

I do Crossfit so it's all about high intensity and/or heavier weights. You might want to think about Tabata-type exercises to get to your goals, without so much angst.

However, 45 mins of kettlebell swinging would kill you unless it's at a very light weight. It might be an idea to think about body composition rather than weight.

I'm probably on a plateau according to the scales but I started back at CF two weeks ago so I'm gaining muscle again, 3 x compact as the fat so it's hard to tell, other than my clothes are hanging off again.

Hi BBT, I looked up the term body compositon and that is exactly my goal. What did you mean by 3x compact as the fat?

Basically, if you go down this sort of road, you lose fat but gain muscle and so your weight can be different to what you would expect (given you are on a diet)

The muscle weighs more and takes up less room, so you lose inches but sometimes weigh the same or more. Does that make sense? But as it's actual body composition that matters, this shouldn't be an issue, so long as you know about it. You're looking for leaness, not lightness if you follow this train of thought.

Kettlebells are great as they are mostly compound exercises, so really good for a total workout.

Thank you so very much BBT053. I will follow Tabata protocol which is similar to HITT using kettleballs. Leaness is such a lovely dream. Yesterday I used 15 pound KB and did 4sets of swings. 30sec on 30sec off. So I will adjust to 20/10 and increase reps if I am able. I found it to kick up the heartrate but very doable. Today I can really feel inner thighs, hamstrings and glutes and my upper back feels liberated. In the end 5:2 and the exercise should get me where I want to be. Thanks again

It's very weird. I think we were brought up to think exercise should be lots of cardio and slogging. Less is more with this Tabata stuff and it really works. But you have to allow recovery, sleep and food to build the strength up. Yourself at 75 will thank you, as you'll build functional fitness too.

Amen, amen. Vitality is what I am seeking to age gracefully. I have spent money to hide the grey, hide the wrinkles but at the end of the day nothing can replace the simplicity of vitality.

Don't forget to add in some basic lifts etc as well as the 'cardio' swings. You can do excellent triceps exercises with a kettlebell - get rid of those bingo wings.

My gym doesn't offer kettlebell classes unfortunately but a couple of years ago, I was at a gym in Florida that did. The guy who ran it did free body fat (caliper style) check ups for the regulars and there were some real success stories. His classes were a real mix of cardio swings with some endurance (lighter weight) and some heavy lifting. 45 minutes all-in with the warm up and stretch - and oh boy, was it tough. Great but tough.

Thanks applespider I will try some of those as well. There is a lot to learn. I don't want to get too fancy as I am a beginner. Its late in the day and I am feeling even more muscle now than this morning. Not bad but enough to let me know that I am waking up those muscles.

I also do kettlebell swings, using a 15 pound kettlebell. I start off doing 15 to 21 swings and then rest for 30 seconds. I'm only doing this workout 2x's a week. Clairemarie hope your muscles are feeling good in the morning!

Today was my weigh in day 1 more pound gone and a 1/4 inch around the waist.. I have taken your advice and searched around so here is my exercise routine. Tabata protocol using kettlebell swings. As KB swings use mostly lower body I will also incorporate Halo's for upper body. Went with 10lb today for 8 sets. Next time I will bump up to 15lb if aftereffect is nonexistent. 10 on the upper body is about all I can hack. Again thanks for your input.

Your lower body is full of much bigger muscles than your upper body. You can probably manage double the size of kettlebell on lower body exercises.

5kg to start with on upper body (sorry, I'm a metric girl) isn't bad. There are women at my gym who insist on using 1kg dumb bells for any arm/upper body work. The ridiculous thing is that many of them are mothers and lift more weight when they pick up their toddlers than they'll use at the gym.

I have a 8kg (17.5lb?) kettlebell at home... but use a 16kg (35lbish) at the gym for leg exercises. I was highly doubtful when the PT dropped it in front of me but it's amazing what your legs can support!

I just crawled out of bed and saw your post applespider. Did 8sets of swing with 10ib not bad at all and I felt at the time I will go right to 15lbs. I should have known better but figured that the 8 sets swing wasn't that much of a challenge that I would do Halo's also 10lbs 2 sets of 10. I am not so happy right now. These weight are not heavy but I have found muscles that I never knew I had. But I guess that is the whole point! So I will do tabata protocol one day and rest two etc and will see how it goes.