Bell Curves: Kettlebell Workout - Fitness Magazine

Bell Curves: Kettlebell Workout - Fitness Magazine

Today's challenge -

For women used to working with kettlebells use 1 pood (16kg). For women new to this start where you feel comfortable (lighter for the windmills - 6-8kg, heavier for swings 10-12kg). This should not be as easy as this demo.

KB should be fairly heavy in the swings. Exercises like this give you the benefit of working your core while engaging the muscle targeted (ie. legs, glute, low back for swings, and a bit more arm and obliques for windmill). To keep your heart rate raised and increase fat burning do this at a consistent pace with little rest. This may mean you need to go lighter, however keeping your workouts at a lower intensity for a consistent duration is necessary to keep your body moving on those days when you just feel like you'd rather take the day off.

Post questions and results to comments.

Did you just call me a "nasty girl"?!

In the world of crossfit, what do you do if someone comes up and calls you "NASTY?!"
You look back, smile and say "yea we are".

One of my teammates for the Affiliate Cup, Eric, recent conversation at the crossfit qualifers.

Man: Are you from Crossfit Balboa?
Eric: Yea!
Man: Damn, your girls are "nasty"!!
Eric: Your (dang) right they are!!

Now in any other context outside of crossfit people this would be taken as an offensive comment. But a "nasty girl" refers to someone who can handle a wicked tough workout and come back for more, who doesn't just stop when things get hard. Check out the "Nasty Girls WOD" above for a great workout.

Traditional crunches vs. "Flex Belts" or the like

I recently got a question from a friend about my thoughts on the product - Flex Belt - that basically works like shock therapy.  Activating your abs through the use of electro pulses to activate your muscle without the individuals control.  Here are my thoughts on this:

Disclaimer: I have never used the flex belt - I'm not familiar with this particular line, but I am familiar with the concept. The downfall with this kind of thing is that often people report that after using things of this nature have problems with actually flexing the muscle properly without using the "shock". Additionally, the muscle may spasm. Basically it tries to flex without your control because it's used to do this through the shocking therapy.

My thought on anything like this is that if you don't put in the work and it's a "easy out" it's probably not a great option.

Gaining a great body - one to be proud of takes a lot of work. That's what makes you more proud of it. Accomplishment! I would work with the diet and put in some core exercises throughout your exercise plan. It's actually not much about crunches, it's more about eating healthy to lose the body fat on top of the muscle and working in the full range of motion for all exercises. Cardio is good, but is not seen as strength building exercise. The thing to remember is the more muscle that you have the easier and faster your body works to burn fat --> higher metabolism.  Double bonus!!! :)

Is strength training beneficial for endurance athletes?

Sample meal plan - paleo style specifically for endurance athletes thanks to the paleodiet.blogspot.com

Endurance Athlete Sample Menu for Two-a-Day Workout


5:30 AM
Pre-workout Breakfast Smoothie- 8oz brewed, chilled, natural decaf green tea with a banana, egg white protein powder, almond butter whizzed in the blender with some baked yam on the side.

6:30 AM
3-hour bike ride on the trainer-carbohydrate gel taken every 25 minutes.

9:30 AM
Immediate Post-workout recovery drink- HOME BREW (recipe in The Paleo Diet for Athletes) – cantaloupe, egg white protein powder and glucose. Drink plenty of water- keep hydrating.

10:00 AM
Raisins (to restore body alkalinity, continue to help the body recover post workout, and prepare for the session later in the day).

11:30 or 12:00 PM
Grilled Chicken breast, flash-sautéed asparagus, drizzled with flax seed oil and an apple

3:00 PM
Natural unsweetened applesauce with chopped egg whites (to prepare for 2nd workout of the day-shift from the usual Paleolithic macronutrient ratio to the pre-workout focus on carbohydrates).

For more specifics and a non-training day diet, please visit there great blog @ http://thepaleodiet.blogspot.com/2010/04/sample-menus-for-endurance-athletes.html

Egg whites vs. Whole eggs

Came across a great article today on why you should consider eating whole eggs (Omega 3 - egglands best preferred) instead of just your egg whites.  Which brings me to another topic...fat is NOT the enemy people.  Everyone is so worried about the fat on their body that they translate it into no fat in foods.  Now I'm not saying we go out there and eat crazy high fat foods, but the goal is to stay away from saturated fats (ie. your grease and processed foods) but it's okay to have SOME of the unsaturated foods (almonds, goat cheese, avocados, EGGS).  I always emphasize "some" because most things are all okay in moderation, but too much of anything can make you stop seeing results and start regretting the decision. 

Today we know that fat is not the enemy, especially healthy fats like monounsaturated fats and essential omega-3 fats. Although egg yolks have some saturated fats, it makes up less than half of the total fat. Plus the type of saturated fat in egg yolks does not get stored readily as body fat. Not to mention, you can buy eggs that have higher amounts of omega-3 fats, which can actually aid fat burning, as well as boost muscle and joint recovery. --Muscle Fitness Hers (whole story)

A thing to keep in mind - Omega 3's are shown to enhance fat burning, in addition to their helpfulness to the joints that they protect!  This week I'm going to talk about DIET and the benefits of keeping protein high and still taking in fats =)