The Slightly Different Approach of Kettlebell Fat Loss Workouts
Kettlebells exercises were first developed in Russia well over 100 years ago and they have become very popular in fitness circles in recent years. Athletes rely on swinging kettlebells as a means of boosting muscular endurance and functional strength. The fat loss benefit of kettlebell swinging is somewhat overlooked and this is unfortunate. With the right approach, kettlebell workouts can help you achieve all your weight loss goals.
Light Weight, High Repetition
The traditional approach kettlebell swinging is to continually build up your strength and move up to using a heavier kettlebell. Fat loss exercises seek a different goal so constantly increasing the weight of your kettlebells is not all that important. Generally, fat loss exercises traditionally focus on swinging a lighter kettlebell at fairly high reps. (i.e. you would perform a one handed swing of a 15 lb. kettlebell for 25 reps for four sets)
The continual movement of the upper and lower body during lengthier durations burns a great deal more calories would be the case with the heavier kettlebell workouts. Why: The more reps you do and the longer you perform these reps simply burns more calories.
This is NOT to suggest that traditional kettlebell exercises will not lead to fat loss. Building up your muscle size from swinging heavy weights speeds up the metabolism and burns more calories during the resting stages. However, these are not cardio-oriented kettlebell exercises intended to burn up fat so they are not the ones you necessarily want to employ when your goal is losing weight.
Whether training with kettlebells, free weights or any other form of exercise, you want exercises that focus on a targeted goal in order to achieve specific results.
Kettlebell Circuits for Fat Loss
There are some simple kettlebell programs that can aid in fat loss. Some suggest “merely” performing 300 swings a day. Likely, that is going to work but the boredom factor is probably going to kick in after, well, a day.
There are 2 Kettlebell workouts that I have on youtube that are designed to burn a lot of calories and have a high metabolic afterburn to help you to continue to burn fat when you are finished. My first video that I uploaded is a 40 minute kettlebell routine that targets all the major muscle groups and movement plains to torch the fat right off your body. I suggest as a beginner to start with an 8 kilogram kettlebell but to also have a 6 kilogram weight handy for the tougher single arm movements. The link to that workout is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-iO7pHqpJo.
Another workout which is popular is my kettlebell ab workout where all the movements are targeting the core to produse six pack abs. Once again I suggest beginners start with either a 6 or 8 kilogram kettlebell. The link to that video is Here
Granted, performing a pyramid drop exercise once a week might be helpful. The way this works is you perform 10 swings, take a rest break, perform 9 swings, and so on until you reach zero. This workout allows you to build up your muscles, enhance your strength, and burn up fat.
Overall, one-minute circuit training workouts are going to be preferable.
Basically, the way this works is you select a kettlebell exercise to perform for one minute straight. (Unless you are super strong, you want a light kettlebell) Select a different exercise for each minute. When starting out, just do the circuit for five minutes with easy exercises. Take a break for a minute or so and then repeat it for another five for three sets. In time, you can work up to 20 different exercises for 20 straight minutes.
Here are some of my personal favourite and most beneficial movements that I include in my workout 2-3 times per week to tone the core and decrease body fat.
Kettlebell swing, single arm swing, goblet squat, single arm rack position back lunge, half get up, Turkish get up, windmill, Push press and the bottoms up swing.
Diet Plays a Huge Role
You do have to clean up your diet to make this or any other type of weight loss program work. Eliminating processed sugars and saturated fat and cutting down on calories are a MUST with any type of fat loss program. You may even wish to combine a healthy diet strategy such as the Paleo, Raw, or Primal diets in addition to your regular kettlebell program. Doing so definitely is going to help increase results.
Post workout and pre workout nutrition is going to help enhance fat loss during your workouts.
Research shows that a small meal high in protein and fats greater improves strength and better fat utilisation during a workout. An example you can try is 2-3 hardboiled eggs, a handful of macadamia nuts and a small amount of chicken breast.
For post workout nutrition a meal with protein, fats and complex carbohydrates is going to help fuel the muscles for recovery and to also build lean muscle mass. Research into Sweet potato has found it to be the best choice for preserving muscle and replenishing glucose levels after a hard session.
Author:
Troy van spanje is a personal trainer, Author, Fat loss specialist and Kettlebell expert.
For motivation and fitness related advice visit my blog at www.troyvanspanje.com
