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What are you looking to achieve? What is your starting point (height, weight, experience, etc.)?

Albatross wrote:
What I'm looking to achieve... is it shallow to say that I want to look impressive with no shirt on?

Not at all, that's why most people exercise.

Albatross wrote:
Basically, I'm looking to drop a little weight and put on a little muscle - nothing too drastic in either category. I'm 6' 3" and a little under 18st, so a few stone overweight - though I'm quite broad and powerfully-built so I don't carry it TOO badly (in other words, I'm not 'bed-ridden' fat, but I have an obvious beer gut). What else? I walk quite a lot, plus I do two hours martial arts training a week. I've dabbled in weights, but found it a little dull, and so didn't really progress past a few basic dumbell exercises. I was lifting 10s, iirc.

I've been losing weight slowly but surely over the last few months, and the Karate has certainly helped - I'm just looking to speed things up a little and tone up a bit, too.


Just got my kettlebell yesterday - was quite surprised by how heavy it was! Tried out a quick little circuit I put together today, and man, it kicked my arse... so intense. Quite shocking, actually.


Good, though.

Alright, you've got the right idea with the circuit training. To get the results you want the best thing, in my experience, is high intensity training. You can achieve better results with general lifting and cardio, but those generally require a much higher level of commitment (an HIT workout will take about 30-45 minute, a full cardio/strength regimen will take 2-3 hours). So, here's a basic workout, repeat each set 3 times:

10 squats. Hold the kettlebell between your legs with both hands, and perform a squat.
10 lunges (each leg). Hold the kettlebell with both hands behind your head, resting it between your shoulder blades, perform a lunge.
Do 10 of each of these, on both arms where applicable. (video because they're difficult to describe)


Crunches to failure. Hold kettlebell to chest, do crunches.
Oblique twist to failure. Hold kettlebell to chest, maintain a crunch position, twist from side to side.

Also, remember the HIT philosophy. Make sure you use slow, controlled movements with emphasis on the negative component of each lift. Additionally, minimize the rest period between sets, the purpose is to maintain an elevated heart rate throughout.

Albatross wrote:
Out of interest, do you ever use them in your exercise regime? If not, check them out - they're awesome.

I don't, mostly because of the type of strength I've built over the years playing football and rugby, and also due to having separated my left shoulder several times.

What I do use are weight chains, which produce a similar effect in terms of graduated resistance without all the stress caused by the absence of motion control.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Magos Explorator wrote:Those links above look like they will be useful. I have been thinking about picking up a kettlebell too, actually--a couple of places I have looked at give conflicting advice about weights, though: some places say 16 kg is good to start, others say 24 kg is the standard for men, and some places seem to say a lot lighter.

dogma or others, do you have any thoughts on this? In case it's relevant I am male, about 5 foot 10 inches, averagely fit, and 165 lbs, with similar goals to Albatross.

The best way to figure out where to start is by going to a gym, or sports store and testing out different weights. It should be fairly apparent what is and is not too heavy. It should be reasonably difficult to lift, but it also shouldn't make you feel like you're going to bodily tip over if you stand at an odd angle.

Personally, as you're a fairly slight guy, I would guess that 16kg is too heavy for most exercises, though your mileage may vary.