I guess that depends on the kettlebell routine. Some are hit, and some are miss. Here’s what you absolutely must know about kettlebell workouts in order to burn fat.

Kettlebell Workouts – 3 Necessary Principles Of Fat Burning

When you search for kettlebell workouts on the internet, you’ll never know what you may find. Many kettlebell workouts look like they’re just thrown together haphazardly, with little or no purpose other than to get “a workout in.”

When your using kettlebell exercises to burn fat (and to a certain extent – any exercises), you need to pick not only the correct exercises, but also the correct set up, or loading parameters for those exercises.

Here are the three things you must do with your kettlebell workout routines in order to burn maximum calories, and therefore, fat.

1. Lift Heavy (for you)

2. Lift Explosively

3. Manage Fatigue

Now before any of those ideas scare you, let’s take a closer look at “why” these are the best methods to incorporate into our kettlebell workouts.

3 Kettlebell Workouts Secrets Stolen From Elite Athletes

When we look into the world of elite athletes, we see that they are lean, muscular, and strong. (Not the endurance ones like marathoners – they’re skinny and weak.) These athletes have very little if any belly fat, leg fat, or chest fat. Their bodies look and work the way they’re designed to and coincidentally are the way we want ours to look and feel.

Secret #1: Lift Heavy.

The first thing you need to know about these athletes, is that they train for strength in order to make their performance in their sporting events better.

Why?

Because training for strength allows you to do more work. And for athletes, more work means running faster, or lifting heavier weights, or jumping higher.

And the way you train for strength is to lift heavy – or heavy for you. Take a look at elite middleweight powerlifters, weightlifters, and even track and field athletes. All of them are strong AND lean.

Getting stronger, especially with kettlebells, means that you can ultimately do more work.

And doing more work means you will burn more calories. And burning more calories means you’re burning more fat.

So that’s one reason to lift heavy kettlebells.

The second is even cooler – lifting heavy targets very specific parts of your muscles that use a ton of energy. These are called Type 2 muscle fibers. And they are only activated when you lift heavy.

So by actually lifting heavy, you are burning more calories than when you lift lighter weights.

But it gets even better than that!

Third, When you lift heavy, not only do you use the energy-gulping Type 2 muscle fibers, but you are also using the rest of the muscles in your body a lot more. That’s because these muscles have to stabilize your body to keep it from bending or twisting in the wrong way.

In essence it’s almost like you’re using twice the amount of energy you would with lighter kettlebells.

And the really cool thing about using kettlebell routines that incorporate heavy lifting, is that the kettlebell itself makes your body work harder, due to it’s offset handle. This makes those stabilizer muscles work harder than if you used a dumbbell or any other piece of exercise equipment.

So, by lifting heavy kettlebells to burn fat you are making all the muscles in your body work harder than they normally would using any other piece of equipment. And that means you’re going to burn more calories – calories that will come from your stomach fat, your leg fat, and all the other fat on your body.

Secret #2: Lift Explosively.

Here’s another little secret that virtually no one knows – elite athletes move explosively, or at least as fast as they can.

On the surface, that seems kind of a strange thing to say, but the athlete who can move the fastest, more often than not wins.

And moving fast requires producing a lot of power. And the best way to produce a lot of power is by moving explosively. And producing a lot of power requires a lot of energy - energy that comes from calories stored as fat on your body.

Unfortunately, the only way to lift explosively with conventional exercises and routines is to sprint, jump and throw medicine balls around or learn the Olympic lifts. For many, those options are impractical at least, and dangerous at worst.

Kettlebell training allows you to train explosively without having to overcome those impractical options, by incorporating specific explosive kettlebell exercises (called ballistics) like the Kettlebell Swing and the Kettlebell Snatch into your routine. And by using these explosive kettlebell exercises, you can perform literally hundreds of explosive fat-burning repetitions each week, literally melting the fat off your body.

But it gets even better that that.

Not only does lifting explosively help you burn more calories, but it also lets you eat more carbs than normal because your muscle cells become more sensitive to the powerful storage hormone, insulin.

This means you can eat more of your favorite foods and still lose body fat!

There’s one more secret that when combined with kettlebell training will help you burn maximum amounts of fat…

Secret #3: Manage Fatigue

If most people don’t know about lifting explosively, I’d say 99% of all people working out to lose fat miss this secret.

The key is to learn how to manage your fatigue levels. See, when you (your muscles) get tired, they can’t contract as hard, which means they can’t produce as much force. And when they can’t produce as much force, you’re not using as much energy as you were before.

This of course then means you’re not burning as many calories, and therefore fat, as before.

So, the best kettlebell workouts will be structured in such a way as to allow you to lift heavy, and lift explosively, and therefore burn a ton of calories (fat) without killing you each and every set.

Now that we’ve seen how to structure your kettlebell workout routines, what are some of the best exercises to include in your fat-burning kettlebell workouts?

Best Kettlebell Exercises To Include In Your Kettlebell Workouts

Every kettlebell workout designed to burn fat should include at least one, if not most of these kettlebell exercises.

The Kettlebell Swing

The Kettlebell Swing is the most basic and foundational of all the kettlebell exercises. It works your legs, your hips, your abs, your arms, and your grip, especially when you go heavy. You should spend a lot of time working with the Kettlebell Swing to help refine your technique on the other kettlebell exercises. It should be the foundation of your kettlebell routine when you first start out, and probably a long while after that.

Here’s a video:

The Get Up / Turkish Get Up

The Get Up is another fundamental kettlebell exercise. It teaches you how to move your body under your arm and is great for shoulder rehab. Not only that, but it’s good for teaching you how to lock your hips to your torso by way of your abs (core).

Here’s a video:

The Kettlebell Clean

The Kettlebell Clean is one of the kettlebell exercises that’s often overlooked. Primarily you can think of it as the “delivery system” to get your kettlebell to your shoulder so you can Press or Squat. But it can be so much more than that. It’s a really good exercise to put some muscle on your arms if you’re a guy or tone them up if you’re a girl.

Here’s a video:

The Kettlebell Press

The Kettlebell Press is one of THE best upper body strength exercises. It strengthens all the muscles around your shoulders, including your chest, upper back, lats, and arms – both biceps and triceps. And when you perform it correctly, with your shoulder packed, it really works your lats hard, taking the strain off the shoulder joint and transferring it to the muscles.

The Kettlebell Press does this more so than any other form of pressing that I’m aware of, and that’s due to the shape of the kettlebell, with its offset handle. It pulls the shoulder down into the socket and makes the lat work harder than with dumbbells or barbells.

Here’s a video:

The Kettlebell Snatch

The Kettlebell Snatch is often called “The Tsar (King) of Kettlebell Lifts” because of it’s technical requirements and the phenomenal results it produces. It works the entire body, especially your hips, abs, shoulders, upper back, arms, and grip. And when you perform it for enough reps, it literally melts the fat from your body.

Here’s a video:

The Goblet Squat

The Goblet Squat is the fastest, easiest way for anyone to learn how to squat. It will literally having you squatting almost butt-to-heels in minutes. It’s also a fantastic mobility drill for the hips, ankles, and knees. More mobility in the lower body is absolutely a must in order to burn more fat. More mobility = more muscles used = more energy used = more calories burned = more fat lost. The Goblet Squat will get you there.

Here’s a video:

The Kettlebell Front Squat

The Kettlebell Front Squat is a step up from the Goblet Squat. You hold the kettlebell in the “rack” position – a combination of your upper arm, shoulder, and chest – and then squat. Because the kettlebell is off-center and only on one side, this makes your abs work overtime. Again, creating that demand for stability we talked about earlier that burns extra calories.

Any time you work your legs, you’re going to burn more calories, especially in the Kettlebell Front Squat.

Here’s a video:

Putting Your Kettlebell Workouts Into A Routine

At this point you’re probably wondering how you put these kettlebell exercises into a routine.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. Pick a time and a place you can do your kettlebell workouts on a consistent basis. Consistency trumps intensity.
2. Pick the number of days you can commit to your kettlebell workouts. 3 days a week, every other day is usually best.
3. Pick the length of time you can commit to working out on each day. 45 minutes is about right. More is not necessary.
4. Pick 3 to 5 kettlebell exercises to do each workout.
5. Train your technique first on each exercise, then push the “workout” mentality later on.

Here’s a “done-for-you” fat burning kettlebell workout you’ll enjoy.

Kettlebell Workouts FAQ

Here are some frequently asked questions that I’ve had to answer, so I thought I’d just put them here.

What are the best kettlebell workouts for women?

Most kettlebell workouts for women are no different, or shouldn’t be much different than kettlebell workouts for men. They should all include the basic exercises, such as the Kettlebell Swing and the Kettlebell Press to work the lower and upper body respectively.

Since women have weaker upper bodies then men, women should incorporate more direct strength work in their kettlebell routines for their upper body.

And finally, the only difference I would suggest in kettlebell workout routines among women is for women who have just had a baby. They should focus on getting their pelvic floor, abdominals, and gluts working again before taking on any aggressive kettlebell training.

What are the best kettlebell workout routines for weight loss?

The best kettlebell workout routines for weight loss are principle based – like the 3 mentioned in this article. Here’s one that lots of people have done with great success.

Should you learn from kettlebell exercise videos?

You most certainly can learn all the kettlebell exercises from specific kettlebell videos. But not all are created equal. There’s a ton of crap on the market. Look for one by a certified kettlebell instructor – an RKC.

Here’s a good kettlebell video for beginners.

Are there any advanced kettlebell exercises that burn fat faster than the ones you listed here?

There are a ton of advanced kettlebell exercises that burn fat faster than the ones shown here – they usually just the ones listed here but you do them with two kettlebells – holding one in each hand. This makes it much more challenging. And you’ll burn a ton more calories. Hence the label “advanced.”

Should I learn how to do kettlebell exercises from a certified kettlebell instructor and if so, who do you recommend?

Finding and working with a certified kettlebell instructor – and RKC – is your best bet. I used kettlebells for 3 years on my own, just working from video. I didn’t really “get it” until 2005 when I went to the RKC – The Russian Kettlebell Challenge – a kettlebell certification course in 2005

Other Kettlebell Workouts Resources:

If you’re looking for the best kettlebell workouts for burning fat, get Kettlebell Burn.

It uses all the secrets elite athletes do to look the way they look. The only difference is that you can look that way without ever leaving the comfort of your own home.

And that’s the problem.

Most people just want to get a great workout without ever focusing on the technique of each kettlebell exercise.

And that’s another major problem because that will lead to injury.

So that means that something’s missing. And that’s a kettlebell DVD for beginners.

So What’s The Best Kettlebell DVD For Beginners?

To date, just about everybody in the United States and the West who’s learned how to use kettlebells have been influenced by one man – the man responsible for the Russian Kettlebell Invasion that started in 2001 – Pavel Tsatsouline, the Evil Russian.

(No he’s not really “evil” but he is Russian.)

And he has created a kettlebell program and a kettlebell DVD for beginners called Enter the Kettlebell! It is the BEST kettlebell training program AND kettlebell workout for beginners.

In fact, you could just use the two kettlebell workouts / kettlebell programs in ETK for the rest of your life and get amazingly strong and superbly conditioned, lose a ton of body fat, and get in better and better shape each and every year for just about the rest of your life.

No kidding.

In ETK, Pavel starts you by learning the two foundational kettlebell exercises – the kettlebell swing and the Turkish Get Up (called the Get Up).

The kettlebell swing strengthens your hips, legs, abs, upper back, and arms. Not only that, it is a powerful total-body conditioning exercise that will, if you’re interested, rip the fat off your body.

It forms the foundation for all the other ballistic kettlebell exercises like the clean and the snatch which you will learn later on to take your strength and conditioning levels to new heights.

The Get Up is a fantastic total body kettlebell exercise. If the kettlebell swing is ballistic (explosive and fast) the Get Up is the exact opposite – it is performed slowly and methodically. It’s great for strengthening worn out, busted shoulders (bench press anyone?) and for strengthening the legs one at a time. It’s also a phenomenal abdominal exercise as well.

Pavel shows you introductory exercises for each exercise and also corrective drills in case you struggle to perform them.

Finally, he wraps up this particular section with a very special, simple, and effective kettlebell workout program.

Once you’ve gotten the kettlebell swing and the Get Up down, Pavel then shows you how to perform more advanced kettlebell exercises – the clean, the press, and the snatch. (These three kettlebell exercises are based on the kettlebell swing and the Get Up – so make sure you have those two down before moving on to this section.)

And again Pavel shows you how to perform each exercise, drills to help you polish your technique, and again exercises to help you correct your techniques if they are quite up to par.

You will also learn about the second kettlebell workout program in ETK. (It’s actually in the book which you can get here.) And like I mentioned earlier, it’s really the only kettlebell workout you ever really “need.” It is fully comprehensive and will work every single muscle in your body. Daily. And it will help you reach a level of fitness not only that you never even dreamed of, but weren’t even aware that it existed.

When you’re looking for the best kettlebell DVD for beginners, look no further than Enter the Kettlebell! from Pavel – the man who started the modern Russian kettlebell revolution.

Click here to get your copy of Enter the Kettlebell! and get started with the best ever beginner’s DVD on the market.

Why is that exactly?

It’s quite simple really – Real men don’t follow “work along” kettlebell DVDs (or any other DVD for that matter).

Sure, Real Men will watch a kettlebell DVD with specific workouts on it, but since most real men will workout with heavier, “non-wussified” kettlebells, it’s hard to follow along to pumping music and some sort of counting cadence. Sure, that’s great for lighter weights, ladies, and wussy-boys, but Real Men need to get strong and to do that they (you?) need heavier weights – heavier kettlebells.

So, are there any high quality kettlebell DVD workouts for men?

There sure are.

There are three that I can think of.

And before I tell you about them, let me tell you why they are acceptable kettlebell DVDs for men.

1. They emphasize the skill of strength using heavier kettlebells

2. They show you the technical breakdown of the kettlebell exercises so you can practice them and get stronger

3. They are by a very strong man and the originator of the Russian kettlebell invasion here in the West – Pavel Tsatsouline.

Beginner / Intermediate Kettlebell DVD Workouts For Men

Kettlebell workouts for men should be based on a foundation of one kettlebell. And they should be based on the two most fundamental and foundational kettlebell exercises – the kettlebell swing and the Turkish Get Up.

The best and easiest kettlebell workouts DVD for men is Pavel’s, Enter the Kettlebell – Strength Secret Of The Soviet Supermen. In it he shows you how to perform the best kettlebell exercises for making a man strong – both physically strong from a muscular and cardiovascular perspective, but emotionally strong through tough, but fun kettlebell workouts.

In Enter the Kettlebell, Pavel not only demonstrates each kettlebell exercise a man should know, but shows you common mistakes and corrections for those mistakes to help ensure you become more of a man than you currently are now.

In ETK, Pavel demonstrates the following kettlebell exercises: the swing, the Turkish Get Up, the clean, the press, and the snatch.

There are also two different kettlebell workouts in ETK, one for a rank beginner called “The Program Minimum,” and another meant as something for you to progress toward or for an intermediate kettlebell user already familiar with the basic kettlebell exercises, called “The Rite of Passage.” Both the PM and the ROP are designed to get you phenomenally strong and super-conditioned.

Click here to get the strength of the Soviet Superman with Enter the Kettlebell!

Intermediate Kettlebell DVD Workouts For Men

Once you’ve become familiar with Enter the Kettlebell and the two kettlebell workouts in there, you are ready for some other great kettlebell exercises in the kettlebell DVD, More Russian Kettlebell Challenges.

In it you’ll find challenging kettlebell exercises such as the Seated Kettlebell Press – definitely guaranteed to blast your abs, the resisted hurdle stretch with a kettlebell, the kettlebell front squat, the RKC arm bar, and many others for a total of 25 new, unique, and cruel kettlebell exercises. There are a single kettlebell exercises, double kettlebell exercises, and specialized kettlebell flexibility exercises.

All in all, you’ll find “More…” a challenging and fun kettlebell DVD guaranteed to give you plenty of fodder for your own kettlebell workouts.

Click here when your ready for even More Russian Kettlebell Challenges.

Advanced Kettlebell DVD Workouts For Men

When you’ve completed the “Rite of Passage” from Enter the Kettlebell you’re ready for the “Mac-Daddy” of all kettlebell workouts for men – Return of the Kettlebell, where not only will you get strong as an ox, you’ll pack on slabs of muscle like beef as well. Not only that, you’ll be able to eat like a horse as well.

The RTK kettlebell workouts are based on the double kettlebell exercises, such as the double kettlebell snatch, the double kettlebell clean and jerk, the double kettlebell press, and the double kettlebell front squat.

And these kettlebell workouts are downright brutal and they will not only make you question your manhood but will elevate your conditioning to super-human levels. Imagine being able to do 150 reps of double kettlebell clean and jerks in one workout. Now imagine being able to do them with a pair of 70 pound kettlebells. The RTK kettlebell workouts will help you achieve just that.

Click here to become the “Mac-Daddy” with Return of the Kettlebell!

So, my fellow man, when you’re looking for real kettlebell DVD workouts for men – real men, like yourself, make sure you add Enter the Kettlebell, More Russian Kettlebell Challenges, and Return of the Kettlebell to your kettlebell DVD library and grow from man to superman.

So what’s the *very best* kettlebell fitness routine to help you do that?

Are you ready to be surprised?

Here’s my answer -

I don’t know.

Wait – before you groan in disappointment, let me explain quickly.

All of us want the same thing – to look great naked and to feel better about ourselves. But we all come from different backgrounds.

You may have better endurance than I do. I may have more strength than you do.

So doesn’t it make sense that we should probably be doing different kettlebell fitness routines?

Well, yeah – of course it does!

But it doesn’t mean we have to be doing completely different routines – they can, do, and should have some similarities.

Let’s take a closer look…

Common Things In Our Kettlebell Fitness Routines

1. Our kettlebell fitness routines should make us stronger.

Here’s what no one in the mainstream fitness industry will tell you – if you want to get leaner you must get stronger. That’s because getting stronger uses a ton of energy as you move heavier weights than you’re used to. It burns more calories than moving lighter weights. It also gives your body that “hard” look as opposed to the softer look you’re probably used to experiencing.

So, you need to incorporate kettlebell exercises for strength, such as the Get Up, the Press, and the Front Squat. Each of these kettlebell exercises uses all of the muscles in your body (especially your abs – cool huh?). That in turn uses a TON of energy.

And of course, depending on how you set up your strength workouts, you can actually put on a little bit of muscle, which gives your body shape.

2. Our kettlebell fitness routines should make us better conditioned.

The better conditioned you are, the better your health. The better your health, the more likely you’ll burn fat without having to worry about gaining any.

So our kettlebell fitness routines should incorporate kettlebell exercises such as the Swing, the Snatch, and the Clean – either with one kettlebell or two at a time.

Not only that, but by including these particular kettlebell exercises into our routines, we can burn a TON of stored calories – or body fat (yup – fat is nothing more than stored calories). And the more we use the Swing, the Snatch, and the Clean – and their variations, the more body fat we can burn off. Which means of course that we’ll lose weight which of course means that our clothes will fit better and we’ll look better in the mirror and then feel better about ourselves.

3. Our kettlebell fitness routines shouldn’t take much time – 45 minutes 3 days per week maximum.

Forget about what you might have read or done in the past – you don’t need to work out 1 to 2 hours a day six days per week. That’s truly insanity! Who’s got that sort of time? I know I don’t . So, you literally should only use a kettlebell fitness routine that take a little more than 2 hours per week – or roughly 45 minutes per day, 3 days per week.

That’s really all you need. Because if you work out hard enough – that is with the appropriate intensity – 45 minute kettlebell fitness routines will be more than enough.

What you do with the rest of the time you used to work out is completely up to you.

One *BEST* Kettlebell Fitness Routine?

Alright, so you can see that there really can be some similarities in our kettlebell fitness routines. We both need to be stronger. We both need to be better conditioned. We both need to spend our time doing other things than working out, right?

Of course.

So is there really One Kettlebell Fitness Routine that covers all those similarities?

Yes – there is. And it meets you at your current fitness levels and allows you to get stronger and better conditioned – and here’s the important part – at your own pace.

It’s called “Kettlebell Burn” and you can get by clicking the link below -

Click here to get “Kettlebell Burn” – a kettlebell fitness routine that will help you look better both in your clothes and in the mirror and takes less than 3 hours per week.

- It’s one that all women can use regardless of where they’re starting.

- It’s one that will make a woman feel strong, sexy, even sensuous and help her get back her curves.

- It’s one that will make her feel like a woman again.

That kettlebell DVD is “The Kettlebell Goddess Workout” by Master Kettlebell Instructor, Andrea Du Cane.

And if you’re a woman reading this, then this kettlebell dvd is for you.

Andrea herself has been at the very forefront of the kettlebell revolution all the way back in 2001. She’s a mother of two and a baby-boomer. So she has walked a mile in your shoes. And better yet, Andrea looks great!

How This Kettlebell DVD Is Structured

Dr. Kristann Heinz discusses the medical benefits of kettlebell training along with exercise guidelines. She also covers topics important to women, like how to exercise with kettlebells while pregnant.

Andrea provides a “Quick Start” guide for beginner kettlebell users to follow before they jump into the Goddess workouts.

Andrea starts each of the workouts with a specific warm-up for that day. Her daughter, Nicole, and fellow RKC, Dr. Kristann Heinz, demonstrate each exercise from different views.

They then take you through the workouts – yes, this is a work along kettlebell dvd for women (Nice!).

And finally, they take you through a series of cool down stretches to help you recover from these intense (yet fun) kettlebell workouts.

The Workouts In This Kettlebell DVD For Women

There are 6 different kettlebell workouts – each with a different focus. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Workout 1 – Artemis: Goddess of the Hunt

Workout Focus: Upper Body

Kettlebell exercises used: Windmills, Chest Press, See Saw Press, French Press, Crush Curl, Swings, Cleans, Snatches.

Workout 2 – Auxesia: Goddess of Growth

Workout Focus: Abs & Core

Kettlebell exercises used: Turkish Get Up, Renegade Rows, Farmers Walks, Slow KB Twist, Russian Twist and Power Breathing situps.

Workout 3 – Athena: Goddess of Wisdom and Military Victory

Workout Focus: Full Body Strength

Kettlebell exercises used: Military Press, Front Squat, Lat Pull, 1-Legged Deadlift, Clean/Press/Overhead Squat

Workout 4 – Callipygos: Aphrodite’s last name, means “beautiful buttocks”

Workout Focus: Legs & Butt

Kettlebell exercises used: Pistols, Front Squat, 1-legged Deadlift, Step-Back Lunges, Good Mornings

Workout 5 – Nike: Goddess of Victory

Workout Focus: Cardio & Endurance

Kettlebell exercises used: Clean/Squat/Press, Snatches, Swing/Catch/Squat, Snatches, Walking Swings, Rolling Deck Squats.

Workout 6 – Odyne: Goddess of Pain

Workout Focus: Strength & Cardio Kick-Butt

Kettlebell exercises used: Swings, 1-Legged Military Press, Walking Swings, 1-Legged Lat Pull, Snatches, Dragon Walks, Double Swings, Double Cleans.

You don’t have to do all these kettlebell workouts in one week either. You can do them every other day and do all 6 kettlebell workouts over the course of 2 weeks. Of course, you can also do them 6 days per week, which, although challenging, may make recovery a bit of a struggle, especially if you have a family to manage/raise.

Overall, “The Kettlebell Goddess Workout” kettlebell DVD for women is an EXCELLENT choice for all women of all ages – I strongly recommend it.

Click here to get your copy of “The Kettlebell Goddess Workout” DVD.

(DISCLAIMER: These reviews are all based on my personal knowledge of each DVD plus my personal relationships with the DVD’s creators – all of whom I have known for years and all of whom have the deep desire to help people excel physically.)

The kettlebell DVD – every trainer seems to have their own these days. Sometimes even two or three. But is their kettlebell DVD right for you?

Here’s how to know for sure.

You need to know what your goal is so you can match your goal to the right kettlebell DVD.
Do you want to lose fat? Just generally get in shape? Learn how to use kettlebells? Build muscle? Have someone lead you through a workout that you can do while watching?

Be as specific as you can with your goals because there are a ton of kettlebell DVDs on the market, each one of them as specific as your goals.

Also, make sure that the authors of the kettlebell DVDs you are interested in have a good reputation. Make sure they’re not just somebody ripping off another person’s ideas. For me personally, when I want to learn something of importance, I go straight to the source. Sure, sometimes I might pay a little more, but that’s OK because I know I’m getting great, high quality reliable information that will get me to my goals at a faster pace than the “el-cheapo” version.

The next important thing to know is which category of kettlebell training you fall into.

Are you a beginner, intermediate, or advanced kettlebell user?

And please don’t kid yourself about which one you fall into. If you do, you are really doing yourself a disservice. In fact, you could end up injuring yourself and ending your kettlebell training days permanently.

Let’s take a closer look…

1. Beginner.

The beginner is someone who has been using kettlebells for less than one year. You, my friend, will see marvelous results just focusing on the basics.

Beginner Kettlebell DVD Reviews

Here are several kettlebell DVDs for beginners.

Enter the Kettlebell. This is the ultimate primer for kettlebell training. It takes you from beginner status all the way up to advanced status. It can literally be used for that long.

It’s chocked full of the basic kettlebell exercises, common mistakes, and corrections for those mistakes.

Pavel demonstrates the correct technique for the kettlebell swing, the Turkish Get Up, the kettlebell clean, the kettlebell press, and the kettlebell snatch.

If I were forced to choose only one kettlebell DVD, this would be it.

Kettlebell DVD rating: 5 out of 5.

Click here to get your copy of Enter the Kettlebell.

Kettlebells From The Ground Up. This is a kettlebell DVD about the Turkesh Get Up. How can you make a kettlebell DVD about just one exercise? Isn’t that boring? Far from it. In this DVD, Brett Jones, Master Kettlebell Instructor, and Gray Cook, PT, World Renowned Physical Therapist, show you how to field-strip the Get Up to literally turn back your body’s clock helping you feel young again through this simple movement.

If you’ve ever been injured in a sport or while working out, this kettlebell DVD is right up your alley. I have used the information inside it and I arguably feel ten years younger (I’m a high mileage strength aficionado). It literally shows you how to take this one exercise, the Turkish Get Up, and rehabilitate and strengthen all your dinged up parts – shoulders, hips, knees, low back – everything.

Kettlebell DVD rating: 5 out of 5.

Click here to get your copy of Kettlebells From The Ground Up.

Resilient. This kettlebell DVD is one of Pavel’s best. In a similar vein as Kettlebells From The Ground Up, Resilient is a series of kettlebell and bodyweight exercises designed to take the high-mileage athlete and tune him or her back up again. The exercises Pavel demonstrates in this kettlebell DVD address all the areas that athletes and couch potatoes alike pick up chronic aches and dings – lower back, shoulders, hips, knees.

Each exercise in this DVD is designed to address one or two of those areas, like the RKC arm bar. This exercise shows you how to use a light kettlebell (Yes, Bubba, there actually are uses for a light kettlebell – who knew?)

It’s well worth owning and if you follow it as outlined, you’ll see noticeable improvements for sure.

Kettlebell DVD rating: 4 out of 5.

Click here to get your copy of Resilient.

2. Intermediate.

The intermediate kettlebell user is someone who has been training with kettlebells for between one and three years.

Intermediate Kettlebell DVD Reviews

Here are several ketttlebell DVDs for intermediate kettlebell users.

Kettlebells From The Ground Up. Interestingly enough, even though I reviewed this in the beginner section, it is also a stellar product for the intermediate kettlebell user looking to refine his or her kettlebell skills.

This literally takes the Turkish Get Up to a whole new level of difficulty. It helps you assess, identify, and correct any major (but not operable) weaknesses you may have or may have and didn’t know about.

It must be experienced to be believed. But in my estimation, this product is well worth the money and time invested in it.

Kettlebell DVD rating: Still 5 out of 5.

Click here to get your copy of Kettlebells From The Ground Up.

More Russian Kettlebell Challenges. This is Pavel’s third kettlebell DVD I believe and it was filmed before Enter The Kettlebell. It is our first introduction to the staple kettlebell exercise, the Turkish Get Up. In it he includes 25 different kettlebell exercises, each of which, except maybe the Spit Press (youch!) has a place in every kettlebell nut’s regimen.

It is also our first real introduction to the powerful double kettlebell exercises like the Double Kettlebell Front Squat and the Double Kettlebell Clean (and Press).

It is a masterful blend of single kettlebell, double kettlebell, and kettlebell flexibility exercises.
Pick up this kettlebell DVD once you have finished the ETK Rite of Passage.

Kettlebell DVD rating: 4 out of 5.

Click here to get your copy of More Russian Kettlebell Challenges.

The Kettlebell Goddess Workout. This is a full on work-along DVD by Master Kettlebell Instructor, Andrea Du Cane. Its target audience is women. So it caters to the needs and desires of women. Therefore, as a man, I have absolutely no use for it. (Just kidding – had to see if you were paying attention.)

Andrea takes you through a thorough warm up before each workout (yes, more than one workout to choose from – six in fact – which makes this a “must-have” DVD for women working out with kettlebells) and Nicole and Kristann demonstrate the exercises from different views. You can also pick from upper body, lower body, core, or cardio for whatever area you want to workout on any particular day.

This is an excellent work along kettlebell DVD for women (and even men, as long as you don’t want to become a goddess…).

And you can’t beat the price for all that you get.

These kettlebell workouts for women are really fantastic. If you’re a woman, you’re going to love these workouts. (And guys, pick up a copy for your wife or girlfriend – she’ll thank you for it and you’ll like her better because of it.)

Kettlebell DVD rating: 4 out of 5.

Click here to get your copy of The Kettlebell Goddess Workout.

3. Advanced.

The advanced kettlebell user is someone who has over three years of kettlebell training and is not only familiar, but relatively proficient with all the kettlebell exercises, including the double kettlebell ones.

Advanced Kettlebell DVD Reviews

Here is a great kettlebell DVD for the advanced kettlebell user.

Return of the Kettlebell. This is Pavel’s newest kettlebell DVD. (Of course there’s also a book that goes along with this and you should, no wait, you must have it if you are an advanced kettlebell lifter.) In it, Pavel, and Master Kettlebell Instructor, Kenneth Jay, show you much more in depth than in More Russian Kettlebell Challenges how to perform the double kettlebell exercise, including the Clean, Front Squat, Press, Clean and Jerk, and Snatch (that’s right, the Double Snatch!) He also reveals some novelty snatches that can be done with light kettlebells that will make your shoulders swell up like grapefruits.

The focus of this whole program is how to build a powerfully strong and muscular body with the double kettlebell exercises. And Pavel doesn’t fail to deliver a program that yields maximum results.

Don’t worry if you can’t do some of the exercises, Pavel shows you corrections for each one and they’ll have you up and running in no time.

Return of the Kettlebell is focused solely at those individuals wanting to pack on mass, so it’s primarily for men, but women can benefit from it to. And it does a phenomenal job of doing so. Pavel lays out two distinctly different but effective mechanisms for packing on mass quickly. Both are challenging and fun. But beware! You’ll have to eat a lot with these kettlebell workouts!

If you pick up this DVD, you’ll absolutely want to get the companion book that goes along with it that actually details the RTK program.

Kettlebell DVD rating: 4 out of 5.

Click here to get your copy of Return of the Kettlebell.

There are of course many more kettlebell DVDs on the market today than just these. However, I personally feel that these are some of the best. And as such, I wanted my kettlebell DVD reviews to be based only on the programs I am familiar with.

Hopefully you’ve found these kettlebell DVD reviews more than helpful and already know which one or two you need to start with to start seeing the results you really want!

Honestly?

Probably not.

If you’re interested in learning why it’s not really in your best interest to get started with what’s got to be some of the most effective exercise ever designed, keep reading.

Kettlebell Training – Easy To Learn, Hard To Do?

Yeah I know – that sounds really weird. But the fact is that kettlebell exercises aren’t really that hard to learn, especially from a qualified kettlebell instructor. But kettlebell workouts can be really hard. And most people want easy.

Unfortunately, in most cases “easy” equals “zero” – as in “zero results.”

You see, kettlebell training is hard because it makes your entire body work. And that requires energy. And that makes you breathe hard, get all sweaty, and burn calories (in many cases stored as your body’s fat). And who wants to do that? Not many people.

That’s right – not many people will do just one of the things necessary to achieve their goals. It’s easier to sit around and do nothing but complain about why you’re not where you want to be than to actually do anything about it. Kettlebell workouts leave you winded, tired, and with less body fat. That’s just one of the reasons kettlebell training might not be right for you.

Kettlebell Training – Doesn’t Take Much Time, So Can’t Possibly Work – Can it?

There seems to be a correlation in many people’s minds that exercise must be long and boringly torturous in order to get any sort of results. But kettlebell training is usually the opposite. Kettlebell workouts are short. Many are shorter than 30 minutes. That’s because the kettlebell exercises are so efficient. You literally have the ability to work all your muscles at the same time – forcing your body to use lots and lots of energy (stored calories). So these types of workouts don’t have to be that long.

If you mistakenly believe that long, boring workouts must be better for getting results, then kettlebell training probably isn’t for you.

Kettlebell Training – Too Cost Effective To Be Of Any Value?

Imagine having one piece of exercise equipment that costs about $100 and not having to ever buy another piece of exercise equipment. That’s a kettlebell. Not only that, imagine working out in the comfort of your own home without having to go down to your local health club, gym, or meat market and not only waste money on gas sitting in traffic, but on your club membership too. If that sort of money-wasting experience appeals to you, than kettlebell training from the comfort of your own home probably won’t appeal to you.

And if you insist on having a basement full of expensive cardio equipment or the latest in home “all-in-one” piece of gym equipment, than kettlebell training is probably not for you. Especially since you can take your kettlebell out into your backyard and work out in the sunshine and fresh air.

But, if you are the kind of person who doesn’t mind a little hard work about three times per week, is into saving time, and is tired of wasting money on gym memberships you don’t use and on home gym equipment that’s just taking up space while holding your clothes, then kettlebell training will be a good fit for you.

Click here to get started with your kettlebell training today!

Why The Kettlebell Swing Is Phenomenal For Fat Loss

The kettlebell swing burns fat so well because it is what’s known as a compound exercise – an exercise that uses many muscles spanning more than one joint in your body. The kettlebell swing uses many joints in the body and therefore a lot of muscles.

It uses the feet, the ankles, the knees, hips, spine, and shoulders, and all the muscles crossing those joints, including the calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes, lower back, upper back, shoulders, arms, and hands.

This is an important concept to understand because muscles are your “fat-burning machinery.” Therefore, the more muscles you use in a specific exercise, the more fat you can potentially burn. And, when using an exercise that uses almost every muscle in your body, your body will burn lots of calories, and therefore lots of fat.

Cool deal, huh?

So instead of wasting your valuable time doing lots of different traditional exercises like biceps curls, triceps extensions, leg extensions and leg curls, you can do just one exercise – the kettlebell swing – and literally burn fat by only performing three 20 minute workouts a week!

Even cooler, huh?

I think so too.

Here’s how you get started with the kettlebell swing.

The Kettlebell Swing - The Simplest Kettlebell Fat Loss Exercise

1. Grab your kettlebell.

2. Stand with the kettlebell between your feet.

3. Take one step back, so your kettlebell is approximately 12 to 18 inches in front of you.

4. Keeping your back flat, fold at your hips so your hips push back and you feel a stretch in the back of your legs. Your feet should be flat on the floor. Your head and eyes are looking straight ahead.

5. Grab your kettlebell by the handle and swing it underneath your body between your legs. This is called the “backswing.”

6. When the kettlebell goes as far as it can underneath your body, imagine jumping and stand up straight as fast as you can. Think about Exploding! Your feet should remain flat on the floor, heels down.

7. The kettlebell will shoot out from beneath your body and will form an extension of your hands and arms. It should be parallel with the ground.

8. Allow the kettlebell to swing back underneath your body and between your legs and stand up again.

9. Repeat the “folding” and “exploding” for the desired number of reps.

10. Perform as many reps and sets as you feel like, as long as you can maintain your technique. Every rep should feel the same.

Advanced Fat-Burning Tips For Faster Results With The Kettlebell Swing

Here are some advanced technique tips that allow you to burn even more bodyfat with your kettlebell swing workouts. Practice these during your workouts and you’ll burn fat at a rate faster than you thought possible.

1. Inhale and hold your breath on the backswing. This will help stabilize your spine and protect your lower back. Plus it’ll make your abs work harder. (And then of course, look better.)

2. Imagine pushing your feet through the floor during each rep. This will help you stay “grounded” or attached to the floor and will help you generate more force. More force production equals more work. And more work equals more calories burned. And guess what your body burns as calories? That’s right – stored body fat.

3. Imagine pulling your kneecaps up into your groin. This will allow you to generate more force as well.

4. Squeeze your glutes at the top of each rep. This will ensure you protect your lower back and make your body work even harder, burning more calories during each and every kettlebell training session.

5. Tighten your stomach, at the top of the kettlebell swing, like someone was about to punch you. This will also help to protect your lower back from injury, especially when combined with tip #3.

6. Breathe from behind your abs and forcefully exhale at the top of the Swing. This will make your abs contract even harder than just tightening them alone.

Don’t worry about trying to get all six of the advanced kettlebell swing tips down in one shot. Just play around with one of them at a time on each set. Then slowly incorporate them into your kettlebell swing workouts.

3 More Cool Reasons To Use The Kettlebell Swing For Fat-Burning

1. You can perform the kettlebell swing from the comfort of your own home – saving you time since you no longer have to go to the local health club or gym.

2. The kettlebell swing makes exercise convenient since you can now do it from the comfort of your own home. Not only that, it saves you money too – you no longer have to shell out a monthly fee to the health club you joined but never go to.

3. Because the kettlebell is so convenient and you can use it from the comfort of your own home, it makes being compliant and routinely exercising so much easier. And compliance is the fastest way to get the results you’re looking for. Let’s face it, if you don’t workout, you can’t burn off that excess body fat.

Imagine how much weight you could lose and how good you could look in the next 30 days if you started using the kettlebell swing your main fat burning exercise…

Ciick here to get rapid fat burning workouts that include the kettlebell swing!

But here’s the reality – most, if not all, kettlebell DVDs suck. They suck bad. Big, hairy… well, you know.

Now why is that? Why do all these DVDs suck so bad?

Is it the music?

Is it the setting or surroundings?

Or is it the “talent?”

The answer is -

(Drum roll pleas maestro…)

The Talent. It’s the talent. Or lack thereof.

See, most people don’t even know how to use kettlebells. And they’re taught by personal trainers who don’t know how to use kettlebells. Well, ok, they saw that TV Trainer on a late night informercial and borrowed a copy from a friend.

But those TV Trainers don’t know their backs from their backsides. They’re just on TV cause they look good and sound motivating. They don’t actually know very much at all. And they especially don’t know proper technique for all, let alone any of the kettlebell exercises. Exercises such as the kettlebell swing, where one female TV Trainer actually showed people how to blow out their lower backs on the swing.

So, what are you, the consumer supposed to do?

Research, amigo, research.

There’s one name and one name only that is associated with kettlebell excellence – Pavel.

Yes, the “Evil Russian” – the guy who reintroduced kettlebells to America back in 2001.

So any kettlebell DVD by Pavel receives two thumbs up.

His kettlebell exercise technique is stellar. His kettlebell workout designs are amazing. And his physical prowess leaves many guys in awe – including guys in the military and martial arts – both of which Pavel was a part of.

Here are some of Pavel’s kettlebell DVDs that will treat you right -

Enter the Kettlebell! – great beginner and intermediate kettlebell workouts along with troubleshooting techniques on kettlebell exercises.

The Russian Kettlebell Challenge – great introductory workout to kettlebell training; includes a variety of kettlebell exercises.

More Russian Kettlebell Challenges – 25 new and different kettlebell and flexibility exercises designed to challenge you and make you stronger.

From Russia With Tough Love – a kettlebell dvd for women including new and unique (at the time) kettlebell exercises designed especially to target women’s trouble spots.

Return of the Kettlebell! – a monster of a kettlebell dvd aimed primarily at men who want to pack on a lot of muscle fast using double kettlebell exercises. Also includes corrections for commonly misperformed kettlebell exercises.

But you don’t just have to buy Pavel’s kettlebell DVDs…

You can and should by kettlebell DVDs by those he directly trained – RKC Kettlebell Instructors. This means Pavel passed down his kettlebell training and kettlebell exercise techniques directly to this elite group of kettlebell instructors.

You can find a bunch of kettlebell DVDs by RKCs at www.dragondoor.com.

So stop putting up with sucky kettlebell DVDs – I just gave you the solution you’re looking for – Pavel, the RKC, and Dragon Door – #1 in kettlebell DVDs.

Click here to get Pavel’s kettlebell DVDs.

That’s a question I often get.

In a word – Yes.

Here’s the deal – double kettlebell exercises like the clean and press and the clean and jerk are very powerful exercises for packing on slabs of beef. This is primarily because of the amount of tension produced in the working muscles while performing these lifts.

Tension creates muscle damage or protein turnover, however you want to look at it. And that protein turnover is what lays the groundwork for new muscle growth.

Before we cover any more on muscle growth, let’s do a quick recap on exactly which double kettlebell exercises we want to cover.

“Isn’t the barbell better?”

That’s a another question I often get and it usually follows the first one.

My answer – “It depends.”

Weight is weight and load is load. Your body requires load and it doesn’t know the difference between a barbell, a kettlebell or a giant rock. All it know is if something is heavy or not. And heavy is what you need to pack on muscle.

So you can use a pair of heavy double kettlebells or whatever you want to build muscle.

“Aren’t there more options available with a barbell?”

Yes, and no.

You can do the same exercises with a barbell as you can with a pair of kettlebells. But one thing that is not only hard to do, but downright dangerous to do with a barbell is high repetition Olympic lifts like the Clean and Jerk. These are great for packing on muscle and are much easier and safer (but certainly not less effective) to perform with a pair of heavy kettlebells.

What Are The Double Kettlebell Exericses?

Front Squat – Hold two kettlebells in the rack position and squat down. A really brutal kettlebell exercise for punishing your abs and legs.

Clean – Lift or “clean” to kettlebells to your shoulders, finishing in the rack position and do this repeatedly. Builds massive upper back and thick arms. Also makes the heart and lungs work overtime.

Press – Clean a pair of kettlebells and press them over your head. Do this often enough for enough volume and you’ll have shoulders the size of cannonballs.

Jerk – Clean a pair of kettlebells to the rack. Using your legs, explosively drive them up and over your head dropping underneath them to lock them out. Lower them back down to the rack position.

Clean and Press – Alternate between the clean and the press without putting the kettlebells on the floor. Massive upper body builder to get thick shoulders and a broad upper back. Not too mention the arms too.

Clean and Jerk – Allow you to use an even heavier pair of kettlebells. Do it for more reps – higher reps than the Clean and Press and you’ll pack on slabs of beef all over your body and add very little fat due to the high energy demands.

Of course there are more double kettlebell exercises than the ones listed above but these are some of the best for packing on muscle quickly.

Double Kettlebell Exercises, Anabolic Hormones, And You

Two of the major anabolic (muscle-building) hormones are testosterone and growth hormone.

Your body releases testosterone under heavier loads, like, say, a pair of heavy kettlebells. And you’re body releases growth hormone while sleeping and in the presence of lactic acid.

Using double kettlebell exercises for sets of 5 to 10 reps with as little rest as necessary between sets is the best strategy to get your body to release both testosterone and growth hormone.

But don’t forget to get plenty of rest. Heavy lifting for muscle-building requires a lot of energy. Performing them too frequently will actually have the opposite effect – your testosterone levels will drop, which is not only bad for trying to build muscle and therefore counterproductive, but exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish.

So, limit your double kettlebell training to 3 days per week and get plenty of food and rest – up to 9 hours of sleep a night.

Sample Double Kettlebell Exercises Workout Plan

Perform the following plan for 6 weeks and then switch to another kettlebell workout program.

Day 1:

A1. Front Squat
A2. Clean and Press

- Alternate between sets of A1 and A2.
- As many sets of 5 reps as possible of each exercise in 25 minutes total.
- Rest as necessary between sets.
- Try to perform more sets each week.

Day 2:

A. Clean
B. Press

- As many sets of 5 reps as possible in 20 minutes total.
- Rest as necessary between sets.
- Try to perform more sets each week.

Day 3:

A. Clean and Jerk

- As many sets of 5-10 reps as possible in 30 minutes total.
- Try to perform more reps each set each week.
- Try to perform more sets each week.

And don’t forget to eat a lot of food on this plan. Four meals a day is great. Get lots of protein and carbohydrates to help your body recover between workouts.

There you have it – a simple workout plan using just a few of the double kettlebell exercises that will help you pack on slabs of beef faster than you thought possible!

Click here for another great double kettlebell workout program to pack on muscle!