Happy Hump Day everyone! 🙂

Its mid week and its almost time to kick-back and relax for the weekend! I`m so excited because I love my weekends!

This weeks Workout Wednesday segment is featuring a kettlebell workout. I love doing kettlebell workouts because it`s fun and allows me to do something different. My generic gym workout consists of 30 minutes of cardio followed by a full body strength routine and stretching. Every once in a while I like to spruce up my gym routines by doing something fun and exciting that gets my heart racing and blood pumping. Everyone loves a great workout! 🙂

Kettlebell exercises provide you with killer cardio benefits! I know for myself when I perform these exercises I am sweating and my heart is racing. Research shows that performing kettelbell workouts increases your heart rate and uses up to 20 calories per minute. This is about as much as running a 6-minute mile. That`s crazy energy consumption and proven to be SUCH a beneficial workout!

Kettlebell workouts offer a lot of flexibility. You can include a few of the moves in your own workout or do a dedicated kettlebell workout a few times a week. Kettlebell exercises are also killer ballistic exercises for the body and there is no better way to burn fat than performing high repetitions of these 11 exercises I have provided for you down below. The harder you work at performing these exercises the more calories and fat you burn. This exercise will help you slim down and increase your body`s muscle tone! After a kettlebell workout I like to increase my dose of cardio and go for a 20 minute run or combine it with an alternative type of cardio such as cycling, swimming, or even jumping rope. These series of cardio exercises really works our aerobic system, which I spoke you you about in last weeks segment where I shared my HIIT Challenge workout.

With these kettlebell exercises you will without a doubt break a sweat, endure fast paced cardio and obtain strength training moves that will tone up that sexy body of yours! Throughout the routine we will be targeting a whole bunch of different muscles such as:

 Abdominals

Quadriceps

Hamstrings

Biceps & Triceps

Gluteal Muscles

Quadratus Lumborum & Erector Spinae

 

According to Dr. Melinda Ratini kettelbell workouts are very beneficial for individuals who certain health conditions such as diabetes. For diabetics, during a kettlebell workout your target is to burn more fat and gain more muscle. As our muscles burn energy our blood sugar levels will start to decrease. The increases in cardio will also help to prevent heart disease, lower blood pressure, and decrease decrease bad cholesterol.

If you have any health conditions, I advice you to seek medical advice from your doctor before performing this routine.

Other than that, have fun and enjoy this routine! 🙂

 

1. Kettlebell Side Bend

• Stand upright with your kettlebells by your side and your arms extended down.
• Bend sideways to the right until your kettlebell touches just below your knee and straighten to your original position.
• Repeat on the left side. It’s important to keep your head, neck, and spine in alignment to avoid the risk of injury.

 

2. Kettlebell Russian Twist

• Sit with the legs bent and feet flat on the floor, about hip-distance apart.
• Hold the kettlebell with both hands at the chest, and then lean back to a 45 degree angle.
• Rotate the torso from left to right by twisting at the waist and swinging the kettlebell across the body.

 

3. Kettlebell Chest Press

• Stand up straight with the kettlebell pressed up against your chest
• Push the kettle bell away fro your chest straight out extending your arms.
• Engage your core and keep posture upright

 

4. Kettlebell Figure 8

• Start with legs a bit wider than hip-width distance apart, and lower yourself into a quarter-squat position.
• Keep your chest up
• Grab the kettlebell with the left hand and swing it around the outside of the left leg and then back between the legs.
• Next, pass the kettlebell to the right hand and swing it around the outside of the right leg.
• Repeat

 

5. Kettlebell Deadlift

• Stand with the kettlebell between the feet on the floor.
• Squat down and grab a hold of the handle with both hands while the back remains flat.
• Engage the core, tighten those glutes, and keep the arms extended as you raise your upper body

 

6. Kettlebell Single-Leg Deadlift

• Stand with the kettlebell between in one hand.
• Lift your leg straight out behind you.
• Lean your front torso forward dropping the weighted arm down.
• Make sure your back and extended leg are paralell with one alother
• Engage the core and tighten those glutes

 

7. Kettlebell Goblet Squat

• Stand up straight, holding the kettlebell in front of the chest with both hands, keeping the elbows close to the body.
• Start Squatting by driving the heels into the ground and pushing the hips back until the thighs are parallel to the ground or just below.
• Return to standing, and repeat

 

8. Kettlebell Squat

• Start by pushing the hips backwards and keep the weight on your heels and outside of the feet
• Widen the feet and turn our toes outward and hold the kettlebell straight down between your legs
• Push the floor away from you on your way up
• Keep the back flat, chest up and look up. As you squat down keep your elbows extended.
• Breathe in, hold and descend, breathe out on the way up

 

9. Kettlebell Lunge

• Keep the chest up and look forwards. Seperate the foot in the front of you and extended behind you.
• Ensure that the knee does not touch the floor. Both front and back knee should bend to almost 90 degrees
• Keep weight on the front heel NOT the toes
• Hold the kettlebell in the opposite hand than the extended leg in the front.
• Pulse up and down in the lunge motion

 

10. Russian Kettlebell Swing

• Stand up straight, with feet a bit wider than hip-distance apart.
• Grab the handle with both hands, keeping the palms face down and arms in front of the body.
• Maintain a slight bend to the knee and drive the hips back, lowering the body—but not too low (this isn’t a squat!).
• Then, in a fluid motion, explosively drive the hips forward while swinging the kettlebell, keeping the glutes and core engaged.

 

11. Kettlebell Windmill

• Hold the kettlebell in the right hand and angle the feet 45 degrees away from the right arm.
• Raise the kettlebell over your head, lock the arm, and keep your eyes on the weight.
• Shift your weight onto the right leg and begin bending forward at the waist.
• Keep the right arm extended overhead as the body bends forward and the left arm is pointed toward the ground.
• Lift back up slowly, staying in control