Let's go outside....

Oh what a beautiful day....we don't get too many of these in The Emerald Isle so I decided to make the most of it and do some outdoor training with my newly bought Kettlebells and other pieces of training equipment.

My warm-up was a jog around the block, ending with an up-hill slog (that wasn't a typo) back to the house.  I was well warmed up...I was positively 'glowing'..

I used a 16kg for my two-armed exercises and a 12kg for my one-armed exercises...not for the faint-hearted...I did have to build myself up to these weights over the past 6 months *phew*

I started with basic Two-handed KB Swings. Stand with feet a little wider than your shoulders. Place 2 hands on the bell, hike it back between your legs so your forearms are in your groin. Keep your core (abs) tight, chin up and face forward.

Shoot your HIPS straight forward and drive through your heels. At the same time your HIPS should come forward, torso rises, your arms and bell move in an arc forward to SHOULDER height only (any higher and you loose the benefit of the move). As the bell reaches the peak of the swing, forcefully contract your glutes (bum), hamstrings (back of thigh) and abs but keep your arms 'soft' with just enough tension to hold the bell. Elbows slightly bent.

You should stand tall (without leaning back) with your abs tight and your pelvis tucked under. The bottom of the bell is in line with your straight wrists.  Just reverse the movement by pushing your hips back.  The arms trace their path back between your legs.  Continue to keep your Lats (upper back) tight, chest out, shoulders down and in, and wrists straight. The moved is more of a backwards and forwards motion rather than up and down motion. I like to think of it like a pendulum move.  Tips:  The weight should be in your heels the whole time.  Keep your core tight. Face forward to enable you to keep a neutral spine. You're driving with your heels, HIPS, bum and hamstrings with this move. Breathe (blow) out on exertion and in on the way back.

I do 3 X 20 reps with some 'Jumping-Jacks' or 'Burpees' in between sets to keep the heart-rate up.

Sometimes I do some 'Push-ups' in between sets when I want to keep it 'low' and work more of the core.

Do as many as you can for 30 seconds.  These can be done on your knees or I have been training to enable me to do them on my toes, feet together, chest to the ground...I can manage 5 in a row with perfect technique...not many you may think but harder for us ladies to do than you might think....I'll get there!

Although I did a further 4 different type of KB exercises, I'm only going to show you the basic 'Two-handed Swing' today....I show you another soon :)

The Bells are a fantastic all over body work-out as I've mentioned many many times.  They have helped me achieve me current level of fitness along with cardio/vascular indoor cycling classes.

Try KettleBell classes...

you'll be amazed with the results...