Sunday, June 13, 2010

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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Adding Kettlebells to Muscle Conditioning

It is the beginning of June, and in the time between my last post and this one, I have started training again. There have been various ups and down in life which have been going on and keeping away from making blog entries, mainly the uncertainties that are present each day on the job. Although this is a big source of constant stress and anxiety, this is also an opportunity to channel these feelings and energies into something productive.

Working out is the way that I have been dealing with these, although it has not been a matter of me hitting the iron each time that my blood pressure levels go up. Rather, it has been more that of making it a priority to set aside to time to train in the mornings. This is not to take away from my regular training, but this is something that I have found helpful lately, both in terms of dealing with frustrations and in getting more of an opportunity for muscle conditioning and working on my upper body.

These morning sessions are at most thirty minutes in length, and instead of using just dumbbells, I have started using kettlebells. This is not a new thing for me, as I have trained with kettlebells in the training room of my dojo for the past few years. It is not because I wanted to make drastic changes, but that I wanted to go back to something that was familiar and motivating in the past. Another reason for choosing kettlebell training was because I made gains that I was pleased with in my previous program, and it seemed like this was the right time to go back to it.

As I have said before, this is in addition to the other working out that I am able to do. The big advantage is that a wider range of exercises and drills can be done with them, but at the same time it has to be remembered that moderation is key. It would not do me much good to injure myself through carelessness, or rushing through the routines, just to stay ahead of the clock. In this case, less is more.

The general training routine that I have been following, using a 20 lb kettlebell, is three sets per exercise, each with eight repetitions of the following:

Swings (One arm)

Swings (Two arm - alternating)

Squats

Presses (Upright)

Turkish Get-ups

This is to start with, and as the weeks go by, I will add different exercises to work different muscle groups. So far, I have not made any real changes to my diet, as I am not trying to lose weight or fat, although I would like to gain muscle mass and shape. There are a couple of books and articles that I have been reading related to kettlebell training, and I'll report on these in the near future.