Kettlebell Training- The Way To Go

Kettlebells aren't anything new, but their popularity in fitness circles continues to rise. When used correctly, kettlebells are extremely effective training tools for providing total-body strength and conditioning especially. Studies show that training with kettlebells yields pretty incredible improvements (up to 70%) in aerobic capacity, balance, strength, and explosive power. The weight of a kettlebell hangs a few inches below its handle, which makes it more difficult to control. Everything from your grip to your core has to work harder than if you were using a dumbbell, so you get more out of even standard dumbbell moves. This extra muscle activity means your body burns more calories.

Studies have shown that kettlebell training:

• Improves balance, coordination and agility.
• Increases overall strength, grip strength, strength endurance, pull-up capacity, parallel bar dips, ability, general endurance, work capacity and balance.
•  Lowers heart rate and blood pressure.
• Enables one to quickly build strength, endurance, achieve a balanced development of all muscle groups, fix particular deficiencies of build, and promotes good health.
• Strengthens the Gluteal Muscles.
• Promotes Flexibility of the Hip Flexors.

What can you expect from kettlebell training?

• Full-body conditioning.
• Big results by spending less time in the gym.
• Increased resistance to injury.
• Improved mobility and range of motion.
• Increased strength without increase of mass.
• Enhanced performance in athletics and everyday functioning.
• Major calorie burning.

Photo credit: http://greatist.com/move/full-body-kettlebell-workout

Lunges - Time to tone those legs!

The lunge exercise is one of the best exercises that you can do for your thighs and glutes. It’s a great exercise that can be performed anywhere. The lunge can be a difficult exercise to master. However if you get the technique right, it’s an effective exercise that can be performed with or without exercise equipment. Lunges target multiple muscle groups at once, that is, it is a compound exercise. Also, being a functional exercise, a lunge improves your everyday activities in many ways.

Benefits of lunges:

• Lunges improve whole-body control.
• Lunges strengthen your buttocks and legs. Strengthening these large muscle groups can speed up your metabolism, which is beneficial if you're trying to lose weight.
• Lunges can improve your core strength. When doing lunges, you must engage your core muscles, including your back and abdominals, to keep your body upright and balanced as you move your hips up and down.

How to perform a basic lunge correctly?

1. Stand with your feet together, keep your head up and your shoulders back, place your hands on your hips and as you are facing forward choose a place to keep your eyes focused on as your perform the exercise.
2. Take a big lunge forward with your first leg and your forward leg should be bent at about a 90 degree angle.
3. Your thigh should be parallel with the ground and your back knee should be nearly touching the ground, your back leg should also be bent at a 90 degree angle.
4. Keep your body as controlled and still as possible.
5. Use your front leg to push yourself back up, push off with your front heel until you’re standing straight up with your feet together.
6. Repeat with your other leg.

To make it more of a strength move, try lunges with bicep curls and shoulder press!

1. Get focused and stand up tall with a pair of dumbbells at your side. Keep your core tight and your upper body should be upright for the duration of this entire complex movement.
2. Lunge forward as usual putting your heel down first and making sure your upper body is in the center of gravity.
3. Perform a biceps curl when your body is completely stable at the bottom of the lunge.
4. After you perform your curl keep the dumbbells at shoulder level in a high-hang position.
5. Lunge back up to a balance and perform a shoulder press.
6. Try to keep your balance and let the weights come all the way down to your sides at the original position and repeat.

My 30 Day Shred Review

I embarked on my 30 Day Shred journey one month back. For those of you who have absolutely no idea what the 30 Day Shred is, keep reading to learn more about this absolutely amazing miracle!

The 30 Day Shred is a DVD workout designed by the professional and well-known fitness trainer, Jillian Michaels. The latter became famous during the time she worked as a trainer and mentor for the Biggest Loser TV show. She transformed some heavily overweight people into the best shapes of their lives! The aim behind her 30 Day Shred workout was, as the name suggests, to get people shredded. But not just anyone, only those who would be committed and dedicated to the workout routine.

The DVD workout comprises of three levels and hence three videos come in the package. It is also accompanied by a meal plan which allows you to eat healthy while still properly fuelling your body for the intense workout. Also, Jillian Michaels uses the 3-2-1 system throughout the workout, that is, 3 minutes of strength followed by 2 minutes of cardio and then 1 minute of abs. This is repeated throughout the 3 circuits in each level.

The video duration of Level One of the workout is around 27 minutes. The warm-up is easy and beginner level, which means that almost any person can do at least this level of the workout. The moves incorporated at this level are nothing too fancy, but definitely effective. For Level Two of the workout, the video duration is around 28 minutes. Once again, it begins with the warm-up which is slightly different from the Level One but still quite easy to follow. The moves are more dynamic throughout this level and Jillian makes sure that a wider range of motion is incorporated in each move. This makes the same movements from Level One much more effective. Level Three is the killer. Its duration is 27 minutes and It is much more challenging than the previous two levels. The moves are more difficult and static interaction is much emphasized at this level which makes everything much harder. However, Jillian designed the workout programme in a way that throughout Level One and Level Two, you build up the strength to perform the Level Three.

What do I personally think about this whole workout? Having successfully completed the 30 days and all three levels of the workout, I could positively say that this workout works wonders! I’ve tried other workouts before, but the 30 Day Shred felt different. There were times when I was out of breath but there were also times when I felt rather relaxed while performing the exercise moves. Jillian has it all figured out. She doesn’t want to kill you; she wants to make you better. I personally lost inches all over my body and lost few pounds as well. Jillian Michaels is very motivational during the workout. She inspires you to push harder and keeps reminding you to never give up. This definitely helped me!

I would recommend the 30 Day Shred Workout to anyone who wishes to lose weight, become stronger or simply stay fit and healthy. It will only take about 30 minutes of your day and it is totally worth the time and the effort.