As a 52 year old who has sat on the couch for 30+ years and developed an overly large gut and absolutely no strength with no flexibility I decided it was time to do something good for me and my health. It was sorely needed. First I want to thank Tim Ferriss and his book the 4 Hour Body for turning me on to a better way to live and a way to get stronger. After reading the kettlebell workout I found dragondoor and Pavel. I’ve read everything and watched so many videos and personally want to thank Pavel for the ETK book and DVD. These are fantastic. My goal is to get fit/strong/flexible and be able to teach this to others. My odyssey began with a trip to the doctor to make sure I could do this and he said yes but take it slow as your body has not done anything physical for along time and you have to adjust and work up to higher levels. He suggested a heart rate monitor just to be sure I don’t over do it. After reading a lot and listening to Pavel I opted for "we have coffee or we have no coffee" (the AOS workbook and the program minimum). I have watched ETK DVD every day for a month and pick up new things each time. So for the last two weeks of December I did nothing but stretching from AOS and Relax into stretch. No kettlebells yet. When I started I was a good 18 inches away from touching my toes and on the face the wall squat I could not get down very far. Now on toe touches I can almost get my palms flat on the ground and I can squat right down to the ground.
I got a 12kg and 16kg bell and tried swings with the 16 but my back and core were not ready for that, nor my heart. So I started week one with the 12kg and had to use 3 minute rests between sets to keep my heart in line. Now I’m up to 1 minute rests as called for and doing 120 swings in the 12 minutes. Get ups are with the 12kg and I’m doing 3 per side. Now after my pratices I feel good and in a month have lost 12 pounds and my thighs are 2 inches larger. Just incredible, but slow and easy.
So for February I will follow AOS for the 4 week program now with the 12kg and March will be the 4 weeks over again with the 16kg. I’m just starting to add some presses with the 12kg and now do 3 ladders of (1,2,3) and will work up to 5 X 5 and then up to the 16kg and so on. Also starting to work on pull ups and feeling stronger every day.
I’ve also found 2 HKC’s, 3 RKC’s and one RKC2 within a 100 miles and plan on getting some training in with them.
So it seems slow but I would tell anyone new to kettlebells or getting back into shape to go slow, stretch first (be able to touch your toes before using a kettlebell as I read in an article here), maintain great form and wonderful things will happen. I’ve also changed my diet for the better and feel so much better for it now.
Once again thanks so much to Tim, Dragondoor and most of all Pavel. Looking forward to going to a HKC and then getting my RKC. The odyssey continues and I’ll let you know how February goes!
Power to you comrades.
I got a 12kg and 16kg bell and tried swings with the 16 but my back and core were not ready for that, nor my heart. So I started week one with the 12kg and had to use 3 minute rests between sets to keep my heart in line. Now I’m up to 1 minute rests as called for and doing 120 swings in the 12 minutes. Get ups are with the 12kg and I’m doing 3 per side. Now after my pratices I feel good and in a month have lost 12 pounds and my thighs are 2 inches larger. Just incredible, but slow and easy.
So for February I will follow AOS for the 4 week program now with the 12kg and March will be the 4 weeks over again with the 16kg. I’m just starting to add some presses with the 12kg and now do 3 ladders of (1,2,3) and will work up to 5 X 5 and then up to the 16kg and so on. Also starting to work on pull ups and feeling stronger every day.
I’ve also found 2 HKC’s, 3 RKC’s and one RKC2 within a 100 miles and plan on getting some training in with them.
So it seems slow but I would tell anyone new to kettlebells or getting back into shape to go slow, stretch first (be able to touch your toes before using a kettlebell as I read in an article here), maintain great form and wonderful things will happen. I’ve also changed my diet for the better and feel so much better for it now.
Once again thanks so much to Tim, Dragondoor and most of all Pavel. Looking forward to going to a HKC and then getting my RKC. The odyssey continues and I’ll let you know how February goes!
Power to you comrades.
