Kettlebells – The Iron Core Way Volume 1
September 23, 2008
I did my very first kettlebell workout tonight! It was awesome! I first learned about kettlebells a little over a year ago and had been wanting to try it out ever since. I did pick up a 15# kettlebell from Sport’s Authority a few months back, but I never quite knew what to do with it.
I had heard about these Iron Core Kettlebell workouts from the various video fitness boards I go to, but I believe they were only available at Target for awhile – which we don’t have in Hawaii – yet. I accidentally came across them at Amazon actually and they finally came in the mail today! Hurray!
Tonight, I did Kettlebells – the Iron Core Way volume 1 tonight and it kicked ass! The video starts off with a brief tutorial about some of the moves that are in the workout. This is actually really helpful since good form is very important when using a kettlebell.
Oh, what’s a kettlebell you say? Kettlebells basically look like a cannonball with a handle. According to Pavel’s website, they first appeared in Russian literature in the 1700′s! Kettlebell training is also starting to become popular in the US and I can totally understand why. It’s like the ultimate in aerobic weight training – plus functional fitness – all rolled into one package.
The workout starts after the brief tutorial and it’s about 45 minutes long. The workout is broken down into 3 circuits. I don’t have the breakdown of the exercises though, I am just not anal enough to write every move down.
Each section starts with a brief description of the exercise you will be doing, what parts of the body are targeted, some form pointers and you also get a demo of the exercise in the tutorial.
This is called the forward squat and it is killer. As you can see, you go deeper than a normal squat, so it really hits your butt.
This was done during the warm up and I am including this here more to give you an idea as to what the workout actually looks like. The move is called the halo and you can really, really feel it working your core when you do it.
The production values of this video are okay. It’s basically the instructor with 2 other people doing the moves. I kind of wished they showed more side views of the exercises, so you could get a better idea of what kind of form to use. I suppose I could also get really fancy and video myself working out, but I am totally not at that stage yet. 
There is a 30 second break after each exercise, which is cool because it does give you a chance to catch your breath. There are also 1 to 2 minute breaks between each circuit, which also gives you a chance to catch your breath and drink some water.
I really sweat during this workout! If you do decide to try kettlebells out, I would highly recommend getting a pair of wristbands. The padding really helped to protect my wrists and were quite handy to get rid of the sweat on my face too.
I really liked this workout. I can’t wait to try volume 2, but I don’t know if I will be able to for a couple of days. I can already feel my butt getting sore – which is a good thing!
Filed under: Workin' It
