Anyone do kettlebells (at a gym)??

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beccaellena
beccaellena Posts: 21 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been doing classes and I find myself having to rest the last 10 seconds of each drill and I just hold the kettlebell up. What weights did you guys start on for swings and presses, etc? and how long did it take you to progress and use heavier ones?

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  • Boomerof51
    Boomerof51 Posts: 44 Member
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    Bump
  • rosied915
    rosied915 Posts: 799 Member
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    I know you want responses from gym people but maybe this might help too~ I'm doing Jillian Michaels Kettlebell Workout and using 5 pound bells for most things and switching UP to 10 pounders for others~ probably an 8 would be perfect for everything.

    I am age 50 and have been working out in some way for about 8 years now including lifting weights.

    I will add that I have a 15 pound Kettlebell and THAT is out of the question for me right now!!
  • cheri0627
    cheri0627 Posts: 369 Member
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    It depends on what you're doing, honestly, and where you're at.

    I'm still pretty light on things, I think. I like about 25-30lbs for swings. For presses and squats and such, I like either 15-25lbs. I'm also a complete wimp and the lowest weight of others at my box when we do KB workouts. I sometimes start a workout with a heavier weight KB and then switch to my safety KB (the lower weight KB I brought over, just in case) because I'm too tired.

    According to my KB certified trainer, it's actually easier to keep correct form with KBs with a heavier weight.

    Don't worry if you're resting some, at least you're doing it. You may want to try the safety weight idea like I do. Just do what you can at the higher weight and switch if/when you have to. No shame.
  • Anngetsfit
    Anngetsfit Posts: 17 Member
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    I have been doing kettlebells for about a year now. I would agree it depends on what exercises you are doing. I started out with 15 to 18 lbs kettlebells and have worked up to 25 to 30 lb bells. I would agree for a lot of the exercises it works better if you use heavier bells.
  • nob86
    nob86 Posts: 8 Member
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    Not a direct answer to your original post, but people tend to worry too much about what weight they are doing when doing any kind of resistance training. It really depends on your goals what weight you should use.

    For example, for weight loss/general fitness, you ideally want to be working in moderate rep ranges (I prefer to use timed sets rather than counting repetitions), and use a weight that allows you to complete the desired number of reps/time. If you can't get to the end of the set then drop down in weight (regress) for a while. Keep rest periods short (30-60 seconds). 30 seconds work followed by 60 seconds rest is a good starting point. Repeat that as many times as you can.

    Conversely, if you are trying to increase your strength in your kettlebell exercises, you will want a lower rep range (5-8 reps), with much longer rest periods (2-3 minutes) and heavy weights.

    The 3rd protocol is endurance training - basically very long sets (5-10 minutes) with a light-moderate weight for as many reps as you can, switching hands and having micro-breaks as needed.

    As always it is important to progress. There are 3 main ways to progress - Increase the weight, Increase the number of reps, Decrease the rest period. Keep in mind you want to progress while staying within your training parameters as above.

    ANY of the above methods burn a LOT of calories; Kettlebell training is probably the single best tool for fitness and fat burning.

    I hope that someone finds this useful, and i welcome any comments/questions.

    Cheers
    Chris

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