What results have you had from kettlebells?

Bump just bought mine!

I definitely want to try this!

At home I have a 15lb and a 20lb bell. I use the 20 for 2 arm swings and the 15 for some single arm excercises. I'd probably be able to go up to 20 if I had wrist guards.

At the gym I mostly do two arm excercises and use a 25 or 35 lb bell. I think it's time for me to get a 25 or 35 for home too.

For dvds I second Sara Laurie. You can get her iron core 4 dvd set from amazon for $11. I also do the fitness blender kb workouts.

As far as results go, I only do kettlebells twice a week for 30-50 minutes each time. Running is my first love, I run 20+ miles a week, so I have lost about 10 lbs since February and I can see my belly button again, (all of my weight was in my stomach due to pregnancy) but I would say these results are probably mostly due to eating at a deficit and running. Granted if I'm short on time in a week, I'm more likely to cut kettlebells than running so my lack of results probably has to do with inconsistency.

I absolutely LOVE training with kettlebells. There's so much I love about using them--the swing and snatch are great dynamic and ballistic full body movements that I just find really fun and powerful. I also enjoy the slower "grinds" and do tons and tons of cleans and presses. I also really love Turkish Get Ups--another really great full body exercise.

I've realised rather remarkable strength gains in a relatively short period of time, especially in my shoulders, back, torso, hamstrings, and glutes. Forearms and triceps as well. I've only been training with KBs since July 2012 and am thoroughly impressed.

I think it's important to make sure you're instructed properly in the execution of KB lifts, as you want to make sure you're working safely so as to avoid injury. I recommend seeking out RKC/Strongfirst certified trainers (someone already mentioned Dragondoor). IKFF is another good certification to look out for. I would discourage the use of most of the mass-marketed KB dvds, such as Bob Harper, Jillian Michaels, etc. and instead go for a DVD through dragondoor.com.

Tracy Reifkind is another wonderful resource. She has a book out called The Swing, and some great DVDs as well. Marianne Kane, of Myomytv.com has lots of quality videos and instruction on her site as well. I believe she's also offering video lessons via the internet on her site.

Excellent post! Great stuff, especially the point about getting some instruction. You need to be safe as you increase the weight, and to get the most benefit you need to tense your core and supporting muscles as you do the exercises. As you think about buying bells for yourself, you might want to plan for the fact that you will be able to use different weights for different exercises.

I've been doing KBs for about 3 years as my strength workout, but there's plenty of cardio to be had there too depending on the workout. We do the the usual stuff: Squats, presses, high pulls, Turkish get ups (oy), swings (one armed and two), snatches, rows, etc. But we also do a "cardio" segment for 10-12 minutes at the end where we do swings or snatches in intervals (e.g., 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, etc.).

I really enjoy the variety in the workout and the camaraderie and support of the folks I work out with. My polar tells me I average about 100 cals per 10 minutes of work.

After a a couple of months away from it last summer after a little medical event, I started it up again and hit it hard last Fall. Since then my body fat has gone down over 15% while lean mass was increasing by 6 pounds (as measured by Bodpod testing). I do an hour of HIIT cardio on the days I don't do KBs so those results aren't just from the kettlebell workout, but It did seem to accelerate my weight loss.