Beginner’s Workout Class – Kettlebells and Body Weight

As promised I am returning to the class-style format for my video today. Following the feedback from the last one, I am focusing only on making this a beginners workout with kettlebells and body weight. That means that all instruction will be geared towards the one level. The only modifications will be how to regress the exercises, which is also important to note 🙂

The exercises are pretty straight-forward and should be practiced before you begin the workout to ensure you understand the movements. Then, when you are happy with the exercises, you may participate in the workout. I reinforce the teaching points and direction throughout the workout and, I made a whole separate video to clarify what my points mean. It wasn’t meant to be a long video, but I clearly have no sense of time – especially when I start talking LOL! Anyway, I hope you will take the time to watch the first video just so you all understand the importance of my repetitive cues.

Remembering back to when I was a beginner and now by observing others, it is clear that one of the main issues, beyond issues with strength, are problems co-ordinating basic movements when exercising.  Having clear direction and reinforcement throughout this video should go a long way in helping you improve this and remember them the next time you perform the exercise.

In a bid to keep things simple, I decided on 5 basic exercises that will allow you to get a full body workout experience and keep the workout between 10 – 20 minutes (depending on how many rounds you choose to do).

Workout Breakdown

Warm up first for 5 – 10 minutes.

Set your Gymboss Interval Timer for 5 cycles of 30 seconds rest and 30 seconds effort. Aim to complete one full round of the following 5 exercises before having a longer break (maybe while you reset the video), then repeat the workout the desired amount of times for your fitness level. The exercises below use a mixture of body weight and Kettlebells:

1. *Kettlebell Goblet Squat to Press
2. Two-Handed Kettlebell Swing
3. Diagonal Knee Tuck
4. Kettlebell Bent Over Alternating Row
5. Dynamic Squat

After you have finished, then please remember to cool down.

* For those who are completely new to exercise, I would recommend doing either a body weight squat or only the Goblet Squat for this exercise, as the Combo of the two exercises requires a lot more core stability. Just build this exercise up.  It is a good beginners exercise, but requires some exercise experience.

What is this workout good for?

As a beginner it is important to practice a foundation of movements before progressing the weight or the difficulty.  By ingraining good movement patterns, you will become better at moving day to day and become stronger.  Each exercise will in some way help you to improve mobility, strength, posture, core stability, flexibility, while building your speed, co-ordination and cardiovascular fitness.  As a result you will end up burning more calories and have more energy and stamina for other activities. Adding this type of workout into your weekly routine can potentially help you burn unwanted fat.  I say “potentially” burn fat, as this factor is highly dependent on how much you eat.

What weight should you start with?

If you have never used weights before then:

Females – 6kg – 10kg

Males – 8kg – 12kg

If you have used weights before:

Females – 8kg – 14kg

Males – 12kg – 16kg

This is just a rough guide. I would actually recommend trying a weight before buying, so you have realistic expectations of how it feels.

As always, I appreciate any feedback you have on this workout, this set-up and your progress to date. Myomytv.com veterans are also welcome to join in this workout 🙂 As I said, I did this same workout myself, 6 rounds of 20/40 intervals, and it was just what I needed, after feeling very run-down and coldy all week.

Remember the competition… let this inspire you

Enjoy this workout and I’ll be back soon.

Cheers

Marianne