Hey there! Thank you for your questions. And welcome to my blog 🙂

1) HERE is a post I did to try and answer this frequently asked question – hope it helps you!
2) I used Kettlebells for training 2 times per week usually (more for conditioning)
3) I strength train with barbell 2 (sometimes 3) times per week as well as the KBs. (this is my heavy training)

Hope this helps 🙂

Hi Marianne,

I am a beginner for kettle bell training (2 months) and I found your website and the training videos are very intersting and helpful.

My questions:

1) Where do you buy your kettle bell and what is your recommendations?
2) How many times do you practice the kettle bell? Besides kettle bell workouts, do you do antoher forms of workout?

Thanks.

Jiannfeng Hong

Chicago, USA

Gillian, I like (think I like) your rating system LOL, but ZERO for sweat 🙁 I’ll have to consider your awesome fitness level when I design my next one. It can bee a wee Christmas present for you, since you’ve returned 🙂 It’s great seeing your comments again !! x

1. Goblet squats 14 Kg 13, 11, 11 (getting lower range consistently — I DID warmup with Cossack squats so that might have improved my range of motion.)
2. Swings 16Kg 25, 25, 25 — following the neck rule… so I was doing it wrong too! Kept wt down for now.
3. Renegade rows 12 kg 16, 17, 16 (I need a heavier pair!)
4. alt clean & jerk 14 Kg 7, 7, 7
5. snatch L 12 Kg 14, 15, 14
6. snatch R 12 Kg 14, 15, 15

Pulse +1/2 sweat 0 ? This got my HR up but not as much as Intensity rules or even magic blonde moments. (Those are the only other workouts I have scored in this manner.) I saw this as a bit more on the strength side than metcon, though snatches always get my pulse up. Nice workout!

And I learned something.

Thanks M

~ Gillian

I actually found that an intermediate weight was the best. Too light and it flew through the air to quickly, too heavy and I had to really jerk to get it up. For me, 10 KG was good to start.

Also, I ended up buying kettleguards, which are padded wrist guards, from the Ice Palace girls. That pretty much solved the bruised wrists.

~ Gillian

Nice one Ann! Ha, I laughed at the “too much red wine and dinner” – I am familiar with that feeling 😉

Your hike sounds amazing, I bet the scenery was beautiful!

I’ve personally have been using your workouts along with other training to prepare myself for a Tough Mudder race in April. Excited!!!

Stay Strong!

Thanks Isobel. Don’t be embarressed, it’s all about progression and I wasn’t always lifting 20kg KBs. Plus when you’re new to it, I would recomment starting at 8kg until you have mastered the basics.