Kettlebells

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So this is where I was at 5:15 am on Monday morning. A total newbie. Clueless. Luckily there were about 30 other newbies just like me taking orders from a way too chipper firefighter/kettlebell instructor at 5:15 in the morning.

 

The class itself wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't die. I did almost knock myself out though.

 

I have NO... and I mean ABSOLUTELY NONE!... upper body strength. I have weird arms that hyperextend and I had a shoulder that would dislocate once a month until I got it surgically fixed several years ago. I therefore have always avoided weight lifting arm exercises. It's one of those things that I always thought I should do once I got my shoulder fixed but never got around to doing... until now.

 

So... we get to class. All the newbies get herded together to an upstairs gym. We're told to take off our shoes so we can balance better on our feet. Then we're told to grab a kettlebell. Ummm... lightest kettlebell they have out is 18 lbs. Crap. I hadn't planned on lifting anything over 10, maybe 15 lbs MAX.

 

We warm up with pushups. Then we learn how to do a deadlift, then a swing. So far so good. Then we have to do a one arm thrust, lifting the kettlebell from chest height to over your head. Not so good. I can't lift it over my head. I can't get it anywhere close to my head! I make several attempts at knocking myself out while trying to the kettlebell above my head. Then, the instructor magically produces a lighter kettlebell for me. Hallelujah! I'm not proud. I just want to lift the durn thing over my head.

 

We move on to squats. Then we're done. I'm thinking "that wasn't too bad." Right. 6 hours later... I can hardly move! Everything but my back hurt. It was a total body workout.

 

All I know about kettlebells is what I read on the School of Strength website. It's actually a pretty informative site so if you're interested, go check it out and click on the tabs across the top for more information. I picked it because it's at the high school 5 minutes from my house (anything I do at 5:15 am better be 5 minutes from my house) and I read a couple articles in some local publications that recommended it.

 

Yesterday I was REALLY sore. This morning I stumbled out of bed and got to class a bit early. I found my "special" light kettlebell for the arm stuff and used the 18lb one for everything else. We added one arm swings and one arm rows to our repertoire. 45 minutes went really fast. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt a whole lot less sore after class today. I even did a 7 mile run later in the morning and my legs felt really good! Tomorrow I'm suppose to run 14 so I hope they continue to feel good.

 

Have you tried any new exercises this year?