Fit Basecamp – Mind Body Health

Kettlebells are odd looking. It’s as if someone made a bowling ball out of metal and then added a ring on the top as a handle. (Think of a giant Ring Pop turned upside down.) In spite of its homely stature in the world of fancy exercise equipment, kettlebells are some of the most efficient and effective ways to lose weight. An added plus – they can be used almost anywhere and take up little room.

What Makes Kettlebell Workouts So Effective

If I were on a deserted island and was told that I could only choose one piece of exercise equipment, it would be kettlebells – hands down! By now, you’ve probably figured out that I am a big fan of kettlebells for losing weight. Let’s talk about why.

Kettlebells allow you to perform a great lifting exercise, but they also generate a great deal of cardio momentum and benefit. The impact of exercising with kettlebells is two-fold. How often do you get the amazing benefits of muscle building and shaping along with a great cardio impact? Plus, this is one exercise that you can perform anywhere – in a gym or at home.

Basic Kettlebell Routine

If you want a basic kettlebell routine, look no further. You don’t have to spend an hour slinging kettlebells or even perform 20 different moves to get a full workout. In fact, you can get a full body workout using kettlebells and only 3 or 4 moves.

Here are our favorites. If you are just starting out, perform only 6 – 8 reps of each, rest for 60 seconds and start your rotation again. Trust me, you can get a full workout in about 15 minutes per session.

Kettlebell Swing

The swing uses a good hip hinge movement to swing the kettlebell between your legs until your arms are parallel with the floor. Then repeat. This exercise requires a straight back and straight arms while executing a good, fluid hip hinge movement.

Kettlebell Deadlift

The deadlift is just like a regular deadlift. You can perform this with a heavy kettlebell versus a barbell. The difference is you will be pulling and lifting from the center of the floor between your legs.

Goblet Squat

This is a squat using the kettlebell held in both hands against your chest. Perform the squat exactly as you would with a barbell or dumb bells.

Belly Fat – People spend most of their adult life obsessing over the extra large serving of fat they may have around the middle. If you are looking for a way to beat belly fat once and for all, it’s time to kick your sit-ups to the curb and can your crunches. Belly fat IS fat. As counter intuitive as it may sound, no amount of crunches will whittle the middle away. Neither of these will do much to get rid of your belly fat. Accept it as fact, and things start to get a lot easier. Get rid of the layer of fat first, and then you can dust off your crunches again to work toward those washboard abs.

Things That Won’t Get Rid Of Belly Fat

Why don’t the sit-ups work? Mainly because your abdominals are smaller, weaker muscles. Repetitive working of these smaller muscles will do nothing to burn fat. In fact, the best belly fat workouts are those that don’t even include sit-ups and crunches. Let’s be clear. Don’t get this confused with a great goal of having a strong core (a topic for another day). A strong core is essential to your back health and your over all well-being. But your core can be strong – under a lot of fat – and you won’t even notice it.

To Lose Belly Fat, Do This Instead

By now, you’ve heard this before, but let’s talk about this again: Exercising for spot reduction simply does not work. We need to focus on the large muscle groups to rev up your metabolism and burn fat quicker. The larger the muscle, the higher the calorie burn when you work that muscle to its max.

Best Large Muscle Exercises For Belly Fat

Stop wondering how to lose belly fat, and take action to start losing it now. The main way to lost that weight is to work out the larger muscle groups. The largest muscle groups in the body are found in the lower half of the body: Glutes, quads and hams. Here are some of the best and most straightforward exercises that use those large muscle groups and increase your fat burning powers: squats, lunges, dead lifts. Together these moves will give you a complete lower body workout – even if most of them are performed using only body weight. If you have them, add kettlebells to these moves. This will work the muscle as well as raise the heart rate.

Diet is important too, and you will find many recommendations throughout this site for food plans and recipes. Make sure you are eating plenty of protein and saving every other day as a day to rest the muscles and you will improve many different muscle groups on your body. After a while that fat will simply melt away.

Most of all though, please remember that your success depends on you. Consistency is the most important part of this process. Put some effort into this on a regular schedule. Give yourself the permission and grace to take your time. This is not a race to the finish – this is an exercise in self improvement. This exercise never ends. Always reset your goals to keep reaching forward. When you stay committed to achieving your goals, nothing can stop you from completing them.