Kettlebell Press, Squat + Conditioning Ladder

At my Sacramento, CA kettlebell boot camp classes, 90% if the time we end with a ‘finisher’ – a conditioning-based, circuit-style sequence that leaves you feeling, well, smoked.

In yesterday’s boot camp, the finisher was particularly tough … folks seemed to “enjoy” it … so I thought I’d shoot a quick demo video of the workout and share it with you to enjoy as well.

Watch the kettlebell press, squat, and conditioning ladder below:

‘Crunchless’ Kettlebell Workout For Abs

Think you need Crunches and Sit Ups to work your abs? Think again ... check out this workout from Sacramento Personal Trainers Forest Vance and Staci Fiori:

Here's a video that shows how kettlebells can work the heck out of your abs (without - gasp! - doing Crunches or Sit Ups):

The Renegade Row - the exercise shown in the video above - along with three others was featured in a post I did a while back about three great kettlebell exercises for abs. But recently looking back over this post, I realized I left out specifics of how to incorporate these exercises into a workout ... so I put them all together into a short, intense, full-body 'crunchless' ab workout for you to try.

Here's your 'crunchless' kettlebell workout for abs:

1. Start with 12-15 kettlebell Squats - if you're just starting out, do Goblet Squats (with a single kettlebell). If you're more advanced, do double kettlebell Front Squats.

2. Move immediately from the Squats to 6 kettlebell Renegade Rows (each side).

3. Follow the Renegade Rows with a single Turkish Get Up on each side.

Repeat this sequence 3-5 times with as little rest as possbile.

And, in case you have questions about how to perform any of these exercises, the links below will take you to full descriptions of each, including video demonstration:

The Turkish Get Up

The Renegade Row

The kettlebell Squat

You can get a great ab workout using your kettlebell with having to do a single Sit Up or Crunch. This workout is a great example of how you'd put three of the best kettlebell exercises for abs together into a short, intense, and highly productive ab routine. Give it a try and let me know what 'ya think -

Forest

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Kettlebell Snatch Technique Tips

The Kettlebell Snatch is one of the trickiest basic kettlebell exercises to learn... but it's one of the best for building strength endurance, muscles of the shoulder girdle, back, core and hips, and flat out power. And let's face it... anyone who's done a high rep snatch workout will attest that it's quite simply a gut check.
Here's a drill that will improve your form in the Kettlebell Snatch and help you avoid the dreaded 'forearm slap' - you'll do:

3 One Arm Swings
3 Low Pulls
3 High Pulls
3 Snatches

What happens many times is that the kettlebell will rotateslowly around the wrist at the top of the movement, which results in a painful impact. This, just to be totally clear, is notwhat we're going for with this exercise.

The idea is to get the kettlebell to 'float' for a second at the top of the High Pull movement, and then to get the hand around the 'bell.

The progression described above is a great way to learn the movement properly and eliminate the all-to-common forearm slap that occurs in the Kettlebell Snatch. Give it a try today and see if your Kettlebell Snatch form improves!

Note: The Kettlebell Snatch is a highly technical exercise - and one that you can't really learn from just reading an article on the internet:) My recommendation as a certified kettlebell instructor is to seek out someone in your area who is qualified to teach you how to do the exercise right. At the end of the day, there is no replacement for in-person instruction.

Forest Vance, MS, CPT, RKC is a Sacramento kettlebell instructor and is the author of this article. You can learn more about him - and get his 'Top 10 Fat Loss Myths' consumer report - by visiting his website at http://www.forestvancetraining.com.