Learn about Kettlebells and the Kettlebell Swing

Amy Mac: Can you really tone your whole body with just one way? Hey everybody, I am Amy Mac. In today's Fit Life, we are talking all about kettlebells, where they came from, who should do them, and what benefits you're going to see from doing kettlebells. I am here with RKC certified Senior Instructor Dave and Instructor Matt and they are going to walk us through all of the kettlebell information. Tell me where they came from, who should do it, and what we are going to see out of it? David Whitley: Okay. The kettlebell is a strength and condition method originated in Russia over 100 years ago. It was popularized here in this States and it's kind of made a bit of resurgence in the past ten years or so and then the RKC, which is Russian kettlebell challenge. Who can do kettlebells? Any body who goes to the gym and does anything in the gym that is quiet better adopted to lift things can do kettlebell work. The really cool thing about the thing that I love the most about it is that rather than focussing on individual body parts, everything that we do is a full body movement. So that teaches you to move better, it helps with injury rehab, it teaches you to move more athletically and to focus on using your hips to do things that your hips need to be doing. At the same time, an added benefit to that is that by using your entire body for various different movements, you burn a lot more calories, you get a lot more work done in a lot less time. Amy Mac: Awesome, let's get to the moves. David Whitley: David Whitley here from irontamer.com and nashvillekettlebellbootcamp.com. We got Matt McBryde here, RKC Instructor from tennesseekettlebell.com. We are going to go over some of the basics on how to properly do a kettlebell swing. Matt, if you would, please demonstrate the swing force. He lowers his hips, snaps them, the weight comes up. Give you a side view of that. Notice that crispness of how his hips snap, then set it down. It looks like he is doing something with his arms, he is really not, his arms just kind of belong for the right, the hips are generating all the power and that's the beautiful thing about the swing. Amy, come on in here. We are going teach Amy how to swing and we are going to do that by weigh of a dead lift. Moving with the dead lift is essentially the same movement pattern. So first I want to note Amy's bare foot, she was wearing some really nice cushy shoes for running when we got here and those shoes are great for running but they are not very good for kettlebell lifting because it has a cushy sole and it kind of disrupt your balance and throws you forward. You'll hear me say over and over and over again as we go along to keep your heels on the ground. So what I want Amy to do right now, she is going to take a comfortable stand, kind of wide, straddling the kettlebell, step forward, just little bit more. The handle of the bell is right between her ankles. She shifts her weight to her heels, she folds at the hips and pushes her butt back. Bending the knee slightly, she finds the handle as forward, she squeezes her handle, she squeezes her butt and stands up with it and fully extends the hips. She takes down touches between her heels again. Touch and come up, down, up, down, leave it on the ground this time, good. Now we are going to have you turn side ways so that everybody can see. You can do the same thing again, just the kettlebell dead lift. She is moving from the hips, squeeze her butt, stand up, take it down, up, down, and one more, up, down, leaves on the ground, stands up. We are going to go ahead and move her into the swing, which the swing is an identical movement pattern to that dead lift, the only difference being, instead of having the kettlebell between her legs, she is going to have it in front of her a little bit. She is going to lower in that same position, find the handle, she is going to toss it back behind her leg. She is trying to hit herself in her butt. Then she is going to explosively straighten up, the bell will come up. It's all hips, the hips just throw it up in the air. The bell will start to fall. When it falls, she aims for her hips and then catches it with her hips. If something goes wrong, she just drops it abort, the reason we have to do this outside. Remember quick feet are happy feet, so go ahead and load up for the swing, weights back on the heels, she finds the handle, go ahead. Throw behind and snap the hips bone, good, very good. Squeezes her butt together in tight like she is trying to pinch a coin between her butt cheese. Pulls her knee caps up, squeezing hard. You're doing it like you're tired and drop it. A little bit of exercise there. Amy Mac: I do a little bit exercise. David Whitley: And that is the kind of the foundational element that we call the kettlebell swing. Amy Mac: Well, that's just a quick intro to kettlebells and how to do the swing correctly. A big thanks to our RKC certified experts. We've got Senior Instructor Dave, Dave, where can we find that? David Whitley: Locally, nashvillekettlebell.com, internationally irontamer.com. Amy Mac: And also our Instructor Matt, find you at? Matt: tennesseekettlebell.com. Amy Mac: And I am also going to continue to work with these guys so find more kettlebell information at withamymac.com. We'll see you next week, stay fit and be well. David Whitley: I brought you a present. Amy Mac: Thank you, I've always wanted a -- David Whitley: 60 penny nail, it's a quarter inch thick steel by 6 inches long. It really got involved in the whole history and culture the all time strong men from back end late 1800 and stuff and one of the things that they used to rarely do and that I do now in all my performance is bend a 60 penny nail so I am going to take this 60 penny nail. Amy Mac: Don't hurt yourself, that's all the strength in the kettlebells there? David Whitley: Pretty much. Amy Mac: Is this a trick nail? David Whitley: No. Amy Mac: It's quiet impressive. David Whitley: irontamer.com. Amy Mac: A big thanks to our sponsors. If you are looking for free workout music, go to emusic.com/fitlife and you're going to get a 14-day free trial and 35 free songs. If you are looking for the perfect mate, go to eharmony.com. When you by three months, you're going to get the fourth month free, when you use the code EHFIT. If you are looking for athletic apparel and shoes, go to eastbay.com and use the code AFLIFE20 and you are going to save 20% of any $75 purchase.