Wednesday 5 November 2014

November: Kettlebells and Insanity


Fun Rating: ★★☆☆☆    Difficulty Rating: ★★★★☆     Results Rating: ★★★★☆

   As I mentioned at the end of last month's workout, this month's is quite similar. The reason I've decided to go for much of the same is because the results were so amazing, and at the end of the day, that's what I'm doing this for.
   But this month's workout is still different. Rather than using a DVD or FitnessMagazine.com, I've turned to my copies of Women's Fitness. This month they included a new kettlebell routine along two or three other workouts, and this kettlebell workout features only a couple of moves I'm familiar with, and the rest are new again, albeit less complicated than last month's. But the difference is, instead of just doing a certain number of reps, you go either 30 seconds or 5-10 reps as specified, moving from one move to the next without stopping until you've completed the circuit. Beginners should aim for 2-3 circuits, intermediate should aim for 3-4, and advanced should aim for 4-5 circuits. On my first day I used a 4kg kettlebell, but rather than having to move down to 2kg for a few moves, I've actually had to move up to 6kg instead, which is awesome. And nightmarish, but 4kg was too little. I also managed 4 circuits. I could have gone for 5, I think, but it was the first day and I didn't want to put that pressure on myself to match 5 circuits every single day. If after the first week I can manage it, I'll up it to 5 circuits.

   Like last month, I'm alternating workouts, too, and instead of pilates, I'm trying an 'Insanity'-inspired routine from an older issue of the magazine which uses more all-over-body movements, fast pace with body-weight and cardio all mixed together. It's been put together to give you a taste of the famous Insanity workouts, and if you like it you could buy the DVD or attend a class. The moves don't look like much (magazine in the top right), but you would really be surprised. It knocked the wind right out of me on my first day of that routine.

EDIT:
   Unfortunately, it proved during the first week to be out of my league. It was hard to admit defeat, but I figured I'd get better results by doing a slightly less intense workout that I could keep up with than an insane workout I can hardly do, let alone do properly. So, from the 10th of November, after three alternating days of Insanity, I've substituted it with a Booty Barre workout from the same issue of Women's Fitness as Insanity. It's nowhere near as high-impact, but it's based more on pilates and so will work similarly to last month's workout. I think part of my issue with Insanity was that it was too intense to be used as I was using it. But you can read about the change of workout, my excuses reasoning and the workout itself in this post.



   Excuse the carpet.
   I'm using 4kg for most of the kettlebell moves, and 6kg for those I found 4kg was too light for, but I won't be ashamed if I have to drop back to 4kg for everything after all. 6kg has barely been used because it's so tough, but it's the kind of thing you adjust to in time. It used to be that I couldn't use the 4kg because that was too heavy, too, but it's now an extremely comfortable weight, but with the dead lift and swing, I could use a little more.


Kettlebell Workout from Women's Fitness issue 134




Insanity workout from Women's Fitness issue 129



   This workout isn't for the faint hearted, so if you're thinking about having a go at it with me, remember not to push yourself harder than you can go. I realise that the text explaining each move is too small to read, but the names of each move given are the proper terms so the moves can be looked up online anyway.
   Complete the kettlebell workout for the allotted time per move and the allotted number of circuits for your level (2-3 for beginners, 3-4 for intermediate, 4-5 for advanced). Do this on day 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on.
   For Insanity, you complete each of the 4 moves on the first page for 30 seconds each, then rest for 30 seconds before doing it again, totalling 3 circuits, then move on to the second page and complete those four moves in the same manner. Do this on day 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on.

   I'll be back in 2 weeks with an update!


NaBloPoMo November 2014



0 comments:

Post a Comment

I do read every single comment, and I will try to respond where I can. If you have an important question about my blog or my shop, however, then you might be better off contacting me directly by email. Thanks so much for reading my blog!