Kettlebells – What and Why ?
Kettlebells – what and why are they Beneficial to exercise
I hope you all enjoyed my first exercise on deadlifts and I’m sure by now your technique is spot on and your strength is going through the roof.
Like deadlifts, I find kettlebells are very technical and hard to use, so until you know what you are doing you should leave them alone.
The last thing you want to do is injure yourself and not benefit from what kettlebells can do for you.
Firstly what are kettlebells “well they are those funny shaped balls with a handle on top of them…..shaped like a kettle?!’ The clue may just be in the name. But seriously kettlebells have been used for hundred of years and have a lot of key benefits to them.
The great thing about kettlebells is that they require you to focus on whole-body conditioning. So that means that no muscle is ever used on its own. They also involve a lot of compound and kinetic movements. Lifting and controlling a kettlebell forces the entire body, and specifically the core, to 
contract as a group, building both strength and stability at the same time. Kettlebells are great for working your posterior chain (basically from your head down your spine to your toes). They are a great way for re-engaging your glutes muscles (bum) as all the action and force comes from contracting and using your bum as your dominant muscle.
Unfortunately many of us now spend a lot of time sitting down at work (and in some peoples cases just generally!) this therefore puts a lot of strain on our hamstrings and lower back. 
Over time our Glutes become lazy and less dominant and that is why a lot of us can suffer from lower back pain and tight hamstrings. Muscles are all connected to each other and work together and no muscle should ever be isolated remember your bum is one of your biggest muscles in your body so lets use it!
The benefits from Kettlebells are extensive, they can improve your posture, assist with weight loss, help with body conditioning, as well as improving your muscular strength, and bone density. The density of our bones is key as we get older and to women especially who can suffer from Osteoporosis (causes bones to become fragile and more prone to breaking.). They are also great for improving your overall Cardiovascular fitness and let’s not forget re-activating the glutes.
To sum up I think Kettlebells are a great way of exercising, but you must know what they are and how to use them before you start swinging them about.
I have put together a little video for you below; this will hopefully be helpful to you. It is a little circuit consisting of 4 exercises; 3 using the kettlebells then one based on just cardio. Give it a go and try to do the circuit up to 5 times with a minute rest in-between.
Have Fun and look before you swing!!!!!!!!
Martin Simpson
Stephen has been my personal trainer for just over 3 months now and the results I
have achieved because of him have been outstanding.
I met Stephen whilst I was training in Fitness First; he came over and asked to
demonstrate how I could improve my dead lift technique. Stephen demonstrated the
technique explaining in detail how to perform the exercise in a safe and effective
manner. I was very impressed with his attitude and the fact that he hadn’t tried to
push me into signing up for personal training that I booked him for a session there and
then.
I was impressed right from the start of this session as Stephen took the time before
we began to ask me what my short and long term goals were, what my diet consisted
of and what training history I already had. He also took all my body measurements,
weight and body fat percentage. He then suggested ways in which I could change my
life style to get maximum results from my training but also enjoy all the things I like
to do.
He took into account that I work as a Fire Fighter and understood my need for
strength, power and stamina and that I needed to be fit and healthy. I have been
training for quite a few years now and my training had gone stale and boring before I
met Stephen
Stephen tailors all my work out plans to suit my goals and explains and demonstrated
all of the new (and effective) exercise I had not performed before. He regularly
changes my plans to keep my training interesting, fun and challenging and also my
muscle gains and cardio improves continually. He is extremely motivational whilst I
am training and makes sure that I always put 110% effort into my training sessions.
Stephen is a fantastic professional who takes great pride in helping you achieve your
goals. He is great to get along with, always willing to help you and has a knowledge
of the industry that is second to none and I would recommend him to anybody
wanting to reach there goals, no matter what they are, Stephen will get you there.
Ryan Blezard, 24
I joined Fitness First November 2010 and as part of the sign up packaged I received 2 free personal trainer (PT) sessions. I was allocated Stephen Mottram, on first meeting Stephen instantly but any doubts about joining the gym at ease talking about his own experiences as well as those of people he had previously worked with.
As a PE teacher I already had a good knowledge of health and exercise, Stephen took this into consideration and as a result conversations were at a high and knowledgeable level. Initially he set realistic and workable targets around my overall aim which was to improve my all round muscular strength and endurance as well as maintaining my cardiovascular fitness. After setting aims he then looked into my lifestyle and diet suggesting ways in which these could be changed to benefit me in the gym ensuring that I get maximum benefit from my sessions. Once the initial meeting was over Stephen then gave me an induction session showing me the most effective and safest way to use equipment and the type of exercises that I should be doing to achieve my aim.
Stephen was never pushy nor did he insist that I sign up for more sessions, I chose to as I was confident that his knowledge would assist me in achieving my aim. He initially wrote me a training programme focusing on hypertrophy training method he guided me through this programme helping me with technique and tracking my progress carefully, they was some exercises that were not suited for me and he quickly adapted these in order for me to get maximum benefit. After 7 weeks he changed the programme onto a strength training method reducing the reps but making the weights heavier and increasing the recovery phases. Again he explained the reasons for this and guided me through the programme and tracked my progress carefully. At this stage I had gained 1.5 inch diameter in each bicep and 0.5 inch is chest. The programme then changed to a muscular endurance method with interval training to build up all round strength and endurance and to prevent tedium.
Throughout all the programmes I have had sessions with Stephen he is extremely motivational and ensures that I give maximum amount of effort. He frequently applies his knowledge to the sessions to assist me when training in the gym alone. In addition to this I have also had a handful of TRX sessions with him, again a different format of training that Stephen’s delivers well and with motivation.
I have gone from 10st 5lb to 11st 13lb since I started my fitness training .I am very pleased with the results so far and I would not have achieved them without Stephen’s help.
Overall Stephen is a true professional who is extremely knowledgeable and has the welfare and interest of his clients at heart. I would recommend his services to anybody my results speak for themselves.
Little but often!
Little and often – The key to weight management
Ah, snacking – the age old problem, or is it? Although it may have long been associated with poor eating habits, it seems that eating little and often can be the best way to meet nutritional needs. For instance, did you know that by eating five meals a day you can shed up to 5lb in just five days? You can almost bid adieu to the days when three square meals a day was the answer to sensible eating. Now it seems that by eating more regularly – all be it smaller portions – you can also avoid the feeling of being bloated and tiredness which can stem from gorging at one sitting. In short, little and often eating can help you lose weight, control your hunger and stay healthier.
Eating small, regular meals helps to stabilise your blood sugar, controls energy levels and curbs the dips in concentration and energy you may experience when you’re hungry. Hunger pains can find us reaching for the biscuit tin, but eating little and often keeps hunger at bay alongwith an urge to overeat.
It is important to understand the effect of low blood sugar levels on the body, and the food craving it causes. Keeping a food diary may help to highlight when you binge and the types of food you are eating that trigger a rapid and false sense of hunger.
Diabetics often follow the GI index (the Glycaemic Index) this is a chart which tells them how quickly a given carbohydrate can feed glucose into the blood, obviously glucose, sugar is number 1 at a score of 100 .But did you know for example cooked parsnips are at 97 and watermelon, yes a fruit is 72? So it shows that not all foods that we think are good for us in fact are. The GI index is great value for you to follow if you are engaged in weight management and regular training.
Cutting out alcohol, caffeine, and sugary foods will prevent the yo-yo effect on the body’s blood sugar levels.
Eating food that is low in sugar will provide a slow and sustained energy release throughout the day. Eating little and often, and including complex carbohydrates to fill you up will also help. Cutting out alcohol, caffeine, and sugary foods will prevent the yo-yo effect on the body’s blood sugar levels. The regulation of blood sugar is controlled within our body by the hormone insulin and a sudden large rise in blood sugar promotes its production. Insulin is associated with the storage of fat.
Your body actual burns calories when you eat, this is called the thermal effect of food (TEF), TEF accounts for between 6-10% of daily energy expenditure for men and between 6-7% for women So you see by eating little but often your body keeps ticking over , it keeps on burning the calories never having time to rest . It gives you more sustained energy and also increases your metabolism which is great for weight management.
It is also important to keep well hydrated by drinking plenty of water, 77% of the time when you feel hungry you are in fact just thirsty.
Before you undertake a diet plan you should always seek help from a medical professional. Some eating regimes may not be suitable for people with health conditions, so it is always important to check first.
If you combine eating healthily with eating little and often and take into account the above advice with regular exercise you will get the results you want !!!!
