Archive for August, 2010

Yes I convinced the gym instructor at my gym some months ago to buy some KB’s.

Coz they ain’t cheap – right ? I used them a bit but found it a little lame. Well having got my new weight vest it seemed the KB’s may be a good combination.

Some barbell work is inconvenient with a vest (like bench press) – dead lifts are excellent though.

Same with machines – its not quite what the vest was designed for.

Kettlebells’s and the weight vest give the most killer intense workout you can imagine. Throw in some dead lifts and barbell curls and you will be sore the next day.

I like to use my vest for 3 hours at a stretch. Normally this will include a weights workout and a good long walk.

THIS IS NOT ME (I’m handsome) LOL

Image from : http://swingsnatch.blogspot.com/

Really training with Kettlebells alone is lame – once you have hit them with a vest there is no turning back.

Weight vests are serious kit – DO NOT RUSH !!!

Be very careful to break in to using a vest – no plyometrics for the first 3 months. No running or jumping for the first 3 months.

You want your hips, spine & knees to slowly adapt to the added weight. Do stretches and joint strengthening to adapt to the vest. After some weeks you can slowly add more movement oriented exercise.

Weight training and walking are fine for the beginning as are low impact calisthenics like push ups and pull ups.

After time you can add weight and plyometric moves.

I was sixteen when I started lifting. I got two dumbells and a barbell for my 16th birthday. I used to train at a small town gym too.

At nineteen I finally left home and started training at Youthtown gym in Auckland. At that time & for many years it was a power lifters gym & many competitive Olympic lifters trained there.

I’ve trained at this same gym for 23 years now.

At Home I have a bunch of stuff:

2x Fat grip dumbells
Weight vest
Gripstik
Power Twister
Chest Expander
Eagle Catcher
Hand Grippers
EMS machine
Sledge Hammer
Jump Rope

So although I hit the gym 3-4 times a week if I am not sick or busy with work I can still squeeze in a decent workout at home.

Today I finally bought my first weight vest. I wore it for 3 hours straight away to test it out. Its only a 40 lb model so this was not challenging although I was glad to get it off by the end.

I intend to add steel shot to the vest over time and increase the weight.