Posts Tagged ‘weight lifting’

At first sight kettlebells dont seem versatile in the least. A set bunch of weights and 4kg between them. The weights they come in are not even high.

But the seasoned lifter knows better. Most of the resistance from kettlebells is in the form of torque. Over which you have 100% control – even though nobody created the electronics to directly measure it yet.

Rest assured it is in the hundreds of pounds.

So while you may be swinging 24 or 32kg of steel – the actual resistance is far far more and you can vary it as you please.

If you are tight for cash you can tape plates to the bottom of your kettlebells or tape them together at the handles.

Just like I do to lift more weight:

I started training when I was 16 and began using this gym at 19. That’s 23 years I’ve been going to this same gym.

Its the Youthtown gym in Auckland, New Zealand. They have a shooting range, squash courts, basketball, heated pool and the gym. For many years the New Zealand Olympic lifting team used to be based here but they moved on.

I have a bunch of gear at home too like kettlebells, weight vest and random equipment.

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.

I am still planning on my marathon run. But over the last few weeks I have been doing HIIT training. This involves 30 seconds of super intense activity followed by 30 seconds of moderate activity – you continue this without rest for 15 minutes.

The beauty is you can do it with any form of exercise. My first HIIT workout I used the rowing machine for 15 minutes then the grinder for another 15. So it was 30 minutes in total then I did some abdominal work and some stretches.

Because HIIT workouts are so short you can still do your regular weights too – which I am.

High Intensity Interval Training has beed proven in scientific studies to be highly effective in combating stubborn abdominal fat. It is also more effective than traditional long slow aerobics at burning fat and speeding up the metabolism.