Kettlebells

I feel like I need to share another experience I just had. During the month of hiking, I did another activity too. I tried kettlebell training. A friend of mine has been dying to try it for a long time and because I'm such a good friend and because of this active lifestyle thing I do, I agreed to do it with her. And I was actually excited about it.

Here's how it went:

We arrived at the tiny little office space building and tried to get upstairs to where the "gym" was located. The elevator wouldn't even acknowledge that we had pushed the button requesting a lift. So my friend called the trainer asking how to get in the building. Unfortunately, the trainer wasn't so sure how to make it work either. Being the judgemental ass that I can be sometimes ;) I'm thinking "this ain't good". But I maintained my composure and tried to have a positive attitude about what my wonderful friend was getting me into.

We finally got upstairs after the trainer came down to let us in. There were 4 of us total: the trainer, her mother, my friend, and myself. And here it comes...another judgement. Damn! The trainer seemed nice enough but there was just something about her that made one of my eyebrows raise without my permission to do so. Oh well, keep my mouth shut and my judgements to myself. Perhaps all is well and this is going to be an eye-opening life-changing experience. I'm looking for the best here, can you tell?

The warm up was definitely the deal sealing judgement for me. This alleged warm up consisted of 12 minutes of bouncing and shaking limbs in all directions. I'm thinking to myself "why in god's name am I paying $20 for this?". Oh yes, I like my friend and I'm open to trying new things. Yes, yes, yes...that's right.

I have to say that before I even agreed to try this with her, I already had some reservations. I looked at a YouTube video of a kettlebell workout and wasn't impressed. I've learned a lot about working out and weight lifting and healthy living. I feel like I know enough to at least see something and adequately evaluate it as being a good idea or not. Well, when I first saw the kettlebell workout, my first thought was "that can't be good for the body". But...I did it anyway.

So the trainer started going over the basics of how to grip it and how to stand and the perfect amount of arch in your back...etc. It was then time to try it. I picked up my lovely pink kettlebell and swung it around a couple times. Not bad. I did it a couple more times...oooo....that was a little twinge in my lower back. Damn it! "Okay, how about we try another move" she said. I have an open mind and maybe she knows better. She is after all a trainer right. Um....

We went through the basic one hand deal, then the two hand deal, then cleans, then presses, jerks, overhead squats, and a weird plank position thing. Let me explain cleans to you a little here. Cleans are when you start with the one hand deal then you let the cannon ball with a handle flop on your forearm and you hold it there for an undisclosed amount of time. Why....I have no idea. But that's how it works. I was actually good at it I guess. I don't know how someone can be good or not at flopping a heavy weight on your arm repeatedly but I guess I had good form. Cleans didn't seem to hurt my back so I thought they were fine. Um...ya...NO. I had a 4" bruise on my left forearm and a 2" bruise on my right arm after doing the lovely cleans. I'm not a big person so 4" of my forearm is about half of my entire forearm.

Get the picture? No? Here are some visuals for you.