Today we’re going to cover a few different areas of the TT Kettlebell workout program that, if applied correctly,  will lead to fewer setbacks and in turn, faster fat loss results.

CHALLENGE WORKOUTS:

So, let’s start out by talking a little bit about the challenge workouts in the TT Kettlebell workouts. 

At the end of every phase you’ll find a high-rep, timed workout.  These high-intensity workouts were designed to give you a rite of passage to the next level.  Each workout must be completed within the required and specified time noted in the chart.

You can attempt these workouts as many times as you wish and whenever you like; however, it is advised to make sure that you complete the entire phase of the program prior to attempting the workout.

There are seven challenge workouts in total, and as each new TT Kettle Bell Revolution program comes out, a corresponding challenge workout will be available as well.  In fact, when our membership site rolls out, the address for that will be www.KettleBellWorkouts.com/members.  There’ll be an entire section devoted to our challenge workouts.

WORKOUT SUMMARY PAGE:

Getting into the workouts now, you’ll find a workout summary page at the beginning of every phase.  The summary page will show you all the workouts in that particular phase and all the exercises involved. 

 TRAINING WORKSHEET:

After the summary page you’ll find a training worksheet for each respective day of the workout for you to record your results. 

Now, I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to use these sheets and record your progress.  Studies have shown that the more information about your workout that you write down, the more likely you are to achieve your goals.  Don’t take this lightly.

Record everything from the way you use to how many reps you finish to how you felt that particular day – everything matters.  When recording, it’s important for you to understand how to progress. 

In this program, we progress by making PRs, or personal records. 

Now, personal records, all that means is that you want to do better.  Each successive attempt at a workout or a lift or exercise.  You want to beat your previous recorded weight or time. That’s why recording your results are critical to your success with this program.

WARM-UP:

Another important element of the program, and one that’s often overlooked, is the warm-up.  Now, I know you’ve heard this time and time again, but it needs to be stressed – each and every time you begin a workout, that you need to warm up.

In this workout there are very specific movement-based exercises and/or stretches that we do for the warm-up. 

The first exercise for the warm-up is the Y squat.  This is an exercise where it involves you holding your hands up straight up over your head as if you were in a 1:00 and 11:00 position, squeezing your shoulder blades down and back and then squatting up and own.

We squat in this Y position to really highlight the upper back area and the flexibility and mobility required in our shoulders for kettle bell training.

The second exercise is a kneeling push-up, or regular push-ups.  Now, this involves two things.  Number one, you getting down on the floor and holding a plank position first, and then squeezing your shoulder blades and bending your elbows as you come down into that push-up.

Now, it’s of utmost importance that you make sure that your chest falls down into the hand area of when you’re pushing up.  I see a lot of people make the mistake of putting their hands out to where their head would be and then lowering themselves so that their shoulders and their neck is all scrunched up when they lower themselves in that push-up position.  We want our shoulders down and away, so make sure that you’re lowering yourself chest-down to the hand area.

Third exercise is maybe a new one to most of you called the rise and shine, and all this involves is you getting down into a crouch position while you’re on your feet, into the fetal position, and then extending your back and your hips, squeezing your glutes, and really opening your chin up and looking up to the sky as you bring your arms up into that Y position again.

What this does is this progresses the pattern of you extending your hips and really forces you to open up all the tight anterior muscles that get tight from driving too much or from sitting too much or just from everyday life in general.

The third exercise – or sorry, the fourth exercise are stick-ups.  Now, stick-ups are great for your upper back and they’re a great postural exercise, and they’re a little deceiving.  If you do them right you can really feel them.  If you do them wrong then you’re kind of standing on a wall wondering what’s going on.

Stick-ups involve you standing up against the wall with your head, your upper back, your tailbone, and your shoulders in contact with the wall, in addition to your elbows and your knuckles up on the wall.  You’re going to depress your shoulders, squeezing them down and back, and then slowly rise your knuckles and your elbows up on the wall, keeping a good grip in your shoulder blades as you raise your hands up.

Now, the idea behind this stick-up exercise is to make sure that your elbows and your knuckles and shoulders stay in contact with the wall the entire time, and you’re going to perform that as well for ten reps.

After that, and this may seem a little counterintuitive, you’ll see two static stretches. 

Now, the reason why we static-stretch these two particular areas is because we want to create an inhibitory response, or we want to turn off certain muscles just so that we can get the right muscles working when we start doing things with the kettle bell like squatting or swinging or doing kettle bell smashes or anything that involves a hip extension.

So that is your MANDATORY body weight warm-up protocol.  

WOMEN’S PROGRAM:

Now, let’s talk a little bit about going beyond the TT Kettle Bell Revolution.  With your basic package you were given the women’s program in addition to this quick start guide.  With the women’s program the question will arise whether or not you can start right away with that women’s program.

The answer to that question is NO. 

Start with the 28 weeks of the TT Kettle Bell Revolution main ebook first, master the exercises, get through the circuits.  I guarantee you you will get the results that you are looking for.

The women’s program concentrates a little bit more on problem areas that women face, particularly in the arms, in the hips, and in the glutes, or the butt, so you’ll notice that there are a lot more lower body exercises, a lot more exercises for the arms, and everything is done in a circuit style.

DELUXE PROGRAM:

Now, if you’re one of the lucky ones who was able to get the deluxe program, you’ll also notice that there are several different workouts involved with that deluxe package as well.  one of them happens to be the TT Kettle Bell Muscle Program.

Now, this muscle program is a little bit more intense and a little bit more involved in that you will require more than one kettle bell.  With the muscle-building program, we get into more involved exercises that use two kettle bells, like the double kettle bell swing, double kettle bell snatch, overhead lunges involving both kettle bells, in addition to military presses, push presses, and a lot more dynamic work using two kettle bells.

So there are a few tips to help you get off on the right foot with your TT KB workouts.  Train hard, but train safe!

-Chris Lopez, CTT, CSCS

Author, TT Kettlebell Revolution

 If you guys got my email yesterday, then you know I just downloaded a cool new bodyweight workout with some exercises that I’ve never done before.

So, not to "toot" my own horn, but I think I’m pretty good at bodyweight exercises.

BUT, these exercises were kind of humbling.  And I did them with ABSOLUTELY no previous knowledge on how to perform them.  

In fact, this is the FIRST time that I’ve ever tried them.

Check out the video below as I go through a couple of them … and check to see if I make a fool of myself

Check out the TACFit Program HERE and download your free video and ebook with these exercises and a couple more!

Okay, so now that you’re comfortable with the kettle bell weight you’ve chosen, let’s turn our attention to the actual program itself.  

The first question you might have is which part of the program do I start with?

Obviously, if you’ve been training for a little while and you’ve got a lot of experience with kettle bells, then you wouldn’t want to start off at the beginner phase.

Conversely, if you’re an absolute beginner who’s never exercised a day in your life, then starting out by picking up an iron cannonball with a handle on it can be a little intimidating, so let’s start there.

BEGINNER:
Beginners should absolutely start with the beginner phase one workouts.  

These workouts were designed for two reasons:  

One, to teach you the fundamentals of the most common exercises, and by that I don’t just mean kettle bell exercises, but exercise in general.

There are a lot of principles in kettle bell training that carry over into regular exercise with resistance.  You’ll notice that in this phase, body weight training is the most prevalent form of exercise.  

I come from a training philosophy whereby if you can’t handle your own body weight, then you have no business using external resistance – be it a kettle bell, a medicine ball, a barbell, or a dumbbell.  

You need to MASTER THE BASICS first – push-ups, body weight squats.  You need to learn how to squeeze your shoulder blades together without allowing your shoulders to hike up to your ears or how to bend forward without flexing or rounding your back.

The second reason why beginners should start at the beginner phase one is because it teaches you how to use your abs properly.  

Now, I hate using the word "core," but this area of the beginner phase one is called core support because of that reason.  You must learn how to support your torso and midsection area – your core.

This part of the beginner phase one will teach you how to properly brace your abs and show you that your abs aren’t meant to bring your chest into your hips as in a crunch or a sit-up as previously thought years ago, but the actual purpose of your abdominals  is to stabilize your spine and to prevent rotation.

Think of it this way – if your abs were meant to bring your chest into your hips as in a sit-up or a crunch, then it would look like a hamstring because that would be a flexion type of muscle – a single-joint muscle.

But they don’t look like that.  They have lines running both vertically and horizontally across them, because they’re there to stabilize you in all planes of movement, to prevent rotation and to really stabilize your spine and your fragile low back.

INTERMEDIATE:
Okay.  If you’re not an absolute beginner and you have some experience in the weight room and with kettle bells, then my suggestion to you would be to start at the intermediate phase one workouts, with two exceptions.

Number one, you must be able to complete the full core support program found in both of the beginner phases – that is, you must be able to hold a plank for three minutes, hold a side plank for two minutes, hold a hip bridge for three minutes, and hold a prone cobra for three minutes.

Now, this is for your SAFETY only.  Again, kettle bell training involves a lot of stabilization and a lot of focus on bracing your abdominals, so being able to complete that core support program is of the utmost importance.

The second exception is that you must be able to complete the challenge workout in both beginner phases within the required amount of time, and I’ll tell you a little bit more about the challenge workouts in just a second.

ADVANCED:
Now, the question of whether or not you can start right at the advanced phase may come up, and my suggestion to you is no, DON’T START HERE.  The intermediate phase workouts will be a challenge enough for you, even if you have experience in the weight room and you have done a little bit of kettle bell work before.

The intermediate phase of the workout was designed to progress you to the advanced phase.

And by skipping the intermediate phase and going right into the advance, you could be losing a lot of what you will be learning in that critical intermediate phase, as far as basic movements are concerned and learning several techniques to progress you into the more advanced and more strenuous workouts.

So those are your two starting points.  

If you’re an absolute beginner then I say start with the beginner phase one.  If you have experience in the weight room and with kettle bells, then start at intermediate phase one but make sure that you are able to master the core program and both of the challenge workouts found in beginner one and beginner two.

If you are in shape and you’ve done a lot of training before like turbulence training, then mastering those two challenge workouts and the core program should not be a problem at all.  After that, feel free to go right into the intermediate phase and get ready and prepped to get into the advanced phase.

Remember, it’s not a race.  The most important thing is safety and thereby mastering the proper technique to gain the greatest benefits from these kettle bell workouts.

-Chris Lopez, CTT, CSCS

Author, TT Kettlebell Revolution

 I don’t do the protein shake thing anymore.

I’m not into the powdered mass gainers, muscle builders or energy drinks either.

If I do make a shake, it’ll be something like THIS with REAL FOOD like fruits and vegetables, plant-based extracts and coconut milk.

But, I usually train either early in the morning when I can’t run a noisy blender (for fear of waking my wife and 5 kids) or in the middle of the day where I don’t have access to a blender.

So, these are the 2 post-workout nutrition solutions that I turn to…

Do you have any post workout nutrition ideas. I’d love to know, just in case I’m missing something.

Chris Lopez, CTT, CSCS

The first question that you may have before you even consider starting out with kettle bell training is how heavy of a kettle bell should I start out with? 

The general guidelines for picking your kettle bell are as follows:
 

Most women who are beginners would usually start with an eight-kilogram or a 12-kilogram bell, depending on their training age, and by TRAINING AGE I mean how long you’ve been training, not your actual chronological age.

Female Experienced: 

So for example if you’ve been training for several years now and are familiar with the basic exercises of squats and dead lifts, lunges, rows, and presses, then again, depending on how strong you are you may want to start with a 12-kilogram bell, which would be the heavier for women.
 

Female Beginner: 

If you’re an absolute beginner then you should start out with an eight-kilogram bell or even a four or a six-kilogram bell, depending on how confident you are with lifting weight.
 

Male Experienced: 

If you’re a male beginner to kettle bell training but you have experience in the weight room, you can get away with using a 16 to 20-kilogram kettle bell. 

Male Beginner: 

If you’re an absolute beginner then I would suggest, depending on your strength levels, again to start with a 12 or a 16-kilogram bell.

REMEMBER – each individual is different and we learn and adapt to different movements and exercises at our own pace, so put your ego away and start out SLOW and UNDER CONTROL without being too ambitious with how much you think you can lift.  So those are the two starting weights that I would suggest. 

Again, females, eight to 12 kilograms, again, depending on your training age; males, 16 to 20 kilograms, depending on your training age.  Those are the starting points for both.

Let me know if there are any other questions I can answer for you. Train safe and have fun!

-Chris Lopez, CTT, CSCS

Author, TT Kettlebell Revolution

Everyone knows that I LOVE combining bodyweight exercises with my TT Kettlebell Revolution Workouts.

Here are my Top 3 Favorite Bodyweight Exercises of the moment done at my new spot in Toronto, Fortis Fitness.

-Chris

Man, I’m having a rough year :-) 

So I’m writing this as my currently-potty-training-2-year-old, Mikey, climbs all over me trying to get my attention.

The baby is asleep - for at least the next 20-minutes - finally … he was running a fever last night.

And my wife is upstairs in bed nursing the flu (this is the second time that we’ve gotten the flu shot and have gotten the flu).

I’ve slept a total of 6 hours the past 2 nights and am running on fumes.

Weeks like this don’t happen too often, but when they do, I’m usually prepared (or at least as prepared as I can be for situations like this). In fact, as much as logic tells me not to, it’s weeks like this that I really get focused and dismiss any thoughts of taking the easy way out and order some take out because of the limited time I have.

Instead, I hit the organic food market and load up on fresh fruits and veggies and gorge on as much nutrient dense foods as I can get my hands on. Sure, it would be convenient to call Pizza Hut and order some grease for me and the kids because time is really limited, but I opt for fresh REAL FOOD for my family …

It’s all about short term sacrifice for long-term reward (the "reward" being nobody else getting sick in this house).

In addition to amping up the REAL FOOD consumption, I also have cut down the workout time a little.

Because of my overworked immune system (from the lack of sleep and interacting with someone infected with the flu), I don’t need my body to be stressed more than it should.

So instead of training my usual 45-minutes, I’ve opted to cut my training times down by 2/3rds.

All that means for me is to do some foam rolling, do some joint mobility drills, go through a very thorough warm-up, and then train hard for 15 minutes. I’ll train 3 times this week and mix in some chin-ups just for fun everyday.

When you’re constructing a Kettlebell and Bodyweight Fusion Workout like the one I did today (and will be doing for the rest of the week at least), you need to make sure you cover all the necessary movement patterns (that’s trainer jargon for "exercises").

When I design my kettlebell fat loss circuit workouts, I make sure that I include …

1) an upper body push (push-ups or some type of standing KB overhead press)

2) an upper body pull (chin-ups or renegade rows are my favorites)

3) a bilateral lower body exercise (a squat or if you’re really pressed for time, you can combine this with component "5" below and do KB swings for reps)

4) a uni-lateral lower body exercise (a lunge, pistol or split squat variation  - 1-leg split deadlifts are my favorite right now)

5) a metabolic finishing component (usually in the form of a snatch or KB Swing)

You can get into more complicated stuff like ladders, smoke sessions, pyramids and other stuff, but this week calls for something simple that will amp up my energy and keep me going into the wee hours of the morning (hopefully for not much longer).

So here’s the workout that I’ll be doing this week as I try to make it through the flu, potty training and an infant fever…

The "Please-Just-Get-Me-Through-This-Week" KB/BW Fusion Circuit

1) 1-arm KB Thrusters (this is a squat to overhead press holding a KB in one hand and combines 1 and 3 above) x 8 per side

2) Renegade Rows x 10 reps per side

3) 1-Leg Split Deadlifts x 8 reps per side (see picture RIGHT)

4) Chin-ups x 6 reps

5) Push-ups x 30s

6) 1-arm KB Swings x 20 per side (alternating every 10 reps)

I’ll finish that with some light stretching of tight muscles (usually my pecs, quads & hip flexors) and then I’ll have my post-workout meal of the moment - carrots & hummus.

Then it’s back to the grind.

Having 5 kids is fun, but man, when you’re significant other is sick and you have to go 1 on 5 … it’s pretty challenging.

I hope the rest of the year is easier because we’re only in the first week!

Happy New Year!

-Chris, CTT, CSCS

P.S. If you’re sick of the fluff and filler of regular workouts then you should get started with the TT Kettlebell Revolution … these workouts will save you time and get you better results than any spinning class or bench & bi’s workout ever could …

=>Click HERE to get started with the TT Kettlebell Revolution

Maybe it’s just the natural path that my life seems to be taking now, but I think my theme for the next decade as I go into 2010 will be "living with enough".

As a result of that, I’m a neo-minimalist, I’m more aware of my carbon footprint, I’m over my "accumulate-as-much-sh*t-as-possible-even-if-I-can’t-afford-it" phase of my 20’s and I’m more concerned with spending time with my family and being healthy than having the latest and greatest gadget, pair of Nikes or iPod. 

I’ve also come to realize that when it comes to training, for me, I don’t need to train 7-days-per-week to get the results that I want.

Why?

Because I live an active lifestyle that incorporates various activities into my day that keep me "fit" already.

And that’s where Big Bold Prediction for 2010 comes in…

The Minimalist Workout

This one goes hand in hand with #1. Because people are becoming more health conscious, I think more and more of them will opt to live an "active" lifestyle choosing fun activities like recreational sports, hiking, surfing, snowboarding and bike riding for their "exercise".

Not to say that going to the gym isn’t fun, but a lot of people really dread going to the gym. I think you have to have a certain personality to really enjoy it. 

But, if you have an individual who…

-commutes to work by riding his bike everyday,

-plays pick-up basketball twice per week,

-goes snowboarding or hiking on the weekend,

-meditates for 30 minutes everyday,

-eats a great diet of Real Food and

-sleeps 8-9 hours per night

 Then how often, really, does this person need to go to the gym to get or stay in shape? 

 For someone like this, I’d just prescribe him a 2-day per week program. Maybe something like this…

Day 1

1) Squat (3 x 6)

2a) Chin-ups (3 x AMAP )

2b) Push-Ups (3 x AMAP )

2c) DB Lunges (3 x 10/side)

3) KB Swings x 100 

Day 2

1) Deadlift (3 x 6)

2a) Standing KB Military Press (3 x 8 )

2b) KB Row/Bodyweight Row/Renegade Row (3 x 10/side)

2c) Pistols (3 x AMAP )

3) Burpee Tabata Protocol (20s ON, 10s OFF x 8 )

That would be it. He’d have to commit a total of 90 minutes per week (2 sessions of 45 minutes or less on say, Monday and Thursday) to go to the gym and train.

 And that’s all he’d need because he (or she) is an active individual with a great consciousness of health and life.

 Too many people get caught up in the minutiae of training and they think that they need to be in the gym all day, everyday in order to see results.

 I used to tell my clients that it isn’t about the 2 or 3 hours per week that I see you that will get you results … it’s what you do with the other 165 hours in the week and how you live your life during those hours.

 So that’s my challenge to you for 2010 and beyond …

 How well can you master the other 165 hours in your day when you’re not training?

 Are you wasting time watching TV when you could be reading to or playing with your kids? (By the way, I don’t count watching TV with your kids as "family time").

 Are you working out 7 days per week going half-assed? Could you spend your time more wisely by cutting your training time by 2/3, training with intensity and then doing things of more impact and meaning with your new found time?

 Now’s the time to start.

 The New Year is upon us.

-Chris Lopez, CTT, CSCS

Author, TT Kettlebell Revolution 

I hope you’re having a very safe and happy holiday season thus far.

It’s the usual "craziness" in the Lopez household with family time, family time and more family time.  

Food, as I’m sure you know already, has been abundant for the past week. I’ve managed to keep things under control by making sure that I fill my plate with vegetables and limiting my starchy carbohydrate intake. I’m not a big drinker either so I haven’t consumed many "empty" calories.

From a workout standpoint, I haven’t picked up a kettlebell in a week! I’m taking these 2 holiday weeks off and am just doing some bodyweight training.

I got a copy of Combat Conditioning from Craig Ballantyne for Christmas, so I’ve been devouring it and really getting into the handstand push-ups and back bridges.

A few weeks ago, Craig asked me to give him my 3 Bold Fitness Predictions for 2010 for a report that he did that you can pick-up HERE.

My predictions are based mainly on my own experiences and how I see the fitness and health industry evolving.

My life lately, has taken a bit of a minimalist "turn". Maybe it’s because I have 5 kids or maybe it’s because as I get older I’m starting to realize that there are other things that are more important than "stuff" - like family, friends, relationships.

Some say that I’m taking this SIMPLICITY thing a little too far because I shaved my head on Christmas Eve. 

In saying that, I do think that Living With Enough and Simplicity will be big themes for a lot of people for 2010, so with that my 1st Big Bold Prediction for the Fitness Industry in 2010 is the rebirth of… 

The Minimalist Gym - Machine-less & Cardio-less gyms.

I knew this was coming  for a while now, it was just a matter of timing. Now, with everyone being "spending conscious" and living simpler lives, it looks like that time is now. 

There are only a handful of gyms/training facilities doing this currently, but I think the concept of gyms without treadmills, ellipticals, butt blasters and ad/abductor machines is going to go mainstream. Partly because of the economic times (big cardio machines are expensive) and partly because the end user is becoming a lot smarter and more informed than before.  

It’s becoming less and less of a secret that machines are unnatural and that cardio flat out sucks. Now I’m starting to notice more gym owners educating themselves or hiring staff who actually know what they’re doing and are advising against recumbent bikes, leg curl machines and ab crunchers. 

So now, you’ll see more people doing metabolic weight training, kettlebell swings, bodyweight circuits, short distance sprints and interval training instead of cardio.  People will be squatting and deadlifting more, using free weights, barbells & kettlebells. And trainers are going to have to work a lot harder - no more standing by a treadmill talking to your client while he or she walks for 10-minutes to warm-up.

If I were to put together my own facility, there wouldn’t be a machine in sight.

I’d have ropes hanging from the ceiling for climbing (like in PE class), a series of different horizontal bars of various heights for chin-ups, 1 or 2 power racks, a glute-ham raise, dumbbells that went up to 100lbs, a bunch of kettlebells and club bells and 1000 square feet of open space.

As a director of the gym, I would make it mandatory that all participants complete and master proper form on the basic bodyweight exercises (or their variations) - squats, push-ups, (assisted) chin-ups, bridges, planks, etc.

My Philosophy … You don’t have much business using external resistance if you can’t handle your own bodyweight.

 It’s not sexy, and a lot of keeners will be put off by that statement, but this isn’t about milking you for your gym membership money.

It’s about delayed gratification and long-term results.

After all, anything really worth achieving requires hard work and patience.

Stay tuned for Big Bold Prediction #2 coming on Wednesday.

Enjoy your holidays!

-Chris

p.s. Don’t forget to pick-up your copy of the TT Kettlebell Revolution and get 2010 started off the right way!

=> Get your copy of the TT Kettlebell Revolution HERE

Believe it or not, but I’m writing this post at Starbucks (I never go to Starbucks) in Newmarket, Ontario (about 75kms north of my beloved Toronto).

Big deal, you say? Actually, yes.

See, on Saturday we drove up to Bradford, Ontario for my daughter’s volleyball tournament. I left around 7am with AJ (my 11 year old daughter) and my wife left a few hours later with my father-in-law to meet us up there.

On their way up, she started having "blinding" pains in her midsection followed by several sessions of vomiting. Alarmed at the violence of the sickness, my father-in-law found the closest Emergency Room (which is here in Newmarket) and brought her in.

The staff seeing the severity of the situation, admitted her right away - I think that was the fastest wait time in Emergency Room history.

It turns out she has pancreatitis - due to an over abundance of triglycerides in her blood flow that is common after pregnancy (our son, Joaquin, is 7 weeks old).

So, I have spent the past 2 nights sleeping in a cot here in her hospital room with the baby

 (because he’s nursing). My girls - all 4 of them - have been at my parents house for the past few nights about 15 minutes away.

Knowing that I will be taking a few days off to give a hand in recovery, I broke away for a couple of hours to get on the net (apparently they don’t know what the internet is at this hospital) so that I can get some work done, pick-up some coffee and get some fresh air.  

I also managed to hit a couple of stores to pick-up some Christmas presents for some friends.

Times counting down to the big day, and in my house the excitement is mounting. My kids are stoked and my wife and I have been trying franticly to make decisions on what to get the kids from their wishlists … no easy task if you’re a parent.

My wife asked me a few days ago - before the whole medical fiasco - what I wanted for Christmas, so aside from my standard answer of "I already have everything I need" (which I do), what I really want is a copy of Dragon Door’s new book, "Convict Conditioning" by Paul "Coach" Wade - a book about hardcore bodyweight training.

As most of you know, I’m a huge fan of bodyweight training to complement your kettlebell training and this book got the highest recommendation from some of the most respected people in our industry.

If you’re not sure what you want for Christmas or are resolving that 2010 is going to be the year that you cut the fluff out of your busy life and do only the things that have the most impact, then take a look at the TT Kettlebell Revolution Wish Lists that I’ve created to help you get the most out of your workouts.

There’s both a "Beginner" and "Advanced" version.

These lists will give you the absolute essential tools that you’ll need to get lean and athletic with Kettlebell Workouts.

Remember, as I’ve said before, we train with KBs and bodyweight because it’s the simplest and easiest way to lose fat, gain muscle and get lean and athletic - all in the comfort of your own home using minimal equipment and minimal time.

So without further delay, here are the Beginner and Advanced KB Essentials Wishlists…

Beginner

-12kg Kettlebell (for women) or a 16kg Kettlebell (for men)

-A copy of the most efficient kettlebell home fat loss program available - The TT Kettlebell Revolution

-Gym Boss Timer to time your intervals

-A pair of wrist bands (to help you in learning how to snatch a kettlebell properly)

-A "hole free" door way chin-up bar

 Advanced

-16kg Kettlebell (for women) or a 24kg Kettlebell (for men)

-A copy of the most efficient kettlebell home fat loss program available - The TT Kettlebell Revolution

-Convict Conditioning from DragonDoor.com

-An ab-wheel

So if you have a special someone who wants to make 2010 their year for change, take a look at the list above and see if there’s anything that they need and save giving the fruitcake to your boss or the teacher that gave your kid the undeserving "C" in gym class.

Enjoy your week and I’ll keep you updated on how my wife is doing.

-Chris