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5 Kettlebell Training Tips
Kettlebell Workouts for Arms
Kettlebells are usually preferred for total body workouts that tone all the muscles of the entire body. Even then, regular kettlebell workouts are great for upper body activation and stabilization. In fact, the off-balance shape of the kettlebell and its heavy weight compels you to put in more effort in each move thereby strengthening your grip, shoulders, forearms and the biceps and triceps.
The Kettlebell One Arm Row
Begin by placing the kettlebell on the floor and stand in a staggered pose with the left foot placed in front just ahead of the kettlebell. Dig your right foot firmly into the ground and hinge at the hips so that your upper body is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees to the ground. Maintain a straight spine and thrust your butt outward.
Rest your left elbow on the left knee for support and grab the kettlebell by its horns with your right hand. Pull the kettlebell towards your stomach while retracting the shoulders. Return to staggered position and repeat. Many certifications will insist you master this exericse during the level course.
The Kettlebell Seated One Arm Press
This is a great variation of the standard one-arm overhead kettlebell press and is just perfect for toning your arms. The workout completely leaves out your lower body and uses the strength of your shoulders and arm muscles to move the kettlebell.
Begin in a seated position with the kettlebell resting between the legs that are spread out slightly. Grab the kettlebell with one hand and place it in a rack position while the other hand stays outstretched in front. Keep shoulders firmly down, engage the core and maintain a neutral spine. Now press the kettlebell overhead in a locked position and hold for a few seconds. Pull the kettlebell down to rack position and repeat. When you enrol in your kettlebell qualification, this will be the type of exercise you’ll learn.
The Kettlebell Halo
This kettlebell training is great for improving strength and muscle coordination in the upper body as it engages your triceps, shoulders, back muscles and the core. When done regularly, the halo greatly improves your focus and intensity and you get maximum impact with each rep.
Begin in a standing position with feet placed between hip and shoulder distance. Hold the kettlebell upside down by its horns i.e. the bell should face upward. Dig your feet firmly into the ground and hold shoulders down so that your chest stays thrust outward.
Now start moving the kettlebell with both hands in a circular motion around the head. Maintain a straight spine so that the torso never moves along with your arms. Go full way behind the head and in front in complete circles.
The Kettlebell Push Press
This is another excellent workout for toning your arms and upper body. In this you use two kettlebells which means double the fun and also the impact. You’ll find many great variations of this exercise online, try it for yourself!
To begin, stand with feet placed slightly apart and maintain a straight spine. Grab one kettlebell in each arm and clean them to your shoulder height. Now squat slightly and then rise in a rapid motion; using the momentum of the legs to drive the kettlebells overhead. Once locked in overhead position, lower kettlebells to shoulder level and repeat.
What is Functional Training?
People exercise for various reasons. Some want to shed fat; some want to sustain a healthy weight; some want to improve stamina while some might do it just to flaunt a toned body. Whatever be your reasons; does it improve your performance in daily life?
The fact is; working out may make you fit and stronger but you may still have difficulty in performing daily activities. What you need is some life-improving workouts and that is exactly what functional training offers.
All about Functional Fitness Training
Explained simply, it is a type of exercise that trains your body for different everyday activities that you perform in your daily life. Surprised? Yes, you do need to make your body go through the drill if you want to avoid injury performing simple chores like lifting or climbing stairs.
Your body loses its flexibility and suppleness as you age (or maybe due to some injury) and you may find it difficult to perform everyday tasks smoothly. Even adolescents may need a few sessions of this workout to develop a correct posture and a straight spine.
There are many ways you can perform functional fitness training, my favourite is with kettlebells. Kettlebell training is extremely effective at burning fat and building lean muscle.
Studies show it’s 10 x more effective than standard cardio training in your local gym. There are many kettlebell instructor certifications that teach personal trainers how to train their clients with this great tool, I recommend the Functional Fitness Academy.
In fact, there are several benefits of undergoing this type of training and more and more people are checking it out.
How it Works
Fundamentally, this type of training simply imitates what you do throughout the day and focuses on improving them so as to give you a better experience.
For example; if you are sitting at your office desk throughout the day; functional training will include workouts to correct your posture; straighten your spine and strengthen the muscles involved. This helps you to avoid backaches or shoulder aches which are commonly associated with sitting at once place for hours.
As explained; you go through a gamut of movements throughout the day that involves muscles in your entire body. So the focus of this type of training is always on all the muscles involved rather than specific muscle groups or body zones. Doing these workouts regularly will improve your entire range of motions such as walking, running, jumping, lifting, pulling, pushing, bending, turning, climbing, lunging and so on.
Who is it For
Everybody should do some type of functional fitness training so that everyday chores do not become hazardous. Even then, there are people with specific conditions who can derive more benefit from such type of training.
Trainers typically recommend this training to pregnant women as they cannot do just any type of workouts such as crunch or planks. However, such women would still want to strengthen their leg muscles and glutes so as to move around comfortably with that additional weight. Flexibility of feet and ankles is also important as these tend to swell. This type of training is ideal for such women as it mimics their real-life movements so as to improve their strength and comfort.
For those recovering from injuries, functional fitness can expedite the rehab process. Through this training, you can once again learn how to use your injured zone optimally.
Athletes too can benefit immensely as they can learn how to perfect their moves for best impact. The training focuses on repetitive motions to enhance performance and confidence.
Using the incentive system to get more personal training clients
Getting more clients and marketing your business is an everyday challenge for a fitness business. You have to constantly be on your toes and think of something different to market your business and gather more clients.
Refer-a-friend schemes
This is one of the most widely used and preferred way to market a service. The marketing technique used here is to offer your existing clients incentives such as tickets to a football game, dinner vouchers, shopping vouchers, free diet plan, discounts on your training services or free training sessions for a training you have introduced. This motivates your clients to spread the word about your services and market your business.
Celebrating the achievements of a member in front of the entire batch of participants also helps motivate and inspire others to do the same and get more memberships. You can also have a referral contest once in three months in which a bumper reward of an iPad, mobile phone or sports kit is awarded to the member who gets the maximum number of memberships.
Offer discounts
Approach sports clubs or communities and offer them bulk discounts as incentives. This way you will have a group of people dedicated towards one common goal, wanting to avail your services. Although you are giving them incentives in the form of discounts for each member who joins you, it will ultimately be beneficial for you since there are a large number of people. Also any new member who joins their club or community will approach you for training services because of the incentives you offer. This is a good online fitness marketing strategy that is sure to have good results.
Engage your staff
If you have other instructors or junior trainees assisting you for training, offer them incentives in the form of freebies such as sports gear, shirts, shopping coupons, movie tickets, lunch coupons etc which will keep them motivated to bring new memberships. You can also inspire them to get more referrals by acknowledging their achievements in front of your other staff and awarding them as ‘Star of the month’.
Form partnerships with other businesses
There are various businesses like shops, departmental stores, sports stores, grocery shops etc around you. Take their help and have them display your poster at their shops. Ask them to distribute your flyers, pamphlets, business cards at their counters. This will expose your business to a great number of prospective customers. In return for this, you can offer them discounts on your services, freebies such as a music system for their store, mobile phones or sponsoring their annual outings.
Friends or Family involvement
It is a known fact that people who workout, enjoy exercising when they are in the company of their friends or family. Celebrate special events such as family/ friendship month. Give your clients incentives for getting their family members or friends during this month for training sessions. Your clients will be happy since they will have their loved ones working out with them for a discounted rate and they will also enjoy referral discount for themselves.
The incentive system is a great fitness advertising strategy for attracting new clients to your business. However, once you get new customers, you must be extra careful in retaining them with your expertise in the field and professionalism in attitude.