And nope, it’s not what you’re thinking – it’s not found inside
“Kettlebell Burn EXTREME!”.

This is a different formula using different mechanisms.

But first, let me ask you a question:

Have you gained a couple of unwanted pounds since last
summer and been struggling to get them off?

Or maybe you’ve never been as lean as you wanted to be
and this is the year you vowed to get where you always
dreamed – being able to take your shirt off or wear that two
piece with confidence.

Have no fear – you can do it in less time then you thought
possible.

(More on that later this week.)

In the meantime, let’s take a close look at that 3 step formula:

IE + ET + LA = RFL

IE = Intense Effort

One of the little known or often forgotten secrets for rapid
fat loss is putting forth an intense effort.

That’s one of the reasons sprinters are as lean as they are.

The problem is that it’s hard to go from zero to intense in
most exercises (like sprinting) without getting hurt.

Sure Swings will do this for some, but for many, if not most,
the Swing just doesn’t cover the ET or LA in this equation.

Remember, we’re not talking about fat loss here, but rapid
fat loss.

ET = Excessive Tension

One of the things most people don’t know how to do is create
or withstand tension let alone excessive tension.

What is “excessive tension”?

It’s intense and prolonged muscular contractions that challenge
your body’s energy systems and of course your mental
toughness.

This excessive tension causes you to burn calories at an
accelerated rate through increased heavy breathing and
energy expenditure and part 3 in the 3-step formula -

LA = Lactic Acid

Lactic Acid is one of the by products of intense exercise.

It’s downside is that it interferes with force production -
which means you can’t contract your muscles maximally
and your quality control can go right out the window.

The upside for fat-burning is this:

An increase in blood lactate increases growth hormone.

And growth hormone burns fat.

(Ok, that’s the simple science – there are some more steps
involved, but they’re not important to get the message
across.)

And RFL – well, that stands for Rapid Fat Loss.

So how do you put this simple 3 step formula to work for
you?

Stay tuned and I’ll show you.

Talk soon.

Geoff

P.S. This stuff works like crazy – I’ve been using since
back in my strength coaching days with my wrestlers
(1997!) and it never fails to deliver, especially when
you use a very specific dietary protocol.

Is there REALLY a difference between beginner and advanced KB workouts?

I get some amazing questions and comments from some
of my clients and readers, for which I’m very grateful.

In one recent conversation, a client wrote in and was
concerned that the workouts she was doing, were for
beginners, because they were too easy.

That brings up a great question – two actually – about our
KB workouts:

1. Is there REALLY a difference between a beginner’s
workout and an advanced trainee’s workout?

(I’ll get to the second question in a minute.)

Yes.

And no.

Lemme explain.

A raw beginner needs to learn the principles behind
KB training – what the movements are and how to do
the movements safely -

Things like folding/hinging the hips on the Swing
and how that carries over to the Clean and Snatch.

And how to protect the shoulder on the Get Up by
learning how to pack it. And later how this is used
on the Press.

And he needs to keep his training simple so he can
focus on these things.

And advanced trainee should be proficient with these
techniques along with the other KB exercises and
will know how to apply them to each of the exercises.

Pretty straightforward so far.

Now here’s where it gets interesting – which leads us
to our second question:

2. How do you make a beginner’s workout advanced?

Simple.

Use a heavier KB.

Playing around with a half bodyweight Get Up for example
is an “advanced” workout.

Here’s another example that looks like it could be a
beginner’s workout –

1H Swings – 5 reps, every 30s for 5 minutes, progressing
to 10 minutes.

Until you use a 48kg KB. Then all the stuff you learned
as a beginner comes flooding back to your brain
because the weight isn’t so light anymore.

And that means you have to be fully and mentally engaged.

So the real differences between beginner and advanced
workouts are simply:

1. The awareness, application, and mastery of certain
principles

2. The application of said principles to all the KB exercises

3. Size of KB.

If there’s ever any doubt if you’re doing a “beginner’s” workout,
and the workout feels way to easy – use a heavier KB.

Then it’ll feel very advanced as you fight to control your
movement and the KB’s movement.

For some great beginner’s, intermediate, and advanced
workouts that are incredibly time-efficient like that Swing
workout example – check these out -

http://kettlebellsecrets.com/express

Talk soon.

Geoff

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled – got some big announcements
for you coming up in the next couple of weeks.

P.P.S. One more difference between a beginner’s workout
and an advanced trainee’s workout is the volume of work they
can handle – a novice has a lower work capacity than an
advanced trainee. So the advanced trainee can do more.

However, an advanced trainee might be tempted to do more
work in the form of more exercises or more reps – that’s
not necessary and often times counter-productive.

The best way to get more work done is still more often
than not to add weight – use a bigger KB.

I’ve talked about her before.

She’s one of my favorite clients.

I first met her and her husband at The Summit of Strength in 2011. They celebrated their anniversary by attending. Right then and there I knew they were both special people.

She has such a beautiful, warm smile and a joy for life. And she’s strong. She told me her story while we were at the Summit and I knew why.

Karen Rossler has overcome some major obstacles and the her trusty kettlebell has been instrumental in the process.

So grab a cup a Joe, sit down, and take the next 5-10 minutes and get ready to be inspired. Cause if you’re feeling a little “blah” – Karen’s triumphant story will pick you up.

Geoff: Give us a little bit about your background – who you are, what you do for work, what you enjoy doing… that sort of thing.

Karen: I’ve been married for about 60% of my life.
Orthodox Christian
I’m an SFG, CK-FMS, ISSA-CFT, BA in Honors English Literature.
Co-owner of Sisu Strength with my husband, Michael
15 year stage three thyroid cancer thriver Love learning, reading, being with my family, teaching people how to move well and how to be strong.

GN: What first got you into exercise / working out?

KR: I was an active, athletic kid. I organized the neighborhood kids to play various games, climb trees, swing on ropes. Loved to race, climb trees, roller skate, run, pogo stick, play tether ball, 4 square, everything and anything was fair game for me. I had the broken bones, cuts and scrapes to prove it. My poor mom . . . .

In middle school, I signed up for gymnastics lessons. I loved it. When I got to high school, I went out for the gymnastics team. I had a great coach.

The first thing our coach did was introduce us to the weight room. We were the first girls’ team to venture into that territory. One whiff inside explained why. As soon as some girls walked in, they did a U turn to get the heck out of there. Coach hollered, “Get back in there! Get in there! NOW!” Then she locked the door. And we lifted. I loved it. Lifting, not the smell. I was always sure of myself, but I really started to feel strong. More confident at meets. My scores went way up and I started winning events and a couple of all-arounds. My sophomore year, I placed 4th at state on two events – without actually training for it. I started thinking about what I could do if I really planned ahead. And then the Navy moved my family to Connecticut. My new coach informed me I was too tall and too fat (I was 5’7” and about 115#). That was the beginning of decades of fighting my body. The confident, strong girl I had become started to fade away. “Skinny” was my new goal. Every workout, every meal skipped, everything was focused on “skinny”.

I ended up starving myself. The least I ate in a day would be an apple and maybe a granola bar. At most, I would have the apple, granola bar and maybe a very, very small dinner. Looking back, it’s a wonder I was able to function, much less make it through grueling practices five days per week. With every meal skipped, it became easier to skip the next one. I got really good at lying to my mom about eating. A pattern of eating dinner after practice – and, therefore, alone – made it super easy to tell my mom I had eaten what she had saved for me. At first, I was proud of myself for being able to conquer my body. I was winning the skinny game. When I got so famished that I had to eat, I felt guilty, ashamed, weak, and fat. I felt like such a failure. All because I needed to eat.

I wasn’t doing so well in meets – never placed, my scores were never as high as they had been when I was “fat”. Of course, my 17 year old brain couldn’t see the correlation between eating well and performing well. I had convinced myself that it was because I was fat. Still fat. Still a failure. So of course, that meant eating even less. Just an apple, no granola bar. Dinner a couple of nights a week at most. Talking about it now, I feel so sad for that girl I was then. And really ticked off at that idiot coach.

After I graduated, I went off to college and started to eat again. I gained about 10 pounds – which put me back in the almost healthy range – but I panicked because I thought I was fat. Or fatter. I was really confused, scared and angry. I had come to believe that “skinny” equaled “successful, smart, happy, admirable”. The thought of eating around others terrified me. I was so afraid of losing control – and also, of having them learn my secret. See, if they figured out that I wasn’t “naturally skinny”, they would realize that I was a fraud. That I was a failure. Thinking about what I wasn’t going to eat was just exhausting.

I met and married my husband, Michael, while in college. Being in a healthy, loving relationship enabled me to put “skinny” behind. I started using The FIRM workouts – “heavy” dumbbells + cardio. I remembered how much I loved lifting weights and just took off. I felt great, and I looked pretty good, too. Then we moved to DC. We had an hour commute each way, each day, which left precious little time for 1 hour workouts 5 days per week. My nutrition started to slide, and the weight started to creep on. My confidence started to slide, stress started to build, more fat came on. Lather, rinse, repeat.

When we moved into the city, I had more time to work out, so I went back to The FIRM. I also walked about 4 miles per day. The weight came off, again. Things were going pretty well for a few years. Then slowly, I started to gain weight. I also became incredibly tired. Then I lost a lot of weight in a month. I didn’t weigh myself at the time, but I went down 3 sizes. I was so exhausted, I couldn’t get out of bed to workout. I was terrified of gaining weight – even though I was rail-thin — so I thought I’d better keep doing something. I switched to yoga, and kept on walking. Slowly but surely, I had to stop everything. I was barely able to make it through a workday, I was so exhausted. I kept thinking it was something simple, like nutrition or finding the “perfect” workout. Until I was diagnosed with cancer. Talk about an “a-ha” moment.

I was told I’d be “lucky” to live 2 years, that I should prepare myself and my family and friends for the worst. I was 34 years old. All I could think of was all the things I’d never be able to do: I wouldn’t grow old with my husband, wouldn’t have kids, would never go to Europe. It was awful.

GN: Wow. I’m stunned. I’m sure there are a lot of female readers who can empathize with what you went through. I appreciate you opening up and sharing that. I’m sure they will too. I think it’ll also give us guys – especially us married ones – some of the internal pressures women – and our wives struggle with. So, how about something positive – what were some of your early successes?

KR: Convincing my sister and one of her friends to lie down on the street behind the Evil Kneivel ramp I made so I could jump over them on my bike was pretty great. Wait, is my mom going to read this?

Lettering in gymnastics at both my high schools was great. I’m still really proud of that.

GN: Ha! I’m guessing your sister survived. What were some of your disappointments? Failures?

KR: I made working out far more complicated than it needed to be. I kept thinking there was a perfect way to do it, a perfect combination of exercises for a perfect amount of time, for a perfect amount of days per week. But the biggest mistake I made was approaching exercise with fear first. I was terrified of being overweight. I still had that awful coach in my head. No matter how slim, trim, toned, or buff I got, I still saw “FAT” in the mirror.

GN: That’s a GREAT insight here. Why did you still see “FAT” in the mirror? And HOW did you overcome that? Did that moment ever come? And if it has, was it the KBs that did it for you?

KR: I still saw “FAT” in the mirror because I hadn’t fully trusted myself yet. I was chasing after the perfect way to conquer my body instead of remembering what it was like to really enjoy moving well and being strong. I was also comparing myself to fitness models or the gym bunny chicks in the exercise videos I was using. Or I’d look at lanky runners and then compare my sprinter-esque thighs and think “fat fat fat fat fat”.

And then, on June 20, 1997, I was diagnosed with stage three thyroid cancer. I had lost a lot of weight the previous year, but thought I had finally broken through a plateau. Actually, I was at a healthy weight and then lost enough weight to have gone down 3 dress sizes in about a month. Not healthy! I was told I’d be “lucky” to live 2 years – the cancer was super aggressive and had spread to my lymph nodes. I finally figured out that it was time to stop fighting my body and start learning to love it again. Instead of seeing “FAT” in the mirror, I started seeing “SICK and SAD”. I had some very strange reactions from people when I told them I had cancer. The worst by far was being treated like an invalid invalid (interesting both of those words are spelled the same, isn’t it?). Getting past that new self-identity was tougher than “FAT”, but very similar. Both were based in fear, self-loathing and fighting my body. At the beginning of my recovery, small victories started to accumulate – being able to raise my right arm more than 45 degrees, being able to dress myself, brush my hair, walk up a flight of stairs, go back to work. The biggest change in how I looked at myself is when I turned back to God. The first thing I did after I found out I had cancer was get on my knees and pray. I haven’t stopped praying since. The minute I remembered that God had created me, had given me a wonderfully made body to experience life in – that was the minute I stopped being fat, useless, worthless, an invalid invalid, inadequate, stupid, blah blah blah. God led me through those very dark days into a beautiful, wonderful, love-filled life. I had gotten lost over the years, but He led me where I needed to be. And I truly believe God led me to kettlebells. Might sound corny, but kettlebells truly changed my life.

GN: No, it doesn’t sound corny at all. It sounds like a true epiphany – a moment of clarity in a dark night in your life. And one that most women, most people never have, but are always chasing. I think it’s really cool, actually. That brings us to the next question then: How did you first hear about kettlebells?

KR: In 2007, I had finally had enough of being overweight. I had spent the 10 years since cancer fighting my weight, fighting my body. My immune system was shot. But I was determined to make what time I had left on this earth count, and I knew being healthy was the key to that. I dug out those FIRM videos once again and created a monthly program. I got serious about what I was eating – and what I should be eating. I promised myself that no matter what happened, I was going to stick with it. If I got sick, I wouldn’t wallow in Krispy Kreme donuts.

It worked for a couple of years, but I got bored. So very bored of perky, svelte babes doing boring workouts with boring dumbbells. I tried creating my own workouts. Still boring. I had lost a decent amount of weight, but knew I could do better.

I saw a notice on Facebook in April 2010 about a free nutrition and kettlebell program via the internet. It was run by an RKC. I had no idea what RKC meant, but I checked out the program. I had seen an infomercial for a kettlebell program, but the sizes of the weights looked ridiculously small. So, I wasn’t sold immediately on this new program. I ordered a 4kg kettlebell and figured I’d give it a try.

GN: What was your initial attraction to them – what was it that motivated you try them out – to stop doing what you were doing and give them a shot?

KR: I was really intrigued with the idea of swinging a weight. I liked that they were different. There was something appealing about a hunk of iron shaped like a cannonball. Plus, I was just desperate to finally, finally get the rest of the weight off. I thought doing something so different would “break the plateau”. I didn’t really think about what I’d do if/when that happened, or what I’d do if it didn’t happen. I just threw myself in to the workouts and expected the best.

We’ll pick up tomorrow with Part 2, which includes Karen’s initial successes using kettlebells, her failures and disappointments, and how she overcame them, and why in a world of exercise ADD she’s still able to stay focused and keep on making progress with her kettlebell workouts.

What’s the biggest bang for your buck workout – you
know the one that “does it all” for you?

I’m not sure there is just “one” – but if there was I think
this would be it:

I’d use a pair of medium KBs.

And my own body.

Here’s what I’d do:

I’d pair my “Olympic 2″ program from “Kettlebell Express!
ULTRA” with crawling – either Leopard or Spiderman.

I’d crawl.

Then I’d do a set of the “Olympic 2.”

Then I’d crawl.

And I’d repeat.

For about 20-30 minutes, depending on what I felt like on
that particular day.

Two things you’re probably wondering:

1. What’s the “Olympic 2?”

Hold on, we’ll get to that in a second.

2. Why crawling?

Because it’s the ULTIMATE reset.

It ties your hands to your feet through your core and does
some really other cool stuff I’ll tell you about some other
time and builds your reflexive strength and stability.

Crawling just plain Rocks. (Well, so does rocking, but
that’s for another time.)

And crawling between sets of double KB work just
seems to be like some kind of magic – everything just
works better.

Now, back to the “Olympic 2.”

There are several versions of it, but here’s the most
basic one. (It’s based off my experiences as an Olympic
lifter and some of the exercises contained in the sport.)

Day 1:
Clean + Front Squat

Day 2:
Clean + Press

Day 3:
Clean + Front Squat + Press

Phase 1: Ladders: 1,2,3,4,5
Phase 2: ———
Phase 3: ———

Each phase lasts 4 weeks. Program lasts 12 weeks total.
– Perform as a complex.
– Perform for 20 minutes, 3 days per week, on non-consecutive
days
– Use a kettlebell that’s a 7 or 8 rep max (7-8RM) for the
Press on for all the exercises.
– Rest as needed between sets.

It looks simple.

And it is.

And that’s the beauty of it.

Simple = Effective.

And FAST. (Great for busy people like us.)

Fortunately, you don’t have to choose to do just “one”
workout for the rest of your life.

You can have a lot of variety, keep your workouts short,
and get a lot of bang for your buck – especially using a
pair of KBs.

And that’s exactly what you get when you grab “Kettlebell
Express! ULTRA” -

49 Short, time-efficient, devastatingly effective double KB
programs.

Get your copy at 30% off here including phases 2 & 3 of
the “Olympic 2″ program, and the “Olympic 2.1 & 2.2″
programs.

Gotta run – yet another plane to catch.

Geoff

Let’s face it – stress sucks.

And we have WAY to much of it in our lives.

The unfortunate thing about it is that many of us don’t
even know how stressed out we are.

One of the benefits to having long term personal training
clients (I’m talking 10+ years) is that you get to see what
REALLY works in the training and nutrition world.

Saturday, one of my clients – “E” – and I were talking about
her new diet program.

One of the things that’s making it “easy” for here is her
new iPhone app – “Lose It!” where she tracks ALL of
her calories.

And surprise! She’s lost 12 pounds in the last month
by simply -

1) having a goal – drop some LB’s
2) keeping herself accountable – the app
3) actually DOING the work necessary – logging her
food into the app

Here’s the best part – she’s found something that actually
works for her.

Key words: “Works for her.”

Not the other way around.

It makes here life less stressful.

Let’s face it – we all have more than enough work to do.
More than enough stuff going on.

Which is funny, cause this was one of the conversations
we were having between sets.

And it’s one of the reasons – probably the BIGGEST
reason you’re not seeing the results you expected when
you signed up for this whole KB thing.

Between working 50 hours a week, all the email you
have to catch up on, running the kids back and forth
between band, soccer, and other after school activities,
you don’t have time to think about your workouts.

I mean really think:

- Are these REALLY getting me where I need to go?

- Is this workout helping me or hurting me?

- Is there something better that I should be doing and if
so, how would I know?

- And do I have the time to look for it?

But investigating these questions takes WORK.

And that causes Psychic Stress -

You know, that low grade anxiety that something’s not
quite right that lingers in the back of your mind -

But you just don’t know what it is and how to identify it,
let alone solve the problem that it’s creating.

What you need is a solution that, like that iPhone app -

Works for you.

I mean, literally, does all the work for you, and in doing
so relieves that Psychic Stress -

And the massive energy drain it causes – so that you can
free up that energy to focus on other more important things.

That’s why I created the Inner Circle.

http://kettlebellsecrets.com/ic

I’ve done all the “heavy lifting” for you – after training
people for 20 years and training them with KBs for 11,
I know exactly what you need to not only -

Make progress, but more importantly, KEEP making
progress, week after week, month after month, year
after year…

When you’re ready to dump the stress that trying to
figure the *best* workout causes you and you want
to use that energy for more important things, then
jump on into the Inner Circle.

http://kettlebellsecrets.com/ic

Your results are waiting.

Talk soon.

Geoff

I’m always on the lookout for what I call “body hacks.”

I wish I had found this one.

My buddy Adam Steer, a bodyweight “guru” (Ha ha! He’d
hate it if he knew I was calling him that) came up with
a hack that let’s you lose up to 10 pounds in only 12
days.

Anyway, as a favor to me, he’s going to give this to you
when you pick up his 21 minute fat burning bodyweight
program -

Which, conveniently, he’s also put on sale for me, as a
way to help you out.

If you’ve ever wanted to use bodyweight exercises to burn
off fat, Adam’s got one of the BEST and – here’s the
IMPORTANT part -

Most GENTLE bodyweight training program I’ve ever
seen.

It’s not like most bodyweight programs that leave you
with sore shoulders and knees from all the push ups
and burpees –

Nope -

Adam’s “Bodyweight Burn” program actually makes you
stronger from the inside out – training your reflexive
strength while burning body fat at the same time.

Pretty ingenious really.

I wish I’d thought of that too.

Guess I need to be a little more creative.

Or get out of my kettlebell “rut” – lol.

Check it out here.

Talk soon.

Geoff

P.S. Adam’s only going to run this special offer for
you (cause you’re a “Kettlebell Secrets” member)
until Midnight on Thursday – just an FYI.

P.P.S. If the thought of dropping some pounds FAST
appeals to you, you should check this out – It’s
legit.

Got a TON of emails yesterday about that bodyweight
workout – seems a lot of people are ready to switch
gears and get a season of bodyweight training done.

The #1 question I got: “What’s a ‘pump’?”

Simple –

Assume a push up position.

Now hinge at the hips and push your butt up into the
sky and tuck your head between your shoulders.
You should look like an upside down V.

Now look up and drop your hips to the floor and
squeeze your glutes. Your head is up and your butt
is down, supporting your weight between your toes
and your hands – with straight arms.

Look over your right shoulder and exhale. Look
over your left shoulder and exhale. Now push your
hips back up in the air.

So give those a shot.

Anyway, as you know, I’m a BIG fan of bodyweight
workouts. I think they’re the PERFECT compliment
to your kettlebells.

In fact, you probably should even spend some time
every once in awhile learning how to “master” your
own bodyweight.

In fact, my current program has 4 segments of
bodyweight training in it.

Why?

Cause that’s what my body likes.

That’s one of the things keeping me strong and
lean.

But I guarantee you wouldn’t like my bodyweight
workout.

Too boring.

Yeah, yeah, I know – I’ve railed against using
workouts as entertainment, but let’s just call it like
it is for a minute -

If you think something’s boring or that it sucks, how
likely are you going to be to keep doing it?

Answer: Not likely.

That’s why over the past couple of weeks I’ve
enlisted the help of my buddy Adam Steer.

Adam is a “bodyweight guy” – but he also understands
kettlebells too – he’s an AKC coach.

So he agreed to help me out and do a special deal
for my subscribers – he put his “Bodyweight Burn”
(cool name, huh?) on sale for me (you guys really)
cause I told him it’d really benefit you.

The best part?

They’re only about 20 minutes. (Man, it’s like Adam
was reading my mind – first the “Burn” thing and then
time-efficient workouts… LOL.)

Anyway, the whole point of these things are short,
time-efficient, bodyweight workouts that will help
you burn fat – lots of fat.

Check them out here:

http://kettlebellsecrets.com/bodyweightburn

Anyway, what I really like about his program is that
it’s very “developmentally sound” – meaning – it’s
not only going to help you shed unwanted body fat -

It’ll also make you stronger in the process.

It’ll work on your reflexive strength – your foundational
strength – while helping you burn fat at the same time
WITHOUT creating compensations and dysfunctions
in the process, like so many other bodyweight programs
do.

It’s actually pretty ingenious.

And these aren’t your standard ol’ bodyweight workouts
either.

Some of the exercises I’d never seen before.

But they made me breath pretty hard while doing them.

Check them out here:

http://kettlebellsecrets.com/bodyweightburn

Talk soon.

Geoff

When you need a change of pace, make it bodyweight.

It’s the perfect compliment to kettlebell work.

Here’s a sample bodyweight fat burning workout I
wanted to get to you yesterday, but I was swamped trying
to get caught up from a weekend away. (Plus we got in
late Sunday and had “kid duty” yesterday morning.)

- Set timer for 20 minutes.
- Perform the following as a circuit
- Rest as little as necessary between exercises
- Rest 60 seconds between circuits
- Do as many circuits as possible in 20 minutes

1. Dead Bugs x 60 seconds
2. Pumps x 30s
3. Reverse Lunges x 60s
4. Walkouts x 30s

Yeah, I know, looks a little “basic” but I suggest you do it
before commenting.

Cause here’s what each one of those exercises works:

1. Dead Bugs – reflexive core stability
2. Upper body strength, hip mobility, and leg flexibility
3. Reverse lunges – lower body strength and hip mobility
4. Walkouts – upper body strength, core strength &
stability, & hip mobility, lower body flexibility

So there’s a lot going on there.

And the best part is that not only will you be doing
a challenging workout, but you’ll be “bulletproofing”
your body and burning calories at the same time.

Cause one of the secrets to using bodyweight exercise
for fat loss is not only to create tension (duh!) but also
to -

1. Challenge your coordination by alternating limbs
and training pieces of your gait pattern.

This makes your brain work harder by creating more
neural connections between both hemispheres of
your brain, and in doing so uses a lot of energy.

2. Use elevation changes to stimulate your vestibular
system to strengthen your reflexive stability.

This makes you stronger from the inside out – training
a bunch of your body’s “stabilizer” muscles, which in
turn allows you to use your main muscles more so
you can burn more calories.

3. Keep challenging your abz (or core, as it’s called).

This makes your whole body stronger, which means
you can lift heavier weights, and burn more calories.

PHEW!

That’s a lot of fancy in depth explanations for why
bodyweight training can be so good for stripping off
unwanted body fat – that is if you do it the right way.

Man, I’m tired just from typing all that fancy scientifical
stuff.

Back tomorrow with more workouts for youz…

Geoff

P.S. Almost forgot – Sunday at the hotel, I just did 20
minutes of bodyweight work. I was sweating and “huffy
and puffy” for quite some time afterwards. I was still
“hot” after my shower.

That’s called EPOC – fancy schmancy term for post
workout elevated calorie burning, which is one of the
key components in a fat burning workout.

Bodyweight workouts can be REALLY good for that
when you structure them right.

Oh yeah, and I was starving for the rest of the day too -
one more sign that you’re burning fat long after your
workout…

In the kettlebell world, we rarely talk about this:

If you want to be super successful using kettlebells – if you want to optimize the results you get, then you should be doing some direct abdominal work.

The problem is, there are so many ab/core exercises to choose from, so which one do you start with?

This one – think of it as the foundation for all the others.

Feel free to leave me your comments below.

Got this question from Mike last night -

He wanted to know what the best KB exercise was to
increase his pull up strength – “due to a lack of strength
and an abundance of body fat (6′ tall and 260-ish pounds).”

This is a great question.

Here’s basically what I told him:

Push your plate away.

Seriously.

The best way to increase your PU or any bodyweight
strength is to decrease your body weight – your body
fat.

That’s because the PU or Chin Up are great tests
of relative strength – strength relative to your bodyweight.

Now here’s the Catch-22:

In order to work on your relative strength you need to
drop fat. So how do you drop fat and work on your
relative strength at the same time?

Easy.

First, let’s address the big ugly 800 pound gorilla in the
room before we get to the exercise thing.

Let’s deal directly with the “weight” issue.

Let’s give you a simple, easy-to-follow plan that will
drop the bodyfat quickly.

1. Get yourself some high quality – I mean HIGH
quality protein powder.

Here’s what you’re going to do with it:

- Mix 1-2 scoops with 16 oz of water and drink twice
a day. (1 scoop per serving for women, 2 for men.)

- Eat a piece of fresh fruit with it – apple, orange, etc.

Again, you’ll do this TWICE a day – it’ll be your breakfast
and lunch.

People always ask me what protein powder I recommend.

I haven’t talked about this in a while, but I can’t say enough
about Dale’s Raw Protein Powders.

They’re vegetable based, which for me, and maybe you too,
means no allergic reaction to the milk proteins that make up
traditional protein powders.

(Ever get bloating and gas and maybe even some of the
“Dirty D” with regular protein powders? Yeah, me too.
Not with Dale’s stuff.)

Here’s where you get Dale’s Protein Powders:
(I like Chocolate the best – nice “clean” feeling – none of
that mucous-y aftertaste.)

http://www.kettlebellsecrets.com/dales-protein

2. Have a relaxing, enjoyable dinner with your family
or friends.

- Eat a large piece of protein – fish, chicken, beef, turkey,
pork – you get the idea

- Fresh cooked vegetables: Steamed or stir-fried in
coconut oil

- On workout days, have some NATURAL starches (NOT
bread or pasta or anything man-made) – just about a fist
size: rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, beans, etc.

(This means by default NO starches on non-workout
days.)

And that’s it for the food end of things.

Now I know some people are going to have some
“yeah, buts…”

- “Yeah, but, I like to eat _______ for breakfast.”

- “Yeah, but, I can’t afford ________.”

- “Yeah, but, I don’t like to drink my meals…”

- “Yeah, but [INSERT ANYTHING I MAY HAVE MISSED
IN HERE.]

Look, I don’t care – Well I do, which is why I’m taking
the time to write all this.

You can either find some excuse to stay the way you
are – dissatisfied -

OR

You can change.

Yes, YOU CAN.

In the end, it’s ultimately up to you.

This is the SIMPLEST, EASIEST way that the average
person can drop some pounds safely, quickly, while
improving his or her health in the process.

Ok, enough about that.

Back to the Pull Ups and the exercise part.

(In fairness, I didn’t tell Mike about that meal plan part -
it was late and I hadn’t thought through it yet.)

Remember, Mike asked about the best KB exercises
to help the Pull Up.

He correctly guessed the Get Up. And he suggested
the Snatch.

The Snatch will help, but indirectly.

It’ll help you burn off unwanted calories – fat – if you
do enough of them, especially combined with the
meal plan I outlined above.

But there are 2 more things that will help -

The first, is KB.

It’s the Press. If you press the way we suggest in the
SFG/RKC – using and active negative and total body
tension, you can easily work up to doing Pull Ups.

In fact, several RKCs, Dan Anderson and Justin
Qualler, have worked up to One Arm Chins using
these methods, without practicing OAC’s at all.

The second, is actually taking a season off your
KB work and working exclusively on bodyweight
training.

If you’ve been a “Kettlebell Secrets” subscriber
for any length of time, you know that I’ve done that
myself with some spectacular results.

We’ll get into this idea throughout the rest of this week.

In the meantime – today’s take home points:

1. Pull ups are easiest to do when you weigh
less – they’re a test/ measure of relative strength.

2. The fastest, easiest way to work your Pull Ups
is a seemingly indirect route – work on getting
your body weight down by dropping body fat.

3. The easiest, simplest way to drop your body
fat is 2 Dale’s shakes a day, with a piece of fruit,
and a big, protein veggie based meal for dinner.

4. Use two KB exercises – the GU and the Press
to help your Pull Up strength.

5. Consider a season of bodyweight only training.

Ok, gotta run – gonna grab some coffee with a
client.

Talk soon.

Geoff

P.S. If you’re not into the fruit thing or that just
seems too complicated for you, or you need
something to “chew” – grab some of Dale’s Raw
Protein Bars.

http://www.kettlebellsecrets.com/dales-bars

Just eat one instead of the shake and fruit.
(I still prefer the shake and fruit option.)

I’m pretty sure Dale’s running a sale on these
things right now – so you’ll probably save 20%
or something like that…

P.P.S. Keep your eyes peeled the rest of this week -
I’ll be giving you some more ideas on how to
integrate body weight training with your KBs to
help you strip off some body fat.