You have probably heard of this quickly moving trend of kettle bell training which originates in Russia. They say it fuses strength training and cardio in one. I heard this and thought, “I’m still not going to swing around a cannon ball”. But a few weeks ago I was reading the blog of Tim Ferris, author of the very interesting and somewhat insane, #1 NY Times best selling book, The Four Hour Body. Tim featured a woman who as a mother of two, found herself 100 pounds overweight. She started doing kettle bell exercises which consisted of two or three really short workouts per week. She lost those 100 pounds in one year. I was impressed because she looks sleek and toned all over. And hey, that’s what I want.
Since I’ve been struggling with major foot pain lately (due to I don’t know yet, will find out soon at the doctor’s), I thought, hey, I only need to stand for this exercise! I can do that with minimal pain. It’s walking, running, and moving around that hurts my feet.
Yet, the next day I could barely move from muscle soreness. My calves, my thighs, my rear, my abs, my back, my shoulders, my chest, my arms, everything was sore! Does that mean a relatively easy workout was working?
I watched videos online to make sure I had the correct posture and I did (had my husband watch me to make sure).
After two weeks I’ve lost two pounds. AND, this is while retaining water due to PMS (which normally brings me up about 3-5 pounds). My pants are more loose. And I’ve only done five short workouts.
Could kettle bell training be a good alternative workout for those who only have time for exercise while watching TV or for those who have foot or knee pain and can’t walk/run?
Oh and guess what? My Lantus went from 20 to 18 units in a 24 hour period and has maintained there. And instead of one unit of fast acting insulin per 10 carbs it’s working at 1 unit per 15 carbs right now.
I’m going to continue this journey working out with a cannon ball with a handle and I will keep you posted as to my progress.