Resolution #229: Test The Six Week Kettlebell Workout!!!

Date: 8-17-2014

Due Date: 8-17-2015

Resolution: Now that I've completed Richard Simmons thirteen week Project Hope workout as part of Resolution #109 I need a new workout to start my day.

I listen to a lot of Joe Rogan's podcast and he swears by kettlebell workouts. Based on what he says all you need is 25 minutes to get a pretty good workout. 

Being that some of the Richard Simmons workouts would end up taking about two hours, this 25-minute aspect is very appealing to me. These resolutions are piling up and I don't really have the time to spend two hours on anything, but I do need to continue to workout.

I'm not really sure what to expect from a kettlebell workout, but I look forward to throwing a heavy ass weight around.

Hopefully, I don't end up demolishing my apartment with this one.

Result #229: I Bought The Kettlebells… I Bought The Workout DVD… I Even Started A Couple Of Times… I Just Failed To Make It Through The Entire Program…

Update #1: False Start #1 of Week #1: Resistance….

Date: 3-17-2015

Now when I say false start I don't mean that I got all set to work out only to give up. When I say false start I mean that I made it about halfway through the workout and literally couldn't go on anymore.

The problem is I'm using too much weight.

According to the instructions, as a man, I'm supposed to start with a 10-pound kettlebell then work my way up. Unfortunately, I didn't own the workout and therefore couldn't read the instructions when I bought my 25-pound kettlebell.

As a big guy who is known to lift big things, I thought 25 pounds would be a good fit. I came to this conclusion before knowing what a full kettlebell workout really looked like. I was expecting a lot more double-handed squatting and swinging of this heavy object. By the time I found out that this is not the case I was too burnt out to continue on.

All that said, I'm not all that discouraged.

This box set of workouts is made up of three primary DVDs. One with six Resistance Workouts, one with six Core Workouts, and one with six Cardio Workouts. There are also two bonus DVDs but I'm nowhere near getting into those.

Each week you do one workout from each of the three primary DVDs, taking a day off to recover after each routine.

Each workout is made up of a warm-up, a routine that is made up of a set of about ten different exercises that you do two to three times, and finally a cool-down phase.

I made it exactly halfway through the first Resistance Workout. Keep in mind I've been pretty inactive since quitting the day job and was using too much weight. Even though I failed to complete the entire workout it felt good.

It also felt like this would eventually be the proper size kettlebell for me. Since I don't have money to buy a smaller kettlebell I plan to work on each of these routines until I can make it all the way through each of the three "week one" workouts using 25 pounds. Once I can do that I'll officially start this six-week challenge.

Until then I'll keep reporting my "False Starts."

Update #2: False Start #2 of Week #1: Core…

Date: 3-19-2015

Once again I failed to make it all the way through the workout. This time there was a warm-up, three sets of about ten different exercises, and a cool down. I made it through the warm-up and two of the three sets and then gave up.

As I pointed out in my last update, I'm actually fine with this. Since I'm pretty much going from a couple of months of being almost completely inactive and am using a kettlebell that is a bit too heavy for a beginner, it's actually part of my plan to ramp up to a full blown workout.

Stay tuned for Saturday when I probably won't make it all the way through my first cardio workout.

Update #3: False Start #3 of Week #1: Cardio…

Date: 3-22-2015

When I say false start I don't mean it as a failure. It's just a false start to the six-week program that I resolved to complete. This week I made it through all of the warm-up workouts and all of the first sets of about 10 exercises.

Next week I plan to at least complete the same amount of week one workouts but am hoping to make it all the way through the warm-ups and the first and second sets of about ten different workouts.

As long as I continue to make progress I'm happy. One of these days I'll be able to make it through the entire six-week program in its entirety, but I'm not there quite yet.

As always I'll keep you posted.

Update #4: The Conclusion…

Date: 8-17-2015

I'm pretty disappointed with myself that I didn't complete this resolution. I bought the Kettlebell and the workout close to a year ago. I kept putting it off while I lived in the apartment partially because I was lazy and partially because I lived on the top floor and didn't want to bug the downstairs neighbors.

Now that I've moved and now live in a house, where I can make as much noise as I want, I just haven't had the motivation I used to have when it comes to many of these resolutions. I no longer feel as inspired. Even though I feel productive from time to time, everything just feels soulless to me so it's hard to set a routine.

Maybe one of these days I'll crawl out of this and when I do, I hope to revisit this resolution and finally get back into shape. At least in shape for me.

As always, I'll keep you posted.