These days, “old school” training is all the rage. Gym rats everywhere are getting back to basics — back to their training roots — by spending less time on machines and more time throwing around the dead weight of barbells and dumbbells. If there hap- pens to be rust on the bar or if the dumbbell plates are rattling a bit, all the better. Just makes it that much more old school.

But if you’re looking to go more bare-bones with your training, there’s another implement you should be throwing around: the kettlebell, a Russian tool that’s been around for hundreds of years. (Talk about old school.) Outside of helping you add big- time strength and slabs of muscle to your physique, like barbells and dumbbells do, kettlebells can add a dynamic element to your training to help you bust through plateaus and keep the gains coming.

Bell Benefits

Where the kettlebell differs from the equip- ment you’re probably accustomed to using at the gym is in its unbalanced distribution of weight — there’s a handle on one end and a heavy “ball” on the other that, when used on explosive exercises like cleans, snatches and swings, pulls the weight away from you with excessive force, making your muscles work that much harder to stabilize yourself and maintain balance.

“Kettlebells work a wide variety of physical attributes,” says Steve Cotter, president and founder of the International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation. “For example, if someone was looking to add bulk or strength, a barbell would be a very good tool for that. For cardiovascular fitness, you’d do aerobic activity. For flexibility, you’d do some form of stretching or yoga. With kettlebells, you’re combining all three of these qualities — strength, endurance and flexibility — into one tool, so it’s a very time-efficient way of training.”

The following training program, designed by Cotter, involves only four basic kettlebell moves that will train your body from traps to calves. And that’s one of the main benefits of training with bells — the hallmark kettle- bell exercises are full-body movements that will train your body differently than a typical bodybuilding routine that consists of many isolation exercises.

Outside of training the body “collectively” instead of isolating different muscle groups, Cotter cites a few other benefits of kettlebell training: its proficiency at working fast- twitch muscle fibers because of the ballistic nature of the exercises, which can stimulate hypertrophy; the extended range of motion on moves like swings, in which the weight is actually brought behind you at the bottom of each rep; and the ability to enhance grip strength because of the kettlebell’s unique handle and weight distribution, which forces the hands and forearms to work harder. “Kettlebell training also tends to burn more calories because it’s more aerobic compared to barbell and dumbbell training, so it’s great for fat burning,” Cotter says.

So when it comes to keeping your train- ing old school, what should you use: barbells and dumbbells or kettlebells? That’s easy: All of the above. Muscles need to be challenged in a variety of ways and with myriad pieces of equipment to continue to get bigger and stronger. The more you throw at your body, the less likely it will be to adapt to one style of training. Give Cotter’s kettlebell program a try to get accustomed to the new moves, then mix the kettlebell exercises in with your barbell and dumbbell work, if you like. And just like that, your training will be über old school — with loads of new muscle and strength to show for it.

MUSCLEANDPERFORMANCEMAG.COM

Beginner’s KettleBell Routine

The following routine was designed by Steve Cotter for those new to kettlebell training. The objective of the program is to enhance muscular strength and endurance, though hypertrophy (muscle growth) will be achieved, as well, provided sufficient nutrients are taken in before and after workouts.

• The exercises included are basic but brutally effective, and form on these moves should be perfected before moving on to more advanced kettlebell exercises.

• Cotter recommends that relatively strong men and/or those weighing more than 220 pounds use a 24-kilogram/53-pound kettlebell; and men with moderate levels of strength and/or those weighing less than 180 pounds should start with a 16-kilogram/35- pound kettlebell.

• Perform the workout three days a week with one to two days of rest between workouts (i.e., Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

• Follow this routine for four to eight weeks, then either try a more advanced kettlebell program or return to your typical workouts. If you’re returning to traditional bodybuilding training (using barbells, dumbbells, machines, etc.), you can incorporate kettlebell exercises into those workouts,as well, for additional training benefits.

Thomas Jane Does ‘Men’s Fitness’ Magazine

Thomas Jane, the sexy star of the HBO series Hung (one of my fave shows, set in my beloved Detroit, MI) is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Men’s Fitness magazine. In his coverstory interview, Jane talks about a great many things … including how “textbook average” [...]

Thomas Jane, the sexy star of the HBO series Hung (one of my fave shows, set in my beloved Detroit, MI) is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Men’s Fitness magazine. In his coverstory interview, Jane talks about a great many things … including how “textbook average” he is … right down to his, well, you know what. Here is our first look at Thomas Jane on the cover of Men’s Fitness and some excerpts from his coverstory interview:

Although he plays the ultimate stud on HBO’s Hung, Thomas Jane is just an average guy. At least that’s what the 41-year-old heart throb tells Men’s Fitness. “I’m a textbook average guy,” says Jane, who graces the cover of the magazine’s current edition (June/July). “I’m 5’10”, I wear a model suit size — 40 regular, 32-inch waist pant — and a size 10 shoe. Everything about me is prototypical. Everything. I even have a right-down-the middle-exactly-average cock.” Well, at least he’s honest. Here are some more Jane nuggets from the June/July Issue of Men’s Fitness, as provided to the Keeping Fit blog by a PR rep for the magazine.

On how his training saved him from injuries: “I was cruising down the sidewalk and started fishtailing from side to side. I raced by this guy and went, ‘Woo-o-o-o-o.’ He turned and I started showing off — and the skateboard started to hydroplane and spin out. I flew off the board, tucked my shoulder, hit the ground, did a 360-degree flip, and landed on my feet. If it weren’t for my training, it could have been a hell of a lot worse.”

On training with former Dodgers outfielder Reggie Smith for his role as Mickey Mantle in the 2001 HBO film 61*: “Reggie had me eating tuna fish in the morning, lunch, evening, snack. Mickey [Mantle] was built like a bull. It wasn’t about definition. Mickey and those guys didn’t have six packs. They were farm boys, corn-fed, and they were big. That’s the kind of look I was going for.”

On his old eating habits: “On the day I would wrap a movie, my old ritual was to have a six-pack of Guinness and half a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts waiting in my trailer. That was my reward”

On how his trainer, Christine Hazelton, made the gym fun: “She turned [the gym] into a science — the mystery of how your body actually grows a muscle, the meditative aspect of lifting weights and working through the pain.”

On his humble beginnings: “Sometimes, I drive my Maserati by park benches that I’ve slept on. I feel a small sense of achievement.”

US Magazine.com: Wednesday – May 05, 2010 – 4:44pm

Robert Downey Jr. packed on 20 pounds of muscle to reprise his role in Iron Man 2.

“When we did Iron Man 1, we had five months before the shoot to get ready, so we used more traditional, heavy-weight training,” his trainer, Brad Bose, tells UsMagazine.com. This time around, the actor, 45, had just wrapped Sherlock Holmes, and was down to 151 pounds when shooting on the action flick (out May 7) began.

“After [the first routine], Robert felt kind of bored with it and wanted to something a little more exciting… so we decided to do what I call a Rocky IV meets high-tech training,” says Bose, who bulked Downey Jr. up to 175 pounds over the first three to four weeks filming.

Examples: “Instead of doing regular bench presses, we used a bamboo bar… and we would hang plates on rubber bands off the bar… so it was like trying to bench press a snake!” Bose explains. “It bounced all over the place.”

Downey Jr. also pushed “a custom-built wheelbarrow that we modified with 600 to 700 lb. weight stacks” around an obstacle course.

“We went out and bought truck tires, and we used sledgehammers — anywhere from, two 4-lb. sledgehammers in each hand, all the way up to a full 20-lb. sledgehammer — and we were just beating tires with it. We used fire hoses that we filled with sand and water… and we’d drag and whip them to build the shoulder muscles and pecs back up.”

They also juggled “weighted Indian clubs,” hulled around kettlebells and even used a war machine, which Boyes explains is “like a rope with handles on it with a pulley — you suspend yourself from it,” says Bose.

“We tried to find the most unique, and yet funnily enough, inexpensive training stuff to use,” he says. “You couldn’t find more practical stuff to use.”

The two would meet around 9:30 in the morning and work out for an hour-and-a-half at least three days a week. Downey Jr. also trained in kung fu two to three days a week with Eric Oram.

Scientists at University of Wisconsin are stunned by research: Kettlebell calorie burn is off the charts. Pavel Tsatsouline and Dragon Door Publications introduced kettlebells to America in 2001 with their landmark Russian Kettlebell Challenge programs. Their claims that the kettlebell delivers superior fat loss to any other method have finally been vindicated by scientists, in research funded by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) January 21, 2010 — Scientists at University of Wisconsin are stunned by the research: Kettlebell calorie burn is off the charts.

The ACE research protocol was based on Kenneth Jay’s Viking Warrior Conditioning

Pavel Tsatsouline and Dragon Door Publications introduced kettlebells to America in 2001 with their landmark Russian Kettlebell Challenge programs. Their claims that the kettlebell delivers superior fat loss to any other method have finally been vindicated by scientists, in research funded by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

Kettlebell training is all the rage in the U.S. — sparked in great part by enthusiasts’ claims that kettlebell drills strip off unwanted fat faster than aerobics, running, treadmills or any other popular weight loss programs. “You get twice the results in half the time” is the claim. Truth or just hype?

Funded by the American Council of Exercise (ACE), research published in the January/February 2010 issue of ACE FitnessMatters proves that there’s plenty of scientific truth to back up the fat loss claims.

The research team led by John Porcari, Ph. D and Chad Schnetter, M.S at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Exercise and Health Program, used a VO2max kettlebell snatch protocol developed by Dragon Door author and Master RKC kettlebell instructor Kenneth Jay, in Jay’s bestseller Viking Warrior Conditioning.

After only a 20-minute kettlebell workout, research subjects burned an average of 272 calories. However as, Dr. Porcari states in his research conclusions: “We also measured the blood lactate, so anaerobically they were burning another 6.6 calories per minute, which is off the charts. That’s equivalent to running a 6-minute mile pace.”

The scientists credit the startling level of calorie burn to the fact that the kettlebell workout is a total-body movement that is also done very quickly, due to the interval-training format. Added researcher Schettler, “The kettlebell workout gives you a big bang for your buck in a very short amount of time.”

Gerard Butler supposedly used kettlebells in part to hone his chiseled physique as Leonidas in 300. Now, modern science has provided the proof that this “Spartan”

xercise tool offers new hope for those still struggling to lose unwanted body fat — or wishing to lose that body fat far faster than traditional methods.

To learn more about the fat burning methods of Kenneth Jay’s kettlebell snatch workout, get his Viking Warrior Conditioning, available at http://www.dragondoor.com/b39.html

Once a little-known Russian training device, the kettlebell appears to be rewriting the formula for truly effective strength, cardio and weight loss. To learn more about Russian kettlebells visit http://www.russiankettlebells.com

To arrange an interview with Kenneth Jay or receive review copies of Kettlebell books and DVDs contact John Du Cane at 651-487-3828 or email jducane(at)dragondoor.com

Dragon Door Publications, Inc is the world’s leading provider of both beginner and advanced kettlebell training resources.

Don’t try and do it all alone. Get some support if you can. Hire a trainer, train with a partner (who’s as committed and focused as you are),take classes or join an online support community. Also, let your friends and family members know what you want to do and achieve. Get their support too.

Be specific with your goals and understand that working to achieve your goals will enhance and enrich your entire life. The lifestyle approach addresses stress management, support structures, as well as nutrition and exercise. It’s a more rounded and holistic approach. You need to think outside the workout or training session.

One of saliva’s benefits is that it provides “real-time” results, unlike blood, which may contain proteins that are a day, a week, or even a month old,says Dr. Charles Streckfus, professor of diagnostic sciences and the lead author of the Texas breast cancer/saliva study. Some of the other advantages? “It’s non-invasive, easy to collect, and inexpensive and painless,” he says.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports. Compared with subjects who drank none, people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day had 30% lower risk of developing the disease. Credit coffee’s minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients: They may play the role in glucose metabolism.