Kettlebell Metabolic 2

This workout was designed that you need nothing else other than your kettlebell. It is adaptable that you can do it as a strength work out or a kettlebell metabolic pyramid workout or even as interval training like Tabata or ratio intervals which can help improve your Obla (onset of blood lactate accumulation or anaerobic threshold) which without getting to technical is the heart rate that your body produces latic acid for fuel and this will differ from person to person. This is when you get that burning sensation in your muscles when training. So the higher your Obla the longer it will take your body to produce lactic acid which is better for you as you can workout for longer meaning your getting fitter.

I’ve gone off subject again and will get back to the workout shortly if you want to skip down to the bottom for the work out I won’t be offended.

Our body runs on 3 types of energy systems Aerobic, lactic acid and creatine phosphate.

To put it simply

Aerobic is the zone we use day in and day out to get through our daily life and doesn’t run out as such and we can work in this zone for as long as we want, when we exert ourselves more and our heart rate raises to a certain point we start using lactic acid as fuel as I mention earlier and in general our bodies can only do this for 30-60 second (but in some people up to 3 minutes this will depend on their training) before we have to stop. The creatine phosphate system is use for explosive motions like sprinting or power lifting and the body can do this for up to 10 seconds.

So when you’re exercising and your muscles start to burn and you have to stop you know your body has exhausted your lactic acid so you revert back to your aerobic system. This is what you would class as general fitness. So when you say someone is fitter than you it’s because they have a higher Obla. This is where interval training can be good for you as you can train either side of your threshold. You can train above your threshold for just enough time that you don’t burn out then come back and train below to recover then do these intervals for a set period of time and this will help increase your threshold and general fitness.

You can find your Obla (anaerobic threshold) without blood tests in the gym. You’ll need either a running machine, bike or cross training or something you can increase the intensity on every minute a heart monitor and a stop watch. For this example I’ll use a treadmill, so start the stop watch and warm up for 5 minutes and stay at a steady pace you feel comfortable at. Every minute increase the gradient and record your heart rate. When you just start to feel the burn in your legs theres your threshold. This shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes if it does try again but with a higher starting pace. This is also a good way to monitor your fitness and improvement.

I wanted to add I’ve stated above that the higher your Obla the fitter you are and referred to it as general fitness. But there are other kinds of fitness. In general we class long distance runners and footballer as fit and they will have higher Oblas than most. But I’ve seen experience runners and footballers not last 30 seconds grappling on a judo mat. This is because there aerobically fit (general fitness) not anaerobically fit. Judo players and runners are both very fit but you will find Judo players getting nearer to that 3 minutes in the anaerobic zone than most long distance runners. If you want to see how anaerobically fit you are take your heart rate up just above your Obla and see how long you can last.

 

So back to the workout

This workout consists of a number of exercises combined together to make one full body routine. This routine can take up to 20 -30 seconds to complete or 30-40 seconds to complete depending if you use all the exercise and what goals you want to achieve. Before attempting this routine I would make sure you can do each exercises individually before combining them or try doing one of the routines below.

You may want to use the 30-40 second routine to do a version of the metabolic pyramid by doing one routine resting then doing the routine twice resting then doing the routine 3 times in a row ect. Working up the pyramid and coming back down again. The advantage of this to the metabolic pyramid work out is you can do this to you own music and no timers and you can determine the size of the pyramid depending on your fitness or time frame for your workout.

You can use the 20-30 second routine to do some sort of interval training. Tabata or ratio intervals you can use the information above to adjust the routine to suit you. You can do this routine twice or the one above if you want a longer on interval. Please see the link below for information on Tabata training.

So the routine has 8 exercise’s, if you do all 8 the routine will take about 30-40 seconds if you do exercise 3-7 it will take you about 20-30 second. If you’re thinking about doing this as a Tabata work out you might want to take the clean out of exercise 6 so you’re not working with the bell above your head.

The exercises

1. Squat thrust
2. Push up
3. Squat with shoulder raise
4. Inside/out (single arm swings)
5. High pulls
6. Clean and press with lunge
7. Double handed swing
8. Curl, Press, Dip

 

The routine

So start with a Squat trust holding the kettlebell handle, You then do a push up while holding the handle if you can’t just do it on the ground, bring your feet up either side of the bell and do a squat with shoulder raise then start your single hand swing with your left hand bringing it in between your legs then to the outside of your leg pass it back in the middle and do the same on the right side. Carry on with the swing and pass it back to the left hand. Once in the left hand complete the high pull and then do the same on the right side. Do the Clean and press with lunge on each side and when returning the bell from the right side press take a two handed grip and do a double handed swing. Once that is completed take a wide grip and do the curl, press, dip. Then either return the bell to the floor or repeat the routine again if you’re doing the pyramid version or want a longer on interval.