Greetings! Just a heads up that there may be a week pause in blogs as I am finishing up my PhD written exams in the new few days and then it is July 4 weekend, so I will be heading out to the lake for some water skiing and hopefully some kiteboarding as I haven’t been out much at all this summer! I have tons of material “in the tank” but not sure if I will have time to get it out.

Big shout out to everyone that I met at Fawn Friday’s place this past Friday (Friday at Fridays) as they were in town for RKC II–Rif and Tracy, Kettlebell Kate, Taikei, Dr. Jim, Elsa the wonder dog, Aaron and Fawn of course, and others (sorry I forgot your names– my brain is fried). We ended up doing an impromptu Z Health session on Jim involving visual and vestibular testing, breath work and joint mobility work too at like midnight. Yes, very scary! But we got both of his glutes to work much much better by having him move his eyes to the right and hold them there (Z Health I Phase work). Freaky but it is based on neurology! See this link for more info

In the meantime here is a good question that I get a fair amount.

Question: Hey Mike, what weight KB do you recommend starting with for kettlebells and where can I get some? Dragondoor?

Also, are there any good beginner KB manuals/tapes/DVDs that you could recommend to get the correct movements down for a routine?

Answer: For kettlebells (KBs) , the best place is DragonDoor, bar none. There are a few others that are making some good ones now I hear, but I have not used them yet. Don’t buy one from Target, Dicks, etc Joe Pavel (local RKC and Z Health R Phase) had a client that bought one and the handle broke off! Yikes! I started with some cheaper ones and I don’t use them now other than for farmers walks. It is well worth the few extra clams to get nice ones as they last for a very long time.

KB Size?
For most men I would recommend a 16kg to start and women an 8 or 12kg. I know that seems light, but it is good to get the basics down and there will always be some exercises you can do later with it. A 24 kg would be the next one for guys and perhaps a 16kg for women as you get stronger. Always work on PERFECT form first and then add more weight later.

Instruction?
I know that sounds like just a plug for me, but I was in the exact same boat you were a few years ago and debated dropping $100 with a local RKC (Brad “No Relation” Nelson) and eventually did it and it was well worth it. You don’t want to be training bad habits to start as they are much harder to untrain (too many bad reps). See the part above about PERFECT form. I have a wide variety of sizes here too at my place from 8 kg up to 40 kg, so you can try all of them ahead of time too and get the right one for you (if you are in the Minnesota area).

Here is a link to pick up KBs, DVDs and other products from Dragon Door. Pavel’s “Enter the Kettlebell” is a great intro and there are some other great ones too, but I have not personally viewed them yet. Click HERE to pick up your KBs, DVD, etc

So time to get your KBs, pop off your shoes, do some Z Health for a warm up and start exercising. No better time than today!