Hey guys!
Sorry, no fashion post on this Friday. Instead, I thought it’d be fun to turn this week’s Fashion Friday into Fitness Friday!
Today, I’ve got two fun fitness things to share with you: Kettlebells & Fitness Apps.
Kettlebells
I was recently given the opportunity to try out the RKS Kettlebell System, but since I’ve been so involved with my six-week Bootcamp workouts, I honestly haven’t had much of a chance to give the system a try…yet. Once bootcamp is over, I am most definitely giving these workouts a try.
The set came with a 15lb. kettlebell, a workout poster showing all of the different moves, a nutrition guide, an exercise calendar and the 16 workout DVD set. Yes…16 different DVD’s!
Each DVD includes a warm up, two workouts and a cool down, and each workout is 30 minutes or less. There’s even an instructional DVD that shows you how to do every exercise, which is very helpful for any kettlebell newbies.
Also helpful is the included poster, since many people are probably unsure of what some of the moves look like (myself included) and it’s nice to have an idea before getting started with any of the DVD’s.
Occasionally, I’ll include some different kettlebell exercises into my own routines and with my clients, but a couple of my favorites are definitely the turkish getup and the double swing.
Both are super effective and an excellent addition to a fitness routine.
The nutrition guide seems pretty straightforward, offering options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, all of which are similar to what I’d choose on my own.
I’ve already scanned through a couple of the DVD’s, and I’m definitely excited to give these workouts a go. They seem very easy to follow, thanks to the verbal instructions and the written ones on the screen.
(I’m hoping that once I become more familiar with kettlebells myself, I’ll actually be able to incorporate them more with my clients at work. They’re definitely a lot of fun!
Do any of you guys incorporate kettlebells into your workouts? Any favorite moves?
New Fitness App
I was recently introduced to a new smartphone app called SlimKicker.
SlimKicker is a level-up game and point-based program that allows you to track your diet, and break bad habits by turning them into 7-30 day challenges. Challenges start out easy, and gradually become harder, with more points. When tracking your diet, you can also earn points (whole foods are worth more points than processed foods, etc.).
The app encourages you to check-in daily with others doing the same challenge for accountability and social support, and in addition to the challenges, SlimKicker also offers a calorie counter, and fitness tracker tool.
According to the site, SlimKicker, is all about learning proper nutrition, portion control, and acquiring important habits; for someone who may have a hard time doing this on a regular basis and staying accountable, turning it into a game may be very successful and rewarding.
If this sounds like something for you, feel free to check out the site and sign-up here!
(FYI: No affiliation and/or compensation from SlimKicker – just wanted to spread the word!)
Do you currently use any fitness/calorie counter/exercise apps on your smartphone? Do you find them to be helpful in your fitness goals?
I use MyNetDiary to track my protein intake… I love it! I also use Nike+GPS for my runs… which I love too, it makes checking my pace and distance so easy!
I’ve been wanting to incorporate kettle balls in my workouts! I want to purchase one soon.
The apps I use are My Fitness Pal and Endo Mondo. My Fitness Pal has a good food data base and graphs to show progress. Endo Mondo is a running app, it keeps track of your run history, gives a map of each route, and details the distance, max an average speed, and calories burned. I planned to blog about it next week :)
Sounds like an awesome opportunity to test out that kit! I was thinking of trying a Kettlebell class groupon, but I can’t justify it on top of my regular gym membership.
I used to use My Fitness Pal but I found the tracking to be too cumbersome. I’ve seen that they now have tracking with bar codes so maybe it is worth a try again! Right now, I am just using an old fashioned excel sheet and a journal! Call me high tech. ;)
Ive really been wanting to try kettle bells but I’m waiting until I’m down with boot camp to pick some up. I use my fitness pal to track my eating and workouts, but the slim kicker looks interesting. Going to look into it!
I had a personal trainer that used to use kettlebells a lot with me – they’re pretty fun! Challenging but also dynamic, and the momentum you build up acts as good motivation to keep going and power through.
Let us know how they treat you!
I track calories through MyFitnessPal on my iPhone and LOVE it! It’s so easy to use and there are so many different foods to choose from.
I LOVE kettlebells! I started out using them at the gym during a class and can’t get enough. Now I do crossfit and am going to get my KB certification because i love it SO MUCH!!!
I use Livestrong.com/myplate to track my calories and exercise.
Man – the dudes on the Kettlebell material are H-O-T! I’d work out to that any time! LOL! ;)
I use Kettlebells in my fitness program. I love them so much! My favorite move is the Turkish Get-up. My instructor said it was the best kettlebell move you can do and works the whole body. So much better than dumbbells!
One of the trainers at our gym is certified in kettlebell and has a class. I tried the intro class and really enjoyed it! I don’t know how much I could on my own as I’m not sure of the correct form.. For now I just stick to kettlebell swings and squats :)
I love kettlebells! It is such an easy way to incorporate both strength and cardio at once! I love kettle-bell squats, turkish get-ups, rows, etc. The only thing with kettlebells I have found is to be very very very careful with form, I threw my back out once and it was not fun!
I use the Nike Training app for fitness workouts and LOVE it. If I don’t feel like going to the gym I can just pull out the app and do any 15, 30, or 45 min. workout, and boy oh boy, some of them are tough as nails. You should try it!
Love kettlebells!!! I think they involve many functional movements.
My question is.. on the poster with the demonstration of a turkish getup… In what part of performing that movement are you EVER in that position? Ha!
LOVE turkish get-ups! I learned them from Tina’s bootcamp and I will definitely keep doing them in the future :). I don’t have any fitness apps on my phone, but I am excited that android finally came out with instagram the other day! I hopped on that train immediately haha
I’m always a tad afraid to buy an app that I’m unfamiliar with or one that hasn’t been recommend by someone I know. There are just *so* many apps to choose from. This does sound like a good one though!
I’ve been thinking about introducing kettleballs into my workout but I don’t know a lot about it. I think I just need to look into it more.
I currently use My Fitness Pal to track my food and nutrition but I’m not as good about it as I should be. Maybe I’ll check out Slim Kicker.
Thanks for sharing!
I recently have heard of this slimkicker app! So glad you posted about it because I didn’t know anything about it. I don’t currently use an app, but may want to try this one!
I have tried to use kettle bells in my workouts, but usually end up hurting myself! They are great tools though. :)
I’ve tried kettle bells but would love to do more with them. This kettle bell system looks awesome! I’d love to give it a try. Can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
I use the Nike Training Club App – it has dozens of workouts for different purposes (getting strong, toned, fit etc) at different levels and durations. And you get badges when you do a certain amount of exercise!
i use my fitness pal off an on. it’s helpful after times like vacations when eating gets out of hand and you need to get back on track.
I use Daily Mile and EndoMondo.
Slim Kickers sounds pretty cool. I might have to go poke around the site/app. I love my Nike+ GPS app (can’t go on a run without it) and I’ve lately become OBSESSED with my FuelBand and FuelBand app. The band tracks your calories and fuel and the app lets you compare yours to your friends. Definitely makes me workout harder/more so that I can beat other people hahah.
We use kettle bells during crossfit wods and they always give me such a workout!
I have a couple different kettlebell circuts I rotate through, and they’re a blast to do. I love that you can get such an effective workout in a fairly short period of time!
Totally irrelevant here but you got me to try the caramel almond iced coffee from DD and I am totally OBSESSED!!! :)
I love kettle-bell workouts! I haven’t done one in ages but I love them!
The kettlebell workout DVD’s look legit!
I am weird and old at heart and don’t own a smartphone! My only way of keeping track of my fitness is through a hand-written notebook (workout log).
My new (very new!) favorite app is Fitocracy. It basically is a fitness tracker, but it adds elements of video games! So you can level up, earn achievements, complete quests–all for trying working out consistently and trying new kinds of fitness! It’s an app, but it’s also available on the web right now at http://www.fitocracy.com.
I’ve never used kettlebells but I want to try! I used to use the lose it app but I lost interest after a few days !
Great workout! I used Spark People to calculate calories and exercise. It does motivate me! Happy Easter!
I love my RKS kettlebells workouts!!
I want to start using kettlebells! I can’t wait to hear what you think about them … they kind of intimidate me at this point :)
I just got my RKS system and can’t wait to get started… Today! Before my Bikram Yoga.
Have you tried RKS yet? I really enjoy kettlebell training, but I haven’t used the RKS DVDs–I do like the Art of Strength DVDs with Anthony & Beth. Oh, and I’m from Upstate NY too! :)
I’m actually hoping to give it a go this week!