5 Best Lower Body Kettlebell Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

By line: By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
URL: www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Word count: 292
Related keywords: weight loss workouts, fat loss workouts, bodyweight exercise, workout routine, burn fat, fat burning

5 Best Lower Body Kettlebell Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

In this workout you will learn the 5 most powerful lower body kettlebell exercises you can do to gain muscle and burn fat. But, perhaps more importantly, is with these exercises you will begin to realize the flexibility kettlebell workouts offer in terms of convenience and lifestyle.

The first exercise is the Double Kettlebell Front Squat. So, start out by holding the KBs at shoulder height, push your hips back (don't bend at the knees first), break parallel, squatting as low as you can while keeping your abs braced. Then drive back up.

The next exercise is called the Tactical Lunge, or a regular lunge with a twist. First, lunge backward and as you are lunging take the KB underneath your front thigh and switch hands. Alternate sides. Be sure to keep your torso upright throughout.

The next lower body KB exercise is the Pistol Squat. So, place the KB at chest height and balance on one leg with your other leg out in front. Next, squat down as low as you can go, and drive back up. Do all reps for one side and then switch.

The 1-Leg Rear Deadlift is another great exercise to do using kettlebells. The previous exercises work the front of the thighs, whereas this will focus a lot on your hamstrings. So, hold the KB with both hands in front of you, balance on one leg and push your hips back. Now, to come back up, you will squeeze your glutes and hamstrings for a powerful contraction.

The last exercise is the Turkish Get-up. And although this is a great ab exercise, in fact it, like all the other exercises mentioned here, is an excellent total body exercise.

So, from a laying down position, hold the KB overhead with arm extended (do not let your elbow bend) and bend the leg on the same side as the arm holding the KB. Next, you want to lift your torso up and get into the lunge position and drive up. Now, to return back to your lying down position, drop your opposite knee to the ground, then your opposite hand, followed by bringing your leg through to the front and then drop your torso down and slowly lower back down to the ground, all while maintaining that pushed out position with the arm.

These are some incredibly effective exercises for your lower body that can be done in only a small space with just one or two kettlebells. Simple, fast, and supremely powerful.


About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Workout 2

2nd 12 Min fat loss circuit.Learn more about Turbulence training

3 exercises + 12 minutes = a better body

No time to train?

Follow these super quick workouts from Turbulence Training

Fast and effective

Old School Training for Fat Loss

Just reading this about Amanda Redman She needs to rethink her workout.Looks amazing,but her routine could be improved.Two hours a day, five days a week!! I know as an actress it's her job, and I must say that I admire her discipline, but she could cut her workout time to @ 40 mins if she trained at higher intensity.Unfortunately, in too many gyms old school thinking still dominates!

Bodybuilder style,isolation body part training is very effective-if you want to compete in a body building contest.For functional strength and to lose body fat quickly and effectively nothing beats high intensity circuit training, along with high intensity interval training and a good diet!

Perhaps if she read this she might realise how ineffective her training routine is!!

See how effective high intensity circuit training can be here

How Many Exercises Do You Need to Do To Per Workout?

Guest blog from Josh Hillis

So I was talking to a friend of mine who is a trainer.

He told me that he used to have his clients do 16 exercises per body part.

But now he's having his clients do full body workouts, and they are doing 16 exercises per workout, all different body parts and his clients are getting much better results!

I'm like, ok... sure...

My clients do four exercises every workout.

And four only.

Trainers are often shocked by that. I had one trainer ask me if my clients get mad because there are only four exercises per workout! WTF? Are you serious?

People love it because it's simple, and it actually makes sense. Oh yeah, and it works really, really well.

The Four Big Bang Movements

1.) Push (chest and triceps)
2.) Pull (back and biceps)
3.) Squat (quads, butt, hamstrings)
3.) Deadlift or Kettlebell Swing (your butt, and most athletic power)

We put it all together and we've hit your whole body.

But the sum is more than the parts. Bigger movements produce faster results.

These are the four biggest movements.

Simplicity Illustrated

Unlike the mainstream fitness world which really does just focus on "doing more things", the kettlebell world focuses on doing fewer things, and doing them better.

Case in point - in the kettlebell world everything centers around two movements:

1.) The Kettlebell Swing

The swing of course fits into the deadlift/swing category of movements.

2.) The Get Up

Believe it or not, the Get Up actually falls into the push category. In the process of getting up, your pushing muscles have to do a ridiculous amount of stabilizing. The get up is a crazy, full body, static push.

Narrow Your Focus. Get Better. Watch Your Body Transform

If you talk to a Senior RKC or Master RKC (really badass kettlebell instructor), you'll find they base everything around these two movements, the swing and the get up.

Or even look at Pavel, the RKC Head Instructor, the guy who brought kettlebells to the US - I've never seen him create a workout program that focused on more than two exercises.

*Note: When you move from the RKC Curriculum (get ups and swings) to the RKC2 Curriculum, they add Pistols and Pullups... hmmm, doesn't that sound like push, pull, squat and deadlift?

You Already Have the Tools

If you don't have a kettlebell, no problem.

I often have my clients do Swings with a gripper plate.

And there is no reason you couldn't do Get Ups with a dumbbell.

Cut Out the Distraction and Just Cause A Result

Lots of people are too distracted in their workouts to even know if they are making progress.

The biggest benefit of such a focused routine is that you either get stronger and fitter, or you don't.

Check out this workout we did in my kettlebell bootcamp class last night:

Get Ups x 5 left + 5 right
Kettlebell Swings x 50

Get Ups x 4 left + 4 right
Kettlebell Swings x 40

Get Ups x 3 left + 3 right
Kettlebell Swings x 30

Get Ups x 2 left + 2 right
Kettlebell Swings x 20

Get Ups x 1 left + 1 right
Kettlebell Swings x 10

Simple, ultra powerful workout.

Dave "The Irontamer" Whitley, Sr. RKC, says "Spend time finding depth in the things you think you know."

In other words, instead of looking for the next thing, get better at the things you're already doing.

It doesn't have to be complicated to give you results.

Often times a program being overly complicated can be what is holding you back.

Simplify and kick ass.

Bloddy Barbell 500 Challenge

Are you man Enough?

http://www.bloodybarbell.com
Guidelines for men:
Use an Olympic Barbell with 5kg's on each side, totalling 30kg's.
30Kg's must be used in order to complete an official challenge time.

Guidelines for women:
Use an empty Olympic Barbell, or a bar totalling 20kg's.
20Kg's must be used in order to complete an official challenge time.


50 Back Squats
50 Barbell Push Ups
25 Thrusters
25 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
50 Barbell Reverse crunch and Press
50 Barbell Lunge (25 reps on each leg)
25 Bent Over Row Under Grip 
50 Floor sweepers (25 reps each side alternating)
50 Push Press
50 Bent Over Row
25 Barbell Rollouts
50 Hang Cleans

How fast can you do this challenge?
official world record is 28 mins:51sec

Have You Made Your Choice?

Guest blog from Pat Beith

His blog can be found here

You see the difference between success and failure, in anything, comes down to one simple word.

Choice.

You have the ability to *choose* the way your life is going to be.

Your situation right now is the sum of the *choices* you have made in the present moment.

And the choices you continue to make in the present moment will dictate your level of success.

Because nothing exists but THIS moment. There is no later. No future. No ‘when the economy gets better’. No ‘when I have more free time’. No ‘if I had better talent.’ No ‘if I had a bigger team’. No ‘if I was smarter’.

Success is a *choice*.

The only difference between you and the people you want to be like is simple:

They’re not afraid to die on a treadmill.

Why not?

Because they made a *choice*. They decided who they wanted to be. What they wanted their life to be like and they made a *choice* to do it.

They didn’t make the choice in some undefined ‘later’. Or ‘tomorrow‘. Those things don’t exist.

They never will. They will never arrive. Ever.

I could have said ‘I don’t have a business degree’ and then not started Athletes’ Acceleration.

Instead Pat and I made a *choice* and built a business from scratch that generated 7 figures in gross sales before we turned 30.

Why? Because we’re not afraid to die on a treadmill.

Are you?

We could have said ‘we haven’t run a sports camp before, so maybe we shouldn’t try to it’s probably too hard’.

We could have said ‘we really don’t really have the extra money to try and put on a sports camp, so let’s wait until we do.’

We could have said ‘we almost got arrested running our first sports camp, so let’s not run another one’.

Instead we worked are ass off, studied our asses off. Asked questions. Took a chance and believed in ourselves. Why?

We made a *choice* to be successful. We didn’t listen to the haters (and there are many). We ignored the doubters (and there are many). We made no excuses for why we weren’t smart enough or rich enough to do what we wanted to do. We didn’t wait for the perfect time, because there is never going to be the perfect time.

We’re not afraid to die on a treadmill.

Are you?

Now, I know what you’re asking. What is this treadmill crap?

I want you to watch this entire video. I watch it Every. Single. Day.

It reminds me of how important it is for me to keep making the *choice* to be successful.

It gives me motivation and energy. It’s the difference between success and failure.

2 + 2 = what I want it to be.

2009: 5% down, 95% to go...

Guest Blog from Alwyn Cosgrove.When this man talks about fitness,fat loss and business, people with any sense listen-he knows his stuff.

Today is January 22nd.That means 21 days (3 weeks) have already passed in 2009. That's a little over 5% of the year gone already.So let's do a quick "goal review" or a Resolution recall.Are you 5% towards your goals?If your goal was to lose 50lbs of fat - you should be down 2.5lbs right now if you're on track. If your goal was to increase your income by $10,000 this year - you should already have made an extra $500.Now I know goals are not always achieved linearly - particularly not fat loss or financial goals -- but you'll hopefully see my point.An easy goal that I always set is just a specific number of workouts that you are going to do. Then you just mark them off. One goal for 2008 was to perform 250 workouts. In 2009 I plan on doing the same.To be on track I need to have completed about 12 workouts by now. This morning I completed workout 18 of this year.

I am also planning to launch three new products this year. The first one - a book entitled "55 Fitness Business Strategies for Success" will be launched at the Perform Better event this weekend in Los Angeles.For one of my business projects - as of yesterday I'm at 5.5% of my annual goal. For another I'm at about a 4% increase over the same point last year (which is slightly behind schedule).

The point is - you need to constantly assess where you are in relation to your desired outcomes.Are you on track?Are you headed in the right direction?Have you even moved off the starting line?Yes? Congratulations - 2008 is shaping up to be a great year for you.

No? Don't worry - just step up your ACTION a little bit and catch up.If it's your fitness business that needs an overhaul - then check out the Results Fitness Business Mentorship.If your own goal is to get leaner - get on the Afterburn ProgramIf it's to gain muscle size then check out the Muscle Gaining Secrets Program.

Remember - even if you're off course - you can still get there. A plane traveling cross country is off-course 80% of the time and still makes it to it's destination because the pilot knows where the destination and makes constant corrections.5% down - 95% to go. You've still got time to make some major changes in your life this year.--ACwww.alwyncosgrove.com

An old employer of mine,a very wise man, always told me:
That that gets measured gets done.

I like how Alwyn breaks the year down into percentages, and the goal of a certain number of workouts in a year is one I am going to adopt.

Monday Jan 19th

Felt good this morning after yesterdays loosening with the yoga.

As I have trained a number of years, I thought I would take the intensity up a little bit, so I moved up to the TT intermediate workout. I went conservatively on the weights, and really enjoyed the challenge.My abs are screaming after the swiss ball jacknives, and I had a few strange looks from the others in the gym as I was training, which is great.

The personal trainer was conducting a session with a client, who had paid £25 for the time, and they seemed to spend more of their time talking rather than training.I was in and out in 40 minutes, including my intervals, and the guy who had been with the Personal Trainer, asked me about TT. I told him to go to the Turbulence Training website to find out for himself. It would save him from paying £25 an for someone to talk to him!!
How do you get a job like that anyway?

Sunday 18th Jan

Rest day today.That is a rest from TT training, but the recommendation is 30 minutes of any activity that you enjoy. I did 30 minutes of Yoga, very stiffly I might add, to loosen the old joints.
I actually enjoyed the change in pace,and I felt really clear mentally after doing the poses. It was really good to be up early and just take my time, go through the routine then have a walk to fetch the Sunday papers.

Sunday morning is my favorite time, especially if the football team I support,Stoke City, have won.
Unfortunately,this has been a very rare occurrence lately, although they came very close to upsetting one of the "Big Four " teams, Chelsea, yesterday.

Reading the match report almost put me off my breakfast, but I enjoyed my cuppa tea, wholemeal toast and yoghurt.

Then it was time to plan & prepare my meals for the upcoming week, and then off to the supermarket to obtain provisions.Oh the high life eh?

We were invited to my sister in laws house for Sunday Dinner, her husband is a Chef and the food was exceptional.Nice beef, roast veggies and roast spuds.I had a couple of glasses of red wine, and a little dessert, and a good chat and all is well in the world.

Sat 16th Jan. Workout 2

Normally you would leave 48 hours in between workouts, but I had business and other commitments this week, which means I have to train on a number of consecutive days.

That's the great thing about Turbulence Training, it allows you to improvise,adapt and overcome, to quote the US Marines.

Today's workout was similar to yesterdays, but there was a mixture of calisthenic and resistance exercises, which keeps things fresh and interesting. To say my ass was kicked would be an understatement.

For the interval training, I did the same as yesterday on the bike, and I swear you could feel the fat melting with each work interval.

This stuff works, click here to find out for yourself

Fri 16th January. First TT workout.

I thought I'd better start with the TT Beginner level workout. I have trained for years, but these bad boys are completely different to anything I have done before.

After a unique body weight calisthenic warm up, I started the workout. To be fair to Craig, who has spent years developing this system, I wont list the exercises, but the whole workout took me @ 20 minutes.Not long you might say, I'd agree. Three supersets!! (supersets are 2 exercises performed back to back with no rest between them)

Three supersets of 6 exercises.What's unique about this system is that the exercises hit opposing body parts. For example, the first superset is a leg exercise, followed immediately by a chest exercise. Complete the required repetitions, rest for 1 minute, then perform 2 more supersets. I bet you that it will be the most intense 9 supersets you will do.

This style of training raises your metabolism for around 48 hours after exercising, so you can see where the fat burning effect comes in.

However, just to ensure that maximum fat loss is achieved, it's time for some interval training.
Interval training is a style of doing "cardio training" that is 9 times more effective at burning fat than traditional "steady state" aerobic training. To perform intervals, begin with a warm up @3-5 minutes, then you perform intervals of work & "rest".For example, after your warm up, you would perform a work interval of say 1 minute, then a "rest" interval, at a much lower intensity of any thing from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. You normally perform 6 rounds of these intervals.
Today I did my intervals on the bike, my work period was 1 minute, my rest period was 1 minute and I did 6 rounds. Twelve minutes,plus 6 minutes of warming up & cooling down( 3 minutes each).

There you have it, 40 minutes of training in the most effective fat burning style.

Oh, did I mention, it's good fun too! Click here to find out for yourself

Day 1 of 60 of the TT twitter transformation contest

Thursday January 15th 2009.
Starting weight 379lbs.

Here is my before picture.As you can see, I'm too sexy for my shirt!!

I have trained for a number of years, the old style bodybuilding way,using standard routines that you would find in the Muscle & Fiction mags. I was always in a bulking phase too!

Now I'm 47 this year, and although the weight has not proved troublesome, until a knee injury last August, I really need to drop weight.
I now have a sore left knee, and because my body is accommodating the injury, I suffer from backache occasionally as well. Unfortunately, occasionally is getting more and more frequent.

Like most muscle heads, I lived in denial, I lift regularly, so I can eat what I want.
In reality it doesn't work that way.That has been a painful lesson to learn, and the biggest shock was seeing me reach 379 pounds.

I have owned Turbulence Training for a couple of years, and occasionally used the workouts, so I am aware of how intense they are.Like most people,I have searched for the "miracle cure" for weight loss, and all the research I have done has convinced me that Turbulence Training is the way to go.

The 60 day challenge has come just at the right time for me, so I hope you enjoy reading about my progress.

Late Breaking News!

At the last minute Craig Ballantyne decided to do another Twitter Transformation Contest inside of the regular Turbulence Training Transformation Contest. Here's what you need to know... 1) You can do both the regular TT Transformation Contest and the TT Twitter Transformation Contest at the same time. 2) The Twitter Contest starts today and lasts 60 days. The deadline to submit your "Before and After Photo" and Essay is March 20th, 2009 (60 days from tomorrow). 3) There are cash prizes and Membership give-aways for this contest. I hope this gives you the incentive you need to start transforming your body - and your life - today! For all of the details about this contest and how you can win big money by burning fat, go here.

Hold The Front Page: I am taking part in the 60 day transformation, follow my progress on this blog and on Twitter

10-Minute Fat Loss Workouts By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS,

Word count: 1295Related keywords: cardio, fat loss, workout, exercise routine, burn fat, lose weight, weight loss, Men's Health, intervals, bodyweight exercise
10-Minute Fat Loss Workouts By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, TurbulenceTraining

Last week I helped Men's Health magazine on a piece about getting workouts done fast. Personally, I think you can get a great body-changing workout done in minutes.
How fast?
I'm talking 10-minutes.
By now, I'm sure you're asking...
How do you lose fat in only ten minutes?
or
What about the rule that it takes 20 minutes of cardio before you start burning fat?
Well, first of all, as I have said before, the whole idea of afat-burning zone or a magical fat-burning time period just doesn't fit with the common sense approach to fat loss.
People can lose fat without doing any cardio at all - so its clearthat you don't have to workout for at least 20-minutes with your heart rate at 60% of your maximum heart rate. Fat loss is far simpler than that - and I'll show you some basic workouts below that crank your metabolism and help you burn calories when you are not exercising.
Second, the results of your training occur outside of the gymrather than during the workout. That's why the before-mentioned "increased metabolism" is so important. If you put the right "turbulence" on your muscles in 10-minutes, you can change your body - without even thinking about doing cardio.
So let's look at the first fat loss in a hurry workout - a10-minute bodysculpting workout. Let's say you only have 10 minutes to do your workout today - what should you do?
In this case, you need to combine a warm-up, strengthtraining, and interval training all into one. So our efforts arebest put forward on bodyweight training.
And you don't have time for isolation work. Instead, you need tohit three "hot zones" on the body for maximum metabolism boosting: push muscles, pull muscles, and legs.
By doing so, you'll hit all the other muscle groups at the sametime. So you'll do a circuit of soemthing like:
1A) Prisoner Squats (advanced option: 1-Leg Squats)1B) Pushups (advanced option: Spiderman Pushups)1C) Inverted Rows (advanced option: Pull-ups; easy option:Stick-ups)
In the first round of this circuit, you'll go through it easy.Perform 25% of the maximum number of reps you can do for each exercise. So if you can do 20 pushups, do only 5 in the firstwarm-up circuit. That's a warm-up circuit.
Then you'll do as many circuits as you can in the remainder of the 10 minutes. Just go back-to-back-to-back on these 3 exercises. You can rest after the rows/pull-ups for 30 seconds if necessary, but that's it.
You'll be pleasantly surprised with how you feel at the end of the 10-minutes. And your metabolism will be elevated for a much longer period than if you trained in the fat-burn zone for 10-minutes.
Okay, now here's another option, moving into some dumbbell work. The following superset trains the entire body, and focuses on the 3 hot zones.
1A) DB Squat (8 reps per set)1B) DB Chest Press (8 reps per set)
Use light weights for one warm-up set, and then do as many sets as possible in 10 minutes for the rest of the workout.
In any case, if you find yourself with another 10 minutes, you can up the fat-burning ante by doing 10 minutes of intervals. This too is far more effective for fat loss and fitness than 10 more minutes in the "so-called" fat-burning zone.
Do 3-5 minutes of exercise-specific warm-up.
Then do your intervals for 30 seconds followed by 30-60 seconds of rest. Repeat 3-6 times. Then cooldown.
Okay, now let's get greedy and assume we have 30 minutes for our workout. We'll be close to getting maximum results with this"marathon" duration workout.
First, hit up the bodyweight circuit mentioned above. Do thistwice, nice and easy. That will take 5 minutes off the clock.
Then move into your strength supersets. Following the lead above, you'll look to train the entire body with only 2 moves. It's not always easy, but fortunately you can do 2 supersets in thisworkout. The strength training will take about 15 minutes as you'll do 3 sets of 8 per exercise with no extra rest between sets - just long enough to switch exercises.
1A) DB Split Squat (If you have a barbell, use it instead of DB's)1B) DB Row
2A) DB Romanian Deadlift 2B) DB Incline Press
Then finish with intervals. For this workout, try another program. Start with a warm-up, then do each "work" interval for 45 seconds, and rest 60 seconds between each interval. Do 4-6 rounds and finish with a cool-down, of course.
I could go on and on with these fast fat loss workouts...and ofcourse I do, in the Turbulence Training e-book.
I'll follow up on this article in the future, passing along some ofthe exact Turbulence Training workouts that I use with my clients to get the most results in the least amount of time.
Until then, train hard, train safe, and train better than everyoneelse in the gym.
Sincerely,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MSAuthor, Turbulence Training
P.S. Is a lack of time stressing you out?
"No time to exercise" is the #1 reason most people don't exercise consistently. In fact, a lack of time stresses most people out for many reasons - whether it's a lack of time to prepare good food, exercise, or be with your family.
That's why I created Turbulence Training to be the most efficient and effective fat loss program out there.
The warm-up is applicable to your workout, not some 5-minute waste of time on the treadmill.
The strength training supersets shave minutes off your wait time.
And the intervals cut your cardio in half, or more.

About the AuthorCraig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment,Click Here

Living room workout

Just to show you that you can train anywhere, Craig has put together this living room workout for you to try.



For more workouts like this click here

Bodyweight Circuits For Interval Training

Here is Craig Ballantyne, the creator of Turbulence Training, explaining how to put together a bodyweight circuit. For 6 months worth of effective bodyweight workouts, you need to see what Craig has to offer here