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Recently I read an article in Men’s Health (June 2010 issue) stating that kettlebell snatches can burn as many as 20 calories per minute. This was roughly 1 more calorie than running at a 7-min mile pace and about 6 more calories than spinning. Needless to say, any  activity with so much cardiovascular benefit, to say nothing of the strength building potential, stoked my interest. Plus I’m a fan of old school training, avoiding costly equipment and gym memberships in favor of regimens that I can do at home. It just feels like a better way to train for me.

So I after much research, I ended up purchasing  a 16 kg (35 lb) kettlebell  from Christian’s Fitness Factory. After reading countless forums and websites with posts on where people felt they received the best deal, Christian’s was a name that consistently came up. After visiting their site, http://www.christiansfitnessfactory.com/, I did find their price to be very competitive and a good deal at ~ 1.00 per pound. I ended up going with their CFF Fit brand. The shipping was expensive, but not unexpected considering the weight. However, their service and extremely fast shipping was enough to justify the cost in my mind.

Now I can only really compare this to the Go Fit brand that Target sells, but IMHO, the quality is superior to those. The handle is much smoother and the finish looks great so really a top notch product in my opinion. It just has a really good feel and balance to it. I didn’t really like the rubber coated bells…reminded me of the Wii condoms, so I liked the plain finish of the CFF Fit bells.

To get started on my journey, I’ve been watching instructional videos on YouTube and also picked up an inexpensive book on Amazon called “The Great Kettlebell Handbook” to give me the basics to build a strong foundation. From what I’ve uncovered, the swing is the basic core exercise that you have to master before moving on to more involved exercises. I’ve had a couple days of training so far and let me tell you, it made me work up a sweat and you have to keep your core tight during the exercise, so I’m looking forward to progressing to the snatches.

Any way, stay tuned for more and I’ll update this blog with my progress.

By the way, neither Christian’s Fitness Factory nor the authors of The Great Kettlebell Handbook are paying me to recommend their products. I’m simply chronicling what I’m using after my research as to what I felt were good deals. Use them as starting point if you’d like, but always do your own research and go with what you are comfortable with. But I just wanted to throw that disclaimer out there.

Keep an eye out for more updates as to my progress.

Take care!