Monday, January 18, 2010

Check It Out: Enter the Kettlebell


"The kettlebell delivers extreme all-around fitness. All-purpose strength. Staying power. Flexibility. Fat loss without the dishonor of aerobics. All accomplished in one to two hours of weekly training. All done with one compact and virtually indestructible tool that can be used anywhere." - Pavel Tsatsouline

I've been thinking about starting a kettlebell routine ever since I read this extensive blog post by my favorite P90X critic, and now that I'm more than halfway through my 90-day P90X/Insanity hybrid, I've decided to kick the tires some more. I picked up Pavel Tsatsouline's "Enter the Kettlebell!" and am slowly making my way through it. Tsatsouline's idiosyncratic grammar and machismo-drenched writing style makes for a fun read -- you can almost hear his Russian-inflected voice booming from the pages.

Here's what he sounds like (while delivering advice on hand care and mocking metrosexuals):



Although Tsatsouline's "I'm a man's man, and people who go to gyms are pussies" shtick gets a little old after awhile, I like what I'm reading so far. I don't know how (or even if) I'll end up incorporating Tsatsouline's moves into my workout routine, but I'm curious enough to want to get my hands on a kettlebell and give it a swing or two.

[UPDATE: More about Tsatsouline's kettlebell program here.]