Gyms are so not for me! Sorry! I just can’t find anything appealing about them and haven’t set foot in one for over 20 years. If I am going to exercise and take the time to look after myself it has to be fun and I have to look forward to it. Period. Life is too short to haul myself out just so I can cross off one more thing on the ‘to do’ list.
That’s why I love yoga so much. No fees (I practice at home most of the time), no need for fancy chick-a-doo workout clothes, no manuals to figure out complicated gym equipment, no competitive show offs in sight, no need for ear plugs to drown out the less desirable tunes. All you need is a yoga mat and a 3 foot by 7 foot space to roll it out. Done. Oh, and some motivation. But I want to talk about Kettlebells.
I was passing the display units at Pierre Berton Resource library and noticed a new fitness book called The Swing! Lose the Fat and Get Fit with this Revolutionary Kettlebell Program, by Tracy Reifkind. I keep hearing about Kettlebells and how they are so much more effective, challenging and FUN than traditional weights. Reifkind states that all her students without exception comment on how fun it is to swing these hunks of iron, while the same cannot be said for the more traditional dumbbells. I am intrigued and check out the book.
Why are Kettlebells on my radar? Apparently I have an ancient injury in my right shoulder. Though I wasn’t aware of it until very recently, the right shoulder is visibly smaller and weaker than my left shoulder. WHY did nobody ever tell me?? This has started to cause problems because when doing yoga I’m putting undue pressure on the tendons to compensate for the lack of muscle on that side. Explains why I usually fall (face-plant) on that side (though NEVER EVER on the other side) when making rare attempts at fancy poses like Galavasana. Gala what? Galavasana means flying crow pose. Think asymmetrical arm balance. Kettlebells, Kettlebells, Kettlebells, I want to talk about KETTLEBELLS (suuursly…)
Apparently I need to strengthen the stabilizer muscles in my shoulders. With an old injury the muscles sort of turn off and forget how to function. Makes it very hard to strengthen them if they refuse to do any work!! And no, not even the magic of Yoga has convinced these muscles to behave. I’ve been using therabands (those weird latexy things) to try to ‘wake’ these muscles up. Hasn’t seemed to have done much good. I’m willing to wager a bet that the kettlebells will be just the thing to wake these muscles from their slumber.
This is the author, Tracy Reifkind. I know…pretty heavy duty. For Tracy, the original attraction to Kettlebells is their amazing ability to take off the weight. She lost 120 pounds. For me that is not the focus. All the women in my family I take after are of the shrinking variety. They shrink with age. With shrinkage comes brittle bones and frailty. Weight resistance training is perfect to counter shrinkage and remain robust for longer. Not forever, just for longer.
Very importantly, you don’t need to go to the gym to use Kettlebells! You really only need one Kettlebell of the appropriate weight for your size and strength. Two is useful to have, but only one is necessary. Oh, and a mat to protect your floor from the hunk of iron.
Strong stabilizer shoulder muscles, here I come!
To be continued……..