Warrior Monk turning into... hmmmm....my introduction

[zielperson]

Hi all.

I have just stumbled on this site coming from a reddit link.

My story / introduction

My name is Marcus and I am 36 years old.

I used to be a rather heavy kid, having asthma as well as a love for sweets and reading might have contributed to that.

When I turned 16, I got into contact with my first Martial Art: Aikido.

Shortly afterwards, I also started with Karate.

One year later, I travelled to the US of A for one year of highschool (exchange student)

There, I trained in Capoeira for a few months.

When I came back, I dropped Aikido, simply because the coach had turned into a major &!*% and focused on Karate (3 times a week, strength training 2 times a week and running 2-3 times a week).

Needless to say, I was fit as anything.

Other Martial Arts I looked into are:

• Iaido
• Judo
• Kyudo

After getting my 2nd brown belt (Shotokan Karate has 3 brown belts), my knees were acting up. Found out that my kneecap moves too much and irritates the underlying joint-skin, which runs in the family and ended my martial arts and running practice.

So strength training turned into full-blown body building, as I could train as long as I have no impact on my knees. Did this for a few years and do know a lot about this.

Fast forward a few years and a sedentary job, university studies (graduated in psychology) and too much good food had turned me into an un-fit slob.

Being very hmmm.... disappointed with traditional bodybuilding techniques (isolation training, to be exact) did not help either.

So for about 1/2 a year I have started training again.

I have turned to functional and compound exercises.

What I do:

Training with the TRX system

Training with a 30lbs and 60lbs sandbag

Cardio exercises on machines (due to my knees), so eliptical, stationary bike, etc..

I do cardio 2 times a week, TRX and sadbag 3 times a week.

I also try to have a full-blown one hour stretching / mobility workout once a week.

Although I have not lost a lot of weight (8kg ~20lbs) so far, I am in a much better shape.

Future challenges / goals:

This summer I will start with a new exercise equipment:

Basically, driving my little son around for cardio.

So my skillset is basically Monk (Martial Arts) which I can't be anymore, and Warrior, but I guess I am moving to ranger (bodyweight and endurance) as well as warrior (sandbags)

Debating whether to start with a kettlebell or not.

My goal is to get from my current weight of 95kg ~209lbs to 85kg ~187lbs.

Question:

Do you need one or two kettlebells for most programmes?

::zielperson::

[Knightwatch]

Hey, welcome! Good to have you on board!

Kudos on using the sandbags. They're terrific. I wish I still had ready access to one and the space to use it in.

Kettlebells are great. You can use one KB for nearly every workout. Sure, it's nice to have two (double snatches and the like are just ridiculous), you really can do more than enough with one, especially when you're just getting started with it.

Welcome again, and good luck on your journey!

[zielperson]

Thanks for the welcome knightwatch and for the info re: the kettlebell.

Happy I found this place.

::zielperson::

[Brometheus]

Welcome to the board!

I would recommend one kettlebell to start with. I'm willing to admit that using two *might* kill me.

I'd recommend checking out dragondoor.com and pick up enter the kettlebell book and dvd w/ [suggested, but not required] a 35lb one. Find a local RKC trainer and learn how to do the swing. Probably the best workout I've ever had. I spent some time figuring out what kettlebell to buy, and just the web reviews sold me on the differences between major manufacturer's. Dragon door is probably tops in terms of quality, but you'll pay for it [and your ups delivery person will probably hate you].

[zielperson]

Hehe..

I'll get one kettlebell, but I will look locally.

I am living in Switzerland and getting stuff delivered internationally is very, very costly.

::emp::

[Brometheus]

And I ignored the country, I'm sorry....

Maybe this would help? If you have issues with your knees, I just would want to ensure you do something that won't hurt you.

http://www.dragondoor.com/instructor/country/Switzerland

[zielperson]

Thanks for the contacts.

And thank you for thinking of my knees.

What I have been doing lately is strengthening my knees, and it is helping.

Squats, Outer leg Abductor strengthening, Posterior chain strengthening, and stretches seem to do the trick, slowly.

What I have to stay away from is high impact exercises, such as jogging or Martial Arts.

Kettlebell strength training should be A-OK.

Just out of interest, how many lessons should I take? I normally like to train alone.

::zielperson::

[Brometheus]

I took one one hour session, and another half-an-hour session and I was good. I try to do one session per six months and the rest of the time I train alone.

I did spend a lot of time before I got a trainer working on my swing, and it turns out my form was all wrong

Thankfully they fixed that, and got my arms and shoulders in correct position for the snatch, otherwise I would probably have some serious elbow issues right now.

As far as workouts go, I do 75 swings w/ a 53lb kettlebell, and plan to add some sort of sledgehammer/tire pounding in the next several weeks [recommended because it's the opposite of swings].

[justinhamlin]

welcome to the rebellion!

[Cacophony]

The top three names to keep an eye out regarding kettlebell stuff are:

Shawn Mozen, Steve Cotter, and Pavel Tsatsouline. Shawn focuses mostly on full body, dymanic movements and mobility. Steve is the undisputed GOD of lower body conditioning world wide. Pavel is old school Russian military and brought the weights to the US.

If you youtube at all, I'd recommend all three as well as John Wild Buckley if you want to see some insane KB work. Big John's a BEAST and an instructor under Steve cotter.

I'd say I rely on my kettlebells about 80% of the time for resistance movement. I've been seriously debating on making a sand bag, however. We've got too much snow to play outside with it... might make that my spring project. Do you have a professional one or did you make your own? Any suggestions?

I'm collecting the best toys! I already was a diehard kettlebell convert, I'd known about the sandbag and been looking into it, and Cap'N Tommy has me eyeballing clubs. I guess you could say we're of the same mind regarding isolation exercises unless you're rehab'ing an injury. Time and a place. =) Welcome to the board and I look forward to picking your brain!!!

[zielperson]

Thanks for that.

My sandbags are professionally made "Ultimate Sandbags".

The experience has been mixed. In short:

• The outer shell is great!
• The filler concept is "meh" for the 30lbs sandbag, but works well with the bigger one
• The DVDs ..well, SUCK!
• Getting them shipped to Europe is ç&!+ing expensive.
• Training with them is GREAT!

I will put up a full review of the sandbags one of the next days (don't know if I can make it today).

::zielperson::