Last Saturday morning I woke up and plopped myself on the couch to watch KARE-11’s Saturday morning “news” show. I tune in so I can complain loudly about the parade of paid-advertisements they have on in the guise of “guests.” Horribly drawn books for children. People shilling products that are really their at-home craft projects. And then there’s the constant stream of local restaurants and grocery stores telling us what to make for every occasion. Never before in my life have I ever ordered anything from TV or, to my knowledge, something featured on a TV show. The only regret I have is not ordering Freedom Rock back in the day. But last Saturday my attitude suddenly changed – all because of KettleWorx and the Six-Week Body Transformation.
I’d heard rumors of something called a kettle bell before but I never paid attention. Basically, kettle bells are what people used to work out with before there were dumbells and Nautilus machines. It was a cannon ball with a handle. Now they’ve just fancied it up a little bit and put rubber over most of it. This is a kettle bell:
KettleWorx was created by Ryan Shanahan, a buff, pleasant guy who might be the personal trainer you meet at a YMCA or LifeTime Fitness. Ryan was on KARE-11 doing a demo of the Kettleworx system. I don’t know what got into me (and my husband, who by this time had joined me on the couch) but I decided, right there, that I was going to try this. Why do I find a Six Week Transformation so compelling? I’m American. I want things to happen quickly. My desire to be toned is constantly at odds with my desire to stuff treats into my face every chance I get. I’ve been trying to get on a regular exercise schedule for months with moderate success. I’ve worked up to going to the gym about twice a week. This isn’t going to transform me anytime soon. More like keep the wolves at the door with a few paws over the threshold.
So the idea of a kettle bell workout appealed to me. We ordered that day and got a 10 percent discount. KettleWorx is a Minnesota company (one thing to feel good about), so the package came in just a few days. There was an entire BOX of DVDs. I’m not kidding. It doubled our DVD collection. There are about 5 or 6 discs for the Transforming part and a bunch of other ones to target certain parts of your body. Some of the photos on the DVD boxes frighten me. Just looking at them I know I will not be able to walk after performing them.
The truth is, I’m not as weak as a kitten but I’m definitely on par with an adolescent sheep.
I asked my husband what got into us. Why did we order? Are we really going to do this? Yes, I think we are. I mean, YES! I know we are! (you have to be positive while transforming). He pointed out that it’s good to act out-of-character sometimes and order exercise equipment you could probably find at a rummage sale in a few years. The winter has been so draining and long. If some possibly dorky exercise program gets us up and moving, so be it.
We’re gonna buy sweatbands! As soon as I finish this Valentine’s Day cupcake.
You forget one of the other big draws of the initial KARE-11 demo: Ryan Shanahan did the best job I’ve ever seen of flummoxing Eric Perkins. I was won over on the spot.
In college I purchased one of those slippery floor mats with pads on the ends. You could slide back and forth like you were skating. Yeah….that never worked. It was fun to use after drinking though.
how did you get on with it? i want to try it out so any help would be good
For quite a few months, my husband and I kept up with the workouts and were seeing some great results. I love the kettle bell workout. But then summer hit and we got distracted by summer activities and bike riding – but we’ve already talked about how, if you live in a cold climate like we do, where there are many months when outdoor exercise isn’t a lot of fun, KettleWorx is the perfect thing to do. I highly recommend. I hope to get back into it in the fall.
Good post with lots of useful details. My exercise program consists mainly of high intense interval training. I find that I am most productive I exercise in the morning.