The first order of business, in what is going to prove an extensive blog post, is to remind all of you who are interested in the business of kettlebell training - that our FREE webinar on running a highly successful kettlebell business is Tuesday at 2pm. If you are even remotely interested in ever becoming a fitness professional, then you NEED to be at this webinar, where Som and I are going to reveal the #1 secret behind running a successful kettlebell/fitness business!

CLICK HERE to secure your spot today.

The gentleman's lifting club is a once a week surreptitious operation with a select few gentleman from my Killin' It With Kettlebells Bootcamp. The mission is to dismantle one lift per week. To break it down into it's most fundamental components and re-learn it from the ground up (often times quite literally).

This week's focus was on the Turkish Get Up. A deceptively simple movement on the periphery, but arguably one of the most complex in terms of inconspicuous, but utterly essential nuances.

And no. I'm not sexist. Sexy maybe.

:D

...But certainly not sexist! We run a women's only as well! It's just that the gentleman this week were kind enough to allow me to record parts of our session for Chronicles.

Below are scenes from our gentleman's only lifting club where I instruct the get up and break it down into it's most fundamental components - pointing out common mistakes and how to fix them along the way. I hope you all enjoy this video serious and obtain great benefit from it. Please post any questions, comments, or even your own tips on learning how to perform a killer turkish get up in the comment section below!

Apologies for the short footage at the end - camera ran out of battery. More to come next week!

If you haven't already, please CLICK HERE to download my FREE report on how to mastering the Kettlebell Swing. If you enjoyed this post on the get up - then you're going to LOVE this report on the swing!

Yes.


You CAN put on size with kettlebells. There is no debate about that. But remember, the kettlebell is simply a tool. And in some cases, certain tools may be more effective than others. In a lot of cases, people are simply unable to realize this, which makes them a tool.

:D

So what I’m going to present to you today, is the most effective and efficient way to put on size with kettlebells,if that is what you so desire.

And yes, it is possible to be effective while being inefficient and vice versa.

Effectiveness relates to doing the things that get you closer to your goals and efficiency is about performing a given task in the most economical manner possible (or putting forth the minimum time and effort required completing a given task. Remember the bare minimum rule?)

Don’t be the loser that is incredibly efficient at being ineffective. That’s just silly.

Now realize that when it comes to putting on size, just because you feel like you can do more doesn’t mean that you should! Too often, the biggest mistake that folks make when it comes to trying to add some mass onto their frame, is that they simply do too much. Remember, it’s not about how hard or how often you train, but rather how smart you train, and how efficiently and effectively you are able to recover.

With the Prometheus Protocol, we have undoubtedly subscribed to the “less is more” philosophy.

Except when it comes to eating; where more is certainly more. :)

Here is what you will need for the Prometheus protocol:

1.       Two Relatively Heavy Kettlebells

2.       2 Days a Week to Dedicate to Training

3.       Stock Options in Chipotle

The Prometheus Protocol may very well be the simplest program you will ever follow, as it requires you to train only 2 days a week. Need I remind you however that simple rarely equals easy?

When it comes to putting on size our goal is to elicit a maximal hormonal response (particularly growth hormone, testosterone, and IGF-1).


We will utilize two of the biggest compound kettlebell movements for this:

1.       The Double Kettlebell Front Squat

2.       The Double Kettlebell Clean and Press

Between these two movements, just about every single muscle group in your body will be taxed. Both of these exercises are exceptionally high in neuromuscular activation, and when loaded with an appropriate amount of weight, will indeed elicit quite a remarkable hormonal response.

The program itself as I mentioned earlier only has you training two days a week. DO NOT TRAIN ON CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF THE WEEK! Please allow for at least two days of rest in between each training session.

I do not care whether you perform your sets of front squats or double clean and press first, only that you complete the prescribed amount of sets and reps which are as follows:

Double Clean and Press – 10 sets x 5 reps @ 60-80% of your 1 rep max
Double Kettlebell Front Squat – 10 sets of 5 reps @ 60-80% of your 1 rep max

It’s no mystery that you need to move heavy weight around to put on size. But in order to achieve the best response for muscle hypertrophy we must use a tactical mix of volume, density, and intensity.

Here are the rules:

1. Rest periods between sets should be between 60-120 seconds

2. Use a weight that is between 60-80% of your one rep max. It goes without saying (except for the fact that I’m saying it…) that you should use the heaviest weight you possibly can so long as you are still able to hit the required of reps and keep your rest periods under 120 seconds.

3. If done correctly, each training session should take NO longer than 30-40 minutes.

Now let’s talk about food,  because you are going to need a lot of it.

Now the goal of the Prometheus Protocol is to put clean size on you, not to make you an amorphous lard-ass. Follow these rules in order maximize muscle gain, and minimize fat gain.

1.      Eat only low glycemic carbohydrate sources. You do not need insulin to be oozing out of your eyeballs and fingernails for you to put on size, only an adequate caloric surplus. And yes, even post workout you do not need simple carbs, as insulin is already at peak sensitivity.  Your pancreas will thank you later. (Chipotle burrito bowls are my preferred weapon of choice - brown rice, black beans, chicken, salsa, cheese, and guacamole)

2.       Consume a quick digesting protein source (such as whey protein) 30 minutes post workout, and then eat a meal of protein and carbs 60 minutes post workout to replenish muscle glycogen.

3.       Eat often and to the point of discomfort. I’m not joking.

4.       Fast once a week for 24 hours. Nothing but water, green tea, and/or black coffee. This will not only help to minimize fat gain and allow for an increase in both growth hormone pulse frequency and amplitude, but will also ensure that protein up-take doesn’t down-regulate.

Follow all of the rules that I have presented and I DARE YOU to NOT put on size with the Prometheus Protocol.

Please post any questions you may have in the comment section.

We typically reserve the Two Minute To-Do drills for our newsletter subscribers(which if you aren't on our newsletter then you are missing out on a TON of great content - check out these seven SUPER COMPELLING reason to subscribe! - you'll even get a free ebook out of it!), but this one I feel is of such worth that I just need to share it with everyone. The goal of this weeks Two Minute To-Do is to spend two minutes in the squat position practicing hip rotations. Below is the video. Enjoy. And please post any of your favorite hip mobility drills in the comment section below.

Today we will examine our friend Leo's two hand swing and turkish get up. Let's see if we can't help out our buddy Leo.

Remember, technique critique is a way for everyone to gather free and valuable feedback from both myself and the COS community. It is my responsibility to point out any technical flaws that I find, but ultimately your responsibility to figure out how to fix them. Different correctives work better for different people, and as much as I would love to, I really just don’t have the time. It’s just not humanly possible. I can only cast light onto the problems and to help to set you in the right direction.  And often times that’s really all that folks need, is to know what they need to work on, so that they can go forth and work on it. It's hard to know what you don’t know. And that’s what technique critique is here for.

But of course I will always take the time to offer my recommendations in the comment section to any specific questions anyone has regarding potential correctives.

I realize I am incredibly backed up on technique critique, and my most sincere appologies for the delay for all of those who have sent me videos! The response has been awesome and please keep sending your videos in!

If you want to be on technique critique shoot me an email @ HardstyleKettlebells@yahoo.com with the subject line of technique critique. I will do my best to get at least two technique critiques up this week.

Now, let’s see if we can help our friend Leo out with his swing and get up.

The Two Hand Swing

Here’s a few of the things I see, post your comments and suggestions for Leo below!

@ :30 seconds – Hips need to be set lower at the set up – Although the exact position will vary slightly from individual to individual, hips should always be higher than your knees, but lower than your shoulders (In Leo’s case his shoulders are lower than his hips). There is also some mild rounding in the lumbar (lower back) and the tailbone is tucking under. Furthermore, there is an excessive amount of capital and cervical extension going on (looking up and cranking the neck back). See video above on the importance of “packing in the neck”.

@ :32 – the flexion and rounded back problem becomes more apparent once under load. Funny because even with Leo looking up and trying to pull himself into cervical extension, this actually does not seem to initially trickle down into his lumbar. Sort of like reverse trickle down biomechanics. Interesting… Hmm... Hmmmm

Regardless, I believe a proper set up with his hips a bit lower will go a long way for correcting this, as his initial hike-back will be deeper, his spine hopefully more neutral, and in turn his tibia (shins) a bit more vertical.

@ :33 And we have the lockout! Leo has a nice explosive hip snap, but the lockout needs a little cleaning up. Starting from the ground up – Leo’s knees look like they are coming a little short of full extension. Quads short be forcefully contracted even at the top of the lock out – knees fully extended, and knee caps even “pulled up”. From there Leo seems to actually be compensating for lack of knee extension with mild overextension of the hips. Fix the knees and I believe it will also help to fix the hips. Hard to tell with the clothing but lumbar looks fairly neutral at the top, my primary concern is now with Leo’s cervical region – as he has the classic “chicken neck” head position going on – which is when folks tend to leave their head behind and end up in an awkward position of cervical protrusion (pushing their chin/head forward).  Learning to pack the neck will do a great deal to solve this.

All of the aforementioned problems continue to occur throughout Leo’s set of two hand swings.

Note that overall Leo’s foundation is very solid. He no doubt understands that the swing is a posterior chain driven power movement, as he has a very clearly defined hip drive. Schweet.

The Turkish Get Up

@ 1:20 – Major valgus collapse (inward bowing of the knee) on the planted foot. Also a great deal of trying to “sit/crunch up” into the first position of the get up, which in turn has led to a considerable deal of flexion throughout the spine. Rather this first portion of the get up should be a tactical roll (pushing from the heel of the planted foot and pulling from the planted elbow) and not a modified sit up or crunch. You want to lead with your sternum, and not with the arm that is bearing the weight, as this will lead to the shoulder coming forwarding and unpacking which is the case here.

@ 1:22 – Back arm elbow is lacking full extension and planted too far behind and out of line with the hip. As you will see, this will make Leo’s sweep through his hip bridge considerably more difficult than it has to be.

@ 1:27 – Ah yes, just as I predicted! Leo is unable to sweep his leg back far enough to get his knee in line with his planted hand – again a consequence of what went on @ 1:22. This led to Leo having to jump his hand forward (and give up a point of contact fromhis base) to place it back in line with his knee and some major instability/wobbliness. Again, it all goes back to taking the time to invest in and find the most appropriate set up position for the structure of your body.

@ 1:28 – Leo sort of twists/contorts into the lunge position. A lot of folks are able to get away with this when using a relatively lighter weight, but this will not be the case once the big boy and big girl weights come into play. Rather one needs to sit down into that L-position first before “windshield wiping” the back leg and utilize hip flexion and extension in order to come into the lunge position. See video below to see what the freak it is that I’m talking about.

@ 1:39 – On the descent again Leo is reaching his arm behind him, rather it would behoove him to reach it out more in line with his hip.

@ 1:46 Elbow breaks before it should and his shoulder is being yanked back into more extension than necessary.

What else do you see? What recommendations do you have for Leo to fix his swing and get up? Please share your thoughts in the comment section!

I will save my critique of Leo’s snatch and clean and press for another date, as Lola now requires my full attention, but please give Leo your feedback on these techniques as well in the comment section!

Overall, I must say great job to Leo. Remember technique critique is not here to beat people up, but rather to lift them up, commend them for the awesome job they’ve done, and then help them improve. Because nobody is beyond being able to improve. And it takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there like this, and that alone is rather commendable. Thank you Leo for doing

First off a HUGE thank you to everyone who invested in our new eBook "The Birth of a Hero". The feedback and response so far has been nothing short of incredible.

If you haven't picked up a copy yet, then what are you waiting for?! A bus?! Click here to get yours today!

Now onto some more serious business...

The kettlebell swing... eh, certainly been around this block more than once...

Yet here we are again with another tutorial video. And what I want to clear up is:
"what is the right way to swing a kettlebell?"

My answer to you is this:

There are an infinite number of ways you can swing a kettlebell. And I'm not going to say that any other way is wrong, but I am going to show you the way that I teach it to my victims and why I choose to teach it this way.

Here a few nuances of the way that I teach the kettlebell swing -

1. Packed neck. If you haven't checked out my interview with Dr. Charlie Weingroff on the importance of packing the neck then I highly encourage you to do so here.

The easiest way to go about "packing in your neck" is to think you want to try and give yourself a double chin. What this looks like is mild capital flexion coupled with cervical retrusion. The goal of this is to keep the cervical spine as neutral as possible, just as you would want to keep any other part of your spine as neutral as possible. Packing in your neck will help prevent excessive amounts of cervical extension as well as aid in taking you out of that dreaded head forward position that so many people hang out in now adays.

2. Hinge Not Squat. This would seem like a no-brainer to most, and I'm not saying it's wrong to squat your swings, but it's just not what I would do - and for a variety of reasons...

When I think the kettlebell swing I like to think an outward projection of force, not upward. So if I were to correlate the kettlebell swing to any other movement, I would say it is most similar to a broad jump (not so much a vertical jump). Now if you were ever going to perform a broad jump you would hinge, not squat to project the force outward. The swing to me is primarily a posterior chain driven power movement, meaning deep hinging and hip flexion.

3. Bell Doesn't Float Above Chest  This ties into the last point quite nicely. Again if the projection of force is outward rather than upward then there is no marginal benefit to swinging any higher than chest height. Secondly if you want to swing above your chest, then why not just learn to snatch? And for a third point, the two hand swing isn't so friendly for swinging above chest height without either compensating at the lumbar through hyperextension or at the shoulders through scapular elevation(shrugging) and losing that strong connection/lat engagement that helps keep your shoulders safe. For me there have never been any valid/reasonable arguments that have convinced me that swinging higher than chest height has any additional benefit that at least isn't outweighed by any marginal cost.

Those are just three of the many nuances that I cover in the video below. Please take the time to watch and re-watch the video so that you pick up on all the annoying nitty gritty detail. Because it's all that annoying nitty gritty detail that makes a world of difference with your kettlebell swing.

I hope you all enjoy this tutorial video, and be sure to post any questions or comments you have in the comment section!

For various reasons, I don't much care for kipping pull ups.

For one, there are a lot more effective ways to get strong(er) at pull ups if that is your goal. There are only two ways to increase intramuscular tension. You can lift more weight. Or you can lift with greater acceleration. This does not mean "make it seem like you are lifting with greater acceleration by utilizing momentum."

---Think about it - the guy who can bang out even one pull up with 100lbs tied around his waist will likely have no problem performing a set of kipping pull ups. The opposite will rarely hold true, meaning the guy who can perform kipping pull ups will have a hell of a time trying to chin 100lbs!

Get Stronger Instead!!

Secondly - I don't often see people performing kipping pull ups with much regard to shoulder position, and rather they tend to load and hang off their passive structures. This will surely agitate those who have "less than fortunately" shaped acromions (about 1/3 of the population). When performing a pull up, once should always begin with strong and forceful scapular movement (retraction and depression). I rarely see this occur with kipping pull ups.

Finally - if you are hanging out of a window and clinging on for dear life, are you really going to have room to kip? Not likely...

Either way, this is not really a post to "bash" the kipping pull up (no need to beat a dead horse).If kipping pull ups are your thing, and you have no trouble doing them, then by all means continue on good sirs!

Instead, I simply want to offer an alternative.

The plyo-pull up.

The premise is simple. Just pull with enough speed to get some air.

Simple doesn't always mean easy... and this will take some working up to. One of the best ways to work up to this is to focus on accelerating as quickly as possible with each and every pull up you perform. Also, start performing weighted pull ups asap!

You can clap mid-air, or perhaps perform a bar transfer as you will see in the video below. Either way, plyo pull ups are a great way to develop explosive pulling power, grip strength, and for overcoming your fear of heights/flying (well, er, kinda...)

Pair plyo pull ups with heavy single arm military presses and you have yourself one fantastic upper body strength pairing. Enjoy and don't forget to drop your comments below!

_  Before we get started I must harp on one absolutely crucial piece to the six-pack ab success puzzle. This piece is the foundation upon which ALL success is built, inside and outside of the gym. Without realizing the importance of what I’m going to tell you, then you will surely find yourself on a systematic decline towards inevitable failure.

What I’m talking about is behavioral change. As with any and all endeavors in life, “trying” is simply not enough. It never was. To me, when someone says “I’ll try”, they are telling me that they will make an attempt until things become difficult and then retrograde to what they know to be safe and/or easy. If you truly want six-pack abs, then trying will not suffice. You have to DO. What I want to help you understand is that you have commit one hundred percent to success, otherwise the only outcome will be failure. Micro (and sometimes macro) failures will happen along the way, but it is how you handle those failures that will dictate whether or not your final destination is success or square one.

Secondly, excuses and success are entirely incompatible. Mutually exclusive, if you will. The number one thing you can do before beginning is agree to take FULL responsibility for yourself.

Do these things, and nothing will be able to stop you.

Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Getting shredded (without the use of “special vitamins”) sucks! It’s one of the most difficult and trying tasks you will ever put yourself through, I can promise you that much.

But with just about anything else in life, the greater the risk, the greater the potential reward. Getting shredded sucks. But being shredded is awesome.

So if you are unable to fully commit to what I am about to lay out for you, then there is no reason for you to continue wasting your time reading through this post.  Put your computer away now and retreat to your box of devil dogs or whatever your current poison may be.

But if you are ready to make the necessary behavioral changes to ensure your success, then what I’m going to tell you will essentially pave the path to six-pack abs for you. But again, I can only show you the way; it is still all on you to take the journey.

Shredded, sinewy abs are forged in both the kitchen and the gym. Of this, there is no disputation. I have never witnessed anybody out-train a poor diet, at least not to the point of garnering an envious six-pack.

So let’s start in the kitchen and clear up some common misconceptions about eating for six-pack abs.

1.       It’s not all about calories in vs. calories out. There is some truth to the law of thermodynamics, but what we need to realize is that contrary to popular belief humans are NOT machines! If only it were as simple as humans operating “as a function of x or y” then six-pack abs would no longer be desirable because they would no longer be a rarity! This is simply not the case. We are rather adaptive organisms. We respond to stimuli and each of us possibly a bit differently than others. And while calories certainly will play a role in your ultimate success, we now need to consider a few other crucial elements to successfully stripping away body fat.

a.       Thyroid Output – As I stated above, humans are adaptive organisms. This is why diets that rely solely on caloric deficits FAIL because we are able to adapt to them! Our bodies don’t actually want to be shredded! They want to retain some fat as a safety measure. What happens is that eventually there will be a significant metabolic downshift to accommodate for the lack of calories coming in. Specifically this happens when our thyroid begins to produces less of t-3 (triodothyronine) and t-4 (thyroxine) hormones. These hormones are crucial for dictating your basal metabolic rate and play a large role in protein synthesis as well. So what really stinks about cutting calories is that the long-run success rate is very low because of how our bodies adapt to the caloric deficit by actually LOWERING our basal metabolic rate so that we burn less calories throughout the day. Bummer.

b.      Leptin – This hormone is commonly referred to as the “anti-starvation” hormone. Most leptin receptors lie within the hypothalamus, but there are many more throughout the body.  That’s not all that important. What is important is that when leptin levels are high, there is no shortage of leptin binding to their receptors, which tells the brain that you are not starving, food intake is wholly sufficient, and there is little need to store or hold onto body fat. Unfortunately, leptin levels are usually only this high when you are eating often and/or eating a lot which is also not so conducive to fat-burning with all that insulin floating around. Now, when you restrict calories, leptin levels drop – often substantially within the first 72 hours. This is less than desired because now our brain is being sent signals that we are somewhat starving and our body is now more apt to store body fat.

c.       Insulin – Insulin is a transport hormone. It shuttles nutrients to cells. These cells could either be fat cells or they could be muscle cells (I’ll teach you how to make insulin work for your muscle cells later on…). Insulin to a certain degree is also inhibitory of natural growth hormone, meaning the more you spike your insulin through the consumption of food (specifically carbohydrates), the more you inhibit the release of natural growth hormone, which again is a favorable hormone for fat loss. More on the role of hormones and how to optimize them for fat-burning later…

2.       Fat is not the enemy. It never has been. Not at least until the creation of man-made fats such as hydrogenated oils. Read my ketogenic blog post to learn about how a high fat diet can actually make you the leanest you’ve ever been.

3.       Carbs are only partly the enemy. It’s a give-and-take relationship. Too many carbs can and will make you fat. Yet you need carbohydrates to fuel your anaerobic endeavors. I’ll tell you my secret for proper carb selection below…

 

So it seems as if we are stuck between a rock and a sucky place. We need a caloric (even more so a

carbohydrate deficit) deficit to shed body fat, yet we need a caloric (again more so a carbohydrate

surplus) to ensure hormonal optimization conducive to fat loss.

 

So what’s the solution?

 

Concentrated Carb Dosing and My Binge and Purge Manifesto

 

It’s really not all that complicated. Here are three simple rules to follow:

 

1.       Consume less than 100 grams of carbs a day, and target your carbohydrate consumption around your workouts. Meaning, consume slow-digesting and preferably complex/fibrous carbohydrates anywhere between one-and-a-half to two hours before your workout, and immediately post-workout consume quickly digesting (preferably glucose-containing) carbohydrates. This protocol ensures that you control your insulin levels throughout the day and only peak them at the most opportune time, which is immediately after working out! Your muscle cells have priority post-workout, so an insulin spike brought about through the consumption of quickly digesting carb sources (such as vitargo or waxy maize) upon completion of your workout will ensure that the nutrients are shuttled to your muscle cells rather than your fat cells. Awesome. Furthermore, keeping carbohydrate intake relatively low throughout the rest of the day will lay the foundation for a fat-burning environment and the release of natural growth hormone.

2.       One day a week you get to binge. Eat as much as you want. Eat whatever you want. You heard me right. Eat like a pig to shed body fat! Heresy? Sure sounds like it, but let me explain…The goal here is to hit the “reset” button on your metabolism. A huge caloric (especially carbohydrate) surplus can elevate leptin levels and boost t-3 and t-4 hormone output for up to 72 hours. So through the means of a once-a-week binge, we are boosting our basal metabolic rate to ensure that our body does not adapt to our caloric (carbohydrate) deficit that we put ourselves in throughout the week. This is precisely the premise behind my Metabolic Reset eBook (one of four eBooks included in our bundle package). Check it out for the full protocol and meal planning guide.

3.       The day after you binge, you fast. That’s 16 to 24 hours of consuming nothing but water. Now when I first present this idea to people, they are always quite skeptical. “Isn’t that just starving yourself?” is a typical response I get. Let me be very clear; fasting is NOT starving yourself. Fasting is actually one of the most healthful and wholesome activities that you can do for yourself, not only to shed body fat, but to ensure long-term health and longevity. There is no greater detox than a water fast. Think of it as a purification process because when you fast, that’s exactly what’s going on. Your body finally has a chance to rid itself of all the toxins and chemicals that you bring in from eating, and your digestive system finally gets a chance to rest! Furthermore, fasting has been proven to increase lipolysis (that’s fat burning), boost natural growth hormone, and even aid in the prevention and warding off of cancer-causing free radicals. If you want even more of the super scientificals of fasting and learn how to implement the perfect fast to shed body fat, again check out our eBook bundle package.  I’ll repeat, fasting is not starving yourself. A twenty- four hour fast is a wholesome purification process that I recommend each and every healthy person seeking to optimize their health and wellbeing.  I’m not going to lie, however; fasting is tough. You will get hungry. Embrace it! Over time, you will notice it becomes easier, and I will even bet that you’ll begin to enjoy your fasted state – as you will feel more alert and lively! This is due to the nervous system shift that takes place from your parasympathetic nervous system (the one you put yourself in when you eat food and your body is ready for rest and recuperation) to your sympathetic nervous system (which is your alert and lively  “fight or flight” nervous system). That’s right when you are fasted, you are going to enter into a sympathetic nervous system, which will have you feeling attentive and “on the hunt” as Ori Hoffmeckler describes it in his book entitled The Warrior Diet (yet another fantastic read for anyone interested in the benefits of fasting).

Three simple rules. But simple does not mean easy. It takes discipline to follow my Binge and Purge Manifesto, but the results will speak for themselves. Be sure to head over to ABS-SCIENCE.COM and pick up the updated copy of my Metabolic Reset eBook and/or eBook bundle package.

Now let’s get out of the kitchen and head to the gym…

I’m going to lay it out right now; traditional “cardio” training is absolutely NOT the most effective type of exercise for fat loss. As a matter of fact, I would rank jogging (or trudging as most people seem to do) on a treadmill at the bottom of the barrel for effective fat loss training. After all, it’s called “the treadmill to nowhere” for a reason…

If you want to look like an athlete, then you have to train like an athlete.

Meaning you are going to have to pick heavy things up, put them back down, and bust your ass sideways, if you want to make any sort of tangible progress.

Enter metabolic conditioning.

Metabolic conditioning, or “metcon”, has actually been around since the 1960s, I have an extensive blog post on it here! Check it out.

As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to hacking off body fat at an unprecedented rate, I will return to metcon again and again before just about anything else. It’s THAT effective.

Metabolic conditioning, specifically through the use of kettlebell complexes, creates an incredible amount of systemic fatigue and stress on the system. The greater the stress, the greater the potential adaptation, and the faster your body fat melts off. This is quite evidence-based, both anecdotally and objectively.

Metabolic Conditioning = Moderate to Heavy Strength Efforts + Elevated Cardiovascular Stress

Metabolic conditioning work is often short, intense, and unforgiving. Make no mistake, this type of conditioning will test your merit and humble even the most able-bodied athletes. Embrace the pain. Focus on it, and maintain poise under the pressure. DO NOT allow form to falter under fatigue at any costs!

The beauty of kettlebell complexes for metcon work is that they allow you to switch between muscle groups and energy systems so that you do not smoke any muscle group too much at one time, yet keep the system (lungs, heart, kidneys, etc.) working and under prolonged stress.

I could continue to type the hype of metcon until my fingers fall off, but I’d rather you try it for yourself. You’ll be a believer soon enough. And you’ll thank me later…

Oh, and one last thing…

Once the body fat is off, then it’s time to start carving out those abs. I have also included a variety of videos highlighting my personal favorite ab-ripping exercises for developing both a chiseled midsection, as well as a strong and functional core.

You can’t ever say that I don’t give out milk for free. This blog post is one of my greatest compilations of complex and core-strengthening work to date. But if you want to learn how to put it all together (which at the end of the day is the most valuable component), then check out my Metabolic Conditioning eBook or the ABS-SCIENCE eBook bundle package. You won’t regret it. As a matter of fact, I promise you that it will be one of the best investments you have ever made in yourself.

And now for your viewing pleasure… (or pain)…

Post any comments or questions you have below! Enjoy!