Featuring Ida: Amazing Weight Loss Story and NOW Beautiful Fit Kettlebell Instructor.

Always extremely touched and honored with testimonials and success stories such as this one!  Here's a story of a woman that was severely overweight, had babies via C-section and suffered from hormonal issues. Fast forward to today she is now a kettlebell instructor getting her Strong First Kettlebell Certification (SFG). Read her story that she wrote to me. If you needed some inspiration this is the real deal!


Hi Lauren -

A little over 5 years ago I found your name as I was researching how to recover core strength after having a c-section.  At that time, I was severely overweight due to general poor diet, hormonal issues, pregnancy, and hormonal medications I had to take to become pregnant. I had always been physically active, but still overweight. I weighed 216 pounds. I am 5'2".

Your research led me to kettlebells, and my very first kettlebell workout was with your DVD The Ultimate Body Sculpt and Conditioning with Kettlebells. I studied your YouTube videos and your blog to make sure my form was good and to make sure I was using the kettlebells correctly.  With your email advice, I started with an 18 pound kettlebell.

After that c-section in 2008, I had another in 2011 and recovered so quickly because I continued to use kettlebells during that pregnancy. Even my doctor was impressed!


Fast forward to today. Using your DVDs as a springboard, I started using kettlebells as my primary form of exercise. Eventually, I started training at FIRE-BELLZ and then with Zar Horton, Master SFG.

I am now a ketttlebell instructor at FIRE-BELLZ. (I also have a professional career, so kettlebells are my part-time passion!) I will be attending the October SFG I cert in San Diego this year.  My weight hovers between 140 and 145 pounds, and has for almost 3 years. I am stronger than I have ever been in my life. My normal swinging bell is either a 20kg or 24kg bell. I turn 40 this year, and feel the best I have ever felt in my life. 

I continue to follow your blog and do your workouts. You are an inspiration to me and many many others. 

Even though I train now with Zar and at FIRE-BELLZ. I will always credit you for starting me on this path. When I signed up for the cert, I knew I had to reach out to you and share my story. You started this! And I thank you so very much for doing so!

So, if you happen to be at the October cert and see a short, dark curly haired chic running up to you to give you a big hug, do not be afraid. It's just me!!!

With lots of thanks and tons of kettlebell love,

Ida Hernandez 

Todays Workout - Fight the Power

Complete as many heavy Ground-to-Overhead sandbag lifts as you can within a 15 minute time period.

Record both the weight of your sandbag and the number of repetitions you perform.

Train hard!

Turkish Get Up Tutorial Part 1 - Lauren Brooks

Part 1 of my favorite exercise - The Turkish Get Up

Practice this before moving on to the next sections. Next step coming soon....

For more free videos and tutorials subscribe to my youtube channel right here 

Enter to win a copy of The Complete Guide to Sandbag Training in paperback!

Win The Complete Guide to Sandbag Training in paperback!

The Top 25 Fitness Blogs 2014

I know that a lot of you guys who follow the blog on a regular basis appreciate the fact that I don't stand for:

a. General marketing BS and hype.
b. Half-assed attempts to influence others with big words and charts.
c. Anything that I don't believe is in the best interests of the general public.

I'm also often asked who else I recommend that people read up on when it comes to fitness. Hence this little competition that I've put together. This is squarely aimed at fitness-focused blogs, run by individuals, for the betterment of the readers. There is no prize, except for you guys who get to find some new killer fitness blogs to follow.

The competition is simple - I'd like your help in finding these people. Put your nomination in the Facebook comments field below, ideally also including a website address and tagging the Facebook individual or page in question.

The competition will close on Friday 8th August.

Todays Workout - 20 Minutes to Save the World...

Sorry it's been awhile since the last post - I've been working hard on a few new projects and putting the final touches on a new Sandbag Training book! If you have an interest in being lean and strong then you will love this new book, trust me. How do I know? Because I'm currently road-testing it on myself....

10 Sandbag Push Press, 

10 Burpees, 

10 Sandbag Back Squats, 

10 Chin Ups. 

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

Record your score.

Train hard!

Guest Post from Gym-Talk.com - Unconventional Training Techniques of Old-time Strongmen

This months guest post comes from Henry Croft at www.gym-talk.com. I'm a huge fan of traditional training techniques that aren't necessarily mainstream, but still work. So, I was delighted when I got this in my inbox! Check it out:

Image: Wikipedia

The exploits of the old-time strongmen are legendary.

In fact, such was their strength that many of their recorded lifts, such as Arthur Saxon�s �two hands anyhow� of 448 pounds, still remain unbroken today. To achieve this Herculean strength, these men trained using a variety of different methods, many of which you would be hard pressed to find in the air-conditioned gymnasiums of today. Which is a shame, because a lot of these �lost� exercises are extremely effective ways of building strength and explosive power.

In this article I will outline a few of the training techniques which were employed by the old-time strongmen.

A word of caution: a lot of these lifts require specialist knowledge and experience, so to avoid injury ensure you receive proper instruction before attempting them.

Lifting in water

Russian weightlifting champion Vasily Alexeev, one of the strongest men of all time, used a variety of unconventional training techniques to give himself the edge over his competition. One such technique was to wade out into the Don River in Mother Russia and practice his cleans in waist-deep water!

Pros: resistance provided by the water helps develop explosive power.

Cons: chance of drowning, wrinkled skin, Hepatitis.

Barrel Lifting

Lifting kegs and barrels was an extremely popular training method with the old-time strongmen. Louis Cyr, for example, could lift a 450 pound barrel to his chest with just the one hand! To make these barrel lifts all the more difficult, the barrels would be partially filled with liquid in order to make them unbalanced. What�s more, strongmen such as Arthur Saxon would also drink most of the contents of the keg while training, thus adding an extra dimension of difficulty!

�Supporting� Lifts

Many of the greatest old-time strongmen, such as Cyr and Saxon, incorporated a lot of �supporting� exercises into their training regimes and public performances, which involved supporting a weight rather than actually lifting it. Such exercises comprised standing supports (such as holding a heavy barbell in the back squat position), overhead supports (holding a barbell aloft), and a leg press support (supporting a weight in the leg press position).

Louis Cyr, for example, could support more than 4,000 pounds on his back!

Horseshoes and Phonebooks

Two popular tests of strength back in the day were bending horseshoes and tearing up phonebooks. In addition to building character and mental toughness, both of these feats helped create incredible grip and wrist strength.

Plus, could you think of a better party trick?

Indian Clubs

These clubs were swung around thousands of years ago by Indian warriors and wrestlers to prepare for battle (hence the name). They were used primarily to build upper body strength in addition to stronger, more flexible joints. Indian clubs were popular in England in the 19th century, especially with military cadets, however their popularity waned in the twentieth century as organised sports became more popular.

Rope climbing

Rope climbing was a staple of the strongman training regime as it helped build upper body strength and a cast iron grip. In fact, in most early gymnasiums you would find huge thick ropes suspended from the ceiling. Old-time strongmen would climb and descended these ropes, which were often up to 30 feet long, several times a day.

Wrapping it up

So, there we have it, 6 unconventional training techniques of the old-time strongmen. Ultimately, there is a lot we can learn from these old-school training techniques which can be applied to strength training today.

If you have any thoughts on this article I�d love to hear from you � just leave me a comment below!

About the author

Henry is a fitness junkie with a passion for heavy squats, distance running and Martial Arts. You can find him blogging over at GymTalk.