kettlebell training

Kiss Me…

13 Comments

…I’ve got some Irish in me!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Leave it to the Irish to turn a holy day into a day associated with BEER!  Not that I’m complaining, I am planning on enjoying a Guinness float in honor of my Irish Pappy.

If there are any Irish readers out there, how is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated in Ireland?  Is it more about the church service and less about the green booze?

March 17th is a special day in my family because it’s my mother-in-laws birthday!  Happy birthday Shay!

I made her a birthday cake but since she lives 3 hours away we had to eat it all ourselves. 😉

This flour-less, low-fat chocolate torte was an experiment that turned out really well.

  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 nugget panela dissolved* in 1/4 cup water OR 3 tablespoons brown sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup cocoa (non alkalized is much higher in antioxidants)
  • 3 eggs
  • pinch of salt
  • ~1/4 cup unsweetened baking chocolate

Whisk all ingredients except the baking chocolate together in a bowl.  Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler and quickly whisk into the other ingredients.  Taste for sweetness.  This is meant to be a rich, semi-sweet torte but if you prefer it a little sweeter you can add another tablespoon of brown sugar/panela dissolved in a tablespoon of warm water.

Butter and cocoa your baking dish. I used an 8 inch pan but I would have preferred it a little thicker so next time I will double the recipe or use a smaller dish.  Bake at 350 for 22 minutes.  Take out of the oven when it still looks a little undercooked.  Since this torte is low-fat is will dry out if cooked too long.

I glazed the top with a Cabernet Sauvignon jam that I melted in the microwave. Raspberry would be great too. If you wanted to go full-on decedent a chocolate-coconut icing like the one I made for Halloween would be pretty amazing.

*Panela

These morsels of unrefined cane sugar are my go-to for all of my sugar needs lately (Kefir Spritzer, Kombucha, the occasional sugar-sweetened dessert).  They can be found at any Latin American specialty store for a few bucks a bag.  Panela dissolves quickly in hot or cold water and tastes similar to brown sugar but unlike brown sugar is unrefined.  Most brown sugar is just refined white sugar with processed molasses added back in.  The processing of both the sugar and the molasses stripes out the nutrients and you are left with empty, nutritionally-void calories.  Panela is minimally processed and the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals remain.

It’s a gorgeous day and along with a little yoga and a quick kettlebell workout, my exercise will come in the form of yard work and walking dates with girl friends.  Love Spring.  Enjoy!

To Kettle or Not To Kettle

17 Comments

Do you work out with kettlebells?

I have been aware of them for years but quite skeptical about their role in the average gym-goers workout.  To me, kettlebell training was obviously risky for the shoulders and back and the bouncing and locking in your hip and knee joints that is required to perform the form is…against everything I know about form!

So for years I have been anti-kettlebell.  Recently I was lured into giving this old-school strength training technique another shot by promises of serious calorie burn, quick workouts, and full-body exercises.

I bought a kettlebell and some dvd’s.

Kettlebells can be really expensive but I totally cheaped out and bought the department store variety.  It’s girly and pastel, not at all cannonball-like :).  It turns out that 10 pounds is just right for one-armed moves and a little light for two armed moves for me.

I admit, I’ve only used the kettlebell 4 or 5 times since I gifted myself with it around Christmas so it’s impossible to say if I’ve seen results.  The dvd’s are great, they give good descriptions for posture and technique and provide good workouts but I still felt like I was missing some vital keys in technique.

I thought that the only kettlebell training available at the gym was in conjunction with a cycle class. I don’t cycle.  Maybe I will someday but for now I don’t cycle.  I was thrilled to discover a kettle conditioning class tucked up in the corner of the Thursday morning group exercise schedule.  This morning I got my tush out of bed and went.

The class was hard and good.  My heart rate was seriously elevated for only about 10 minutes of the hour class but my muscles were quaking by the end.  On the teachers recommendation I used 15 and 20 pound bells (mostly 15!) but I think a 10 pounder would have been more appropriate for some exercises.

I continue to have mixed feelings about the safety of kettlebell training.  The bouncing and locking into the leg joints is less scary and treacherous than I previously thought, unless you hyper-extend your knees (which I don’t).  I still have serious concerns about shoulder and back overuse issues.

By the end of class my low back hurt!  My low back rarely hurts, which I attribute to regular Pilates workouts and good alignment/posture.  It doesn’t feel like I strained anything, just like I overused it.  Not to toot my own horn, but I have very good form and I am strong.  I was keeping a long back with engaged abs the entire time and my back still feels yucky.  My conclusion is that 60 minutes is way too long for a newbie to kettlebell training.  The gym should offer a 30-45 minute intro class to build up strength and practice form.

I can only imagine how rough I would be feeling if I was “de-conditioned” and decided to jump into that class.  OW!

My stand on kettlebells at this point is that they are a fantastic tool that I will continue to incorporate into my regular workouts but as a trainer and teacher I think it is crucial to take the time to build your technique and strength up slowly.  And stop doing it if it bugs my back or shoulders!