I know I've griped about the form they let people have on some of the exercises on more than one occassion...
...but what about everything else?
Trainers, clients, readers, everyone wants to know my opinion of the show.
I found a review even better than what I would have written.
This is the best, most interesting, most balanced, intelligent review of The Biggest Loser ever.
Love the show or hate it, you'll learn something from this review:
We've got Thanksgiving coming up.
We've got holiday parties coming up.
We've got a lot of chances to fulfill on that statistical 10 pounds that the average American gains over the next two months.
Of all the gifts you give and receive this holiday season, don't give yourself the gift of 10 pounds of fat. It has no gift receipt. You can't return it.
But my clients always get leaner over the holidays.
They enjoy themselves at holiday parties, and they show up to those parties looking leaner and hotter than they did before.
How do they do that?
I'm glad you asked. There's three steps to getting rockstar hot over the holidays:
#1) Pick Your Battles
Pick six to eight days over the next two months as free days. Eat what ever you want on those days.
In other words, anyone who tells you to keep your meal plan tight on Thanksgiving is a complete idiot.
If you don't plan in some free meals, you'll fall off the wagon completely.
#2) Keep it tight the rest of the time.
Psychologically, we plan in free days so that we can stay on plan the rest of the time.
It's not the Turkey Day pig out that makes people fat.
It's when you feel like you "blew your diet" on Thanksgiving, and then you pig out for a week, or a month, or straight through 'til New Years.
Planning to pig out on Thanksgiving is a great strategy for you to keep it tight the days before and after Thanksgiving.
And that's really going to be the key to you staying lean this holiday season.
#3) What about the other holiday parties and get togethers?
In all probability, there will be more than six or eight opportunities to pig out over the next two months?
What do you do then?
That's where the Holiday Fat Loss Black Book comes in.
If you didn't get it on Tuesday (I know about 20,000 of you did), but if you missed it, today is your last chance to download all 17 different, easy-to-implement holiday weight loss strategies – all 100% F.R.E.E.
Seriously, why don't we make fitness more fun?
It can TOTALLY be enjoyable.
In fact, the number one thing I hear in my Denver kettlebell Bootcamp is that people can't believe how fun it is.
It's true - working out doesn't have to be straight suffering!
I think most people that do kettlebell workouts do them either because they are fun, or because they think something about kettlebell lifting is cool.
Either one is a great context for working out.
Oh yeah, kettlebell lifting produces awesome results also. But the point is that it's fun, and because it's fun, you'll actually do it.
What ever it is that's fun for you workout-wise, you should do it at least half the time.
For example, if you absolutely love long distance running, but heard that intervals and strength training are better for fat loss... you should still do long distance running at least half the time. Then add in some strenth training.
Go ahead and stuff your workout week full of things you love doing.
It's finally happened - Kettlebells have become mainstream.
The other day I saw kettlebells at Walmart. You can get kettlebells at Target.
Kettlebells have been on the front page of industry equipment catalog Perform Better for the last six issues.
I've been saying kettlebells are the ultimate tool to lose fat for about 5 years now, and it looks like they're finally starting to catch on.
Here's the thing though - the kettlebell DVDs that are starting to come out for fat loss are mostly horrible.
I love Jillian Michaels, but I cringed when I heard she's working on a kettlebell DVD.
Her form sucks.
The way she teaches kettlebell swings puts WAY more stress on your lower back than you want.
Ditto for about five other fat loss kettlebell DVDs that are on their way.
Easy way to spot bullshit: If the instructor is using a 5 or 10 pound kettlebell, you know they don't know what they are doing.
Step One: They lift the kettlebell the wrong way and hurt their back.
Step Two: They get a lighter kettlebell and continue to lift wrong.
It's total insanity.
Look, if I was doing ninja backflips and landed on my head and hurt myself...
...I wouldn't find a softer place to land on my head.
I'd find someone to teach me how to do ninja backflips correctly.
Another note on 5 and 10 pound kettlebells - you aren't going to get any results with a 10 pound kettlebell.
So if you see someone who is really ripped who is using a 10 pound kettlebell, you know that they got their results doing something else.
Hmmm... 4 pounds? really?
The Three Ways Celebrity Trainers Are Teaching You To Hurt Your Back With Kettlebells
All In Good Time1.) Pull with your arms
The kettlebell swing is not an arm movement.
Your arms should be loose.
If you pull with your arms it puts bad stress on your lower back.
The movement should come from your butt. It's about snapping your hips.
2.) Swing too slowly.
If you swing too slowly, you will have to pull with your arms, and it will put stress on your lower back.
Think about it like this: Can you jump slowly?
Can you punch slowly?
Can you throw a ball slowly?
If the kettlebell swing is slow it's wrong. If it looses it's snap it's poor form.
The slower your swing, the more it can hurt your back.
3.) Squatting The Swing
Squatting is up and down.
The swing is backwards and forwards.
When you squat the swing... it doesn't get as much force and you have to pull with your arms.
When you pull with your arms it puts stress on your lower back.
Are we noticing a pattern?
So now you've got a pretty good idea of what not to do in a kettlebell swing.
And you know what to look for as a red flag for who not to listen to about kettlebell training.
In the next three weeks I'm going to give you all a series of videos I've been working on breaking down the latest and greatest stuff that I've tested this last year. Lots of new stuff, you'll be stoked!
Anyway, one of the videos I'm going to break down the training progression that I use in my kettlebell bootcamp to take people from never swinging a kettlebell to swinging like a pro in about 15 minutes.
In the past the only way you could get these teaching progressions were either from me in person, getting one of my books, or being a member of the Platinum Coaching Club.
This will be the first time I give it to you, the blog reader!
It's going to have some serious Mr. Miyagi wax on/wax off kind of action, and it'll get you swinging kettlebells like Daniel-san crane kicks. You're totally going to dig it. Keep on the lookout!
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