Hi, all,

I just got home from trying kettlebell. It was so much fun - I loved flinging the big metal balls around. I also liked that the intense periods of activity were short - I didn't get bored, but I was working hard. I found the moves challenging. I'm very active in another sport and I wanted something that would me achieve explosive strength and speed in that sport, as well as improving my overall fitness and rate of fat loss.

I liked it so much I signed up for two months of twice-a-week classes. I hope to see some sort of results by the end of the year, and based on my experience tonight, I don't think I'll be disappointed. I know I'm going to have some serious muscle soreness tomorrow or the next day - can't wait to see what hurts the most!

My questions for you kettlebellers are:

1. How long have you been doing it?
2. Have you seen results (in fitness abilities and/or physical appearance)?
3. If so, can you share what they were and how long they took?

The threads on kettlebells here on 3FC are what motivated to me to try this, so thanks to all who shared! I'm excited about this new activity.

1. About 5 years (although only 2 years consistently)
2. Yes, absolutely - both
3. When I started, I was skinny (110lbs - after major dieting from 165lbs), along with a proper diet (ie more food), I looked stronger. It took me many years, but that's because it's harder to gain muscle than to lose fat.

I am not allowed to exercise right now for medical reasons and gosh I miss my KB's so much

Thanks, Sacha!

I just got back from my second session. I was tired today and still had some muscle soreness from the first session, so the moves were harder for me to do -- yet the time still flew by.

I can be extremely disciplined with my eating, but the exercise component has never fallen into place for me for very long. I really hope kettlebells are something that gives me clear results. I need to be faster and have more stamina for my primary sport, so I'm very motivated. In order to stay motivated, I'm going to have see results in a few months. I feel like I can do my sport at 75% effort all the time, but getting from 75% to 90% effort in a burst is really hard for me. I want to change that.

It helps motivate me to post about my workouts, so I'm just posting here again for myself! Maybe the information will help somebody else too.

I went to the third session tonight. I couldn't wait to get there. Turned out that no one else showed up so it was just me and the trainer. He has seen that I cannot squat - I just can't get low enough. He'd known I was coming, so he'd worked out a session just about squats.

We started with swings and he gave me heavier weights than before. We started with 12-lb alternating swings, then one-armed 18-lbs, then two-armed 36-lbs. So much fun, and I loved using the heavier weight.

Then we got to the squats. I used the 12 and the 18 lb. The big news is that I squatted *all the way down*. I couldn't believe. Both the trainer and I hollered when I did it! It felt so great! I have tried to squat for a long time with a few different trainers but never could get low and never could get my toes to face anywhere near forward. My toes were not totally forward, but they were close, and I was well and truly *all the way down*.

This is something I've wanted to do badly, and tonight -- I did it. And I feel great. Finally, I feel like maybe there is hope that I can change my body composition.

This is just after 3 sessions. Is it because the trainer is really good? My muscles can't be changing this quickly, can they?