I posted this article and video up a few months ago on my personal blog at ForestVance.com … and in light of our kettlebell and resistance band 20% off sale in the FVT Pro Shop this month, I thought I’d re-post it here for your benefit. Enjoy!
Kettlebells are a tool that can be used to reach almost any fitness goal – from fat loss to muscle gain to improved total body conditioning.
HOWEVER – I’m NOT one of those folks who trains exclusively with kettlebells. I incorporate a wide variety of training implements into the mix with my training clients and in my own workouts … and one of my new favorites is the continuously looped resistance band.
Bands are awesome and incredibly versatile. They are also somewhat unique in that they provide increasing resistance as the band stretches – quite different than a free weight implement like a kettlebell where the resistance curve is controlled by gravity.
So – by combining kettlebells and resistance bands together, we can get the best of both worlds! Try this kettlebell and resistance band workout to add some variety to your existing routine and accelerate your results:
Video Recap
Kettlebells and resistance bands are a perfect combination for a lot of different reasons. The resistance bands are a good compliment to kettlebell training because they provide a different type of resistance. With a kettlebell you have ballistic movements, you have slow and controlled movements which are controlled by gravity. Whereas with a band, the resistance actually increases as you stretch. So it’s great for increasing athleticism, reactive time, all different types of stuff.
I’m now just going to demo a quick kettlebell and resistance band workout. This is going to be categorized into three different pairs. Your first pair is going to be a push up and a squat. The push up is going to be done with your band. By the way, this is a continuously looped band. There’s a difference between these and the typical bands with the handles which are just ok although I’ve never been a huge fan of them. The continuously looped bands go way up higher in resistance. You can get a wide range of bands, all the way from very small up to very big ones. They’re a lot more heavy duty, you can go up to 150 to 200 lbs of resistance if you want to. This is a medium to large size band, I believe it’s about 1 inch thick.
So here’s what you’re going to do for the pushup. Hands through the band, thumbs down, bring the band over your head and around your back under your arms and do a push up. You’re going to do ten of those and then hop up and do a goblet squat with the kettlebell. Do 12 and that’s the first pair. Do three rotations- three sets of each exercise.
Our second pair is going to be a lunge and a row. So for a lunge with the kettlebell, come back up to the goblet position and take a giant step back. Ten each side. Then do a bent over row with the band. Double up the band and stand on it, back nice and flat. Then do a bent over row with the band. (Do 12 repetitions of the rows)
Last pair, we’re going to do a squat jump with the band. Stand on the band like you’re going to do a squat, bring it up to a rack position underneath your neck. Do a squat jump with the band. Super set that with a one arm kettlebell swing. So do 8 one arm swings each side, 12 total squat jumps with the band. The whole workout should take you maybe 20 minutes. It hits every major muscle group. You get a nice resistance and cardio workout all in one.
Thanks, and talk soon –
– Forest Vance, Level II Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor
PS – Both kettlebells and continuously looped bands are available in the FVT Pro Shop … and you can save 20% on ’em through the end of this month! Come by the studio and grab your KB and band combo pack today.