I have been receiving a lot of questions lately from clients and prospective clients about training at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh. Since there seems to be a theme here among those questions, I decided to dedicate today’s post towards answering the three most common questions I receive on a regular basis. So. . .let’s break this all down shall we?
Dear Janelle, I travel a lot across the country for my work. I’m gearing up for a lot of travel in the coming months and will be in several different cities from the end of August through October. Do you recommend bringing kettlebells with me? If so, what are the best sizes to travel with? Can you recommend some workouts I can do when I am on the road? Thanks! You’re the best!
If you’re traveling via car/bus, there is no reason why you can’t bring kettlebells along for the journey. A couple of 12kgs or 16kgs should do you just fine and you should be able to get away with a short and quick double swing circuit in roughly 10 minutes. Set your gymboss for 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest for a total of 10 rounds and BOOM! You’re taken care of! Traveling by air does pose a bit of an issue though. First off, DO NOT try to take your kettlebell through the security check! This will result in many odd and disturbed looks followed by a prompt stop from the TSA and airport security. Kettlebells can be considered bludgeons and you will be asked to check them. That being said, kettlebells are heavy and traveling with them by air can be inherently costly even when you check them. If money is of no concern for you, then feel free to check them in. I would not bring anything heavier with me than 1 or 2, 16kgs when traveling by air due to the expense.
When I fly, I generally keep my workouts to body weight routines so I don’t have to deal with the hassle and price tag of checking in my weights. If you need a simple and effective hotel style workout, try this out! Complete 10 pushups, 10 dips on a chair, and 10 body weight squats as a circuit. Set your timer for 20 minutes and presto! Strength and conditioning has happened! If you need more training tips, please feel free to shoot me an email at janelle@primalfitnesspittsburgh.com and I’ll get you on board for a free consultation to discuss your training needs and fitness goals.
Dear Janelle, I have never been instructed by someone who was so critical of form on my Turkish Get Up. What gives? Why are you so obsessive about every single point on the Turkish Get Up? I’m doing really well and finally got my heaviest Turkish get up the other day. 20kgs! I am just curious as to why you seem to be so anal retentive about that lift. Thanks! Can’t wait to train with you again!
It’s true. I’m kind of an a-hole when it comes to the Turkish Get Up. The Turkish Get Up is one of my favorite lifts. It also happens to be one of the more technical lifts in terms of the form required to execute the lift properly. I have seen more things go WRONG with the Turkish Get Up from people who think they know what they are doing, but are not well trained for the lift. That being said, as an Russian Kettlebell Instructor, my duty is to make sure you understand how to PROPERLY execute the lift at every single “check point” along the way. This is a matter of safety. Let me give you a visual aid to emphasize why I am so anal retentive about the Turkish Get Up.
What you are looking at is a picture of my right hand. Please take note of the curvature in my middle finger. That is all the more I can straighten it. At RKC Vienna in April, 2013, I was not paying attention while performing my 28kg Turkish get up. At that time, it was my max lift. My left arm had lost it’s stability during the sweep, right at the middle of the lift. This caused the weight, which was nearly 62 pounds, to fall right in line towards my head. I had about 1.5 seconds to get out of the way to avoid a serious and possibly life threatening injury. My head and back were safe, but unfortunately, that 28kg fell right on top of my hand. . . crushing it. By some miraculous act of God, my hand was saved and not broken. However, my finger did suffer some permanent damage from the impact. Case in point, your form needs to be solid and you MUST MUST MUST PAY ATTENTION to what you are doing at all times with the Turkish Get up, or any lift for that matter. My hand could have been my face. My hand could be your hand or your face. Please, take safety seriously and seek out professional help when getting into the technical lifts. Should you need help with mastering the harder kettlebell lifts, please feel free to contact me. Want to see what a heavy kettlebell Turkish get up looks like in real time? Check out my 32kg Turkish Get Up below!
Note: still working on the fluidity of this lift. My right arm bent a bit on the lock out, and the initial roll resulted in my left leg lifting off the floor. Over time, I will be correcting these issues. So far though, happy with the progress! And as you can see, YES! That was a 32kg kettlebell. That’s 70 lbs, which is over half of my body weight on one arm. Just goes to show you that you CAN get stronger with patience, persistence, practice, and perseverance! 🙂
Hey Janelle! Ok, ummm, so my brand new skirt keeps falling off because I lost another 5 pounds. I guess this is a great problem to have, but I’m afraid I’m going to end up flashing the neighborhood of Oakland today! My friends keep commenting on how amazing I look and husband can’t keep his hands off of me (which again, is probably a great problem to have but. . .I had to tell my husband on several occasions to settle down because really, busy girls like me need some sleep once in a while!). I love your training at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh and I love the results I am seeing! My question is how to keep up with all this awesome I am experiencing. How do I deal with my current success, and how can I make sure I stay on track? Thanks! You rock!
I am stoked that you are seeing great results! You may end up needing a new wardrobe though, as the pounds and inches can melt off your body like ice cream on a hot summer day when you train at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh. That being said, feel free to enter our Christmas in July giveaway for a chance to win $500 to help finance your shopping spree. You should also tell your friends about the training programs we offer as I believe they would see similar results. Keep doing what you are doing though and don’t get side-tracked. Many a good trainees can sabotage their success when they see amazing results initially. Don’t be one of those people. Be patient and consistent with your training and nutritional protocol and I can guarantee you will unleash your best body in no time. Should you need additional training time at the facility, or are ready for more personal and private coaching, you may send me a message at janelle@primalfitensspittsburgh.com to discuss those options. As for your husband. . .well. .. .if he can’t keep his hands off you, my job here is done 😉
Have a great weekend everyone! Until next time. . .
Master your instincts!
