Mike Mahler says: A common thing that people often tell me is that I live life aggressively. The more I thought about it the more I realized that I do live aggressively and that this aggression caries over to my training as well. Thus, my style of training is called Aggressive Strength training.
Allow to me clarify how I define aggression. For me, aggression has nothing to do with being violent. I do not want to inflict harm on any being and would never recommend violence to others. What I mean by being aggressive is being proactive about your life. It is about going after what you want with full intensity like a warrior that will not accept defeat. Living aggressively is about being in the moment and taking care of things immediately. Living aggressively is about building a fulfilling life, rather than living vicariously through other people's lives on TV. Living aggressively is about having the courage to stand up for what you believe in.
What does this have to do with strength training? Simple, it is not enough to just have a strong body. That is not real strength in my opinion. I see big and physically strong men and women frequently that cannot think for themselves and are at the mercy of the people around them. On the other hand, I know many intelligent people that excel in academia and in the business world. Yet, physically, many of them are weak and would be in serious trouble in any situation that required physical strength. They may be mentally strong, but overall they are weak.
1. What are some of the benefits, for both fitness enthusiasts and those who want to improve their physical health, from using kettlebells?
1. Kettlebells are an incredible tool for building incredible stamina, structural integrity, and work capacity. An entire endurance sport exists around three full body kettlebell exercises: the jerk, the clean and jerk, and the snatch. Kettlebells work very well for high rep ballistic exercises such as the swing, snatch, and clean and jerk.
2. Kettlebell ballistic exercises work the often-neglected posterior chain. These are all of the muscles that you do not see when you look in the mirror.
3. The weight with the kettlebell is off center. As a result the stabilizer muscles are always in play to keep the kettlebell in place. Having strong stabilizer strength is very important for wellness as weak stabilizer muscles often lead to injuries.
4. Most kettlebells have thick handles, which turns just about every exercise into a grip exercise. Having a strong grip is a must for athletes and for anyone that wants to be strong and powerful.
5. Kettlebell training is fun and challenging. While serious training is hard work and not meant to be entertaining, there has to be an element of fun with training in order to make it a life long habit.
2. Please describe your role as an advocate for the use of kettlebells. In other words, how did you become a leader concerning this issue?
I started training with kettlebells back in 2001. After training with kettlebells for a few months the benefits were obvious and I knew that kettlebell training would take off in the years to come. I wanted to get into the fitness business and saw kettlebells as my unique selling point. I had genuine passion for the kettlebell training and it was a ground floor opportunity at the time. No one was teaching kettlebells to the masses and certainly not as the focal point of his or her business. I started my kettlebell focused business in 2002 by teaching kettlebell workshops across the US and even did a course in the UK in my first year.
I went on to develop several kettlebell DVD's and also got kettlebell articles published in several major fitness magazines such as Muscle & Fitness and Ironman Magazine. I was one of the major driving forces behind the explosion of the modern day kettlebell movement and as the kettlebell industry grew I grew right with it and developed a very successful business.
3. Kettlebells seem like an excellent way to burn fat and build muscle. And yet, many people at my gym are unsure how to use kettlebells. Indeed, there's a sense of intimidation when I raise this issue. Why is that?
The second you pick up a kettlebell you know that this is something different than the garbage that people are inundated with on late night infomercials. Kettlebell training is not easy and there is no faking getting a workout with kettlebells. You either do it right and get incredible benefits or you do it wrong and get injured. Similar to any effective fitness system, you need professional training in order to maximize the benefits of kettlebell training. Kettlebell training requires a very precise technique and if you do not know what you are doing you are not going to get very far. Kettlebell training is not for people that want to run on a treadmill like a caged hamster. It is for people that realize that getting strong and fit requires hard work and are prepared to face their fears and persevere. Not too many people fit that category and as a result will be intimidated by anything that requires hard work.
4. Nutrition also plays a big factor in personal fitness. Please offer some practical ideas concerning nutrition
Nutrition is at least 70% of fat loss. People need to focus on real food and avoid all processed junk. Ingredients should be simple. If an ingredient panel has a bunch of ingredients that you cannot pronounce then put it back on the shelf and move on. Focus on real food such as organic fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts, seeds, and if you eat meat it must be organic. Meat that is not organic is loaded with endocrine disrupting hormones as well as toxins that will overload your liver and impede fat loss and wellness goals.
Take a page from Dr Braverman, author of "
Younger Thinner You Diet", and add spices to each meal. Spices such as ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, and cinnamon all have health benefits and this is an easy way to turn good meals into great meals.
In addition to making real food a priority, avoid snacking and do not eat as often. Some of the worst advice ever is to graze all day long and consume 5-7 small meals through out the day. Every time you eat, the hormone insulin goes up and when insulin goes up you are no longer in the fat burning zone. According to Bryon Richards author of "Mastering Leptin" When you take longer stretches between each meal and eat less frequently, insulin sensitivity goes up and you get a snack from stored bodyfat to keep your glucose levels steady. Start with four meals per day with four hours in between each meal and work up to three meals per day with at least six hours in between each meal. Cut out all eating three hours before bedtime so that you get the maximum growth hormone response when you sleep which is a powerful restorative hormone as well as fat burner.
5. Where do you see this issue - the popularization of the use of kettlebells - developing in the next few years? How common will the use of kettlebells be?
Back in 2002 I was training five people in a park with kettlebells. There were probably no more than a a hundred people that even owned kettlebells at the time. Now you see kettlebells everywhere. MMA fighters use them, Sylvestor Stallone used them in the last Rocky movie, they are all over TV and magazines. Several major gyms carry kettlebells no and offer kettlebell classes and even retail stores such as Target and Walmart carry kettlebells.
Kettlebells are here to stay. I think in the future people will be more interested in how to combine kettlebells with other training tools instead of only using kettlebells as a stand alone training system. People crave novelty and variety and this will be the natural course of things. Regardless, unlike other fad training tools, kettlebells actually deliver and will not go the way off useless training fads that simply do not work.
6. How do you use kettlebells in your daily exercise routines?
It varies often. Right now I am combining kettlebells with standard weight training. I am working out under the guidance of top strength coach and former stongman competitor Mark Philippi. After I do his workouts I end each workout with a kettlebell ballistic exercise such as the Double Swing or One-arm KB Snatch.
When I do KB only workouts I like to focus on full body workouts revolving around five primary exercises. Here is an example:
Monday-Wednesday-Friday
* Double Clean and Military Press 1x10
* Double Bent-over Row 1x10
* Windmill 1x5 each side
* Low Position Lunge Walk 1x10 each side
* Double Swing 1x12
Take 30 second breaks in between each exercise and round. Five rounds per workout. This is a great strength-endurance workout.
7. Please offer some "success stories" of people you've helped by introducing them to kettlebells.
"I owe you my life. I have followed the HFT you suggested from your dvd, also cut out starches/sugar/fried foods and forced myself to eat more fruits and vegetables. By no means are my workouts and diet perfect, but I have lost 23 pounds so far, 23!!!! I am down to 222lbs and I hope to get to 170-180 by summer. I seriously can't thank you enough. You are a great man doing great things. P.S. Funny thing is I told a couple buddies about KB's and your site months ago and they laughed at me. Now they are both getting your dvd's."--Freddy Maysonet
"I have been following the Kettlebell Fat Loss e-book/DVD principles the last 6 weeks and have lost 7-8# and 11/2 " off waist - fantastic info and programs."
- Steve Fink
8. How is your approach to this topic different from the competition?
The competition style of kettlebell training is very effective to build structural integrity, work capacity, and serious mental toughness. It is not however the best way to lose fat and develop a toned body. My style of kettlebell training
involves using kettlebells more as a weight training implement than as a tool for cardiovascular conditioning. An example would be circuit training in which you pick five kettlebell exercises and do one exercise after another with short breaks. An example would be five rounds of Clean and Military Presses, Renegade Rows, Front Squats, The Windmill for the core, and Double kettlebell swings. Do eight to twelve reps per exercise using the heaviest kettlebells you can handle with proper form. This program works the entire body and when combined with a clean nutritious diet and proper sleep regimen will develop a hard lean physique.
9. Your website has a lot of useful content. What sections would you like visitors to further explore?
Thanks and it depends on what the individual is looking for. If you are new to kettlebell training and want to learn more, start here:
http://www.mikemahler.com/kettlebell_training.htmlIf you are interested in hormone optimization then start with this article:
http://www.mikemahler.com/articles/hormoneoptimization.htmlI have a ton of free articles on my site that cover a variety of health and fitness topics at:
http://www.mikemahler.com/articles.html10. Please offer some of your best tips for summer fitness.
When the summer comes people tend to want to workout a lot outdoors (assuming you like to workout) unless of course you live in Las Vegas like me where we have 110+ degree hot summers that suck the life right out of you! It is important to stay hydrated to have water with you at all times when training outdoors. While some exposure to the sun is important for Vitamin D and can improve our mood, we all know that too much is not a good thing so avoid being in the sun for prolonged periods of time. You are better off doing your workouts early in the morning before it gets to hot or in the early evening when the sun is going down and it cools off.
