As my last weigh-in day of January, I’m counting this as the last day of the challenge month. I reached 10000 swings on Wednesday and continued regular weights workouts and even got in 5000 and 10000 steps on the good weather days we had this week.
Assessment of the 10K Kettlebell Swings Challenge: I definitely saw a cardio improvement. Early on I would have to breathe “double time” when I got up to a couple hundred reps of hand to hand with the quarter pounder. By now it takes one-handed swings of the 40lb-er to hit that level of exertion. I stopped swinging only the quarter pounder as it was not a sufficient challenge after just about a week and a half or so of daily swinging. I switched up one- and two-handed swings of the 40lb-er and the 65lb-er.
My hands survived quite well. I rather like my callouses. They’re fine and not painful at all. My left hand tends to get pinched a bit more often than my right.
I was very surprised to see the weekly weight loss! Final total: NINE POUNDS!! I lost 4 pounds the second week and I thought it was a fluke but clearly not! My weight has been stable for a long time so this was clearly a good jolt to my body. I did not change my usual diet but my appetite may have been reduced due to the increased activity overall. My skinny jeans are now loose fresh out of the wash. They actually feel a bit baggy. I don’t even want to try on my baggy jeans. I’ll no doubt need a belt to cinch ’em up. Not that I’m complaining!
Moving forward, I really like the idea of a Monthly Fitness Challenge. For the month of February I am going to climb 1000 floors of stairs. I am very attached to kettlebell swings now so I will continue at lower reps and higher weight for a month. I will also incorporate the lifts required by the International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation certification. I want to be able to take that certification by the end of 2012.
In coming days look for my instructional video on the kettlebell swing! I have looked and can’t find anything that breaks it down in the way I think some people need to get it right in the absence of personal instruction.
You’ve got a few days to think about it before Feb 1. I hope you try your own Monthly Fitness Challenge!
