Lisa Balash, the "Kettlebell Bombshell" herself joins us in this outstanding interview.
Lisa Balash has been a top Pilates and Kettlebell trainer in Las Vegas, NV since 2003. Lisa's undisputed and original training method, combines Kettlebells and Pilates.
Lisa is certified in nutrition and weight loss and has worked with a variety of clients from NFL Quarterback Tyler Palko, Sister Wives reality television star Janelle Brown, 4 time Mr. Olympia Champion, Jay Cutler, UFC fighter Matthew Riddle, NFL Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and Cirque Du Soleil performers.
See all episode artwork, links and notes at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Find episode links, notes and artwork at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Lisa Balash, the "Kettlebell Bombshell" herself joins us in this outstanding interview.
Lisa Balash has been a top Pilates and Kettlebell trainer in Las Vegas, NV since 2003. Lisa's undisputed and original training method, combines Kettlebells and Pilates.
Lisa is certified in nutrition and weight loss and has worked with a variety of clients from NFL Quarterback Tyler Palko, Sister Wives reality television star Janelle Brown, 4 time Mr. Olympia Champion, Jay Cutler, UFC fighter Matthew Riddle, NFL Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and Cirque Du Soleil performers.
See all episode artwork, links and notes at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Find episode links, notes and artwork at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
[inaudible].
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to the dire OB health show with today's guests, Lisa[inaudible]. We had an excellent interview. She is known online as the kettlebell bombshell. If you go to our blog and check out the images, you will see instantly why she would be called the kettlebell bombshells. Matter of fact, some of those images were taken by Reebok and a photo shoot are just phenomenal. I wish I kind of had a Reebok photographer to take photos for us. But anyways, a excellent interview. She's a top trainer, she's a competitor in physique and uh, got some excellent information. First of all, I want to just read to you a couple of stories that I think are really interesting. Uh, very short. First of all, uh, from Michelle, this is a precision nutrition grand prize winner, meaning she won$25,000 doing a precision nutrition program for one year and she said I could turn things around quick when I was in my thirties but once I got into my forties nothing worked. So when I saw my friends, Lindsey and Alicia do really well with precision, precision nutrition, it was like, what am I missing? The coach's support is everything. Once I let go and did the inner work, things really started happening. You dive in and rediscover yourself and give yourself the self-love you deserve and she won$25,000 for a phenomenal body transformation that she did in her forties when it was a lot more difficult than in her twenties the next one is from Mark who also won$25,000 for his transformation. You said precision nutrition was my last ditch attempt to see if I could get back to a physical condition that I was really happy with, but I had rationalized myself into believing that because I was 50 I couldn't do certain things. What I learned was that all those limitations were limitations I set for myself and none of them were true. Again, his name is Mark. He's a precision nutrition grand prize winner and did you know that I am a precision nutrition coach and give my clients all access to the exact same transformation program,$250,000 grand prize every single year. But whether you're interested in trying to win some cash through a transformation program or just trying to overcome personal challenges and get into the best shape of your life, precision nutrition can help it. It's expensive. It's$179 a month, but not for you. My dear listener, if you get precision nutrition through our transformation program, you can actually get it absolutely free with the purchase of some of our supplement packages that could be as little as$67 a month and get you the top end supplements, precision nutrition coaching plus the pro coach program, which gives you a dialed in set for you workout regimen every single week for 52 weeks in a row to help you reach that level of success as a phenomenal value. Save yourself a lot of money. Plus get the supplements plus get the workouts. Check it all out at[inaudible] dot com just click on transformation packages. There's four or five options you can choose from. Learn more about back there and we will jump into this interview. I have to warn you, the audio is a little funky. I don't know what was the matter with my ruck microphone that day, but a little bit scratchy. It's not terrible. I'm just warning you. It's well worth putting up with because Lisa's information is so great. It was such an excellent interview, so just warn you the audio is not perfect, but not worth calling her up and doing another interview over. The information is solid and with no further ado, here is Lisa Blash, the kettlebell bombshell. Hello everybody. Welcome to the Dara health show. Today. I've got Lisa lash on the line. She's been a top bloodies and kettlebell trainer in Las Vegas, Nevada since 2003 her handle is the kettlebell bombshell, and if you look at her images online, you will see that she actually is a kettlebell bombshell. She's a phenomenal trainer and a competitor.
Speaker 3:She is a certified nutrition and weight loss coach and has worked with a variety of clients including an NFL quarterback, Tyler Tyler Pako, a sister, wives reality television stars and L Brown four time mr Olympia champion, Jay Cutler, UFC fighter Matthew Riddle and on and on. She's got a terrific training resume and she also competes an NPC figure and is going after her pro card this December. So that is super exciting. Lisa, thank you so much for being on the dryer. We'll be podcast today. Thank you for having me. That was such an introduction. I live up to August. Yeah, well, well deserved. You've got a great background. You've done some great coaching. You're obviously a more than more than a health enthusiast. You're about to go pro here. So tell me your health journey. How did all this come about?
Speaker 4:Well, it was in the mid nineties I started noticing, I was like in my late twenties or actually it's probably in my mid twenties and I started realizing I was putting on a little bit of weight and I was working in the casino industry. Then, and I wasn't really into working out or anything like that and I decided I wanted to change the way my body was starting to look. I wasn't, you know, happy with it. I was always just kind of thin. So I worked with, um, a guy that used to go to the gym and him and I would talk and I asked him if I could come with him one day and I just started working out, uh, back then it was Gold's gym and I started working out there with him. And then, you know, as time went on, I just kinda took it in a different direction. But that's actually how I started just from being in the casino industry and not really knowing much about exercise or nutrition.
Speaker 3:So that was in the 90s and have you been pretty consistent ever since?
Speaker 4:Absolutely. Yes. I started, I think it was like 1994 95 and then I was just, you know, learning a little bit about it and stuff. And then I realized, Hey, I think I really liked this and I want to keep doing it forever.
Speaker 3:Excellent. Just got under your skin and you just stuck with it. Yeah, it did. Did you have any challenges or obstacles along the way? You mentioned you were putting on a few pounds, but you didn't say anything that made it sound like you had any really, you know, disease or any really serious challenges, but did, did you have any along the way?
Speaker 4:Well, absolutely because I used to be a smoker. That was my biggest challenge. And I used to eat terrible food. I used to go to taco bell and I used to eat sugar. I was skinny, but I would eat like one time a day and then all day at work I would smoke cigarettes and drink coffee. So that is not a real nutrition. And so the good nutrition plan for anybody. So, um, yeah. And I wanted to quit smoking and so I did. And that was probably the biggest obstacle for me to overcome. And the nutrition part was getting, you know, an understanding of being a healthy person overall versus just trying to lose a few pounds. So I was pretty much interested in competing because I liked the way that the figure competitors looked. And I then realized like, well, I'm going to have to change so many things if I want to try this. And I had a trainer back then that I had hired. Um, she's a pro body builder. Her name is Jamie pepperoni. She's still my trainer to this day. And she, uh, you know, kind of explained to me, you know, what it would take for me to be a competitor and everything and she, you know, basically encouraged me to do so. And then she was like, well, you have to eat, you know, a special diet, you have to eat, you know, this, that, and the other. And we went over all that. But that was probably the biggest challenge I had was the nutrition.
Speaker 3:Wow. And, uh, what type of a diet were you raised with? Uh, you know,
Speaker 4:you know, it's funny, my mother was an excellent cook, but I hated everything she made because I was the pickiest eater and she would, you know, make us healthy meals at dinner and everything. But the only thing I ever wanted to eat growing up was corn mashed potatoes. I hated meat of any kind. I wouldn't even, I had this weird thing where I just couldn't eat it and it wasn't like I wanted to be vegetarian or something. I just didn't like it. I think it was a texture thing and so I would fit it to my dog and then I would really live on dairy products and so I would eat what I could get away with not eating meat if I, I, that was kind of like my main thing and then I would drink a ton of milk and eat yogurt and stuff like that. So I was getting protein from that type of the source. And I love milk still to this day. I really do. But um, I need know also, but back then I just would, I refuse to eat it. It was just like, uh, I dunno. It was like a mental thing. So
Speaker 3:you're not the first person I've heard that from. As a matter of fact, it seems to be pretty common with a young people and teenagers.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think with kids it's like, and then my mom would bake everything and that was another thing to me it was kind of dry. And even growing up I never liked. So if I eat bread, I didn't put butter on it. I don't like cheese and I still to this day I have a hard time with fats. I'm not really a fan. So I love carbohydrates, I eat a lot of carbohydrates, but I eat more complex carbohydrates now than I ever did before. And you know, so it's kinda like for me, my diet changed so much because I refused to eat meat growing up and now I eat it and then I would like, like I don't really like fats, so I do incorporate fats in my diet now, but not a whole lot. I'll do like peanut butter and avocado on occasion, but not like a lot of oils and things of that nature. And I'll do whole eggs once in awhile too.
Speaker 3:There's a thread in your story that I want to pull on a little bit and that is that you got competitive and it sounds to me like once you got competitive and you want to compete, you had to change your diet. And one of the things I talk to people about is the difference between being a health enthusiasts that goes to the gym to workout and someone who's training for something, even if it's just running a five K, uh, or doing some type of competitive event at a, at a low local level. To me there's a huge difference. For me personally, I know this is true for sure as a massive difference between when I'm training for an event versus just working out. And it sounds like for you that difference was a difference between a pretty low quality diet and helping you achieve your goals. Is that right?
Speaker 4:Absolutely. Yeah. And then when I stopped doing figure back in like 2000 and it started in 2001 and then I continued competing until 2007 and then I decided to stop doing it because I was having trouble at the national level. I wasn't achieving the pro status that I was seeking. And I thought maybe I'm just not meant for this. And I, when I started doing kettlebells, I met people that led me to compete in kettlebell lifting, which is an endurance event. So it's not based upon your look, it's based upon your performance, which is completely different ends of the spectrum. But my diet, I still eat the same types of foods, just different amounts. So the nutrition that I learned from competing in figure actually was very helpful for when I do compete in kettlebell lifting. So I still do the two of them. I still do both of the sports, but, um, kettlebell sport is like running, you know, so it's like, even though it's with weights, you're still doing an endurance activity, so you need a lot more carbs, you know, and you need more fat in your diet when you're trading like that.
Speaker 3:So what was the appeal for you to move into the kettlebell arena?
Speaker 4:I figured, you know, if I'm not gonna make it in sport, that's subjective, like figure I thought, well then I'll try to do something where it's based on performance. That way they can't take that away from you whether you do you know, the reps or not. So it's a high repetition sport. So it's a 10 minute event. You get 10 minutes to do as many reps as you can have. There's two different events that you can compete in two or three. It depends on which ones that you do. So if I'm, if I decide to do, like I'll say long cycle is clean and jerk, so you just do that move for 10 minutes straight. So it's basically the thing about it that's cool is it's an endurance activity but you're doing weights with it. So there's still some strength component in there, which is kind of cool. So that's what I really like about it cause I don't enjoy running and you know, riding a bike or doing a triathlon, that to me has zero interest cause I just don't like cardio that much. So even though this is an endurance based activity, it's only 10 minutes and I say that it's only 10 minutes, it's only 10 minutes nonstop. But it's more, I feel like I'm getting strength training as well, you know. So that's kind of what drew me to it.
Speaker 3:And for those of you listening, I don't know if you can appreciate what Lisa is talking about here, but at least I don't know that I can either. But I do have some background in, in this in terms of, uh, I've done CrossFit. Uh, even competitively, I did the CrossFit games, I did Festivus games, I've done those types of types of things which involve kettlebells as you do, but also could be a variety of different things. And, and, uh, w when you're doing the CrossFit games and you're given a 10 minute workout, for those of you that had never done it, you may be thinking, Oh, 10 minutes, that sounds easy. And, and, and let me tell you something, uh, two minutes into that 10 minute workout, you can be absolutely dying and pushed your max going, how in the world am I gonna survive the next eight minutes? And so these 10 minute workouts are incredibly intense. Am I right?
Speaker 4:Yes, extremely. Well, the thing with kettlebell lifting that might be a little bit different. Like I've seen the CrossFit games, which are phenomenal and they look extreme like, but it's like extreme athletics for sure. I'm in kettlebell sport. It's a, it's more technique than strength. So even though you have to be strong when you have very good technique, um, it allows you to be better than somebody who may be stronger than you because, um, when you're holding the bells and you can't put them down, there are certain places where you rest. So in your rack position, in the lockout position overhead, and if you don't have a good resting position, especially rack position for long cycle, you will not be able to last 10 minutes because you can't just keep moving and moving and moving. You have to take the time to breathe and stop. And if the weights are heavier than you're gonna want to go a slower pace. So you need a really good rack position. And that's where most athletes struggle. And also grip issues always come up because if the technique is not impactable, then you're gonna lose your grip. You know? So there's so many little factors that go into the fact that you have to be the strongest person. You have to be the person that has the best technique is what it is. So the better you are, technically, the more repetitions you'll be able to do, or the longer you'll be able to go. So in the 10 minutes you don't have to last the whole 10 minutes. If you move in a fast enough pace and you get the required reps that you're supposed to do, then you can be done in eight minutes or nine minutes, you know, but most people more often than not, you want to last the whole 10 minutes and do as much as you can, if that makes any sense.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And in, in the last, you know, I don't know, I'm guessing here, uh, five, 10, 15 years, kettlebells have gone from, uh, my perception anyway from being a kind of a unique Russian style, uh, form of exercise to being mainstream. You can buy a kettlebell in Walmart and they're almost every gym, right? So, yep. Uh, talk to us about the difference between traditional strength training and kettlebell training.
Speaker 4:Okay. Well, traditional weight training is going to be more isolation exercises, although there are compound movements that require more than one body part at a time. You're still isolating the muscles if you're doing like a bodybuilding style workout or whatever. And you're correct. I am so sorry. This is a dog friendly show. I did I not tell you that. Oh,
Speaker 5:no problem.
Speaker 4:I'm so sorry. I was going to warn you. I had the one on the, I just shut the door. Can you hear them? Yeah, but it's fine. Carry on. Okay. That's all right. Okay. I don't know if you've seen the podcast art I have for this episode, but my dog is in it. Um, no, but I know, but I don't want them. This one, she's still loud and I had her, she was almost sleeping. I had her, I was in there. I was like, Oh good. She's going to be good. Um, no. Okay. So sorry about that. Get in here. Come on. You here. Okay. You got to lay down. You can't be loud. Okay. All so, and who, what was the question?
Speaker 3:The difference between traditional weight and strength training and kettlebell training.
Speaker 4:Okay. So when you're doing strength training at the gym, you're basically isolating the muscle groups and you're doing a concentric contraction, right? So the muscles do get shorter and they'll be rounder. So with Kendall training, it's more of any longer nation. I believe. So this is the result that I have gotten with my body because now remember I went from doing all weight training and competing and figure and doing bodybuilding type exercises to, I switched to kettlebell only. And when I did that, most of my muscle mass lengthened out. And the interesting thing is that I actually feel I looked better doing, even if I do weight training now, I still do kettlebells too because I feel like that elongation of muscles is actually a little prettier. And especially for women who fear getting bulky in the gym and they always say like, I don't want to get bulky and I don't want to get bigger. And they're afraid to lift weights. That actually will make your body look longer and it looks leaner, you know? So I think the difference is not only is that happening, that's taking place, you're also getting your cardio vascular exercise with the kettlebell if you choose to, instead of doing traditional cardio. So depending on how you use them. Now, some people they use Kindle that was just like they would weight and they're just doing walking lunges with them or they're doing a squat and holding it in between, you know, their legs and they're just doing like a Sumo style squat and that kind of stuff is fine to do. But those, those aren't real kettlebell exercises so you're not going to get the benefits that you read about in magazines where they tell you you burn more calories and all that. That doesn't happen if you're just using them like weights. There's no difference whatsoever. So at least if you learn traditional kettlebell exercises, like cleans, snatches, push presses, jerks, those types of things, then you get the benefits of it because you're moving the bell. Your body is reacting to it in a specific way. Your nervous system actually responds to it because that handle in your hand, it's almost like an extension of your extremity. So your body recognizes it almost that way. So when it's moving, you're also doing more exercises that mimic activities in real life. So like the way you pick things up, you're not always going to be in the upright position and standing straight. Like you have to have that strict form with weightlifting, where with kettlebells you're going to bend at the waist and you're going to follow the bell behind you and you want to get a rhythmic, um, I want to call it like a pendulum effect is what we call it. When you compete in snatching, you need that pendulum. So a lot of people, when kettlebells first got popular here, they were taught to stand up squat and then thrust their hips forward and keep their arms stiff in the Bell's far away from them. That's actually the worst thing you can do because it's not good for your back. And that's not creating the pendulum that you need when you do a traditional swing. So there's a lot of things that came out about kettlebells when they first were brought to this country and now nobody really does it that way anymore because it's not the best way to use the tool. So you really want to make it, you want to use momentum and make that your friend, you know. So in weightlifting you would never do that. You have to have a strict form, which is proper. But in kettlebells you want to create momentum. So there's so different, there's not even one thing that's similar with them, but people try to make them the same. So people actually have not enough good knowledge is out there for them to pick them up at the gym and just start working out with the kettlebell. So usually when I go to the gyms around here and I see people using them, like usually cringe because half the stuff doing is going to hurt themselves and they just don't know. So they've either seen it on YouTube or they seen it in a magazine and they're like, Oh, I'm going to try this. And then there, you know, cleaning the dog, they're smashing their hand with it and flipping it on themselves and hitting themselves hard with it. None of those things should happen. And if you're really using a kettlebell properly, it should look effortless and it should feel very smooth. So if anything feels painful, you're doing it wrong. You're holding the handle too tight, you're squeezing it, or you're just not allowing momentum and you're trying to control it with your arms. Because many times with my students in person, especially because of that handle now, for one thing, fear is, is an issue. They're not familiar with it, so they're not sure. And I get that, but I try to make them comfortable by telling them, look, the harder you squeeze it and hold onto it, the worse it's going to hurt you. So you have to get comfortable with being loose in your hands and letting it slide around instead of you gripping it and squeezing it until you're, you know, and that's what people don't, don't know these things because it's not common knowledge, you know? And you don't know what you don't know. So until you meet someone like me who can tell you,
Speaker 3:do you have any videos on your website or YouTube or something where people could see you?
Speaker 4:Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I have lots of YouTube stuff. Yeah, and I have two DVDs that are together. They're 1999 off my website. That gives you all the instruction on all the amazing kettlebell exercises, especially the ones that you never see people doing that are the most beneficial. So that's where the name kettlebell bombshell comes from. That's actually the name of my product. So I have a, it was an as seen on TV, so kettlebell bombshell, there's two DVDs, volume one and two and they have three workouts per DVD that also our follow along workouts and in the instruction on all the work on all the exercises, it's actually a workout also. So when you're learning it, that part is also a workout. So it's kinda cool to get that. But if you just want like some basic stuff, a lot of the things on YouTube, I don't do the instruction because I have them on the DVDs and I also have an online course too for people that don't use that type of a thing anymore. So I have online courses as well that they can do on curious.com which is a really cool website and yeah, so I have lots of stuff out there, lots of great information and content and you know, but it really is important for people to learn the right way to use them.
Speaker 3:I want to jump back to something you said earlier because it's not the first time I've heard it. You mentioned that you think you have a prettier look through kettlebell training than through figure training. Now, the first time I came across that concept was in Tim Ferriss's book, the four hour body. Are you familiar with it?
Speaker 4:No, I'm not.
Speaker 3:It's an excellent book. I recommend it to anyone listening, but he talks about kettlebell training. Just simple stuff, you know, I'm sure to you it'd be very academic, but, but he does talk about it and mentions through some particular exercises with the kettlebell that women often want to have more of an hourglass shape. Men want to have that V shape in their backs. And we're talking about just, you know, general people have a body. That's what people are going for. And he claims that through kettlebell training, men are going to be more likely to get that V look that they're looking for a slim waist wide shoulders and that women are more likely to get an hourglass shape to their body. So, uh, it's interesting he's, he said it in his book. That's cool. Yeah. Now you're kind of, yeah. Do you agree with that?
Speaker 4:Well, I think in bodybuilding you can get any shape muddy you want, even in an hourglass shape. But I think the muscles, the shape of the muscles themselves is what looks different because the exercises that I do with kettlebells are pretty much like ballistic moves. So you're working every single muscle head to toe at the same time. And that's the thing that makes it different. So I kind of described it like this where I don't know if this, I'm not saying I'm not in agreement with him, but this is how I describe it. Have you ever seen those Russian dolls where one you and twist it and there was another one in there and you went twisted and there's a smaller one. And a smaller one and it's all the way down to a little baby. That's what happens with kettlebells. So whatever shape you are, you keep getting a smaller like that, right? So it makes you shrink everywhere altogether at once instead of like in bodybuilding, what I've experienced in my own training is it makes you shrink in places. So like my sister for example, my sister was overweight eight and she's had four children and stuff, and she kind of neglected her health for a minute and she told me, this was what I found funny. She said, I hate going to like these bootcamps and stuff because every time I do I get really small in my upper body and my thighs don't get smaller. And then she goes, the only time that doesn't happen is when I do your kettlebell workouts. She goes, I'm just going to keep doing your kettlebell workouts because that way I just get smaller everywhere. And I told her, I said, but that's why, because when you isolate training, your body takes the body fat from certain places first. And everybody's genetics are different. But mostly with women, if they're bottom heavy, they're going to get real like leaner shoulders and arms and abs and the glutes and their thighs are thicker. Right? So that happens when you're just doing cardio. Even if you have the best diet, you're just doing cardio, you're doing weights, you get smaller in places that you don't hold the most body fat first and then it takes a lot longer to hit the lower half. And that's happened to me too. So doing the kettlebell, you just start getting smaller like everywhere instead of half of you, you know? So that's actually what I have found to be true. So I told my sister, cause she's always like joining these boot camps and stuff, just, you know, for motivation and to make herself go workout. But then I tell her, you can just do my kettlebell bombshell Facebook page where I put workouts in there all the time and just do those workouts. I'm like, why are you like so? But she told me, she said the only time I that doesn't happen is when I do the kettlebell workouts. So that's kind of what I've noticed from it. So, okay, now you're incorporating kettlebells into your figure competition. How do you do that? Yes, thank God. See, here's me, thank God for get on those because then I don't have to spend hours on the cardio. Well, what happened was when I did a show last year, my first time I came back in like I think, I think I did a show in 2011 just for fun and I got fifth place and I didn't even train for it. A, I did like two weeks out. I just, I just wanted to see if I could still do it. And that was with no weight training, no cardio, only kettlebells. And I got fifth place. Okay. So I didn't even try and I got fifth, so it's, I don't really even count that show. So, so 2007 was my last national show and that's when I spelled kettlebells and I actually trained my body only with them. I placed higher than I ever had at that level. Okay. So you think the light bulb would've went on in my head like, Hey, maybe you should try it again next year. But I, I decided to quit. So when I came back this last year, what happened was I did the Olympia, we had a kettlebell meet at the Olympia and I saw Jay Cutler, who I've trained, he was mr Olympia four times. And he said to me, my gosh, you're so wrapped. He was like, what are you doing? I said, I was just competing here for kettlebells sport. And he said, Oh man, you're ripped. And I thought, okay, that's kind of cool. So I ran into Janie as she was training girls for a figure show that was in like eight weeks. And I said, Oh my gosh, I should try it Jeannie. And she goes, yeah, you would do so good in the master's. So the masters is like 45 and over. So I said, well I want to do the masters and the open. So then I stopped doing the kettlebells and I went back to just weights cause she said, well you're a little too skinny, you need to put on a little bit of size. So I thought, well I can eat more and I'll just train with weights and I won't cuddle the lift just for like six weeks. So I ended up winning the masters and the open class. Yeah. And then so what did I do? I decided to stop doing kettlebells that I just did weight training. So I did the national level in July the USA, which was my last show. I did it again and I didn't place that well. And Jeanie's like you looked better at the Vegas classic last year. Well the difference was I was doing kettlebells and for this show I didn't do it. And so there's my point. It was like for my body I need the kettlebells because it elongates me and I look longer and lean versus like, I don't know what the, what, how to describe it. I feel like when I just weight train, I look wider, if that makes any sense. Like everywhere, even my waist and everything. But when I do kettlebells, I feel like it almost just like Lincoln's me out and I look leaner that way. So that's when I added it back in. So what I started doing was I do two or three days a week of where I do kettlebell sport style training, which is I just pretty much do clean and jerk and snatch. Those are my two favorite exercises. And in my opinion, those two exercises work the best for fat loss and for getting you in shape really quickly. So those are my two favorite and they are on my DVDs. Um, so I do those and then, um, and then I'll wait train like three or four days a week. So, and I do high repetition, so the high repetitions also do really well for my buddies. So sometimes I do sprint sense with the kettlebells, which will be like 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest. Or sometimes I'll do a minute on a minute off. It just depends. And then other times I'll do like a longer set, three or four minutes, five minutes maybe even, you know. So I try to mix it up and then I haven't really had to do too much cardio. So I've been doing 30 minutes of cardio versus where I used to do an hour. So I'm doing 30 minutes adding in the bells and then doing the weights also.
Speaker 3:Okay. So people listening right now who are intrigued and not necessarily I Eng a a national competition and figure, but just thinking this sounds really cool. I like what she's saying about looking lean and strong and, and losing weight in the right places. I want to try this kettlebell thing.
Speaker 4:I did love it. Yeah. And think about this too. Most of my clients, none of them are our, uh, our competitors. I've trained people that compete in the sport of kettlebells, but like right now most of my clients are just your regular average fitness enthusiasts. Somebody who's, you know, working a full time job, busy, busy person, wants to lose weight and they are losing weight. But I teach them my clients and one of my clients and she always comments on my Instagram and everything. She's 65 she looks amazing. She's been training with me forever and she always tells me, I love that you make me do exactly what you do. So I make my clients do the same things that I do but at a different weight. Obviously that's right for their body and a different pace or whatever. But they pretty much do the same workouts that I do because I want them to get the same results, you know? So how quickly do they get results? Pretty fast. Like believe it or not pretty fast. I think with my style of training, if I'm training somebody in their brand new by the second week, so say they do, if they do three sessions a week with me by week three for sure they're getting Collins from, you know, family and friends saying, what are you doing? You look different, you look good, you know, by three weeks. And that is not a lot of time invested now that's provided that they listen to me and they do stuff outside of seeing me too. I make them do cardio when I'm not with them. So three days a week they're with me three or four days a week. I have them do cardio, 30 to 40 minutes, nothing crazy. And then having them watch their diet and clean up their diet, you know? So and little simple things too. It's not like they have to be on some horrible deprivation plan. Like I said, I have them, you know, kind of calculate how much protein and carbs and stuff like that. But more than anything I just really feel like they really apply themselves and they consistently do it. They look really good quickly. It doesn't take that much time. It just takes consistency is more important. You know? And kettlebells are magical tools when they're used right? When they're used like weights or just people, people give the swings so much credit for all this stuff. That's not the end all be all exercise for a kettlebell. You know? It's like it's one thing, and that's actually what I do to warm people up. So I don't use that as like kettlebell swings. I think people put too much emphasis on them when there's other exercises that burn a lot more calories than swing. So I try to make people understand like, we're warming you up right now. You're going to do a couple sets of this, but this isn't like the exercise, you know, and I think too much it's credited for that.
Speaker 3:So a person getting started who wanted to do this as a home workout, how many kettlebells would you have a a newbie go out there and buy to, you know, if you're gonna get your DVDs,
Speaker 4:they don't need that many. They could get, I would honestly say, because there is a double kettlebell workout on the advanced, uh, DVD. So I would say they could get two bells that are like, maybe if it's a female, like two nine pound kettlebells, even as she's a really strong person to nine to, you know, 15 and then if it's a guy, I would have him get to, we always talk in kilograms and kettlebells because they're rushing. So it's usually like two sixteens are 35 pounds. So I would have them get two sixteens and then one heavier belt for the lower body. So say if it's a female, she could get two nines or you know, fifteens and then 25 pound belts for the lower body or 20 you know, depending on where she's at and she's a new new person, the two nines might just be enough because then she can use one of them for the lower body and see how that goes, you know? But for the guys, I would say for sure 24 kilos is about 53 pounds. So I would get a 24 and two sixteens. So I would do that. And, um, yeah. And then that would be enough to get you started because your upper body is a lot weak other than your lower body. So you're obviously not going to be pressing the amount of weight that you're squatting with or swinging, you know, but you can clean a heavier kettlebell cause that's legs and you can do the swings and like some, you know, goblins squats and things like that with the heavier bell. And then you can use your lighter bells for your overhead movements like presses and snatches and that type of stuff, you know? But yeah, that would be great. That's a good beginner weight. And if they just want to buy one, I'll say they can only, I'm in a position where I can only get one Belk and that's fine, but just make sure it's like a medium weight. Then you don't want it to light to where you don't feel the legs, but you don't want it too heavy where you can't press it over your head either. So I would say like a medium weight, like maybe 15 pounds, you know?
Speaker 3:You know, that's, that's really cool because you know, for 20 bucks I can get your DVD a, they can go, like I said, you can actually go to Walmart and buy kettlebells total. Uh, and they're cheap. So this is a very inexpensive down and dirty, simple as it gets kind of a routine.
Speaker 4:And it's so much fun. Like I work out at home, if anybody goes to my Instagram, you see I'm in my kitchen and my living, like I do a lot of stuff if I'm not at the gym training, I'm training in my living room cause I actually turned my living room into a gym because that's the coldest room in my home and I don't like being freezing. And I have to keep the air on pretty cold in here cause I'm in Vegas, you know, and my one dog, he's always upset if it's over 70. So okay. So I have to keep it like 68 degrees. And so in the front room I thought this room is freezing. I can't stand to be in this room. So I moved all my workout equipment there and I started training there. And it's a lot, you know better. So sometimes if I, if I lift heavier bells for myself, I like to be in my kitchen cause I like to floor because it's real, it's a nice floor. So I work out in there and it's so convenient to not have to go to the gym and you're just like, I'm just going to grab my stuff and then work out here. They'll say you like to go to the gym and you want to weight train but you want to try some of the kettlebell stuff that I do. A lot of gyms have kettlebells and you might not want to buy one. So then you have the access to using all kinds of different sizes. So there's benefits to both. You know,
Speaker 3:I assume your dog has learned that when you have a kettlebell in your hand you are weaponized and your dog better stay away.
Speaker 4:I actually have three, I actually am three and what they do is they, two of them lay on the dog bed together and my B Xan who's painted the Keester, he likes to come over. And what are you do in there? And like he'll, he'll, and I don't know, sometimes he might be worried like he hears me breathing, you know, cause you breathe kind of heavy when you're training hard. So he'll come over sometimes and he'll lay behind me where he's far enough behind me where he won't get hurt or if I'm in the kitchen he'll sit right outside the kitchen and just like watch me. And I think he either thinks he's going to get food or he thinks I'm like going to hurt myself and you know, so I think it's kind of funny. But yeah, they're, they, they know, they know what's up. They hear them clinking around. They're like, okay, we're going to,
Speaker 3:I'm buddy. Well we talk a lot about nutrition on this show and uh, you've talked about your own nutritional journey. What is some simple advice that you would give to our audience today that you think could, could help them? A few. A few tips on, on nutrition.
Speaker 4:Okay. My number one is cook your own food. Tried to avoid eating out. Even if it seems like a healthy choice, like, like obviously people are in a hurry sometimes and they have no choice. Like I love teriyaki madness, I go there. Um, but you know, I try to cook as much in my own food that I can so that way I know exactly what's in it. I'm not adding extra sodium to it or you know, fattening calories and things like that. So then I have full control of what I'm putting in the food I'm going to be eating. So that's number one. And number two, avoid processed food. Just because something says it's gluten free or vegan or high protein, that mean there's enough full of other bad ingredients, you know? So I think for a lot of people they get misled by marketing of the companies. Like I'll give an example of something I don't like those Lenny and Larry cookie things. I used to eat those when they first came out years ago, whole foods was the only place that sold them. And then they were in seven 11 and Costco and everything. And they changed the formula of how they used to make them twice ended. At one point they were delicious and then they went to this like weird, I don't know what it is, but it's like, it'll say it has 16 grams of protein, but it's for half of the product. So if you eat the whole thing, or I'm sorry, eight that's for the whole product. So if you look on the calories, it tells you for half the product with the calories are, and it's a lot. So learn to read your food labels too, to make sure when it says the whole cookies not as serving, it's two serving. So you've got a double what the nutrition says. So a lot of the times we're in a hurry and we grab something like that and we read it and it says, Oh, 16 grams of protein. Yeah, if I eat the whole thing. Now how many calories is in that? Double what it says on the back. So just to make sure that you're really good at reading the food labels, you know, so understand too much sodium. Will you be surprised if many people don't know that too much sodium.
Speaker 3:Got it. I just got asked. I'm laughing because we have those here at our office. We have a box of them from Costco, and I'm a coach myself. I'm a certified coach and I am just kind of, you know, it's just interesting. I've never read the label.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they're not full. When they sold at whole foods, I'm telling you, they were delicious. I used to love them and I was like, Oh, these are so good. And I'm not trying to like throw their company under the bus or nothing like that. I'm just giving them as an example that they changed the way they made the product more than one time. And that's what made me stop eating. It was because I felt like this doesn't even taste the same anymore. And it to me, didn't taste as good and they did change it. And that's what made me stop eating it. So I kind of feel like when companies do that, they're mass marketing it and then they change the product itself. It doesn't even taste the same. That tells me right there like, I'm not gonna eat that anymore.
Speaker 3:And Ben, back to your original premise of eating whole foods. I mean, look, even before they change it, and I know what you mean. I first tried those things in England and we were over there on a vacation and a friend of mine is in the same business I am. I went over to his warehouse and he introduced them to me and he's like, this is a, this is a phenomenal product we buy from the U S and we sell it here in the UK and Europe and people love it. And he gave me one. I was like, Oh, this is really good. And, and for me, you know, I'm like, cool, a cookie that's healthy. How awesome is that? Um, but you're right, they kind of taste cardboardy now compared to what they used to taste like.
Speaker 4:I noticed because I used to eat the cinnamon raisin one and one day I went to, I bought it at seven 11 and tasted like coconut. And I thought, wow, this is weird. And I took it back and then I found out that, okay, they all taste like this. And I got the other flavor, which was my favorite was the pumpkin one. I love that one. And now it's grainy or something. And it might be the protein that they're using is like plant protein or something, but the whole thing, it's not the same and it was delicious and it's not the same anymore. So you know, I just, it's one of those things, right? Yeah. And actually my trainer coach, she, her and her fiance, they have a commercial kitchen and she makes these muffins, these protein muffins and she ships them. I am telling you what they are out of this world. And they have 10 grams of protein, 10 grams of carbs in them. She used to Stevie at a Sweetnam and she uses food, um, extract. So there's like, you know, flavor extracts. So there's no artificial sugar alcohols or anything in them. So it's oatmeal. She uses like whey protein powder, egg, egg whites and whatever flavor you want. If you want lemon, blueberry, she uses lemon extract and then she put Stevia in them and I eat those. And I'm telling you what, she makes me the pumpkin pie flavor year round. I eat the pumpkin ones and I always tell people, don't get fooled this type of year for all these fall seasonal treats that look so amazing cause they're high in calorie, they're not nutritious and they're just gonna. They're just like a fad. So you could eat pumpkin spice all year round if you do what I do. And you order these from Jeannie, you know, so I always promote her, her muffins because they're so good. Other cigarettes, we'll put those in the show notes for five of us. Definitely will. Yeah, that'd be terrific. Those are listening. We put all of the content from our podcasts interviews on blog dot[inaudible] dot com and so we'll put a link to that. We'll put a link to all of Lisa stuff that she's talked about there. So you'll be able to find all these things. You don't have to remember it all. Yeah. And she sends them to my friend who lives in Jersey. She orders him all the time and she loves him. She's like, Oh, that's an offense. I'm addicted to them because it's a real muffin and it's healthy and high protein and low calorie. They're like a hundred calories each and you could put anything you want in them. She has a list of stuff that you could add like walnuts or cranberries. I mean they're just, they're amazing out of this world. And I've been eating them for years. I remember when she first started making them, I was like three years I've been eating them and they are a tremendous, and they helped me get lean. So that's what I like to push to my clients. Like real food. You're going to get flavor, you're going to feel like you're having a treat and then here you're on your diet. You're not even breaking your diet, you know? So versus going to a place like Starbucks and getting, you know, a scone, a pumpkin flavored scone cause it seasonal and them sounds great. But in your pumpkin latte now you just consume the same amount of calories that you're supposed to have for the whole day. You know, and then you feel bad because your blood sugar goes and it's like high in sugar, high in fat, and then your, you know, sabotaging your results instead of eating something that's awesome. And then, you know, giving yourself results. So that's what I'm about. And I love sweets. I love sweets. So for me that's one of the hardest things was for me to stop eating sweets. So I like, you know, I like to enjoy myself too. So there's a couple of things that I always eat in her muffins are one of them. And um, that in enlightened ice cream, that's my other favorites. Have you ever had like, enlightened ice cream? Have you ever had it? No. It's high protein but they have dairy free, uh, dairy free and Quito versions for those people. But I like the ones with dairy cause it's higher in protein. So it's just like a low calorie, it's kind of like a halo top. But in my opinion it tastes better cause it's richer. And creamier. So they are also another one of my leg go-to things. Especially it's like what I want sweets cause I love sweets. So that's my thing. So I like their ice cream cause it's like to me, no frozen protein shake. And then so I have that. Then I have the muffins and that makes me happy while I'm dieting, you know, so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of any of the things I love. Where do you get the enlightened ice cream? They sell it all over at grocery stores. Um, sprouts, Albertsons. Um, it depends on what, what part of, uh, of the country you live in. And sometimes Walmart has it. So if you go on their website we'll put a link to them too if you want. Um, when you go on their website, they have a store locator so they have it all over. Yeah, really good stuff though. It's so good. And it's like, like I said, I think it's better than halo top because halo top to me is more like ice milk and I'm not into like the watery kind of flavors. So I like the enlightened because it's made with real milk but like I said, they have the dairy free and the keto version two. Well this has been terrific. Thank you so much for doing this podcast. Is there anything that we haven't covered or anything you want to add before we wrap up? Um, let me think. Well you know, I mean I just feel like for most people out there that aren't getting enough good kettlebell information or you know you see magazines and you see other people in the gym using kettlebells, just really make sure if you do work with somebody that they actually know how to use them because you'd be surprised. A lot of trainers out there, they grabbed kettlebells and just started having their clients use them. I've seen it and it's dangerous to watch and I'm telling you what, from somebody who knows as much as I know about the tool to watch an uneducated person teaching them like an innocent client with it as I call them because how many times is the client going to question the trainer? The trainer tells them to do something. They assume the trainer is educated and that's why they hire them, you know? So you just gotta be real careful. So when people start teaching you kettlebell stuff, just make sure that they actually are versed in. If they say, well no, I'm a personal trainer and I know how to, yeah, yeah. Just tell them you know, cause you want to protect yourself and even how you hold the handle can affect your shoulders. Like a lot of people don't know this. Where the handle sits in your hand will definitely affect your forearm, your extensors and your shoulder. You could actually hurt yourself if the handle is even in the wrong spot in your hand when you're overhead. So you just, you want to avoid injury like that. And that's how you avoid injuries with the kettlebell is you make sure that the trainer knows what they're doing and if you're going to learn from someone like me, if you're going to learn it online or on the DVDs, I go over all of this stuff with you and you can always reach out to me too. If you have questions and I have a Facebook group that we'll put in there, kettlebell, bombshells and everybody, you can go in there and join it and it has tons of content in there. Video workouts from YouTube, text workouts that you can just, you know, take to the gym and do them with, you know, just with your phone. So that kinda thing. How else can people get ahold of you? Um, they can email me, lisa@kettlebellbombshell.com or they can contact me on Instagram, Facebook, everything out there. Twitter, it's pretty much if they, if they type in kettlebell bombshell, they'll find it. Pinterest, everything.
Speaker 3:And you guys listening, you ought to do that just to see Lisa's pictures. She looks amazing. How she's a great guy. Please. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, they're terrific. You, you've obviously, I mean they, they just, uh, they just show off all this hard work, uh, that you've done. You know, w one of the ones before I let you go, I just gotta say when you first sent me the images for the podcast artwork, um, I could really appreciate it because there's one where you're standing and kind of a triangle shape. Your legs are, uh, far apart and your arm is extended above your head and you're kind of leaning over. Well, the thing is, I do a stretch like that and I use like a five pound weight. Yeah, yeah. Whoa. That pose in yoga is actually called triangle pose. Is that what you're talking about? Yeah. You're in a triangle pose with this weight over your head. And I immediately appreciated it because it actually is not an easy position to get in, you know, to have some mobility.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And in the kettlebell exercise, that exercise is called the windmill. We call that a windmill and you're holding the bell over your head and your cylinder, it has to be in the socket and then your stretching while you're doing it. So really you want to use a lightweight when you do that because that can be a dangerous move for somebody who's just starting out. So I actually teach people without anyways and I tell them, or I'll even have some like little dumbbells that we'll use in the beginning, like you know, two and three pounds. And I'll say, let's just try this verse and see how it goes. You know, cause you don't want to ever put weight over somebody's head and have them move their body in a way that is foreign to them if they're not even able to do it. Cause some of the stuff requires flexibility, right? Mo and joint mobility and some people don't have it, you know? And that's the thing too, like that irritates me about when people like try kettlebells and don't know much about it. Mobility takes such like everybody's abilities are different. So joint mobility, your flexibility and all this stuff and people, you have to be just so careful with anything with weights. Even PyLadies if he's teach bloodies too. So even employees, I've done stupid things where I've hurt my back before. You know on a certain piece of apparatus cause I did something wrong. So anything can happen. Even the most fit person can get an injury or can do something wrong that can tweak their back, their shoulder. So you just always want to just be super careful, you know, and that's another way that you don't get hurt. Just being careful, warming up, stretching, all that kind of stuff. Staying flexible will prevent many, many injuries.
Speaker 3:Well that is an that's excellent advice and a great place to end. Thank you so much Lisa for taking the time. This has been great.
Speaker 4:This was awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Thank you. And for those of you listening, this episode information is mentioned will be posted at blog dot[inaudible] dot com if you just go there and search kettlebell bombshell or poly, just the words kettlebell, this episode will easily pop up in all the links and everything we've talked about will be there. And until next time, this is Dave Sherwin wishing you health and success. Well there you have it. Thanks so much for listening. And don't forget about the deal. I told you about the transformation packages where you can get precision nutrition for free, and we have a discount code, 15% off for anything you want at[inaudible] dot com including the transformation program, which is kind of crazy because it's already a huge discount, a where you get precision nutrition worth$179 a month for free with some of our transformation supplement packages. So check that out at[inaudible] dot com use coupon code insider to get 15% off anything, your little heart desires at[inaudible] dot com until next time, this is Dave Sherwin. We'll see you then.