RKC News - April 2018

As a mother of two and a former companion of many women who have struggled with spinal issues (spinal wear, muscular tension in the neck area) and discrepancies in the pelvis postpartum and over a long period, I must say: YES!!!

Not to mention that the female body needs to recover from the strains of childbirth, which I like to compare to those of a boxing match, there are still many challenges ahead in the years that follow. The pelvis and spine are deformed, the abdominal muscles had to make way for a large belly, and pregnancy hormones lead to physical and emotional softening. That would already be enough for us, but afterwards, we face times that demand much more from our bodies than we remember from Zumba or Pilates classes. Physical peak performance 24/7! For this "performance sport," we need MOBILITY, for example, to drape ourselves around our sleeping baby at night so that it doesn’t wake up or to wriggle a lost stuffed animal out from behind a piece of furniture.

We need STABILITY to carry all the groceries along with a toddler up to the 3rd floor and STRENGTH, because even the 5-year-old weighing 25 kilos sometimes falls asleep on the sofa or needs to be rescued from the climbing frame ☺. If we stick to Zumba and the like, we certainly have enough endurance to catch our wayward offspring in the shopping mall, but we wake up every morning with severe back pain and tension that accompany us all day long. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a sport that makes our bodies more supple, stable, stronger, more beautiful, and pain-free? A piece of equipment that doesn’t take up much space? Wouldn’t it be amazing if the training were so intense that you don’t have to invest much time? There is!

This is where the kettlebell comes into play. Treat yourself to two kettlebells and a 10-class pass for training with an RKC instructor for Mother’s Day, and all of this is yours! The basic kettlebell exercises such as the Turkish Getup (TGU), Swing, and Deadlift gradually improve your mobility, posture, musculature, and make you strong. Your spine is supported, and the transfer effect to your daily burdens is enormously high. The TGU improves your overall mobility and stability, making it a "jack of all trades" that makes you strong and injury-resistant. With the Deadlift, you learn to lift heavy loads correctly and strengthen your lower back. With the explosive Swing, you train your hip mobility, core stability, back muscles, cardiovascular performance, and as a bonus, you get a firm butt! Your body changes positively, thus also your self-worth and your mental and physical resilience increase. But one question remains:

Can women train hard?
Ladies... we not only can, we must! Yours, Bea

….…that training with the kettlebell is so effective that an average of 20 kilocalories are burned per minute?

For comparison: Pilates burns 3 kilocalories per minute, Zumba 6 kilocalories, and jogging about 8 kilocalories on average!

To illustrate: 25 minutes of kettlebell swings, and the chocolate bar is in ☺