Variety seems to be the buzzword in the fitness industry these days. Everyone’s talking variety. I’ve read and witnessed a lot of trainers and strength coaches espouse the necessity of including variety so as to avoid running into a plateau. But so often they only mention adding variety by changing the exercises or movements employed in ones workout, which leaves one under the impression that the only way to make continued progress is to keep changing the exercises. So is there a way to add variety without changing the exercises in your program? To that I answer Yes my dear Watson. It’s a concept known as same but different. Rather than using only exercise selection as your training variable to be changed, you keep the same exercises and change other variables such as reps, sets, rest periods, and tempo. So it’s the same exercises, but a different stimulus is applied in the form of manipulating other training variables which allows progress to continue. Same but different, if you will. By manipulating other training variables, and not just the exercise(s) used, you are still applying the principles of overload and progression which are necessary for continued progress and increases in hypertrophy, strength, and/or endurance.

To learn more take a look at the article Variety In Training.

I’ve heard that question from countless individuals that are interested in Kettlebell training, but have no idea which movements they should start with or how to put them together into a sensible workout. But it’s really no different than any other form of training—stick to the basics and you can’t go wrong. The basics always offer the most bang for your buck making it the most efficient way to train. Below are the 6 basic Kettlebell movements and each has different variations, which increases the variety you can add to your workouts. Work on becoming proficient in these movements and then you can add some secondary Kettlebell exercises to round out your routine.

1. The Kettlebell Swing
2. The Kettlebell Clean
3. The Kettlebell Press
4. The Kettlebell Squat
5. The Kettlebell Snatch
6. The Turkish Get-up

Take a look at the article Back to the Basics—The Super 6 to see the different variations of the above exercises. I’ve also included a workout template for beginners and intermediates to help get you started.

Hope it helps!

Click on the link to see Ed Long discuss kettlebells and Modern Athlete’s KettleFit classes on Louisville’s WHAS news. MODERN ATHLETE on WHAS