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Kettlebell What should I be looking at for an untrained 30 yo. woman?

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@Darknessdancer Based on your post, my 1st recommendation is 30 minutes of brisk walking daily.

As a professional coach, my 2nd recommendation is do not take kettlebell training and the many safety protocols therin for granted. Especially with sedentary individuals unfamiliar with training.

Thank you.
 
I think walking is about the safest, easiest to do, yet very healthy exercise available. Walking and then eventually doing a small about of weights is about enough for anyone really, if we're talking about maintaining health, in my opinion. Walking was my one and only exercise for several years and it did keep me in good condition; of course kettlebells, Naked Warrior etc are "better" and get me in better shape and better health, but the walking was definitely good enough, no, actually more than just good "enough". Walking is very good. My wife walked with me and we still go for walks and walking is still an important part of my health maintenance strategy. She also does yoga, and as of about a month ago she lifts dumbbells (just uses the kettlebell for goblet squats as of yet).
 
1. Doctor's visit for a thorough physical, making mention of her intention to begin an exercise program and asking if she has any restrictions to abide by.

2. Movement screen - get her an FMS, deal with 0's before any exercise program, and 1's and asymmetries as needed.

3. Kettlebell Simple & Sinister.

-S-
 
+1 to Steve's input, and I'll add:

Value progress; follow S&S as the program is outlined, and keep going with it onward and upward to the Simple standard and beyond if it's working well. In other words, don't stall out or plateau looking for some "maintenance" phase or "I'm strong enough" or "I don't want to get bulky" or so many of those false female fears. The maintenance phase doesn't exist, more strength is always better, and bulky definitely doesn't happen overnight or by accident.

Kettlebell Deadlifts are GREAT and will work for a long time; no need to rush to swings. They are also explained in S&S. (Sounds like she's got some awesome deadlift potential!)

T-spine mobility drills highly recommended for sedentary desk-workers, especially if posture is noticeably compromised. I was one... takes a long time to make improvements, but very much worth the effort.
 
I'm not so sure that letting a completely sedentary person with zero exercise knowledge deadlift 205 was a smart choice.
 
+2 for @Steve Freides and @Anna C ...also, the fact that you used a phrase like "pushing... hard to maximize gains at the cost of pain and suffering...." means that you may not be the best candidate for helping a rank beginner. haha She probably just needs tons of support and encouragement, not a lot of technical advice beyond a Simple & Sinister book. good luck to both of you!
 
I'm in a very similar boat, I've helped a number of folks, am certified to teach KB, but the personal dynamics and my teaching style do not mesh well with my wife. She just picked up a video by Andrea DuCane, "Kettlebell Goddess" and is staying with it.

I've tried to get her into kettlebells in the past but she didn't think she'd enjoy the workout - "That's your thing". I did give her a 20 minute routine to work on last year and it she did not stay with it.

She decided to give KBs another try as they're cheap (I already own a large set), can be used at home as time permits, and they do come recommended by many, not just me. She is staying with this workout video. I suspect having it in video format, having a handful of full routines she can follow etc is easier for her on a couple of levels. I chime in with help on specific form questions and other than that stay out of the way and she works off the video.

My own opinion of it is that the routines and instruction are not bad, and I'm very happy she is doing it on a regular. If it were up to me to make her program it would be much as you were thinking -

Swings
C&P (with the press being more of a GS straight up press to get the upper pecs more involved)
Goblet squats
Glute bridge
reverse lunge
and some form of row either one hand or two hand bent row with a towel
I'd also recommend working to time rather than reps, but whatever she's happier with.

Good Luck, and good for her to be getting in on it. I've worked out my entire life, I cannot imagine how daunting it must seem to someone picking it up later in life.

Edit to add: my wife is is 48, history of using an elliptical runner off and on for years, some circuit training when she has an active gym membership, which is not often.
 
I am not a professional trainer either, but I just went through the same thing with my wife. She used to be active, but stopped moving her pregnancy because our daughter really tested our ability to survive sleep deprivation. She wanted to get back in shape. However, she had no interest in 1 hour workouts, etc... I'm with the posters who said to first walk. If she's really sedentary, that will make a change. Weights/kettlebells are also a very good idea if properly coached. I found that people who have no interests in lifting weights will often be turned down by even the simplest (and sinisterest ;) ) of programs. What got my wife to lift was to simply do something, even if only a few reps. Short and easy workouts is the "gateway drug". If you suggest simple and sinister and she says "How long will that take?", why not start with one strength move and a little bit of "cardio"? So let's say walk 5 minutes, do 5 body weight squats. That's it. Tomorrow, walk 6 minutes and do 6 squats,...Squats can be broken in sets if and when needed. Once you get to being in shape enough that the squats are not that hard, maybe she can do goblet squats. Once this is mastered, other movements can be added, presses, swings, ... Once progress starts, many who had no interest in lifting weights will change attitude, and more rigid programming may be useful. Many will disagree with me, but as I don't remember who said "the best program is the program you are actually doing". Also, if you train with your wife, I would recommend that: once form is "good enough" to avoid injury, let things go unless asked for advice and don't try to teach her too much. Actually, that's probably true for anyone who trains with you and doesn't ask for advice. This is probably not the best way to learn right movement patterns, but that's the only way to keep training in the same room.
 
I'm not a professional but I can use my own physical development for reference.

I'm not sure I would even worry about the KBs at this point; start moving the body well before moving an object well. I would look at callisthenic circuits using movement progressions (i.e., push-ups against a wall to push-ups from the knees to regular push-ups). Do a few weeks/months of the easiest ones and then introduce more difficult versions. Bang for the buck is probably circuits of calisthenics alternating days with walking/jogging/crawling.
 
I've been in a fairly similar boat with my partner. She was sedentry and after a while wanted to get back to being fit. She doesn't massively want any metcon/conditioning work from me and is happy to walk for aerobic exercise. She is on a fairly strict diet of KB deadlifts and TGUs at the moment. After that she does either suitcase carries or crawling. Stick to something simple. Moving to overhead pressing too early and swings before she has the stability and strength to handle them is a bad idea.

One final point is around motivation. She might not want to approach more complex moves right now, regressions are okay. If a hinge and a getup ignite her desire to learn more advanced moves then thats great. If she wants to just stick with them and not have the pressure of learning loads of moves that needs to be respected too. It took a long time for me to learn this lesson, and my girlfriend's progress became much better when it was self determined and fit with what she wanted.
 
Didn't read through the whole thing, so sorry if I mention something that's already been said.

Walking - she's your wife, so take her for a walk through the woods, the city or whatever a couple of times a week. That's quality time for the two of you.
OS - resets + crawling. The 10min daily reset will be plenty for her.

Help her in the kitchen.

The combined results of a little bit more moderation in the kitchen, walking and OS resets will have her move better, have more endurance and lose some weight.
Those positive results will eventually be enough for her to try more things like KBs and actually enjoy working with them.
 
Darknessdancer said:
Ladies and gentlemen;

I've learned a lot from communities like this. But when I told my wife I could help most people train I realized I haven't actually done it with her needs in mind. I'm not a teacher or trainer--I've just trained with other people who would have been doing similar things as me (which wasn't women in my case).


This is going to sound impersonal but I'm trying to be concise and precise as possible for the sake of commenters being able to offer some concrete advice.


1. She's a completely sedentary 30 yo woman with a professional desk job. No jogging, no 5 lbs. dumbbells, etc.

2. She's about 5'4, 185 lbs. and healthy as far as we know. Cardiovascular, joints, etc. all good.

3. For personal reasons, she's resistant to public gyms. She just doesn't really want to train there.

4. She has no real interest in training to be an "elite" athlete. She is motivated to improve fitness, but not to kill herself for marginal gains.


I told her that I think kettlebells we own would suit her needs--she wants to train, but not for hours a day, and not in a public weight room--but I could use some help on programming for her.

Goals: strength and fitness and perhaps weight loss (but I don't think this is accomplished mainly by training programs) without pushing her too hard for the sake of maximizing gains at the cost of pain and suffering.

She's fine with understanding it will be hard since she's completely out of shape, I just mean she doesn't want or need a program that's designed to maximize her gains in an absolute sense because she has some goal she needs to achieve in [x] weeks. She doesn't have that mindset. She just wants to train efficiently.


For now I was thinking of a plan involving goblet squats, swings, TGU and maybe overhead presses? I realized one thing I hadn't thought of is that she cannot do push-ups, dips or pull-ups. I just don't know what kind of volume/schedule we should be talking about even keeping it simple with those few kettlebell exercises.

Side note, she deadlifted 205 lbs. the first and only time she ever touched a barbell. This is the internet, so I can admit that's more than I deadlifted the first time I lifted....
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I've taken it upon myself to start my wife into kettlebells and I think it's important to not overwhelm her with exercises and details. We're both in our late 40's and I've been doing KB's for about two years. My wife has a history of knee problems, runners knee essentially, and now has a tendon issue in her foot that she's wearing a custom orthotic in her shoe to help with. Getting your wife started with walking is a great idea. After that, KB deadlifts. I got a lot of help from this board and I sent a video of my wife's technique to SFG @Karen Smith for review, which was extremely helpful. I'm slowly getting her into 2 hand swings and she's enjoying them. The big news is that there have been no ill effects on her knees or her foot, and we've been practicing probably 4 times a week on average. My style has been to drill the importance of staying fit at our age and just be patient while she practices her new skills. I'm no coach, never have been. So I'm learning along with her. Just one small improvement every session is all I'm looking for. The fitness part just happens, as every session is treated as a practice, not a workout.

Basically my advice is keep it simple. The KB deadlifts are a fantastic exercise that can be mastered pretty quickly. Plenty of advice around for that, along with the Simple and Sinister book. Work her up to swings and be happy progressing up through them. From her background it sounds like she may get disinterested if you pile learning too many skills on to her plate at once. If she shows interest in trying out the TGU or presses, let her tell you. Swings and deadlifts along with some goblet squats and halos for warmups may be all she needs, for now.
 
Kettlebelephant said:
Walking - she's your wife, so take her for a walk through the woods, the city or whatever a couple of times a week. That's quality time for the two of you.
OS - resets + crawling. The 10min daily reset will be plenty for her.
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+1 for OS resets and crawling. Do them as a prep-move for walking or something similar (do NOT tell your wife she needs to warp-up before walking).

This is my opinion as derived from "Move Well. (Only than) Move Often" approach. Same reasoning as not loading a not up-to-par squat pattern (load - either with external load or repetition or both).Unfortunately sedentary people often need to re-pattern their posture and gait. Some basic OS resets and some crawling will go a long way. My 2 cents...

I think the most important thing, and what pretty much everybody recommended is to get her move safely and to make her feel comfortable, as opposed to overwhelming her.

When my 60+ y/o parents wanted to practice I screened them, gave them some movement prep and resets and light KB deadlift. Worked well when they did it.
 
walking is the first step! you won't believe the difference that makes (and you can do it together, and have some quality time too)
I have a slightly different opinion on the rest though... I don't think you should coach/train her at all.

In my experience that usually only works for a time, even for professional trainers, as once the going gets a bit tougher you will have a hard time convincing her to do what you say (this is from years of experience in horseback riding coaching). The general opinion is "do not coach your partner if you care about your relationship", support her, be there for her, let somebody else be the bad guy
How about her joining a gym with a friend?
 
ClaudeR said:
The general opinion is "do not coach your partner if you care about your relationship", support her, be there for her, let somebody else be the bad guy
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This has been my experience as well.

+1 to all the people who recommended walking
 
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