The Program

You’ll use either basic kettlebell moves or basic bodyweight moves. The training session needs no warmup and isn’t technically challenging – the challenge is not stopping when it gets hard.  It’s simple, not easy.

Evidence shows that negative rest interval training causes increases in Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and testosterone levels, which means an anabolic, fat-burning endocrine environment, and your resting metabolism will be raised for as much as 72 hours after a training session; that means it will be raised all the time if you train four times a week. 

You’ll get an elevated metabolism all the time, for forty minutes’ exercise a week that you can do on the floor at home.

And ladies, don’t worry about that testosterone increase. Testosterone in women doesn't do the same thing as it does in men. Testosterone not used for anabolic purposes in women is recycled into estrogen, and women simply don’t produce enough testosterone to appear ‘manly.’ For that you need testes or a syringeful of exogenous anabolic steroids.

If you’re good with the kettlebell, use whatever seems right to you. I’d recommend the snatch if you’re looking for a really hard session. 

If you’re fairly new to kettlebells, use the swing. 

The main thing should be a move that uses the whole body and doesn't require so much technical skill that you can’t do it for high reps. Overhead presses are out. Snatches, clean and presses, swings, squats, are all great choices. If you choose to use a barbell, I’d recommend that you use front squats or deadlifts.  In this piece I’ll focus on kettlebell snatches.

Burpees are like grown - up squat thrusts. 

Start in the push-up position and draw the feet sharply into a squat. Make sure your feet are outside your hands and your heels are on the ground. Now start from the floor and stand up into a jump. Don’t stand up and then jump, move through standing up and into the jump in one movement. Land and catch yourself back in the bottom position of the squat, and jump the feet back to the push-up position. If you find these too easy, try adding a push-up in here.

Split lunges are also known in gymnastic circles as ‘killers.’ 

To find out why, stand in a split squat position, jump and land in the opposite position. Repeat. The first few are relatively easy but after a few reps the name will start to feel eerily appropriate.

Get as many reps as you can in 10 minutes, any way you like. Sets of ten, sets of twenty, sets of five, one huge rest-pause set, whatever you like, just get as many reps as you can. I’d say if you can’t do fifty reps the kettlebell you’re using is too heavy, and with practice you should be shooting for 200 snatches in this ten minute period.  

Read More: 3 Minutes Of Exercise Is All You Need

It is horrible. 

The effects last for as much as 72 hours and over time you’ll see your body lean out and strengthen, your fat melt away and the body you want to see showing through. 

For men, aim for 150 to 200 snatches with a 16kg to 32kg bell, depending on size, strength and experience. 24kg is right for most. For women, go for the same numbers with a lighter bell. Start out with 12kg or even less if you’re inexperienced, and build from there.

Add in a 30 - minute light cardio session once a week to see the best results. That can be walking the dog or treadmill time, whatever’s right for you.  Playing light social sports works great here too.  Whatever you choose, it will help to fill in the gap between your anaerobic and aerobic energy system.  That will help with both general health and fitness and in developing fitness.