I Hate Squats - and other Kettlebell strength session observations

Shoveling Donkey Doo at dawn

I hate doing squats as much as I hate shoveling donkey doo. My thighs burn every time I perform squats and they seem such a primitive exercise. Yet, I know they're great thigh and calf builders so I knock them out with a sour face. Although performed on off-strength Tuesday-Thursday workouts, I find I dread Turkish Get Ups too. There's a lot of work needed to perform them and lifting the 20 lb barbell to do them is still tough. TGUs and windmills are the only two exercises I haven't performed with the 30 lb Kettlebell.

My favorite of the Kettlebell exercises is the halo. It's tough, but I can feel the muscles in the upper abs and lower chest getting a workout from this simple exercise. I remain puzzled over the around-the-world exercise because it's supposed to be an ab exercise, but I don't feel ab burn from it. I feel arms, shoulders and calves and ankles getting juiced though and it's a fun exercise so I keep doing it even if I don't feel any ab burn. Because I want to tighten and tone my abs, I swapped out bicep curls for crunches holding a 20 lb barbell on my chest. I'll give it a few more weeks to see if it helps my abs.

I bought the 30 lb Kettlebell three months ago and definitely feel stronger and can see more tone in areas like my chest and shoulders. However, I've noticed the last two weeks that my conditioning has reached a point where I'm not getting the same burn and sweat I got earlier. I'm beginning to believe I may need to upgrade to a heavier Kettlebell to up the intensity again because most of the exercises feel easy with the 30 lb KB. It will feel weird to see two Kettlebells in my exercise area. I won't get more though.

I will employ the heavier Kettlebell on KB swings, around-the-worlds, halos, and squats (yuck!) as they have all become easy with my current bell. I still use the 20 lb barbell on crunches, windmills, and Turkish Get Ups. And if I'm tired, I'll also use the barbell on shoulder presses, but of late I've performed shoulder presses with the 30 lb Kettlebell with grunts, groans, and much straining.