First things first, happy New Years my blog readers and friends!!!

A while ago there was an infomercial going around about kettlebell training called Kettleworx. I refrained from writing about it partially because it wasn’t worth my time, I didn’t want to bring more exposure to him and because sometimes I am better at writing then others and was saving it. I waited as long as I could and then I saw this video.

Please note it hurts me to put that video up here…physically hurts me, like when I have the beast up overhead…wait no the beast at least brings me pride and joy.

So in this particular video Shanahan is claiming to be a “badass kettlebell trainer” or “kick butt kettlebell trainer” and wishes to be listed as one. Here let me show you what a badass kettlebell trainer is like with some other videos of some true badass kettlebell trainers.
Here is Brett Jones

And here is the Iron Tamer Dave Whitley

That’s the world of badassery where I come from…not that my opinion represents the official opinion of Strongfirst or RKC or any other thing I’m affiliated with…these are my opinions and mine only…and opinions are like @$$holes…they $hit on things.

Anyways despite what makes a true badass trainer isn’t what they can do but what they can get others to do I’ll follow along…Ryan Shanahan if you can perform what I can do…even though you are bigger than I am I’ll give you your props. If you can’t you have to say “I am a tool” on your videos.

Anyways here is the my review of kettleworx.
I managed to get my hands on a copy of kettleworx because one of my clients happened to have one. It was a gift from her husband who in the fog of half sleep saw an infomercial promoting it, knew she liked kettlebell training and bought it for her. Thoughtful guy but he was the victim of marketing…like so many which is one of the things that fuels this blog.

Anyways the last I checked the heaviest kettlebell that kettleworx lists is 25lbs. My girlfriend (she’s new btw…hot and smart too) after training with me just 2 times was using the 26lbs kettlebell for getups and the 44lb one for swings and didn’t bulk up and look like a man like Shanahan claimed a while back…and used kettlebells heavier then the badass Ryan Shanahan.

Anyways my client who gave this to me was using the 53lb kettlebell for getups…more than twice what kettleworx uses. So does kettleworx work? Probably not…even if you can get through the cheese of the video…which brings me to my next point.

Beyond the bad training info, beyond the light kettlebell which btw if the ball weighs as much as the handle defeats the purpose of using a kettlebell…the production is awful. With an annoying grin Shanahan will say something to the effect of “Now we are going to do swings for 60 seconds” which stops after 40 seconds or something to that effect. Thank goodness because those swings are awful and shouldn’t be performed by anyone regardless of how light the kettlebell is.

Now he also claims to have the most popular kettlebell video on youtube…you know how? It’s because the thumbnail that goes along with it has a scantily clad woman on it…which because men tend to be horn dogs automatically generates tons of views.

Now on his website under the frequently asked questions, he says that proper technique is essential to kettlebell training. Well I agree with him here, unfortunately neither he nor his anorexic looking models demonstrates it and with weights to light to generate any kind of reasonable training stimulus. Now admittedly there are different styles to kettlebell training but despite him claiming to be the global leader in kettlebell fitness (b.s.) his technique doesn’t resemble the Strongfirst/RKC technique which is internationally recognized as the gold standard of physical training with kettlebells nor does it resemble AKC or IKFF technique (the gold standards of kettlebell lifting sport). So what makes this guy’s technique correct? Well he claims it so I guess it is /rolls eyes. Remember there is no licensing board when it comes to this stuff and anyone can claim anything on the interwebs.

Anyways it’s difficult to get past the sheer cheesiness of it and I guess he is trying for a new market by trying to make himself seem hardcore or whatever… I find it hard to think of anyone as hardcore when they are doing rowing in a video and saying things like “uh oh there’s a shark, we have to go faster”. Well I suppose hardcore is something that can be claimed…if it’s earned but it takes more to be a badass then wearing mma style shorts with a skull on it and having a dummy wearing a ski mask in your garage.

So Shanahan, are you going to rise to the challenge?

Now one of my resolutions for the year is to provide an alternative instead of just criticizing. You know to actually provide something of value instead of just trashing something. So, since the market was originally for fat loss, and now for becoming a “badass” I’ll refer you to another badass kettlebell trainer by the name of Geoff Neupert.

Geoff Neupert has a kettlebell fat loss product named kettlebell burn and it realigned how I design my programs. He has a section specifically dedicated to strength and it will make you stronger and the fat falls off faster.

If you need 20 minute workouts he has another one called kettlebell express (sorry I don’t have the link but I do have the ebook). I’ll admit I haven’t field tested express like I did burn but I know Geoff, I trust Geoff and I know his stuff delivers as promised. He’s a coach first and and internet marketer second which is more than I can say for most people promoting via the net.