A huge props is in order for Clara James of www.minneapolis.about.com who braved my class last Monday with 16 other virgin Kettlebellers. Little did I know she would leverage her time into a classic piece of prose. Read on...


Kettlebell Classes and Instructors in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the Twin Cities
By Clara James, About.com
Filed In: Health, Sports & Recreation

Kettlebell Class at Kinetic Edge Performance in Woodbury, Minnesota
Brad Nelson

Kettlebells? You'll either be thinking that yes, a cup of tea would be nice, or recalling the pain in your thigh muscles caused from the first time you tried the latest workout that gyms across the Twin Cities are adding to their schedules, and in one case, devoting themselves to.

A kettlebell is a cast iron weight that resembles a cannonball with a handle. The smallest kettlebells weigh around 10 pounds, and the experienced can use kettlebells of 100 pounds or more. A kettlebell class involves fluid yet powerful momentum-based movements holding one or two kettlebells. The workout improves strength, flexibility, and balance together with cardio-vascular fitness, all in one session.

The CIA, octogenarians, horse riders, moms and professional wrestlers use kettlebells to help them beat the bad guys, improve balance and flexibility, and fit into skinny jeans.

Someone who believes passionately in the benefits of kettlebells is Brad Nelson, who opened his own self-described "torture chamber" of kettlebells in Woodbury, east of St. Paul. You'll find Brad at Kinetic Edge Performance. He's the one wearing a "Cast Iron Balls" shirt.

Brad discovered kettlebells in 2003 from an obscure advert run by a Russian kettlebell master in a fitness magazine. Kettlebells turned out to be salvation from his previous run-of-the-treadmill exercise routine, and intense but physically ruinous weight-lifting. He completed a grueling certification course and is a certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor.

Dripping with scorn for those as-seen-on-TV fitness machines and believing that anything that involves resting your behind in a padded chair while you lift weights is a pathetic excuse for exercise, Brad's attitude is sure to antagonize many weight lifters. But there's certainly something appealing and more rewarding about doing it all by yourself, rather than having a machine kindly lining it up and catching the weight if you let go.

Complete an introduction class at Kinetic Edge Performance, and then move on to hardcore workouts with names like Inferno and Incinerator that have more than a touch of boot camp to them. In the winter you'll burn up such a sweat you'll be able to defrost your own car post-workout just by sitting in it.

Kettlebell beginners will need to be prepared to endure two or three sessions to get comfortable with the weights, especially if you are used to pumping iron with a machine. But if testimonials from kettlebell fanatics are anything to go by, it's worth the investment.

Kinetic Edge Performance
683 Bielenberg Drive Suite 203
Woodbury, MN 55125
Telephone 651-330-9319
More Kettlebell Classes in the Twin Cities

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The following is Clara's blog about her own experience with kettlebells...EXACTLY what is accomplished in a REAL kettlebell class... ANTI-Kettlenetics.


Clara's Minneapolis / St. Paul Blog
By Clara James, About.com Guide to Minneapolis / St. Paul
More Kettlebell! At Kinetic Edge Performance
Sunday July 6, 2008

There's a lot of people across the metro who have a fever for kettlebell classes. The workout, which involves you, a cannonball with a handle, and a fearsome instructor, is gathering devotees at a startling pace.

A session with a kettlebell - an cast iron weight - is aerobics, strength, and flexibility training, all in one. People who exercise and train with kettlebells are as diverse as moms, the FBI, octogenarians, and professional wrestlers.
I tried out a sample class last week at Kinetic Edge Performance in Woodbury, and thanks to instructor Brad Nelson, I hurt the day after. That's the good kind of hurt - the kind that your muscles feel like they did you proud. I'd go back for more.

Kinetic Edge Performance is devoted exclusively to training with kettlebells. Gyms across the Metro area are also adding kettlebell classes to their schedules.