BETTER THAN DUMBBELL TRAINING
Guy said he got into kettlebells more by accident than design. “My father was a bodybuilder and I knew about all those kinds of lifts, but I never really agreed ... never really liked weightlifting that much. I have bad knees so I couldn’t run, and yoga was not my style. I found kettlebells had all of it ... If you want to do any sport, it crosses over really well, and it was also fun,” Guy said.
After discovering the benefits of kettlebell training in the US, Guy brought his experience back to Taiwan, sharing it with Finn. “I hate that sort of stuff,” said Finn of dumbbell training. “When Matt [Guy] showed me [kettlebells], it just clicked. It’s like a real exercise ... You’re using a weight, but you are also getting a cardio workout. You are also building the body in a way that isolation [exercises] does not do, and I felt effects immediately,” Finn said.
Guy, Finn and other close friends have been working on a training program at their apartment over the last year and with the formation of the Taipei Kettlebell Club almost two months ago are taking what they have learned to the public.
“We are trying to build a base of people who can do it,” said Finn, emphasizing that the program he and Guy have developed is relatively simple and based on a small number of fundamental movements.
“Everything is about swings and get-ups,” Finn said. “The core of everything we do is that one pull and that one press ... We know that’s solid, and those are the basis of everything else, so if you can do them right, it carries over to ... other stuff you can add later on.”
Held two nights a week, the class manages to be both fun and intense, with Guy and Finn giving encouragement and pointers throughout the routines. “Our classes are lighthearted, but we push people within their limits. Some people need to be pushed or they are not going to do it. If you can push them and keep it lighthearted and make people achieve goals, they walk away and they feel they’ve achieved something. We want to keep it happy, but also moving forward,” Finn said.
The Taipei Kettlebell Club currently meets Wednesday at 8:30pm and Sunday at 7pm. To find out more about the club, visit its Web site at taipeikettlebellclub.blogspot.com, or contact Matt Guy at 0983-398-546.
RSS