Going Ballistic with Kettlebells

Kettlebell Ballistics: Safe,explosive lifting used to accelerate projectiles (kettlebells) so as to achieve improved performance and fitness.

As Master RKC Brett Jones has said "You can't swing a barbbell through your knees (more than once)".
The design & shape of kettlebells allows for swinging the kettlebell backward between the legs on the negative portion of the lift, something cannot be done safely with barbells and dumbbells. Explosively reversing the direction of an accelerated kettlebell for high reps is an incredibly challenging workout that delivers an unparalleled cardiovascular workout, challenges the grip and builds explosiveness.
Ballistics are self-limiting and infinitely challenging. As you improve you will be able to hike the kettlebell downward with greater force which in turn requires more force to reverse the direction of the kettlebell for the next rep. In this way an expert generates more force than a beginner and can make the same size kettlebell exponentially more challenging.

"During the 20-minute workout, the average calorie burn was 272 calories, not counting additional calorie burn due to the substantial anaerobic effort."

Ballistics burn an immense amount of calories (up to 27. Calories per minute in one study), build strong forearms, and train the body to generate the kind of powerful and explosive hip drive needed in jumping and contact sports especially martial arts.

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The Workout - "Lady Luck Goes Ballistic"The following workout was used in the final 10-minutes of this morning's kettlebell class. Feel free to make your workout longer or shorter.
Equipment: One Pair of Die, Stopwatch and your Snatch test size kettlebell (women use a 12kg-16kg kettlebell, men use a 20kg – 24kg kettlebell).

• SWINGS:
  Roll the dice and perform two handed swings for reps equal to TWICE the number rolled.
• REST
• SNATCHES:
  Roll the dice and perform one set of snatches per arm for reps equal to the number rolled.
• REST
• REPEAT:
  Repeat alternating rounds of swings and snatches in this manner for the entire 10 minutes.

Note on the length of rest periods:
Today was an "easy day" so our rest periods equaled the length of our work periods. For a medium workout use a rest period equal to 50-80% of your work periods. For a harder workout go all out and perform back-to-back sets of swings and snatches with little to no rest.
Enjoy!