I had the pleasure recently to meet with one of the busiest guys in the online fitness world, Chris “FitandBusyDad” Lopez for questions and answers regarding kettlebell workouts, specifically for fat loss.

For those of us who complain about not having enough time in the day to squeeze a workout in, prepare for a whole lot of shame, guilt, and inspiration.

I first met Chris during a boot camp training session this summer just outside of Toronto. Besides impressing the hell out of me with his tenacity and intensity, he was an even nicer guy who was quick to encourage and support others during the session.

Not only does he run his own personal training business and a successful blog full of videos and sample workouts, he is also a devoted husband and father to 4 (soon to be 5) beautiful children… all daughters! (I sent him an NRA application last week.)

Without re-copying his entire daddy bio from his blog, he does all the stuff a great dad should do (and more) while staying in great shape throughout the year. Hell, he’s even been voted by iParents.com as ”dad of the month” for June this year.

So here’s what he had to say about kettlebells and fat loss after one of our training sessions:

ME: With shiny new dumbbell sets and high-tech machines available to us at most health clubs today, why use kettlebells?

Lopez: It’s a question I get all the time. For starters I like the versatility of kettlebells.

You can use them anytime, anywhere and get a great workout every time. Just last week, I did a quick workout with a kettlebell I had in the back of my mini-van in a parking lot while I waited to pick up one of my daughters from summer camp. It was awesome!

Sure you can do a bunch of bodyweight exercises but ultimately we need a way to progress or overload, and as guys, don’t we all really want to clench a weight in our hands and feel stronger then the air we breathe?

Like my example in the parking lot, I would much rather snatch a kettlebell 50 times instead of doing 25 pushups and then 25 bodyweight squats separately. It’s just a better full body workout in less time!

Secondly, it’s an efficient exercise movement.

As a personal trainer who’s clientele is mostly comprised of everyday working people, I know I need to get people doing the best-bang-for-the-buck full body movements in order to help them lose fat and achieve the bodies they desire.

The problem is, most people I train usually have mobility issues and/or have very little lifetime exercise or athletic experience. Some of us take for granted these natural body movements we’ve acquired through sport and physical activity but it plays a significant role when it comes to teaching some of these more athletic full body movements like squats, cleans, presses to an adult just starting out.

Without getting to complicated and keeping everything to a simple approach, it comes down to teaching a complex movement in a matter of two or three workouts versus two or three years. End result is that my clients get better results faster!

ME: I’m all for getting results faster and more efficiently. So Chris, tell us what some of your favorite kettlebell exercises are, specifically for fat loss.

Lopez: I like them all but these three basic movements have been staples in my training programs for clients who’s number one goal is fat loss. NOTE: Chris is currently revamping his videos but the video below gives a quick overview of the variety of kettlebell exercises for fat loss.

1. The Snatch
It’s the most athletic and total body movement out there. It incorporates everything: full-body strength, power, and coordination. If you can snatch, your well ahead of the curve in mastering future kettlebell exercises. Perform these with high reps and you’ll have a killer fat loss workout.

2. Turkish Get-up or TGU for short
The all-around result producer of an exercise. There isn’t an body part that takes a rest during this exercise. It may not not be as explosive as ”The Snatch” but it does take full concentration to perform. Not many exercises, with or without a kettlebell, force you to really focus on the movement. It’s a great way to relieve the stress built up from a long day as your mind will be free and clear after you get through this movement.

3. Double Front Squat
I have squatted with a lot of different equipment and I must say that a double kettlebell front squat really works your legs because you get a great natural range of motion while your core tightens like a wall because of the placement of the kettlebells. My clients are always impressed with the way their core feels right after this exercise.

For the purpose of keeping this post compact and useful, I’ll save the rest of my talk with Chris Lopez for a future post.

I personally don’t have enough experience using kettlebells aside from a couple of boot camp sessions that I attended this summer but I’d like to learn more and try to make my own workouts even more efficient. Chris really knows his stuff when it comes to fat loss workouts, specifically with the use of kettlebells.

In his most recent project, Chris has teamed up with Craig Ballantyne, the author of Turbulence Training and bodyweight exercise extraordinaire, on a Kettlebell Fat Loss Revolution workout program.

They’ve put a lot of work into this project and have even shot a workout video that can only described as hilarious. Eventually I’ll post a review up in the Fat Loss Programs Reviewed section for future prospects but if you can’t wait for my detailed opinion then I suggest you take a look for yourself here. Enjoy!

I can’t think of two sports that require high levels of strength more than Football and…. Gymnastics. Sorry, were you expecting me to say Baseball, Hockey or some other main stream sport instead?

If you’ve ever seen a gymnastic event like the rings, you’ll see competitor after competitor subject himself to moves like the Iron Cross (see pic below) or the Lever and think he won’t be able to dress himself the next day without copious amounts of A535, then you know what I’m talking about.

Strength is the key in both sports but you probably couldn’t find two activities that go about achieving it in more different ways.

Football players spend their winters in the gym throwing around massive amounts of iron. Thousands of reps later and callous sweaty hands generally gets the job done for them.

What about Gymnasts?

Gymnastics requires power. However, weightlifting often decreases your flexibility and in a competition that requires you to repeatedly bend yourself into positions that would lead the average person down a corridor in a hospital, that’s a problem.

So instead of pumping iron like Arnold or Dorian, they climb ropes without using their legs. I repeat, no legs, just arms. Up and down and up and down, sometimes four times in a row.

Or how about hanging from a chin-up bar with your elbows bent at 90 degrees for 45 seconds followed by 20 chin-ups?

Sounds sadistic doesn’t it?

There are also things they call killer situps, ab busters, dip swings and a variety of other thoroughly unpleasant movements in the repertoire. Capped by perhaps the worst of all: Pushups done without your lower body touching the ground. Go ahead and give it try without falling flat on your face!

SOLD! I want the body of a gymnast, tell me how?

Their strength is achieved using body weight resistance only. No plates, weights, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells or taco bells (sorry, couldn’t resist) necessary.

Finding the Cadbury secret would be easier than finding an ounce of fat among these folks. Bowling ball shoulders and biceps and triceps and six-packs are natural and common effects of their bodyweight training.

So many people think you need to push, pull, curl, and lift crazy poundages to attain these physiques. But clearly all the above is possible using your own bodyweight.

Craig Ballantyne, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, suggests trying the following exercises and benchmarks to wet your appetite for bodyweight training.

Still wanting more? Check out Turbulence Training from Craig Ballantyne. His program utilizes a full array of bodyweight exercises that have been featured in Men’s Fitness magazine and helped men and women everywhere lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less time.