Bristol Kettlebell club member – Claire Wilson
When did you get into kettlebell training?
I started Training with Kettlebells in October 2010
What attracted you to kettlebell training?
Having been training in a more traditional personal training environment, Pete, introduced me to Kettle bells and I immediately liked the variety of exercises that can be incorporated into my training program, they were fun to work with and gave very good results at a very fast rate.
Some say it’s really tough, is it?
It’s as tough as you want it to be. I don’t disagree that when I am pushing to my limit it can be the toughest and most physically challenging event in the day, but when training regularly you can have days when you can incorporate a less challenging workout by dropping to lighter bells.
What other types of fitness have/do you enjoy?
In addition to kettle bell training I enjoy walking my dogs and cycling.
There is a lot of hype surrounding kettlebell training, what kind of results have you seen?
When I started using Kettlebells I started at the entry level and was working with light 8KG bells and have progressed through to my current working weights. I have lost inches and weight and overall I am now 3 dress sizes smaller than I was, this was achieved in a relatively short space of time and I now train to maintain my current fitness and size.
What size kettlebells do you work with?
I work with a 24kg or 28kg Bell for the Swing and have progressed to a 16kg for Snatch and 14kg for the Military Press.
What are your future goals within kettlebell training?
My future Goals in Kettlebell training will be to continue to improve my overall conditioning and Strength and would like to be able to press the 16kg on a regular basis in the next 2-3 months. I would also like to have a bash at “The beast” and swing the 32kg for reps.
Words from Pete – Claire is a very determined individual, she has completed some very tough kettlebell workouts in one to one training and this was evident in the recent fitness test when she snatched a 14kg bell, 120 times in 5 mins! Equally her strength is very impressive, training has been very consistent lately and her deadlift is now up to 85kg for sets of 5 reps. This puts her 1RM over 100kg which is very good given in relation to her own bodyweight. Back in 2010 when Claire first started training with me it was clear that she had gotten out of shape and she would get out of puff fairly quickly. As mentioned previously, Claire is very determined though and when she sets her mind to something she does not let trivial things set her back. The strength and fitness journey Claire has been on over the last two years is quite remarkable, going from struggling to press 8kg over head, to now pressing 16kg is not be sniffed at, all whilst running a very busy accountancy business, she always finds time to exercise. This is why she gets great results, consistency is one of the biggest factors in meeting your goals. Congratulations on all of your achievements so far Claire, I suspect the next 6 months will be even better!
