RKS Kettlebell Workout

I purchased the Reinhardt Kettlebell System because I am active duty military and recently had my third child. Of course they give us some time off before we actually NEED to be back in shape - but I wanted to get a head start with something low impact. These DVDs are absolutely awesome for strength training and way more interesting for cardio than just 15-30 minutes on an elliptical or stationary bike! The Discs: Each disk has a warm up, two days worth of exercises, and a cool down. So there is no disc shuffling halfway through a workout which I have had to deal with in the past. This is by far, one of the biggest pluses in my opinion! Also, it comes with a DVD that gives you step by step instructions on how to perform every exercise properly so that you don't hurt yourself, which is also very important! The Warm Up: Yes, it is the same warm up every single day, but they tell you right from the start that if you would rather jump rope or do some other form of warm up to feel free to. That being said, the warm up they walk you through is perfect and gets your entire body warmed up in only a few minutes so I don't mind doing the same thing before every workout because it is effective! The Work Outs: I absolutely love the variety. Yes, some days it is just the same exercise for a full 15 minutes but rather than seeing that as monotonous, I just look at it as an opportunity to concentrate on my form or try to get my reps done as quick as I can to try to beat my own record. Have fun with it! I love that there are sixteen different days worth of workouts. Some at home training DVDs only give you five workouts total and you are expected to do different combinations of the same thing over and over. I am starting my third month and am still not sick of the workouts. There is a lot of variety from day to do and you do everything from pushups to kettlebell swings, to burpies and snatches. I love it and end every workout flushed so I must be doing something right. My favorite part is that the trainer gives awesome commentary. He's not jabbering about whatever while he's running around someone else that is working out like in most DVDs, he's on camera doing the exercises in silence so you have the background music going and then every once in a while you'll hear his voice cut in like it was recorded after the fact and he'll give you tips, tricks and motivation. It's non-intrusive and always comes at the perfect moment. When I'm feeling super tired and want to sit down, it's like he knows and will cut in like, "I know you're getting tired, but concentrate on your form and remind yourself of why you're doing this." I love it! The Challenge Days: So there are four workouts a week so I chose Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday because it just makes sense. Who doesn't want to have hump day and the entire weekend off to relax? Every Friday (with the exception of the last week of discs) is a challenge day. So basically they give you a group of exercises to complete and the goal is to get through as many sets as you can without stopping until the clock runs out. Usually about fifteen minutes. Yes, the girls are always super lazy and you catch them standing around and fixing their hair most of the time, but that's why I focus on the main dude in the middle and try to keep up with him because boy can he crank through some sets! I also jot down how far into which set I got each week so I can see what an improvement I have made as the months go on. The Cool Down: It sucks and I hate it. It is the same cool down every time just like it is the same warm up. Yes it will auto play at the end of every work out, but I don't know... I just can't get into it like I do the warm up. It is a lot of floor stretches and I don't see how doing cobra and down dog over and over and over is going to cool me down. I much prefer to do some basic stretches on my own. The Results: Not only have I dropped about fifteen pounds in just over a couple months, but I have lost inches and toned my everything! Even though there are only a handful of ab specific workouts, my waistline has shrunk significantly as well as my thighs, arms, hips, you name it! I would highly recommend these discs to anyone looking to workout at home and get results without boring themselves out of their mind.

Well, this really probably be a 3.5 star rated product, but given the number of work outs you get for the current discount price, I'll bump it up to 4. This series is best used by intermediate kettbellers, someone who has held a KB before and knows basic lifts and moves. I did do all 16 work outs over a 4 week period and I will do the series again as I think it was beneficial and easy to use. VISUAL - The visuals of these videos are simply awful. Poor technique (never follow Doug!) and poor filming. I really don't give a rats ass about your killer smoggy view of LA at various times of day and night. The videos show the same exact view of 3 people doing the workouts from a distance. There is no different angles, no close ups, nothing to ever show you what the lift and move should look like to give you and idea of proper form. But, if you are familiar with KB's and the lifts, then all is good because you don't really need to look at the screen and will be too involved with your own workout to watch theirs. I will give one nod to the "visual" filming is on a smaller screen and then the list of what your work out consists of is next to it. This is nice to keep track of what you are doing, what's next, and just how long you need to keep pushing for. AUDIO - this is where the video shines. The audio cueing is fantastic. Good tips on form that come right on time. Reminders about posture and technique as you get fatigued. Good pushes throughout each workout to keep you motivated throughout without being overly cheerleady and annoying. My one complaint about the audio is there are no timer cues or beeps and these workouts rely heavily on a timer. I'd be happy to look at the screen only rarely, but need to do so to watch the timer to know when to go to the next move or rest. WARM UP - I've read a few complaints about the warm up being the same every time. I actually like it, and is similar to what we do at my KB gym. The warm up video is a separate menu item and is on each disk. It's easy to choose not to do it if you want warm up on your own and come in going straight to the work out. I like the warm up and I use it more of a timer. I'll do the stretches shown, but may cut the reps short and add some of my own. But I'm not here to stretch, I'm here to work, so when the warm up video is over, then it's time to get to work. Same with the COOL DOWN. WEIGHT and FORM - this is where I deduct a full star, maybe two. There is no talk of what weight of KB to use. None. No talk of what you are working towards, how the KB should feel (easy, difficult, barely lift...). I know they are trying to sell this as "one kettlebell" work out. But you really need to be talking about what weight to use safely and what is effective. You really should be swinging and deadlifting a much heavier weight than you would be pressing. If you are trying to be a one stop shop, then discuss that. Again, this makes the video really not for beginners. It also drives me absolutely crazy that the participants on the video are using such light KB's! Did they think "pink is for girls and blue is for boys" would be visually appealing? The girls are using a whole 8 kilograms and Doug and Owen use a 12 kilogram bell. Please! Swing a 12? Every time Doug beats me on number of rounds for a challenge, I remind myself that I am lifting at least as much, and usually more, weight than big buff manly Doug. I also think this is the source of some of the poor form we see from Doug. The bell is just too light and he's throwing it around too easily and isn't able to keep good form if he tried. LIFTS- I love the amount of swings this series does. It's a dynamic movement that works your body in so many different ways, really a perfect exercise. I do think the video relies too heavily on presses. It's not so much that there are too many presses, but that there are many lifts that are left out or not done often enough in comparison to how often they have you pressing. I'd like to have done more goblet squats and tactical lunges and added the movements of overhead squat and turkish get-up into a few of the days.

I am really liking this system and definitely feel that it is worth the (new lower) price. I have only completed 5 of the workouts so far but I really like the simplicity and effectiveness of each workout. I began with a 15lb kettlebell because that is what I had but bought a 20lb after completing the first workout and will get a 25lb kettlebell soon. You definitely need to go heavier with this program unlike something like "Kettlebell Kickboxing" which is also great but very different. As others have mentioned, there are many positives for this set. 1) There is TONS OF VARIETY in regards to the length of the workouts (20-40mins including warm up and cool down), types of exercises (swings, deadlifts, squats, lunges, planks, rows, cleans, snatches, etc.), and the types of workouts (circuits, supersets, ladders, etc.) 2) OWEN, the main instructor, has EXCELLENT FORM and gives great form pointers throughout the workout. I think that he is encouraging without being over the top or too chatty. 3) The production value is great. I really like that each workout has its own introduction, lists of exercises, and timer. This really helps to keep you on track. 4) The WORKOUTS ARE EFFECTIVE! You get a great cardio and strength workout with each routine. 5) The is so much VERSATILITY with this system. One can follow the rotation of 4 workouts per week, combine 2 or more for a long workout, use them as finishers, use them for crosstraining, and more. There are also some negatives but I think they are few. 1) OTHER THAN OWEN, THE OTHER EXERCISERS HAVE HORRIBLE FORM for most of the exercises. If you do this system, I highly recommend that you just focus on Owen and not Doug or the ladies. Given that their (the ladies) form is so terrible, I almost understand why they recommend swings instead of snatches for ladies and push ups on the knees. However, this is insulting for those of us that have good form and can do snatches and "real" push ups. 2) Some may find the workouts repetitive and/or boring but I personally did not. I have done workout 1 several times and change it up each time by adding in some extra swings, jumping jacks, punches, or push ups and taking shorter rests. So, if you get bored easily you may have to get a little creative to relive the boredom. I really do like kettlebells and I have had great results since I started using them in 2012. I am confident that this system will deliver results. If you are in doubt, take a chance for the new lower price. You won't be disappointed!

This is a great workout DVD set. The money they spend on production is definitely noticeable compared to to other workout DVD's I've used. I like the variety of workouts and the number of DVD's and workouts you get for the price is impressive. There's plenty of workouts to choose from to keep from getting bored and they are challenging enough to provide a good workout for the beginning and intermediate kettlebell user. The instructor is not annoying or overbearing. I like that I can work at my own pace instead of trying to keep up to a set number of reps by sacrificing form. I would definitely recommend this DVD set. *Update* I'm on my third round of workouts with this DVD set. I can tell that my endurance and strength have improved as the workouts aren't as difficult as they used to be and I'm able to keep up with the instructor more often than when I started. I like the short but effective cool down routine. I've taken the instructor's recommendation and I jump rope prior to the workout as a warm up though the warm up on the DVD is adequate for beginners. Overall I like the majority of workouts with the exception of one or two out of the set that I'm not too exited about. I own a number of different workout DVD's but this set is my favorite. The time left in the workout is always on the screen as is the time left in the current set. I also like that the exercises are left on the screen as it's easy to get mixed up on the super sets and ladders once you get tired. For the price I haven't seen any DVD set that has the flexibility or features of this one.

Received it as a Christmas gift, and plan to do all the workouts. The value seems incredible. However, the bad: Amazon didn't protect the DVD book and it arrived damaged. They should bubble wrap it securely so the book bindings won't get smashed in shipment. The poster only has a few exercises, and some fitness models on it. I'd rather see more exercises and no big pictures of models. The filming is second rate. Often, you see one camera fly by the other camera and they never edited it out. And they chose to make a smaller video size and then you have unprofessional editing where they left in spots where there is sunlight glare and even big white circles of light on the screen. They should've made it in HD and had a much better timing display. A few times I missed the start of the next set by a few seconds. The audio dubbed in by Reinhardt isn't consistent. Sometimes he'll tell you to get ready for the next set. Other times, he is silent. There is an option for "music only", or no audio overlay. That is a nice feature. There is an instructional video from a "certified kettlebell instructor", but they hired some chicks for the video who didn't know much about kettlebells and they had to correct them a lot of the time. All the kettlebells they used seemed to be the same size, but they had different colors...and weights. They looked like the Adler Pro Grade International kettlebells, expensive. The pink one is 8kg. That is the one the chicks use. But it looks big, like a 32kg one! I thought it was one of those empty kettlebells because they hardly had any muscle tension lifting it. The instruction is good to have so you do the exercises correctly. A good idea to include it. It looks like they are working out on a tile surface, above a fountain, with downtown LA in the backdrop. But the filming angles are horrible. The chicks don't look like they know what they are doing. If they wanted to make men interested in watching the DVDs, they could've hired some hotter chicks and trained them better on HOW to use the kettlebells. Was very disappointed in the Poster. It would've been nice to have a good quality Kettlebell Exercise poster to put on the wall. This one will stay in the book. As probably will the nutrition guide. As far as workout 1 goes, I did it completely. I'd probably prefer doing it without the DVD and timing it myself with an interval timer instead and listening to my choice of music. And maybe toss in a more appealing DVD for some background views instead of watching these people workout in low resolution video with large empty black space. I think that the remaining workout videos will be about the same. It was a reasonable workout. But, I've done harder kettlebell workouts. Though perhaps the first workout is supposed to be easy. Time will tell. For the price, I think it is a good value. It listed as $25. As far as the instruction on correct form, there were some exercises that I would hold the kettlebell differently, and dislike the way that they hold the kettlebell. And they omit a lot of other kettlebell exercises. Though, unlike some other brands of kettlebell workouts, they don't just loop through the same 3 minute segment such as Skogg which I read about but haven't tried. They do reuse the warmup and cooldown. I think that their cooldown isn't long enough and is too intense for a legitimate cooldown. As other reviewers said too. The cooldown stretches are good to do though. The yoga poses too.

I am new to kettlebells, I was reading a fitness magazine while shopping at walmart and there was a page regarding a kettelbell program workout; after doing a lot of research I decided to go with this program and I am so glad I did. I am used to doing cardio, I am a zumba instructor and I love to dance, I started a strength training program that was super boring, I hated having to go to the gym and use the machines but after starting this one the work out I am getting every time is amazing, from the very first work out I felt my heart pumping so fast in the first couple of sets that I could not believe it; it is true that kettlebells give you both anaerobic and aerobic workouts at the same time and that is just incredible. Each workout is different, the challenges are really though, I could really feel it a couple of days after; I am on workout 11 and I plan on doing it a couple of times My arms are shaping up, I have been getting compliments at work and from my husband as well. As the workouts progress they get harder and harder but I look forward to less than 30 minutes and get double the benefits. I wanted to do the review after completing the workout but I thought how all those good reviews helped me decide to go with RKS and I decided to drop a line now and later I will post another review with my results. The meal plan is basic guidelines of how to eat healthy and explains a lot about food composition, very informative, helpful and easy to follow. Great purchase!

very disappointing , this workout system is horrible, the trainer shows absolutely no personality through out the workouts , taking your health seriously is one thing but you should always enjoy what your doing to improve it , also there is more poor form shown in these videos then any other I have ever seen , Doug Reinhardt (the guy who's name is on this thing seems to have no idea how to swing K.B.s the worst was watching him snatch his forearms musta been bruised for weeks after filming this , also this system relies very heavily on swings ,which are a great move, however I dont need to work along with a dvd for 20 mins of nothing but swings, one last gripe ,apparently these 2 guys seem to think that women are only capable of doing pushups on their knees and performing K.B. swings instead of snatches or high pulls or anything a little more difficult , if I were a woman I would have been pretty insulted by that . if you want to learn about kettle bells I would suggest saving some money and getting the skogg system or the TRX videos with Pavel Tsatsouline (if you have a suspension trainer TRX or RIP:60 )in closing I have to say the best thing about this was the 30 day money back guarantee which they did stand by and return my money pretty quickly .

Great workout. Started it after finishing 1 round of P90X3 and made bigger advances and more rapid progress. Not nearly as obnoxious to view as the former. I already had some experience with Kettlebells so the following wasn't a major issue for me but the instruction on snatches and some other exercises was poor and technique is paramount with some of those. Good workout tips and reminders along with motivational statements were helpful. The instructor doing the workout often used suboptimal form but told you the correct way to do the workout(eg.doing plank with his butt in the air but stating back should be flat).Very time efficient with longest workout 31 min. and shortest 10min. Read some complaints about same warm-up and cool-down throughout but it worked for me and instructor states that those are 1 possibility (each) and you can use your own favorite.