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Kettlebell 101 by Tom Corrigan

Tom Corrigan, who appears to be a genuinely nice guy who gets along with everyone, dropped me a PM on the American Kettlebell Club forums out of the blue, asking me if I'd review his latest video, called "Kettlebell 101".

I've never really chatted with Tom, but I had looked over his website before and seen his polite interactions with others online. Very courteous and professional, unlike myself.

I said "Sure. I'd like to see it." I'd actually been meaning to pick this one up, due to it being inexpensive and gotten good reviews from people I trust, and I had also figured my thirteen year old son, Gage, would be interested in it.

Tom's website is Blue Collar Fitness

I got it on Saturday, and Gage and I sat through most of it, then finished watching it on Monday. I am just now getting around to writing this review.

The production

This is a very cleanly produced DVD. Tom obviously took care in both filming it and editing it. There are some post-shooting graphics added to certain scenes that really do a great job of clarifying positions and body mechanics.

Most of it's shot in front of a fire engine. Tom's a fireman out in the Seattle area, and his previous DVD dealt with learning to use kettlebells and then how to apply the new movements to build fitness useful for a working man like a fire fighter.

The content

Tom comes across very clearly. He introduces five basic kettlebell movements. The movements are the deadlift, swing, clean, press and squat. He also demonstrates multiple variations of each movement. He does this clearly and concisely. Some things I'd attempted to show my son suddenly clicked for him. Tom also takes time out to explain a bit about beginner's programming and designing your own workouts.

After that, Tom quickly outlines a ten exercise kettlebell based warm-up. I've used most of these movements for warm-ups myself, and I think it works very good for it's purpose.

He also has a section that demos a few different workouts that he's used successfully with people he's trained, a good Kettlebell FAQ, and a bonus segment that thoroughly instructs the viewer on how to perform the kettlebell snatch.

As a video aimed at instructing beginners, this DVD delivered. The exercise choice, instruction, and guidelines for setting up your own programs were top notch. Despite it being basic "beginner" material, just watching how Tom chose to instruct and cue movements gave me some great tips on how to do the same. A fine product and a very effective introduction to kettlebell training.