Kettlebells can be an incredible effective implement to use to lose fat and build lean muscle mass. However, if you do not perform the exercises properly, you can also hurt yourself.

Over the weekend, my cousin came to visit me at my father’s store. He was surprised to find two sets of dumbbells in the store. I told him that some customers had given my father the dumbbells so that the could stay in shape at the store. Now, my dad’s store isn’t the biggest around.

And yet, he’s able to get quick 2-3 minute workouts throughout the day to stay in relatively good shape. For a middle aged man who works 14 hours a day standing behind a counter, dealing with suppliers and nasty customers, and stocking shelves (which many times requires lugging around heavy beer cases), staying in shape is absolutely vital.

Then the inevitable question came: what exactly does my father do?

Well, my father pretty much uses the same two-three exercises over and over again. That’s all he needs. Each week, I’ll show a new exercise and he’ll decide whether or not he wants to add it into his routine. One of the basic routines I taught him looks something like this:

3 rounds of:

• Dumbbell Swings, 10 each hand
• Pushups, 10 repetitions

Really simple, right? In between customers, he’ll go in the back, and do swings with one dumbbell. Then he’ll use the dumbbells aspushup handles to perform regular pushups, this way he doesn’t have to place his hands on the floor. If he has more time, he’ll add in shoulder press and dumbbell rows.

But, the bottom line is that it takes very little to maintain a decent level of health and fitness to help you face the challenges of daily life, regardless of your profession.

One of the best programs to use if you’re just as busy (or more) as my father and wish to perform workouts that require little space and little time is the Gladiator Body Workout. Click here for more information.

If there’s one exercise you should be performing, it’s the bodyweight squat. This movement has numerous benefits for both busy people and athletes. The following are the top three benefits of the bodyweight squat:

Benefit #1: Hip Mobility and Strength

Busy people who work tend to sit down and get up a lot of times throughout the day. When you get older, you start to lose the mobility and strength in your hips. Hence, the bodyweight squat is one of the most important exercises for daily life function.

Basic activities such such as sitting down and getting up and picking things off the floor require squat type motions. And a multitude of other activities such as walking, running, and climbing steps use the same muscles as the bodyweight squat. So why not strengthen those muscles so your hips stay strong and healthy for as long you’ll live.

Benefit #2: More Growth Hormone

The more muscle your engage, the more testosterone and human growth hormone you release. Both these hormones have been linked to fat loss and mass gain. The biggest muscle group in your body are your legs, and squats work a large percentage of your lower body.

This makes the bodyweight squat an optimal exercise to help you burn more fat and build more muscle mass.

Benefit #3: Greater Performance

When I was in Karate, we used to do this drill where we had to kick, drop down to the floor, get back up and do another technique. The drill got more and more complicated, but the main idea was to train our bodies to get up off the floor as quickly as possible.

Getting up off the ground is crucial, especially in martial arts. Because if you get tripped or knocked down, you want to get back up quickly to do a counter attack. And guess whoSensei (Karate instructor) said was the fastest “getter upper” in the class?

Me! It was because I was doing lots of bodyweight squats on a daily basis.

If you’re ready to incorporate bodyweight squats as part of your fitness plan, then you should check out Bodyweight Exercise Revolution. Coach’s Adam Steer and Ryan Murdock show you how to use unique bodyweight movements to lose fat, build muscle, increase strength, improve athletic fitness, and enhance longevity.

Click here for more information.