“I'm a veteran lurker and occasional poster here for almost three years now. I arrived in Baghdad, Iraq three weeks ago and ordered Lisa's manual two weeks ago. She got it in the mail right away--the first one sent to Iraq--and now I've had a chance to skim through it.

If you didn't know it already, Lisa is an outstanding instructor, both in person and now in print. In our e-mail correspondence she mentioned a walking workout (dragon walk that is), so when the manual arrived I turned right to it. Then I turned to the dragon walk page and tried it.

Now I've tried the DW before and always ended up tripping myself or flailing wildly to keep my balance. This time, something about her photos and text clicked with me and I immediately fired off 5 steps each leg. Not a lot, I know, but much better than falling on my rear.

I've picked up similar tips from some of her other exercises. Something about her explanations just clicks with me. Additionally, the manual is professionally compiled with great photos and "animation." I love the spiral-bound format. It's easy to open and lay flat for study while executing a drill.

As soon as I finish up my 1-month of Westside-inspired powerlifting training from Mens Journal, I'm going to start on the walking workout along the cool, shaded banks of Saddam H's former lake in sight of his former palace. (Of course if I don't do this by 6AM it's neither cool nor shady.)

I think two days per week of Pavel's "Commando PT" and three of Lisa's walking workout should allow me to keep the strength I gained in the powerlifting cycle and allow me to master the dragon walk.

I'll keep you posted.”
-- Charles Lee, Major, USAF

“I have to say that my clients love this book. I ordered copies when it first came out and am about sold out. My clients buy it to have a reference for when they travel and want to continue their workout on the road. Clients who don't live close enough to Iron Core to come three days a week for classes, buy it to train at home after we have given them some instruction. Our local police department just bought it for a reference to train with their unit. Everyone has commented about its ease of use and detailed, colorful photos. Excellent resource, buy it!”
-- Sarah Lurie, RKC

“Wow, Wow, Wow. Lisa, your workbook ROCKS!

I just got this today and can say without a doubt if you are a trainer working with clients in kettlebells you want them to have this book. or at least have access to it. Great organization, very user friendly and such a great amount of information and DETAIL!

Photos and diagrams clear concise points of interest are excellent! Very visual and very well done.

For those training without RKC instruction this would also be a great thing to have as a reference tool. Mine will get tons of use. Well done Lisa, congratulations on a superior product.”
-- Mark Reifkind, RKC

“I was taking a nap when my lady, Gina, came in and told me I had some mail from Texas. It was an advanced copy of Lisa Shaffer's KB Workbook. I've been waiting for it, so I got up, made some coffee and sat down with it and started to check it out. This thing is first class all the way, great pictures, excellent descriptions, loads of programs and professional layout speaks well of Lisa's KB knowledge. She makes no bloated, off the wall claims. She don't have to. It's just her story and exp. gained as a pro KB instructor.

Lisa's unique perspective, based on her exp. on KB training during and after pregnancy, interested Gina quite a bit. (We're expecting our 2nd child in early Sept.) Gina really never got into KBs, even with me slinging them around and her tripping over them in the house, but seeing Lisa in the book and the fact that Lisa looks so great (after 5 months from her 3rd child-Wow!) in the pictures got her interested in K'belling herself. I guess she always looked at it as this hardcore, martial thing her crazy man and his buddies did, not something that she should do.

This is a great product and is well worth it for any gender K'beller. I am going to buy a copy when it goes on sale to give to one of my client's pregnant wife. I am suggesting this book to all my clients and fellow K'bellers.

Great job Lisa, I always thought you had it together and you're a great friend, but after this I am double glad we are going to be teaming up on projects in the future.”
-- Dylan Thomas, RKC

“Wow Lisa! Your book turned out awesome. After seeing some of the pages that you sent softcopy, I knew it was going to be a really great book. But I can't even begin to tell you how blown away I am by seeing the entire book bound and printed. Great idea with making it workbook style with the spiral binding. It will be really easy to use while working out and the notes section is a great idea as well to jot down observations and goals.

Hope I'm not stealing too much of your thunder, but the 1, 2, and 3 kettlebell rankings for each of the exercises was clever and really useful, looks cool too! The articles are all really good and informative. I especially like the "No Excuses" article. You hit the nail on the head with that one and something that I'll read often when I need a good shot in the butt to get me out of a workout rut. Pictures, graphics, the zoom ins and boxes, the step by step instruction to go with the step by step pictures, all great stuff. Something for everyone with all of the beginner to advanced exercises you cover. The crossing side lunges and all of its variants look really tough and something I haven't seen before. And the pictures of you speak for themselves that KBs are an effective training tool and they speak volumes of your hard work with them. (You look great!)

Your work and instruction has always been high quality, and it's easy to expect that all the time, but you really outdid yourself on this book. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Way to go Lisa, I'm incredibly proud of you!”
-- John Starego, RKC

Hi Lisa,

      The manual arrived safely this morning. Thank you very much, its the best kettlebell resource i have ever seen!!. Am looking forward to trying all the routines. Once again thank you.
-- Darren

Hi Lisa,

Carrie and Chris Koelzer here again. We purchased your workout and just wanted to tell you how much we love it.

We've progressed through the beginners workouts and have delved into creating our own workouts with the guidance you provided in the book. We are doing HOC 3x/ week and circuit 2x/week as you'd recommended. We're going to do this for the next two weeks (using different workouts for each week). What a kick in the butt! We love it, love it, love it.

I am feeling much stronger and my pants are slightly looser. I've got about 15 pounds I'm still trying to take off from my pregnancy. (My son is now 13 months.) The bottom line is that I am working out 5 times a week and doing yoga 1 day a week.

Thanks for putting together such a fun and functional workbook!
-- Carrie & Chris Koelzer

“Hello Lisa,
I was away at camp this weekend, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find your workbook waiting for me today! Thanks so much for printing it in color, I really appreciate it! To say that it exceeded the high expectations that I had of any product with your name on it is no small accomplishment. I think it is the finest KB training book I have ever seen, and I've seen almost all of them.

I especially liked the "No Excuses!" excerpt. I'm glad that this kettlebell workbook is just that--it is equal parts "work" and "book." I think your book addresses training the heart (and not the one that is trained with cardio) much moreso than some of the other books. This is so important, because I think having heart, courage, and passion in your training is just as important (in most cases more important) as having great knowledge of training. I also like all the generous space allowed to write notes (this is the "work" part of "workbook"). There are also plenty of drills I haven't seen before and lots of tips and illustrations that I haven't thought about before (the "book" part of "workbook"). This is a good thing, because like so many KBers, I'm a somewhat cerebral, overthinking type. I love adding a new wrinkle or two to the kettlebell section of my brain (another training benefit)!

You've done an amazing job, just as I knew you would! The workbook is beyond awesome, and I know I'm going to get a whole lot of benefit out of it. I'm going to start doing the "Walking Workout" to see if I can't shed a few pounds from the effort.

Thanks again for producing such a masterpiece!”
-- Matt

“Lisa Shaffer, RKC has published a workbook, "Get In The Best Shape of Your Life!, A Complete Guide to Kettlebell Exercises & Kettlebell Training".

The word "complete" is an understatement! There must be hundreds of pictures. (I can't imagine what her photographer charged.) She must average 6 pictures for each drill. The pictures are annotated with instruction nuance & detail. The descriptions are well written, with obvious attention to detail. It is well organized & covers not just individual drills, but workout structure & plans. The book was written with lot's care.

Although a women wrote it, & several pages deal with pregnancy & after, no man should shy away. There is more instructional value in this little encyclopedia then one could get in even 10 individual sessions with an RKC instructor. Great job Lisa.”
-- Len

“Her book is very thorough, offers great information - some of which I have not seen in other books, and is especially great for women. She has provided great pictures and very good descriptions of a broad range of KB exercises.

If you are trying to get your wife involved with KB's, get her this book. (Lisa got my wife loving KB's!) Lisa - she can press the 26lbs 3 times on both sides now!”
-- John Daniel

“Lisa,

I just got your book today. Great stuff as it is so user-friendly. You do a stellar job of depicting dynamic motions in a two-dimensional format.”
-- Jeanine

“I received mine yesterday and dug right into it. Even changed my workout this morning and can I already feel it. Excellent book Lisa and well worth the wait and the money.”
-- Jeb Pein

“I got it today and have only looked through it but am very impressed. Loads of information, pictures, and text. I think this is extremely well done and a good model for anyone offering training manuals in the future. I haven't had a chance to really read any of it yet, but again, I am very impressed. Definitely worth the money. Well done!!”
-- Jonathan Frost

“Very, very, very thorough, wildly crazy amounts of illustrations of more exercises than I ever would have imagined, very good advice on workouts. Lisa, really great job, THIS is a great workbook for working out with kettlebells.”
-- JLB

" I'd seen one of my instructors with this book and decided to get it. I take classes and needed a little help in polishing up my techniques. This book is excellent! It has the exercises organized from Basics to the different types of exercise(push, pull,core and leg) as well as the level of difficulty for each exercise. The pictures are in color and very easy to follow. There's also a detailed plan for those ladies who wish to do kettlebell during pregnancy.

The book is very well written and I saw some things I was doing wrong. My classes have quite a few students so the instructor can't always tweak everyone. If you go to her site, she also offers a video of the exercises, though for now I prefer the book.

It's definitely worth the price and gives great information for someone really wanting to get into kettlebell."
-- E Chapa, San Antonio, TX

I just finished your walking workout, URGH!!

I don't consider myself a true beginner, but 2 rounds doing the high number of reps and steps, kicked my butt! I followed your beginner's plan for three weeks, then started making my own workouts using your guidlines, I can really tell a difference.

Your book is great, it's actually easier to follow than Pavel's ( no discredit to him, he's awesome too! His books and a trainer at our local gym got me started a couple of years ago). I've been able to stay steady since I got your book, well our weather has been pretty crappy too, so it's been hard to mountain bike, or jog much since fall. I also ride cutting and reining horses, and this really helps my riding too!!

Thanks for writing your book!!!!

Lovin my KB's!
-- Deb Cox