Recently Roy at Kettlebell Wall asked the question, what music do you like to listen to while using your kettlebells?  I think he got some good, and somewhat varied responses. 

I remember that Laura Pasik (and maybe others) responded that she didn’t listen to music at all while using kettlebells because she likes to keep focused.  I understood that and considered it briefly, but decided it wasn’t for me, as music has been a vital component to help me keep moving at high intensity in my workouts.  

Somehow my ipod battery had gotten dangerously low over the last couple of days.  I am new to this toy, and I’m still learning what to expect from the battery and how to know when it really needs to be charged.  I thought it had plenty of juice, but apparently my son had used my ipod yesterday and the battery was lower that I knew.

So about two minutes into my kettlebell practice today, the music died.  At first I thought maybe I’d forgotten to put the lock on, and had stopped the music by accident.  At my next rest period, I examined the gadget and learned the bad news:  battery gone.  So I quickly went in search of my back-up, a Sansa clip mp3 player which also runs off a rechargeable battery.  Part of the reason I replaced it though, was because it doesn’t hold a charge very long.  I had charged it once last week, but I soon found that it also was juice-less this morning.

No time to think about it further, it was time to begin my next round.  Ugh.  Suddenly the kettlebell felt heavier and the movements were more difficult.   Ideas of stopping the workout and resuming later with a recharged ipod passed through my mind.  With a full day ahead I decided to proceed.  I wasn’t a happy camper.

But then I realized that while doing the movements, I could hear in my head reminders – keep your wrist and elbow locked, abs tight, shoulder in the socket, focus on the bell, etc.  Although annoyed with the lack of a good beat to push me along, I understood why Laura does it this way.   Those cues are always running through my head when I’m doing my kettlebell practice –  even when I have the music, but they fade to the background. Perhaps they get quieted too much, or too often.

No question, my session seemed to last forever today.  I was sick of my “inner coach”  by the end and really tired of hearing my joints crack and pop!  But I probably used a little bit better form today.  

 For a second I considered making this my new routine.  No, for me the music is part of what makes the movements fun.  So I’m charging that ipod now.  But occasionally doing my practice ”quiet” would probably serve me well.  

How do your workouts go when you don’t have music?