Steve Maxwell - Cruel & Unusal 2 Kettlebell Workout

by Shihan

Product Description

Cruel And Unusual 2, Kettlebell Workouts For Real Men, is the amazing new and updated version of Steve Maxwell's popular and highly effective Kettlebell training system. This new DVD set has four totally new and advanced workouts to take your strength and conditioning to the ultimate level. These workouts contain some of the most brutal and effective Kettlebell lifts you will ever find. Get in the best shape of your life with Cruel and Unsual 2!

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0014JCQ08
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,434 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #82 in Sports & Outdoors > Exercise & Fitness > Strength Training Equipment > Kettlebells

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for mid/advanced KB variety, May 1, 2011

By 

T. Gwinn (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Steve Maxwell - Cruel & Unusal 2 Kettlebell Workout (Misc.)

This DVD is a great follow-on to Maxwell's 300 Kettlebell Challenge for those mid/advanced folks looking for more KB variety. The user is assumed to know basic kettlebell moves, such as swings, snatches, high pulls, TGUs, etc. This makes the instruction on disk 1 of 300 extremely helpful as a prerequisite. The new moves are mostly instructed-on-the-fly, so the first time or two may require an occasional pause/rewind to check that you are doing the exercise correctly.

The four workouts are:
1. Get Up & Go
2. The Crusher
3. Walking The Bear
4. Heaven & Hell

Workout #1 is intended to focus on the shoulders, yet is also a nice all-around workout, about 30min long. The first 10 min are a great warmup/stretch set of KB exercises, useful to begin any KB workout. Multiple variants (such as the gladiator) of the TGUs intermixed with variants of rows play the major role in the workout. Very good for stretching the chest too. As if that wasn't enough, it ends with heart-pumping interval swings.

Workout #2 focuses on pecs/arms/grip, but also includes lower-body exercises, including the pistol. Only the very first exercise is done as a kind of pullup using a KB hanging by a strap from a pullup bar. Too much for me, but that's ok, because he then gets rid of the chinup bar and uses the crush press instead for those of us mere mortals. There is a pause point later on for a 3 minute rest between the upper body section and the lower body section of the workout. About 25 min.

Workout #3 requires two same-size KBs for Walking the Bear. Due to fitness level and a bad shoulder, this one is beyond me. Its only about 7 min long but its brutal.

Workout #4 is only about 16 min and is great when you want a brief intense all-around workout. The first part (the "omelet") is continuous multiple sets of 5-rep swings/high-pulls/snatch/clean-press/circular cleans/reverse lunges combos. The last 6 min is the Heaven & Hell, which are sets of swing/halo/no-momentum deck squat combos that really push the limit. You'll be lucky to last the 16 minutes.

For me, #1 and 4 are the workouts I go to. I also found his use and explanation of "supersets" of exercises helpful for when I want to combine some exercises into a unique routine.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite KB DVD!!, August 23, 2011

By 

JustaDirtBag - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Steve Maxwell - Cruel & Unusal 2 Kettlebell Workout (Misc.)

I own 5 KB DVDs and this is my favorite by far. 4 great workouts. You should know that "the crusher" requires a pull-up bar and "walk the bear" requires two bells. Well worth the price! Steve Maxwell also has a lot of stuff on youtube if you like his workouts but you won't find anything like this.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Expected more dynamic work outs, August 19, 2011

By 

Ktlbraz - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Steve Maxwell - Cruel & Unusal 2 Kettlebell Workout (Misc.)

Though the exercises are indeed cruel, I was expecting more of a dynamic yet forceful workout, but it is too SLOW to be able to use it.