by admin | Jul 24, 2018 | Kettlebells
Does your workout suffer during busy seasons and rush hours at your local health club? Most gyms fill up during certain times of the year like just after the new year, when new members are trying to fulfill their New Year’s resolutions. After work is also a very busy time when daily commuters that work 9-5 are squeezing in a session before making the commute home for the evening.
If you enjoy a busy gym, and the social aspect that goes along with that, it’s all good. On the other hand, if you’re tired of waiting in line for an exercise machine or a pair of dumbbells, try these strategies for avoiding the crowds or learn to workout in a busy gym.
How to Avoid a Crowded Gym
The beautiful outdoors. Exercising outside gives you a chance to enjoy the scenery and soak up some natural sunlight. You will improve your energy level and it can keep you motivated. Plus, there are activities to match every season, like ice skating in winter or hiking and swimming in the warmer months.
Hanging out at home. Getting your workout in the comfort of your own home can be the easiest of all solutions. Install a home a gym or pick up a few pieces of simple equipment like a jump rope, an exercise ball or kettle bells. Hire a personal trainer or watch exercise videos if you need instructions.
Hit it hard on weekend mornings. Most gyms are very slow on early Saturday and Sunday mornings. Get out of bed early and check exercising off your to-do list before you begin your day.
Staying up late can be a better option for you night owls. Browse online to see if there’s a 24-hour gym in your neighborhood. As long as the physical activity before bedtime doesn’t interfere with your sleep, you may prefer lifting weights later at night.
Use vacation time wisely. If you have vacation days built up, use them to plan some fun activities. Instead of laying around on the beach, go hiking or on a mountain climbing trip. You’ll return home with new skills and you will feel reinvigorated.
Try flex time at work. If your boss agrees, you may be able to hit the gym while everyone else is stuck behind their desk. Ask about a flex-time schedule that allows you to work earlier in the morning and take a couple of hours off midday, and then return to finish up your workday. See if you can take a longer lunch hour as long as you make up the hours, or perhaps work fewer days, but longer hours on the days that you are there.
How to Deal with a Crowded Gym
Take a group class. Reserve your spot by signing up for Spin, Yoga or CrossFit. The music and camaraderie may help you to burn more calories with less effort.
Share the equipment. Weightlifters have a tradition of asking to work in. Partner up with someone so one of you uses the barbells or the abs machine while the other one rests between sets.
Reduce rest periods. Then again, you may want to cut out the downtime altogether. Instead of trying to find a bench to sit on until you’re ready for your next shoulder press, try a circuit workout that will target different body parts so you complete your workout faster, and you will burn more calories.
Increase the intensity. Another way to spend less time dealing with crowds is to increase the speed or amount of resistance. You can be out the door in half the time.
Try something new. Observe your surroundings or ask the gym instructors about which equipment seems less popular. You may find that you love the rowing machine that most members have been ignoring.
Be more flexible. Navigating a crowded gym usually comes down to thinking creatively. Be open to experimenting instead of sticking to a rigid routine.
You can have a great workout even when the gym is overcrowded. Or simply adjust your timing to avoid the crowds or plan a routine that keeps you moving when there is a short wait for the strength training equipment.
by admin | Jul 15, 2017 | Kettlebells
Excellent Kettlebell Weight Exercises for Beginners
Are you ready to get started with some kettlebell training, but you aren’t entirely sure where to even begin? That’s no problem. This article here will provide you with all the information that you need to pick the correct kettlebell weight and perform exercises with the proper form.
Kettlebell training is usually combined with high-intensity interval sets. Doing short stretches of hard work with little breaks in between. To maintain precise form, you need a weight that is in relationship to your skill level (which will be very low initially).
There could be a few of problems with picking a kettlebell weight all depending on how much training experience you have. If you haven’t ever trained with weights before, you may think the beginner weights are too heavy.
Conversely, if you have been weight lifting for years, you may think the weights I suggest are a little too light. I need you to throw away your current judgment of weight lifting and look at the kettlebell as something new and different. For that reason, you cannot have an opinion of the weight you think you need. Period.
You must do what every trainer in the world hopes you will do: be open, listen, and learn. While you may not think you need to, having at least one session with a trained kettlebell professional, it will make an enormous difference in your results.
Kettlebell training can be very different from just standard isolation type of training. You will be using multiple muscle groups at the same time through ballistic, full-body movements. You most likely have never trained like this before.
A kettlebell professional can show you the fundamentals; like the Clean, Swing, Goblet Squat, Windmill, and Turkish Get Up. There are kettlebell videos that you can watch to ensure you have the proper form, but a trainer will be able to accurately show you what you can improve upon as well as how to avoid injury.
First, always seek the instruction of a teacher, then use videos as a reference later.
When performed correctly, kettlebell movements will improve your body control, shorten your workout time, and give you useful results and physique. This will be unlike anything you’ve achieved in the past. Even better, you’ll never get bored!
The core movements that in kettlebell training have exploded into hundreds of new exercises and techniques. Once you get going, you won’t ever have to stop. Assuming you’ve been to at least one session with a kettlebell professional and are ready to get started, here is what I recommend based on gender.
The Correct Starting Kettlebell Weight for Women
With a tiny exception, I always recommend that women start with an 18-pound kettlebell. The key with this weight is that it isn’t too heavy and not too light while exercising. A new female trainee working with kettlebells might pick up the weight, and automatically try to perform a 1-arm upright row (without one thought of lifting technique, mind you), and immediately exclaim, “I can’t lift that!”
Again, the difference with kettlebell training is the way you’ll be lifting the weight. Unlike isolation lifts–the dumbbell curl is the best example of an isolation lift–kettlebell training uses multiple muscle groups at once.
When this is done properly, the kettlebell movements will overall improve your body control, shorten your workout time, and give you useful results and physique, unlike anything you’ve been able to achieve in the past.
You won’t just be lifting with just one of your arms or just one leg; you’ll be using your entire upper body, or lower body, and especially your core for the majority of the lifts. For that reason, an 8-kg kettlebell is not that heavy.
A big mistake is selecting a weight that is too light. Again this could be just assuming that you have trained with a kettlebell professional. When you are lifting too light with ballistic movements, you can just muscle through a lift rather than using the proper form.
You’ll be throwing around a 9-pound kettlebell like nothing. If you do this, you will never perfect your form, and will never progress to heavier weights, and you will not achieve the real benefits that kettlebells have to offer. So try not to go too light!
The Correct Starting Kettlebell Weight for Men
Again, with a little exception, it is always recommended a 35lb kettlebell for most men. Unlike women, most men will look at the 16-kg kettlebell starting weight and say, “That’s way too light for me! I can bench about ‘X’ weight all day long!” The problem is not that you can’t “lift” more weight, the problem is that if you can’t lift more kettlebell weight.
No, 35 pounds might not be too excessive for your barbell curl, squat, or deadlift, but we’re not doing those lifts, are we? But even if we do, they are usually going to be done in a much different manner than you’re used to.
Most likely when you are using a kettlebell, you will be hitting some muscles that you’ve never even felt before. Some areas of your core like your back, abdominals, and upper legs will be on fire during your first session with kettlebells. Kettlebell training is usually combined with high-intensity interval sets – short stretches of intense work with little rest in between.
To maintain proper form, you will need a weight that is in proportion to your skill level, which may be small to start.If you think that a 16-kg kettlebell is too light for you, well think again. Men who have never used a kettlebell were especially sensitive to muscling through a movement, rather than performing it with proper form.
The 16-kg kettlebell weight is just enough to force you to use proper technique. Assuming you have been taught proper technique by a professional, this will come hand in hand.
What Is a Pood?
What type of pood is your kettlebell? Most people usually seem a bit lost and think of something much worse when they hear this term. When this phrase is associated with kettlebells, there’s even more confusion.
But, a pood is simply the Russian measurement of weight, and in Russia, kettlebells are measured in poods. A pood is equal to roughly 16 kilograms or 36 pounds. You will hear this term used by most traditional kettlebell instructor.
by admin | Jul 15, 2017 | Kettlebells
Looking akin to the handbag of a Hollywood celebrity or a cannonball with a handle stuck on top, the little kettlebell is probably the earliest piece of weight training equipment apart from the rocks and logs used by early cave people of course.
Kettlebells have their origins in Russia or Scotland (depending on who you want to believe) and while they were popular ‘historical’ training tools this popularity waned with the invention of dumbbells, barbells and weight machines. Over the past decade, however, kettlebells and a particular type of ‘kettlebell training’ have been undergoing a revival, as personal trainers, and equipment producers and retailers’ embrace ‘functional’ training with free weights as opposed to machine based training.
Are Kettlebells a ‘functional’ training tool?
What is it about kettlebells that make them familiar with the advocates of technical training? Why would you, as a personal trainer use a kettlebell as opposed to an ordinary dumbbell or weight machine with your clients?
By having the handle on top of the weight, the center of mass of the Kettlebell is extended beyond the hand when it is held. This makes it much easier to complete the explosive, multi joint, swinging type movements that characterize kettlebell training and other forms of ‘functional’ training for that matter.
Now we have a series of articles discussing ‘functional’ training at ptdirect.com so we’re not going to go over this ambiguous term in detail here, suffice to say that what actually makes training ‘functional’ for a client is that it is ‘fit for the clients purpose’, namely that the training will achieve the individual clients goals in the most efficient and enjoyable way for them.
So regardless of the structural advantages, kettlebells have for particular types of training, they will only be a ‘functional’ tool for clients that want to benefit from this kind of training and can perform this type of training safely and more efficiently.
What is ‘Kettlebell Training?’
Now kettlebells can be used just like dumbbells to add weight to conventional exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges and bent over rows. In fact, any standard weight training exercise that you’d use a dumbbell for could be performed with a kettlebell.
‘Kettlebell training’ however is entirely different to only performing conventional exercises with kettlebells as opposed to dumbbells. Kettlebell training is a particular form of training that:
1. Is focused on explosive, power great oriented swinging movements. These movements utilize more fast twitch muscle fibers, and these fibers have a greater capacity for developing size, and strength.
2. Includes the Olympic lifts – the clean, the clean and jerk, and the snatch. These vast, multi joint exercises use every muscle in the body and as before-mentioned can be great for burning lots of calories and stimulating lots of muscle in a short period
Is Kettlebell Training Safe for your Training Clients?
Conclusively any resistance training has the potential to be dangerous, just like crossing the road has the potential to be dangerous. As a personal trainer, you minimize the inherent dangers for your clients by only selecting exercises that suit their capabilities, and you instruct your clients on how to perform those exercises safely. That being said, as kettlebell training exercises are compound, multi-joint, power oriented exercises, kettlebell training does carry more ‘risk’ than many other forms of resistance training when not executed properly.
To understand why there is a greater risk of injury with kettlebell training we need to have a brief review of biomechanics and the human energy systems…
Basic Biomechanics Recap
The base of support is simply wherever the body touches the ground – so in any standing position, the base of support includes the feet and the area between the feet. The center of mass is simply the middle of an object where there is the same amount of mass above as there is below, and the same amount of weight in front of, as there is behind, the center point. The line of force is simply the direction that a load acts in. As this skeleton is not holding a charge the line of force reflects gravity which always pushes straight down.
As soon as a person’s center of mass moves outside their base of support, their ability to balance is significantly impaired. If their center of mass moves forward of their base of support, they’ll likely fall forward, and if it moves behind their base of support, they’ll fall backward.
This is why ‘good’ biomechanics for exercises like squats, rely on having the weight placed directly over the client’s base of support, and ensuring that during the movement the client’s center of mass remains directly above their base of support. If the weight were positioned high on the clients’ neck in this image of the squat the customers center of mass would move to the front of their base of support making them vulnerable to tipping forward (as well as having far too much load on a vulnerable part of the spine!)
One of the guiding principles for safe resistance training with standing exercises is to keep the center of mass directly over the base of support. This becomes even more important as the loads that are being lifted get heavier and are performed explosively.
Kettlebells do offer a significant advantage for some of the lifts used in kettlebell training, namely the high pull, and the Olympic lifts – the snatch, the clean and the clean and jerk. The advantage is that the kettlebell can be lowered between the legs thus keeping the center of mass well positioned directly above the base of support. The disadvantage of using bars is that they have to be pulled from the ground up and over the protruding knees which do bring the center of mass slightly forward, thus requiring a very sound, well-refined technique to keep the client balanced and ensure their safety during the lift.
As loads get heavier and, exercises are performed more explosively the risk of injury increases, so it is imperative that the body is well balanced and the structures of the body that are more vulnerable to injury are not exposed to undue risk.
This is where the safety of some of the swinging kettlebell training exercises becomes questionable.
You also need to consider that ‘what goes up must come down.’ With kettlebell swings, the client is usually instructed to ‘pull’ the kettlebell back down into their body from the top position. Combined with the effects of gravity this results in a lot of momentum being created as the kettlebell returns to the starting position. The client will need to be able to resist this energy at the bottom point of the exercise to avoid an injury and loss of balance.
So when we consider the mechanics of kettlebell training like complex, explosive multi-joint exercises, it should be reasonably obvious that there is a high injury risk for clients with minimal resistance training experience. If you’re considering using kettlebell training with any of your customers then adhere to the following guidelines:
Focus initially on instructing clients how to squat. Only move into kettlebell training exercises once customers can squat safely and efficiently, as the squat movement is used in quite a few kettlebell training exercises
Focus on building strength and endurance in your client’s’ core musculature and in particular their ability to hold an abdominal ‘brace.’ The abdominal brace locks the lumbar spine safely in neutral and protects it from injury during any movement.
by admin | Jul 5, 2017 | Kettlebells
What is the Best Kettlebell Weight to Start With?
Many types of kettlebells are sold these days. Onnit Labs produces various kinds of kettlebells to accommodate the needs of everyone from beginners to expert kettlebell sports competitors.
Kettlebells are commonly made with a very high-quality, chip-resistant coating that’s robust enough to survive your most punishing workouts.
Here are some points when shopping for a quality kettlebells:
1) A chip-resistant surface, smooth enough for stamina-building work sets without irritating your hands, yet with just enough texture to take gym chalk. Quality kettlebells come with soft, bent handles that can be grasped anywhere on the handle, not only the top part.
2) Clearance from the handles to the bells allow for optimal bone stacking in a snatch and press lifts, and the obtuse shape of the handle is ideal for work gripping the horns (the sides of the kettlebell handle). The handle must be soft so that it does not tear your hands up.
3) High-contrast lettering which allows you to know the kettlebell you are using. Always make sure there’s a guarantee – to ensure your kettlebells do not rust, and you are promised for a lifetime of use.
Some other features of kettlebell benefits to consider are grip diameter, grip width, ball diameter, and the distance from the top of the ball to the bottom of the handle. But as a beginner, the most significant information for you to watch for are those stated above.
15-Minute Full-Body Strength Kettlebell Workout
Who said kettlebells are only for conditioning? Don’t let this common misconception fool you. Kettlebells are more than capable of building strength and cultivating mass. In fact, due to the unique design of the grip, kettlebells can increase grip strength, unlike any other implement!
Practicing the 15-Minute Full-Body Strength Kettlebell Workout, you can grow stronger and improve conditioning simultaneously, – all while packing on slabs of muscle! This training will make you so beefy, Hollywood would be insane not to cast you in the next Marvel movie!
Workout Directions
Perform all tasks in each group before moving on to next group. Rest 1 to 2 minutes between rounds and sets. Be sure to decrease weight to avoid form degradation (if necessary).
A1: Kettlebell Anyhow Squat – 5 rounds x 5 reps (each side)
B1: Kettlebell Double Side Swing – 5 rounds x 10 reps
C1: Kettlebell Double TGU – 5 rounds x 3 reps
D1: Kettlebell Squat Curl Squatts Press – 5 rounds x 5 reps (each side)
E1: Kettlebell Gladiator Get Up – 5 rounds x 3 reps (each side)
Take Your Kettlebell Training to a New Level
Kettlebell Certification
Some tools are as varied and compact as the kettlebell. Whether you’re a trainer or fitness enthusiast, the kettlebell should hold a place in your training for the outcomes it can produce in less time.
Whether you choose to use your kettlebell to supplement your training or as a stand-alone device you will infer the exact method on how to do so.
The Kettlebell Specialist Course was created to give the user a simple, robust method to knowledge and teaching proper kettlebell use.
The benefits of the kettlebell are immense, and with this single tool, one can create incredible strength, power output, and stamina if used to its potential.
We believe the kettlebell can create great athletes regardless of your chosen sport and with this system, you will have everything they need to do just that.
Kettlebell Sizes for Men
Numerous men have the unfavorable manner of beginning with a kettlebell that is far too big for them. It may appear as a confusion to many guys out there, but they are not as powerful as they believe they are. Combine the fact that if you have only used dumbbells and barbells for weight training, snatching a kettlebell for the first time may come as a bit of a shock to your system and ego! Men take our word and don’t buy an enormous bell unless you already know you can handle it. Kettlebell lifting is mechanical and demands attention to detail so choose a kettlebell size that is reasonable to start out with. For ballistic movements like kettlebell swings, cleans and snatches, an average, active man should start out with either a 16 kg- 35 lb or a 20 kg – 44 lb kettlebell. Athletic men should start with a kettlebell between 16 kg – 35 lb and 24 kg – 53 lb.
Kettlebell Sizes for Women
Unlike men, women tend to start out with a kettlebell that is too easy for them, sometimes way too light! Women I have advice for you; you are a lot stronger than you think you are! Lifting kettlebells will not get you big and bulky and rob you of your feminine curvatures. On the opposite, with proper training and commitment, it will give you the figure you’ve always desired. So don’t be scared of “heavy” kettlebells; once you learn how to open the energy of your hips and core, you will be swinging kettlebell weights you never imagined possible.
For ballistic movements like kettlebell swings, cleans and snatches, an average, active woman should start with a kettlebell between 8 kg – 18 lb and 12 kg – 26 lb. An active woman should begin with a kettlebell between 12 kg – 26 lb and 16 kg – 35 lb. Out of shape, lethargic women should seek a bell between 6 kg – 13 lb and 8 kg – 18 lb.
As with men, for controlled, oppressing movements like Turkish Get-ups and windmills, you should pick a kettlebell that you can press overhead about 8-10 times. An average, active women should start with a kettlebell between 6 kg – 13 lb and 8 kg – 18 lb. An active woman should begin with a kettlebell among 8 kg – 18 lb and 12 kg – 26 lb and out of shape, inactive women should try a bell between 4 kg – 9 lb and 6 kg – 13 lb.
How Many Kettlebells Do I Need?
You can do a lot with only one kettlebell; a kettlebell is a transportable gym. When you are just beginning with kettlebells, you should make certain you first master single kettlebell exercises before progressing to duplicate kettlebell swings, cleans, snatches, etc. There is no sense applying two kettlebells unless your form is flawless. Without decent kettlebell lifting technique, you will not get the full benefit of the action, and you significantly increase your chance of injury, and this defeats the purpose of training with kettlebells in the first place. We recommend that whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced lifter, that you have a few kettlebells in different weights.
by admin | Jul 4, 2017 | Kettlebells
A few things you need to understand about Russians, they are good at vodka, chess, and the kettlebell.
Way before George Washington was crossing the Delaware, or before Americans had the right to bear arms. The Russians were carrying kettlebells.
It is understood and recognized that the Russians were first to use the kettlebell, or Girya, in the early 1700s. It was mostly a tool used by farmers to help measure outcrops. But, as any man wearied on a plantation, the farmers began swinging these items and, lo and behold, they got stronger, healthier and became better people.
Not to get too far into the weeds here, but if you want to know the story you should be aware of this name. Fast forward from the farmers to the late 1800s and, Vladislav Kraevsky is recognized with adding the kettlebell and barbell to Russian training.
A kettlebell is a kind of dumbbell or free weight that is rounded with a flat base and an arched handle. It looks similar to a cannonball with a handle or a teapot without the spout, hence the name “kettlebell” in English. In Russia, it is called a “girya” Authentic kettlebells are made of either cast iron or steel.
Unlike a dumbbell, a kettlebell core of mass extends beyond the hand. Kettlebells can be whirled, launched, juggled, pressed, held, moved and managed in hundreds of ways. They are tiny and transportable and can be combined with all viewpoints of athletic and fitness training. Kettlebells are an extremely effective way to lose weight, tone your body, increase your cardiovascular strength and maintain joint health, movement, and flexibility.
The history of the kettlebell is slightly unclear. However, it seems to be that the Russian Kettlebell was first created 350 years ago. The first appearance of the word in a Russian dictionary appeared in 1704. They were originally used as counterweights to weigh out dry goods on market scales. Kettlebells USA®People started throwing them around for entertainment, and they were later put to use for weight lifting. The Russians measured items in “poods.” A pood (16.38 kg, or 36.11 pounds) can be traced back to the 12th century. Kettlebells are still weighed in poods in Russia and realms of the former Soviet Union.
Many cultures during history have practiced some form of weight lifting with an attached handle for strength training. Scottish tribes would throw weighted objects with handles in Highland Games. Chinese Shaolin Monks, would use a stone padlocks in a similar way that a kettlebell would be. This type of training was called Shi-SuoGuong which meant The Art of Stone Padlock and predated kettlebells by thousands of years. There is speculation that kettlebell-like weights were used by the Romans & Greeks.
Kettlebells were used a lot by old time strongmen such as Arthur Saxon, Sig Klein, Clevio Massimo and The Mighty Apollo. They were once a common staple in American gyms and training academies and were often called “Ring Weights,” although ring weights could be any square weight with a ring attached to the top so it could be held and lifted. “Block Weights” were the American equivalent of the original Russian scale weights; they looked similar to today’s “power blocks.”
The forefather of the modern fitness gym, Dr. Vladislav Krayevsky, founded the St. Petersburg Amateur Weightlifting Society on August 10, 1885, considered the birth of weightlifting in Russia. A proponent of what he called “heavy athletics,” in 1900 Krayevsky wrote “The Development of Physical Strength with Kettlebells and without Kettlebells.” He was one of the most influential pioneers in the fitness of his day. His students included the legendary strongman George Hackenscmidt, “The Russian Lion,” who credited him with teaching him everything he knew and Eugene Sandow, “The Father of Modern Day Bodybuilding.”
In 1948, modern kettlebell lifting became the Soviet Union’s national sport. In the 1970’s kettlebell lifting became part of the United All-State Sports Association of the USSR, and in 1985 federal rules, regulations & weight categories were achieved. In November 1985 the first National Championship took place in Lipetsk, Russia. The Russian Military requires its recruits to train with kettlebells. The United States Secret Service & the FBI Counter Assault Team also require their operators to teach high repetition, ballistic kettlebell moves.
KETTLEBELL LIFTING WAS THE NATIONAL SPORT OF RUSSIA
Kettlebell Sports lifting is the National Sport of Russia. Today exercising with kettlebells is making a major comeback, and kettlebell training has now become one of the most popular and best ways work out and stay fit. Proper kettlebell training can help you to live a longer, healthier life, This is done to the way the kettlebell is made it improves joint health, mobility, and flexibility can all be managed, and even improved, with the correct application of kettlebell movements. Kettlebell lifting is technical just like Olympic lifting and requires the lifter to use the proper form to evade injury and to reap the highest benefit from any of the hundreds of kettlebell exercises and variations.
The history of kettlebells begins in Russia at the start of the 18th century, where in 1704, the word ‘Girya’ (meaning kettlebell), was first introduced in the Russian Dictionary.
The early scientific principles of Kettlebell training were laid down by Dr. Vladislav Kraevsky who presented the method of kettlebells to the broader Russian public
Dr. Vladislav Kraevsky
At the beginning of the 20th century, physical culturists, healthy men and circus performers such as Arthur Saxon, Edgar Mueller, and Eugene Sandow, would travel all around the world and would be exposed to Russian kettlebell training. So, these Strongmen included kettlebells in their training and performances, introducing a wider audience outside of Russia to the cannonball-shaped weights.
Old Time Strongmen
However, history took its toll on the simple kettlebell, ending its rise to fame in the West as the Soviet revolution, and 2 World Wars caused Russian sports and stories, to retreat inside the Russian borders.
Nonetheless, kettlebells proceeded to thrive in the former Soviet Union. Practice with kettlebells became a favorite activity for people in rural areas, the military, and Olympic athletes. In addition to their training program, Soviet Olympic weightlifters utilized kettlebells unilaterally in order to strengthen their weaker side.
In 1981, the Soviet government acknowledged the various advantages that kettlebells could give its working citizens; and an official commission required mandatory kettlebell training for the masses, relying on the kettlebell to increase productivity and to decrease the healthcare costs of the country.
To this day, nations of the old eastern bloc rely on kettlebells for implementing the training of many of their athletes and armed forces.
Kettlebell lifting also developed into an official sport, with the first competition taking part in 1948.
The kettlebell rise in the West kick started once more in 1998 when Pavel Tsatsouline published an article about them and then began teaching his way of using them to the American public in 2002.
by admin | Jul 3, 2017 | Kettlebells
Here is our take on the reasons why you should be using kettlebells rather than other types of exercise equipment.
1. Exercise Where Ever You Are
You honestly don’t need a gym membership, much space or anything other than just a kettlebell to get all the health and fitness results that you want and need.
Kettlebells are small and compact so they can be brought anywhere you go. You can get your heart beat racing like you have just run the 100 meters without even moving your feet. In fact, you should never need a space that is larger than 6 feet for your kettlebell workout.
2. Excellent for Fat Loss
Kettlebell workouts when designed and executed correctly use multi-joint movements utilizing over 600 muscles of yours at a time. The more muscles you use, the more energy that is required and hence the more fat and carbs you burn.
Kettlebell workouts can also be so intense that they disrupt your homeostasis evoking an afterburn effect that can continue to burn calories for up to 24 hours after your workout. Bonus!
3. Very Inexpensive
For most rookies, one kettlebell is all you need to get started and that kettlebell being formed of solid metal will last you a lifetime. You don’t need any particular footwear, in fact, many people will exercise without shoes. Don’t worry you won’t drop the kettlebell on your foot!
Also due to the way kettlebells are twirled around the momentum increases the weight of the kettlebell, so a small weight can convert a larger weight when it is used correctly. One kettlebell can be used to push you to your goals with more complicated exercises or made very comfortable with more beginner based movements.
4. Quick Workouts
Kettlebell workouts when designed correctly are intense. The exercises can be made to flow from one movement to the next without having to change weights or rearrange your grip. The movement of different workouts enables you to keep your heart rate elevated and muscles constantly engaged.
Due to the intensity of the full body exercises and the dynamic nature of kettlebells good workouts should not last more than 10 – 20 minutes.
5. Better for your Joints
When used correctly a kettlebell improves your joint stability as well as the joints mobility too. When you swing a kettlebell, the weight tries to pull the joints apart, and it is your stabilizing muscles that control the closure of the joint.
The healthy progress of stabilizing muscles ensure you have a stronger foundation for your larger muscles to operate from enabling less injury and an increase in strength. Kettlebells also can force longer ranges of movement that open up your joints and increase your mobility and thus better movement freedom.
6. Great for Sports
Explosive strength is necessary for sports, it drives you up to the basketball hoop, increases foot speed on the court and creates explosive pushes and pulls.
Kettlebell training is dynamic and involves absorption and regeneration of force explosively. In other words, you need to decelerate and accelerate the weight rather quickly. Mix force control with functional and a more natural movement, and you can see for yourself why kettlebells are great for strengthening athletes bodies.
7. Sculpts a beautiful body
Kettlebell exercise burns fat and increases muscle tone fast. Most of the exercises are multi-joint (compound) movements that link the bottom half of the body with the top half via the core muscles. Great for your abs!
The body recruits 100’s of muscles to control and maintain your balance of the kettlebell. The muscle’s time under tension is high resulting in fast muscle development throughout the body.
8. Hits “hard to reach” muscles
Unlike lots of other training tools, kettlebells focus profoundly into the back of the body and in particular buttocks. The buttocks being the largest muscles in the body require massive amounts of energy to survive and are great fat burners.
Significant workouts like the kettlebell swing will also form carefully into the posterior chain (muscles from heel to neck) where lots of muscle resides but is often neglected by other workout tools.
9. Improves Your Posture
If the desire to look beautiful even into your senior years, then kettlebell training is for you. Many of the core exercises work into your postural muscles counteracting sitting and modern day living.
Often the most important postural muscles are neglected in favor of the mirror muscles (chest, abs, etc.), but kettlebells prevent this from happening by working deep into the muscles that matter.
10. Quick Cardio
You will be surprised at how cardiovascular kettlebell training can be. Just by performing the kettlebell swing for 30 seconds can feel like you have just sprinted 100 meters without even moving your feet.
If you suffer from bad knees then exercises like the kettlebell swing can give you an incredible cardiovascular workout without damaging your knees while at the same time strengthening your body from head to toe.
11. Comfortable to Handle
Kettlebells just seems correct to use. If you buy the perfect kettlebell, then you will find lifting, pushing and pulling a real pleasure with a kettlebell. In fact, as you press a kettlebell the weight rests nicely on your forearm.
You will also find that when held in the racked position (more on this later) the kettlebell nestles nicely into the chest enabling weighted movements to become a real joy to perform without having to worry about the weight.
12. Strengthen Your Grip
As you age your grip weakens, it’s a real sign of getting older. However, if you train with kettlebells, this doesn’t have to be the case. Want to develop a strong monkey like grip?
Waving a kettlebell increases its overall mass and takes added strength to hold on. The more you use your kettlebell, the better your grip becomes. Perhaps you won’t be able to bend nails, but you will notice a distinct change in your grip force.
13. Fun and Addictive
Most of all, kettlebells are a pleasure to use. The more fun something is, the more we want to do it, and that’s a win-win for exercise. Kettlebell training will teach you impressive new skills, unseen actions and a great feeling of accomplishment as you comprehend different movements.
Your body will automatically adjust, and slowly but surely you will become addicted to these workouts. Some people who have taken their kettlebells on holiday with them had withdrawals from them shortly after only days of being without.
