Kettlebells have rightly taken their place at the top of the fitness food chain with more and more trainers and members of the public realising the potential benefits of exercising with kettlebells.
This brief guide is an overview of what kettlebells are, what they can do for you and why they can do it. Kettlebells have rightly taken their place at the top of the fitness food chain with more and more trainers and members of the public realising the potential benefits of exercising with kettlebells. Kettlebells have many plus points such as longevity, they are space saving, portable up to a certain weight and above all fun. Fun is a key part of working out as boredom can easily set in with the same old routines and equipment. Kettlebells allow you to train anywhere and have the equivalent of a full body workout in just 20 minutes.
Kettlebells can be used for weight loss, strength and conditioning, core stability, balance and proprioception, as well as VO2 max training (Farrar et al 2010), improving grip and for rehabilitation. They also have a direct correlation with performance in Olympic Weightlifting based on being biomechanically similar (Manocchia et al 2010). There are hundreds of kettlebell exercises that can form part of a functional routine for many people and complexes are great for metabolic work and motor co-ordination. The great thing about kettlebell training is that they work many muscle groups per exercise and so overuse injuries from training in isolation are very rare. By using multiple muscles the body is trained as an integrated whole and the focus is on training movements rather than muscles. In many respects the exercises that form the foundation of kettlebell training improve athletic performance by building strength and improving the ability to explosively develop force such as with the snatch or jerk. A key part of competitive sports is the ability to decelerate, hold position and then accelerate in a different direction in response to a stimulus. Kettlebells train the athletic “power” position where the centre of mass is slightly lowered and the base of support is widened.
Research has shown that the most important variable in training for weight loss is frequency of exercise (Buck Willis et al 2009). With an obesity epidemic upon us and people still struggling to understand how best to lose weight, just 20 minutes of kettlebells 3-4 times a week can have a life changing impact and usually for less than the price of a good personal training session.
References
Buck Willis, F., Smith, F. M., and Willis. A.P. (2009). Frequency of exercise for body fat loss: A controlled, cohort study. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23 (8) 2377-2380.
Manocchia, P., Spierer, D. K., Minichiello, J., Braut, S., Castro, J., Markowitz, R. (2010). Transference of Kettlebell Training to Traditional Olympic Weight Lifting and Muscular Endurance. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 24: 1.
Farrar, R. E., Mayhew, J. L., Koch, A. J. (2010). Oxygen Cost of Kettlebell Swings. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 24 (4): 1034-1036.
Stephen Aish Bio
Steve has a training history of 26 years and is currently a 3rd Dan Taekwondo instructor. He was one of the first users of kettlebells in the UK nearly 10 years ago and a key figure in their expansion throughout GB. He designed the first ever UK REPS recognised workshop with CPD and has designed several courses recognised by Skills Active. He is currently studying an MSc in Strength and Conditioning to work with professional athletes and grow his new business venture - The Strength Academy. He has trained over 500 personal trainers to be accredited kettlebell instructors and thousands of people including the public, celebrities, sports groups, private health clubs, professional athletes, rock groups, military personal and martial arts academies. He created the UK’s first kettlebell masterclass DVD with full explanations of all foundation exercises and several timed workouts and is also writing a book on kettlebell training. He is currently British Weightlifting Champion for his age and weight, an internationally ranked kettlebell lifter and training for a World Record in the 1 arm barbell snatch later this year.