What are kettlebells? A kettlebell is a traditional Russian weight made from cast iron ball and has a handle. A lot of people think that kettlebells are a recent addition to the fitness toolkit, due to them becoming popular in the “functional fitness” phase of the last 10 or so years, however they have been around for a long time originally coming from a tool to weigh crops in the 18th century to then being used by circus strongmen in the 19th century. The birth of competitive kettlebell lifting is dated to 1885 with the founding of the “Circle of Amateur Athletics”, while the sport of kettlebell lifting was created in 1948. The English term “kettlebell” has only been in use since the early 20th Century. Traditional Russian kettlebells where available in 16kg increments, however in modern times more weights have become available with the typical being 4kg increments now.
What does a Kettlebell work? A kettlebell is intended to enhance power, strength, endurance, stamina, agility and balance, challenging both the musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems with dynamic, total body movements.
So can you use a kettlebell for strength training? Yes you can, as previously mentioned kettlebells where originally used by Russian strongmen and are stables of modern day athlete regimes due to their ability to build full body strength through the entire kinetic chain and not isolating movement patterns.
Can you use a kettlebell for weight loss? Absolutely, a kettlebell is a great tool for this as not only will you be building muscle (which we all know the more lean muscle the more calories burned), but kettlebell exercises are full body dynamic movements that will challenge your cardiovascular system more than walking on a treadmill.
How is a kettlebell different to a dumbbell? Well firstly, they look completely different, other than that the main difference comes down to balance. What I mean by that is that a dumbbell provides a balanced workload that is equally weighted on both sides and the weight will always feel “in your hand” and under control, while a kettlebell are weighted off-centre, the weight being not in the handle, but in the ball which is considerably heavier and only sits on one side. This means that as you move through an exercise the kettlebell wants to keep going in the original direction through centrifugal force, meaning it takes more muscles to redirect a kettlebell.
Are kettlebell exercises different to conventional exercises? Well yes and no. In the end of the day, the kettlebell is another tool in the gym and can be used as so, you can still use them for bench press, deadlifts, squats, rows and other movements, and in certain movements a kettlebell can prove more challenging to the stabilisers meaning stronger joints, tendons and ligaments as well as muscles, however this will also mean a lighter weight will need to be used than a dumbbell. However there are specific movements associated with a kettlebell. Most people will have heard of a kettlebell swing, but there are many more such as windmills, snatch, clean, Turkish get ups and high pulls. These movements tend to be full body movements that use as many muscles as possible and encourage the entire neuromuscular system to work as one single unit.
Can I buy a kettlebell online and just get moving at home? Well kettlebells where one of the first pieces of equipment that sold out worldwide when the first lockdown hit, but luckily they are available now, however that doesn’t mean I suggest buying one, sticking on YouTube and trying your best. The reason for this is that unfortunately the majority of fitness influencers online do not have a single fitness qualification, let alone a kettlebell instruction qualification! What that means is that the majority of people demoing techniques on social media will actually be teaching you incorrectly which will potentially end up injuring you and halting your fitness journey (let alone time off work sick). Kettlebell movements are fairly technical and need to be taught by a qualified instructor to not only get the most out of them, but also given the ballistic nature of the bell to prevent injury (and smashing your tv if working out at home).
Once I have learned the basic kettlebell movements is that all there is?
No kettlebells given their nature are a fantastic piece of equipment to enhance movement flow training which adds another level to your fitness, proprioception and overall functional strength.
So there you have it an introduction to kettlebells. If this is something you wish to learn more about, why not contact us and find out about our kettlebell instruction course to add this extremely versatile piece of equipment to your repertoire.
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