The fitness world has officially gone kettlebell crazy. Unfortunately many people still fail to understand why kettlebells should be a key tool in your fitness toolbox for getting excellent fat loss results, increasing strength, reducing the risk of injury and making your training much more exciting!
There are numerous reasons why you simply have to include kettlebells in your training to break through plateaus in your results.
Location, location, location:
You can use kettlebells anywhere, anytime.
Kettlebells have been described as 'a gym in the palm of your hand' - a short but highly accurate statement! Not only are they versatile in that they can be thrown in the back of the car and used to train in the park, in hotel rooms, in your back garden, in your friend's back garden, on the beach, the list goes on. Basically, if you have an area of around 2m x 2m and a height of 7-10 ft depending how tall you are, you can train with kettlebells.
This makes kettlebells the ideal tool for many people from all walks of life including:
Those who are sick of training in commercial gyms, full of members who don't really care and managers who care even less.
Those who need a portable training tool which gets results. This includes business people, soldiers and anyone whose lifestyle isn't conducive to regular visits to the local health centre. No gimmicks, no magic machines, just a proven method which gets results fast.
Variety:
Aside from versatility of location, possibly the most widely talked about and most captivating element of kettlebell training is the versatility of training.
Let's face it. No matter how committed you are to fitness and exercise as the cornerstone of your life, it can get boring if you have no variety in your training.
I have never, ever trained in such a way which enables so many muscles to be worked in such a variety of directions with more advanced trainees being able to move smoothly from one exercise to the next with deft movements of the bell.
This enables the trainee to complete strength and cardiovascular training all in one go.
It is true that if you want to be a powerlifter or bodybuilder you need to be working with super heavy weights with sufficient rest times in between. However, the trainee who wishes to be achieve a more complete fitness profile by increasing strength, shedding body fat, improving flexibility and building a powerful heart and cardiovascular system will not find a better way to achieve their goals.
The nature of kettlebells means if you have a big enough set, you can be training anaerobic endurance one day, strength the next, power the next and power endurance the next. Exercises are easily manipulated to suit whatever fitness goal you may have.
Optimising the physical capabilities:
Crucially the kettlebell is the single most effective way to learn how to use your body as one, solid, interlinked, inseparable chain of muscles and joints. It is accepted that free weights are galaxies ahead of fixed machines for functional training which is applicable to activities in daily life and on the sports field, but kettlebell training takes this to a whole new level.
The challenge to the core muscles is great enabling the trainee to build a very solid base from which to work with more advanced exercises. I once heard it said that 'you can't fire a cannon from a canoe'. In other words, no matter how strong or powerful you think your legs or arms are, if you have a weak, dysfunctional core, you will never achieve the true potential of your limbs. You must have a strong foundation on which to develop powerful, functional muscles.
Not only this but due to the unique way in which the centre of mass of a kettlebell sits, such training is also a huge challenge to the smaller muscles around the body which primarily act to stabilize our joints. In particular, the shoulders become rock solid after a few months of kettlebell training providing great benefits to those involved in racket sports, boxing or martial arts or who perform regular weight training of any kind and are struggling to increase their bench or military press numbers.
I have first hand experience of the power of kettlebells in a rehab setting. After a year of advancing through the stages of kettlebell training to the more advanced exercises, I suffered a partially dislocated shoulder in a cycling accident. I believe that it is down to the kettlebell training that I was able to press a 28kg kettlebell within 5 weeks of the accident. This was achieved by first working with the light kettlebells in drills such as the windmill, 'walking in the wind' and the get up.
Body composition:
The average person exercises to maintain or achieve low body fat. Even if they don't, it's always a nice bonus as a side effect of your training!
It has been proven that the most effective way to reduce body fat whilst maintaining muscle (after sound nutrition), is a combination of metabolic weight training and high intensity intervals.
Kettlebell training enables both methods to be achieved at once, enabling the busy person to gain maximum effect from their training in minimum time. What more do you want?!
Not only do body fat levels drop like a stone (when combined with effective nutrition) but the full body movements involved in kettlebell training will produce a great body shape. You can expect to gain a lean, toned physique. Ladies, a tight backside, tight thighs and a slim, toned upper body will soon be on its way! Gents you can expect to develop a strong, lean, muscular physique once you have harnessed the power of kettlebells!
Your investment in fitness:
For a beginner, an investment of around £100-150 will get you a full set of brand new kettlebells. For some people this can be 3 months gym membership, The difference is, you don't have to queue; you don't have recurring direct debit fees for a gym you never use; you can train where you want, when you want; you can get your training done in half the time with twice the results; it's far more exciting than plodding on a treadmill or sitting on the pec dec breathing in all the putrid , recycled air of the average commercial gym and the routines you can create are limited only by your creativity!
Mental wellness:
You will soon find yourself creating ridiculous sessions which push you to your limits and make you feel incredibly invigorated afterwards. Kettlebells are almost guaranteed to blast your endorphins (the happy hormone) through the roof!
I've yet to experience a method of training which develops mental strength as well as physical ability like kettlebells do. I can't say I've ever studied or practiced martial arts but I suspect it is a similar way of life which captivates you and creates steely willpower and physical prowess beyond anything you've experienced before.
Posture:
A word should also be given to the effects on posture. Because the key kettlebell exercises demand a lot of work to be done by your posterior chain (the muscles on the back of your body such as glutes, lower back and hamstrings) as well as the core muscles, you will soon notice big differences in the way you stand. Because of the way we sit at our desks all day hunched over a keyboard, and the usual focus in the gym on the 'beach muscles' such as the chest, arms, abs and quads, our bodies become very 'front dominant'.
Typical desk posture results in tight chest, tight hip flexors and tight hamstrings which more often than not lead to lower back pain directly or indirectly.
The use of the kettlebell swings and snatches helps address this by strengthening the previously weak glute (buttock) and lower back muscles. The mechanics of such movements also bring about repeat dynamic stretching of the hamstrings. When combined with a sound flexibility program, an upright, painless posture results.
In conclusion:
Kettebell training clearly offers a huge range of benefits to beginners and advanced fitness fans alike but please do not take this to mean that kettlebells are the solution to the world's problems!
Kettlebells, like bodyweight training, gymnastic movements, Olympic lifts, speed work, and any other fitness modality should be part of a large and ever growing tool box.
However, if you haven't yet harnessed the power of kettlebells, you are seriously limiting your fitness potential!
