Kettlebells: the All-in-one Piece of Equipment
Why do we mainly use kettlebells in our training? I mean, all the commercial gyms are stocked with machines of every kind. You don’t really see kettlebells in these gyms. For those few unfortunate folks who still don’t know what a kettlebell is, just google the word kettlebell and familiarise yourself with this incredible tool. I can think of about 1000 reasons why you should consider training with kettlebells, but I’ll mention only a few.
Let’s start with you pocket first. For the price of a few month’s gym membership you can get yourself a couple of kettlebells and maybe a training DVD or personal training to help you get up and running. That’s it! For a relatively small financial layout you can get world class results if you put in the work. Just remember, this is not for those looking for a shortcut to a toned, lean and super fit physique. This is for real men and women who take pride in knowing that they have put in the work and that they can expect serious results. Your kettlebells won’t take up all your space either. Whether at home, office or in a gym, they are very portable and can be stored almost anywhere.
Kettlebells come in a variety of sizes. Usually you can find them in sizes from 8-48 kgs. For the gym rats that won’t sound like a lot, but believe me, there is a world of difference between training with barbells or dumbbells and training with kettlebells. Although you can do some of the usual bodybuilding type exercises like bench press, squats and shoulder presses, you will realise the unique benefits of kettlebells by doing ballistic exercises like cleans, jerks, swings and snatches. Build upper body strength with an assortment of presses and pulls (rows), build lower body strength with various squats, lunges and swings and build shoulder flexibility and a torso like a tree trunk with unique exercise like the Turkish getup and windmills.
You are spoilt for choice when it comes to putting together a program. Go heavy and eat big to pack on the beef. Go heavy and keep your diet the same to add serious strength without bulking up. Do high rep ballistic work to acquire the respiratory system of a race horse. Can you say fat loss? Whatever your training goal, you can structure a meaningful program with very basic equipment. If you put in the sweat, kettlebell training will deliver the goods. It’s not better than training with other types of weights, it’s just very different and exciting and rand for rand the best conditioning tool that I know of.
Kettlebells may be new to you, but they have been around for decades in Russia where they have been used by the military, strongmen, weightlifters, bodybuilders and wrestlers. It found its way to America and today is considered the ultimate all-round fitness and physical development tool by experts. With one handy piece of equipment you can work on strength, hypertrophy, endurance, mobility, balance, flexibility and a host of other conditioning categories. No wonder that people such as these use kettlebells:
Rugby teams
Martial artists
Strength and conditioning coaches and personal trainers
Boxers
Defence Force Operations
Physiotherapists, Osteopaths and Chiropractors
Celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Sylvester Stallone and Lance Armstrong
So if you are not using kettlebells yet, I think it would be worth your while to consider it as part of your fitness routine.
Corné Dannhauser is the owner/instructor for Kettlebell Fitness by Corné in Centurion, South Africa. He also uses Dr. John Berardi’s Precision Nutrition to help his clients achieve optimal health and fitness. www.kettlebellfitness.co.za
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