The kettlebell is traditionally a cast iron weight that originated in Russia and has now taken the fitness world by storm. It’s a wonderful workout for both men and women of any age and at any degree of fitness.
This is the kind of workout where repetition is key to your success. You’ll be working out in bursts with breaks in between to recover from the intense cycles of training. You’ll find your breathing sometimes labored, unlike traditional weight training that’s slower in pace.
Kettlebell workouts typically have you doing total body movements that are known by the following names: snatch, swing, high pull, and one known as the clean and jerk. The names may sound funny, but the effect they have on your fitness is amazing.
Kettlebell training helps you increase your strength, but it also improves your cardiovascular abilities because of the swinging motion you implement that isn’t found when you use simple dumbbells in your workout routines.
When you start using kettlebells, you’ll notice that your strength builds and your endurance expands beyond what you’d had before. You’ll be performing moves with your kettlebell that affect your shoulders, back and legs – it’s a total body workout!
Because it impacts your back, it’s not a good workout to jump into if you currently suffer from back problems. But at the same time, it can strengthen the muscles in your back, so you may be able to start off with gentle movements and increase from there.
Some people liken the kettlebell to old fashioned medicine balls, but the variants they allow in training with the handles and movement options offer a better combination workout than simply catching a weight in your hands.
You’ll be able to decide if you want to perform a grind or ballistic movement. Grinds are slow and calculated, emphasizing strength. Ballistic exercises are those where movement and speed play an important roll.
The one thing you want to understand when you start using kettlebells is that it’s important not to rush your abilities. These are heavy weights, and starting out with one that’s too heavy for you can cause more harm than good if you injure yourself in the process.
Most people find kettlebell training to be one of the more fun activities they’ve tried. It’s not as boring as walking on a treadmill or lifting a dumb bell. You will need room to swing and move, but the equipment itself doesn’t take up a lot of space.
