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Kettlebell Primer: Frequently Asked Questions
They're
called kettlebells, even though they resemble kettles only a little
and bells not at all.
And
they are becoming, to early 21st century fitness, what the balance
ball was to very late 20th century fitness. There seems to have
been a sudden awakening to the remarkable results, covering the
full spectrum of conditioning, which one can achieve by learning
how to toss, swing, and press these cast iron, not quite spherical
objects. But they are still novel enough that those just learning
of them may appreciate having a few questions answered before
grabbing one by the handle and getting to work.
What
are kettlebells, and where did they come from?
Kettlebells
are flat-bottomed spherical cast iron weights with welded horseshoe
shaped handles.
Their
noticeably different appearances cast doubt on claims that modern
kettlebells descended from Scottish curling stones. The generally
accepted story of their origins is that they evolved from Russian
“poods”, commercial counterweights used in produce markets.
A pood is approximately 36 pounds, or 16 kg. But their surging
popularity has made kettlebells available in a wide range of weights,
ranging from 9 to 108 pounds.
The
development of kettlebell weight training as an organized exercise
may have started as early as the 17th century with the Russian
farmers and dock hands who were required to handle them as part
of their daily work. The farmers or workers would set the weight
on a scale and then balance their merchandise against it, and
saw their muscular strength increase noticeably as a result.
It’s
known that by the 17th century kettlebell training was a mandatory
part of the Russian Army’s military physical fitness program.
In the early 1900s, the American-patented Milo Triplex Kettlebell,
which was a hollow cast iron sphere, the upper half of which could
be loaded with lead shot, and a lower half with a vertical sleeve
into which plates of different sizes could be inserted, appeared.
The
Soviet Union, in 1948, saw kettlebell lifting, or girevoy, organized
as an official sporting event. The one armed power military press,
one armed snatch, and the one arm military press, and the double
armed power clean and jerk were the competition lifts.
Kettlebells
fell out of favor in the U.S after the 1930s, but in the past
six or seven years their popularity has seen, like a kettlebell
exercise, a tremendous upswing!
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How
is kettlebell training different from dumbbell training?
The
difference lies in how you handle them.
Dumbbell
handles are centered and therefore balanced, but kettlebell handles
protrude from one side of the sphere, and will act like an additional
pivot point control. The critical difference is the handles. The
effect is like having a second arm joint. So when you do a clean
and snatch with the kettlebell, you’ll have the initially
uncomfortable feeling of the bell rotating and coming to rest
at the back of your arm.
Your
wrist, elbow, and shoulder will all be in on the act, but that
is why kettlebells are such great overall conditioners. By keeping
all your muscles working through the entire range of motion, they
create much wider motor pathways in your brain, teaching your
muscular system to function as a single unit, strengthening them
all simultaneously and avoid any imbalances which can lead to
joint and skeletal problems
The
kettlebell handle provides another benefit. The weight of the
kettlebell offsets your body’s center of gravity, and you
will have use your entire body, including those all-important
core muscles, to compensate for the imbalance.
Many
people who have lost shoulder flexibility find that a kettlebell’s
offset weight makes it ideal for overhead lifts.
And
most confirmed kettlebell users will tell you that the biggest
difference between a dumbbell workout and a kettlebell work out
is that the kettlebell workout is much more fun!
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How
do kettlebells stack up against circuit machines?
The
difference between a kettlebell workout and a machine workout
goes back to the effect kettlebells have on your stabilizing muscles.
Your stabilizers are the muscles which operate and balance your
joints through their ranges of motion, and a machine isn’t
designed to strengthen them at all.
If
you are doing an overhead press, the weight of the kettlebell
will be centered outside your forearms’ axis and you’ll
have to fight to control the levering motion of your arm all the
way to the top of the lift. Not only your wrist and elbow stabilizers,
but you your shoulder and trunk stabilizers will be in on the
act.
Machine
lifting also lacks the “3-D” aspect of kettlebell training.
And unlike a machine, which limits the possibility of your exercising
“outside the box”, kettlebells will constantly be fighting
you for control. It sounds scarier than it is.
As
long as you stay with a kettlebell of the proper weight, the battle
for control will simply meant that you are increasing all your
neuromuscular pathways, instead of the isolated groups of them
that machines develop.
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What
are the benefits of kettlebell training?
Picture
yourself swinging a kettlebell back between your thighs, as you
first do a deep squat, and then force yourself upwards from the
hips. The muscles in both your upper and lower body will be maxed
out in supporting you while you control the kettlebell, making
huge demands on both your heart and respiratory system.
Think
about it: your heart has to work to supply oxygen to whichever
muscles you are working, and kettlebell training, done properly,
will have you work all 650 of them at once.
This
happens because even the stabilizer muscles and your deep core
muscles are working to keep your joints and spine aligned throughout
a kettlebell move. Your heart, when you begin training, may be
sending oxygen to those muscles in amounts they have not seen
in a very long time.
Kettlebell
training, by forcing you to use the often overlooked upper back
muscles, will also improve your posture.
And
there’s another hidden benefit to full body exercise; if
intense enough, it can trigger your pituitary to step the release
of human growth hormone, which increases lean muscle mass while
burning fat.
Many
of those who start a program and stick with it experience changes
within the first two weeks. Some of those changes are felt, and
some are visible.
You
may notice that your back feels much stronger and more relaxed,
and that you have more energy and are much less easily fatigued.
Then, as your core muscles get toned, your clothes will become
looser, and, if you try testing your balance, you’ll be surprised
at how much it is improved. Your joints will do things they haven’t
done in years, and when you participate in non-kettlebell training,
you’ll have the stamina to continue much longer than before.
~##~
How
long will a kettlebell workout take?
Because
your kettlebell session is really flexibility, strength, and cardio
workouts rolled into one, you will probably not be able to continue
more than forty-five minutes. But you can get real benefits from
as little as ten minutes of kettlebell work.
Kettlebell
training has the potential to completely exhaust the body’s
joint supporting stabilizer muscles, so knowing when to stop is
extremely important. As is being willing to take time off between
hard workouts to recover.
Some
advanced kettlebell enthusiasts have found their training so effective
that they have given up other kinds of exercise for their KBs
three or four times a week, with thirty to forty minute sessions.
Depending on your overall condition when you begin KB work, you
may be able to last only ten minutes, but you will still feel
the results the next day and start seeing them within a week.
But
before you begin any kettlebell workout at any weight, it’s
crucial, to avoid injury and maximize the benefits of your training,
that you get information about proper technique and positioning.
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What’s
the best way to get started with kettlebells?
Start
the same way you should begin any exercise regimen, by talking
with your doctor.
Then,
depending on your current state of fitness, choose a kettlebell
weight which you are certain you will be comfortable using. You
can always go heavier after you learn the kettlebell moves, but
if you start out with a weight that is too much for you, you may
never continue.
Kettlebells
range in weight from 4kg to 48Kg, or about 9 to 106 pounds. Depending
on your strength level when you begin, you may be ready to move
up to the next larger weight within a couple of weeks. But many
trainers advise that even large men with strength training backgrounds
start with no higher than the 53 pound kettlebell.
Women
can start, depending on their fitness and familiarity with strength
training, at anywhere between the 9 and 26 pound levels. With
kettlebells, handle thickness can be an issue for women, and heavier
weights with larger handles may not allow them to keep an adequate
grip on the KB during their workout.
And
anyone deciding to work with kettlebells needs to get a trainer,
or find a class taught by a kettlebell-experienced instructor.
If neither of those is an option, buy a video on kettlebell training.
It’s essential that you understand the correct KB techniques
and positioning.
~##~
I’m
a couch potato. I can’t even touch my toes. Will kettlebell
training be too much for me?
First,
talk to your physician before starting any exercise program.
One
of the unparalleled benefits of kettlebells training is that it
increases joint mobility If your lifestyle or an injury has caused
your joints' range of motion to decrease, kettlebell training,
over time, will restore it.
And
joint mobility is simply an “active” form of flexibility.
You, as a couch potato, may be envious of those people whose hamstrings
are loose enough to allow them to reach down and put their hands
flat on the floor. But that kind of hamstring stretch is what’s
known as “passive" flexibility.
While
their hamstrings may be loose, they may also be weak, and unless
those people have full joint mobility, meaning that their bodies
can move through the entire range of motion with strength, they
won’t be able to use their leg muscles to raise their legs.
Flexibility
is good, and for gymnasts, ballet dancers, and acrobats, it’s
essential. But an acrobat who can stretch himself fully to reach
the trapeze, but whose muscles can’t let him hang on when
his joints are fully extended, is doomed to a short stay under
the big top.
Kettlebell
training by restoring your joint mobility and “active”
flexibility will let your body function at its best in the tree-dimensional
world which it inhabits. Golfers, in particular, are coming to
appreciate the increased joint mobility they get from kettlebells.
A well-executed golf swing, requiring the golfer to have an extremely
strong core while having the club remains flexible, mimics the
body adjusts to offset weight of the kettlebell.
Kettlebells
are even gaining a following among chiropractors and exercise
physiologists, who are finding repetitious routines of kettlebell
swings, snatches, and clean and jerks very effective in breaking
up joint adhesions.
Just
start with a comfortable kettlebell weight, and get a trainer
or take a class or buy a video to teach you the proper positioning
and recommended exercises for your training level.
Go
slow, and before you know it, you and your kettlebell routine
will be cooking!
Kind regards,
Irina
Dremach
KettleBells
Enthusiast
N.B.
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