If you haven’t heard of kettlebells yet, you must have been hiding under a…dumbbell. Kettlebells are one of the newest pieces of exercise equipment to hit the US and are growing rapidly in popularity because of the results they help others achieve in very little time. For those in the know, kettlebells are new to the US, but they are not new by any means. In fact, kettlebells have been around for HUNDREDS of years. They were basically unknown in the West sans some pictures of strongmen using them in the last 1800’s and early 1900’s until exercise specialist and Russian ex-Special Forces member Pavel Tsatsouline re introduced them around 2000.
Kettlebells look like bowling balls with handles. They are effective because you have to actively move the weight through space in both linear and non linear ways that will help you work your entire body with just about every exercise. Below are 3 basic but VERY effective exercises that you can do with kettlebells to help you get ripped, strong, and dramatically increase your cardiovascular endurance as well.
The Kettlebell Swing-This is the core exercise done with the kettlebell. It basically involves your holding the handle with two hands and swing the bell through your legs and then thrusting forward with your hips to swing the ball up to eye level or just overhead. This exercise will work your ENTIRE body and is deceptively effective. Newbies will realize this the very next day…I promise.
The Kettlebell Clean-The clean is a popular power lifting move, but done with the kettlebell, you will be forced to stabilize the side of your body opposite of where the kettlebell comes to rest. You will use your lower body to power the bell up, and your arms to a lesser degree. This makes the kettlebell clean a super cool core movement. You can bring the bell up from a dead rest, or clean it from a swing. In either case, you will bring the bell up to rest on your forearms and tight to the body as if you were chambering your fist to throw a punch. Then, bring the bell back down to either rest, or swing to the other side.
The Kettlebell Snatch-I know you have heard the squat called “The king of exercises” but after you knock out a couple of kettlebell snatches with a decent weight, you may want to crown a new ruler. This movement involves thrusting the kettlebell from the ground straight overheard, and then bringing it back down again. The kettlebell snatch effectively incorporates almost every muscle in your body, and if done for reps, will have you dripping in sweat and breathing like a dying dog in no time. You might be surprised that one round ball looking piece of equipment can do this to your body. Make no mistake, the kettlebell is EFFECTIVE.
Now that you have a bit of understanding about these exercises, DON’T DO THEM! Well, that is until you can do at least an initial session with a certified kettlebell instructor. Because of the ballistic movement required for kettlebell lifts, it is easy to injure yourself if you don’t know what you are doing. Once you get familiar with the kettlebells though, you won’t ever want to put them down again!
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