Introducing Kettlebell Exercises to your Workout

With so many Kettlebell Exercises available, how do you know which to choose to include within your workout?

There exists a few options when faced with this problem, but the main two which stick out like a sore thumb for me are as follows;

1 - Create a circuit! A great Kettlebell circuit will include some full body movements like the kettlebell swing and the kettlebell clean and include some more concentrated movements such as the figure of 8, the kettlebell windmill or even an adaptation of a regular dumbbell exercise such as the seated shoulder press.

During your circuit aim for reps of ten, never take more than 20 seconds break in between exerises and after you complete one complete circuit, rest for 90 seconds before repeating. A great kettlebell circuit will usually include 8 exercises, each exercise containing 10 reps and the whole circuit repeated 3 times. In total 240 reps will be completed and this should take roughly 20 minutes. A fantastic fat burner and muscle builder if done with a challenging enough weight.

2- Replace some of your regular exercises! During a Bicep workout for instance why not try alternative Kettlebell curls? This adds enormous stress to the muscles in the forearms which would not usually be under this amount of stress and as the forearm muscles suffer fatigue faster the Bicep itself has too work so much harder to lift the weight that the result can only be more muscular growth in the Bicep.

Both of the above are really basic concepts and are both very effective - don't believe me? Try them for yourself!

It is not just the physical gains that should motivate to perform Kettlebell exerciss, or any form of exercise for that matter. What is happening on the inside really matters also, learn about the anti ageing effects and the benefits of exercise. 

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The Adjustable Kettlebell vs The Traditional Kettlebell

The explosion in popularity of the kettlebell in the last decade has led to many exercise enthusiasts  wanting to incorporate them into their home gyms. A solid idea in principle, by doing this a greater varierty of training session can be had from the comfort of your own home.

Whatever your goal and whatever your training routine the Kettlebell can be utilized to do the job. Whether you want to follow the overload principle to a muscle building routine, design a Kettlebell circuit to perfom HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) to lower your fat content or use a high repetition full body movement such as the Kettlebell Swing or Kettlebell Clean for your more traditional slow fat burning cardio – The Kettlebell can be used for all these purposes.

The main negative to the Kettlebell as oppose to the good old fashioned Olympic Barbell is that additional weight cannot be added. This was original problem home gym’s suffered from using dumbbells until the adjustable dumbbell was created. The next logical step was the adjustable kettlebell.

The adjustable kettlebell appeals in the same manner as the adjustable dumbbell. The main advantages being two fold, cost and less storage required.

Think of the amount of money that would be involved in purchasing a full set of dumbbells ranging from 2k to 50k. Now think of the significantly lower investment of purchasing two dumbbells and a few weighted plates going up to 100k (meaning you can have a pair of 50k dumbbells).

Think of the investment that would be involved in buying a set of Kettlebells ranging from 2k to 50k. Now think of the significantly lower cost of purchasing a pair (or even one) of adjustable Kettlebells with weights that can be added in increments to continue overloading your body over time.

Both of the above  options give you a far more cost effective option and require alot less storage – it is very likely a full Steel weight rack would be needed to support a set of Kettlebells or Dumbells ranging from 2k – 50k, not to mention that the rack would be supporting a grand total of 1300k! In direct comparison an adjustable Kettlebell with the capability to construct 2 x 50k Kettlebells would weigh a very manageable 100k of weight and can simply be stored anywhere you choose.

As the reader you may now be wondering why everyone has not went out and bought an adjustable kettlebell?

As with most things in the fitness industry (and life in general) there exists an obvious downside. The adjustable kettlebell  suffers from the major downside of having to change weight, the exact same issue you have with barbells down the gym will exist at home with adjustable kettlebell.

For example,as anyone who has sculpted an athletic physique will attest to, one of the key training principles for building good quality muscle is to keep the intensity of your workout high.

The famous adage ‘you can train hard or you can train long, you can’t do both’ springs to mind.

If you are continuously having to adjust the weights the intensity of your Kettlebell Workout is severely hampered and so will your progress. This is the reason why any gym you walk into has fixed dumbbells and fixed kettlebells so people can keep the intensity and train with maximum results. Although......People don’t always do so and we have all witnessed groups of people having 5 minute interludes between sets, but that discussion is for another day, another post and another time.

As with most things, the choice of buying a full kettlebell set or a couple of adjustable Kettlebells (technically speaking, as most kettlebell exercises can be done with one hand, only one adjustable kettlebell is required for a kettlebell workout) is up to you.

It is worth noting that most adjustable Kettlebell sets you will find have a handle weighing 6k which for some beginners is already too heavy so those wishing to use adjustable Kettlebells may wish to purchase a 2k and 4k Kettlebell before moving onto the adjustable Kettlebell.

Can Kettlebells Make you Big?

The general principle for getting big or gaining muscle mass to be more precise, is and always has been the overload principle.

The saying ‘your body will improve to the degree of stress you place upon it’ sums this up perfectly.

So let’s look at the overload principle..............basically you start off shoulder pressing 40k, as your body adapts and tries to make movement easier for you, you will start to develop muscle mass in the deltoids which makes the weight appear lighter. Once this becomes easier and you can lift the 40k with little effort or for more reps, you start to shoulder press 50k.

Upon lifting 50k your body feels the extra stress of this and responds by trying to build more of and thicker muscle fibres in the deltoids and supporting muscles such as the triceps. You will also gain tendon strength in the wrist and elbows as the body does everything it can to make this easier.

The above pattern continues as you lift more and more weight – this is a basic explanation of the overload principle in building strength and muscle mass.

The overload principle is fine in theory; it does of course depend on a lot of other factors such as diet, rest and recovery and to some extent genetics.

Everyone will have a genetic potential for growth and strength and the role of genetics should never dismissed with physical development and performance – think of how many White sprinters you see in a 100 metre final line up and then thing of how many African American Swimmers you witnessed at the recent Olympic Games. The truth is that people from African decent tend to have denser bones which makes them heavier in the water and therefore they are usually at a disadvantage when it comes to swimming. People with African decent also tend to have a higher number of fast twitch muscle fibres which contributes to success in spring and power events.

The overload principle will also not work if the correct diet and recovery are not taking place – you will struggle to lift more and more if you are under nourished for instance and obviously you will also struggle to develop muscle without a protein rich diet.

Coming back to the original question..........Can Kettlebells make you big?

Of course they can, as can Barbells, Dumbbells and even bodyweight exercises to some extent. As long as the overload principle is followed and accompanied with good diet and rest you can get big, strong, powerful and lean using Kettlebell exercises.

 Any well designed Kettlebell Workouts will aid you in getting big as long as you remember the key points highlighted in this article.

Kettlebell Clean - The Foundation of Kettlebell Workouts

The Kettlebell Clean is the essential movement one needs to perfect to go on and have productful and enjoyable Kettlebell Workouts.

The Kettlebell Clean, as with the Barbell clean in weight lifting is the starting position for so many more advanced movements which are essential for building posterior power, strength and endurance. Not only is the clean important as a start position for compound pressing movements but as an exercise in itself it is excellent.

Unlike the Barbell Clean, this movement using Kettlebells can have a lot of varierty which is great for hitting the muscles from different angles and keeping your training fresh. Keping your training fresh is not only important to keep your body guessing but it prevents the mind becoming stagnant during your training sessions also.

The Kettlebell Clean can be performed from a Deadlift position which will improve brute strength as nothing increases raw power than lifting a dead weight from the ground up but can also begin from a hanging position with the Kettlebell beginning the movement at weist height. This is very similar to the half rep deadlift in which bodybuilders improve their overall strength and power by beginning the movement past the hardest stage.

Coming back to why the Kettlebell Clean is most effective............... It is quite simple really, once you can do this with perfect form, not only will your Hamstrings thank you for it but you will be much safer going into heavier compound movements which carry a higher risk of injury.

Kettlebell Workouts - Why Bother?

The rise in popularity of Kettlebell Workouts has not just been down to a celbrity fad or a sudden craze in Gyms and Health Centres, it in fact has a lot of history.

Often called the Russian Kettlebells, Russian Bodybuilders used these trange looking weights as far back as 300 years ago to sculpt massive and muscular bodies - all this without the science and nutrition, just good old fashioned hard work.

Obviously times have moved on and we have become a science driven society and the fitness industry has certainly become a science driven machine with even Joe Average now fully capable of advising on the difference in Electrolytes and also fully aware of the importance of High intesity Interval Training in the goal of fat burning.

And here it is.............. Kettlebell Workouts have now came back into fashion, not due to difficulty or celebrity endorsement but science. The science behind sculpting your ideal physique has riven us all to dust off the Kettlebells in the corner of they gym and ask the nearest training how they work.

The versatility of the Kettlebell will obviously keep it around for a long time to come and Kettlebell exercises are sprouting up all over the place as yet another traditional barbell or dumbell exercise gets it's very own Kettlebell twist.

Some serious science..... A study has shown that the average person will use 272 calories in a basic full body Kettlebell workout, combing this with the muscle sculpting impact (the amount of calories used to repair damaged muscle fibres) the toal calorie count for a 20 minute worout excedes 400 calories. The only other activity which can claim this would be up hill cross country Skiiing, and how many of us have that planned this weekend?

The potential to sculpt a concrete body in 20 minutes appeals to everyone and the fact is that the science backs it up! Granted, it is unlikely the first question one bodybuilder will become ' How much can you lift on your Kettlebell deadlift?' We all know that nothing will ever replace 'How much do you bench?'

We do anticipate seeing top class bodybuilders, strength athletes and top class athletes of all disciplines encorporating some use of the Kettlebell into their routine in the future. We have already seen the Kettlebell become cool via the internet so now it's time for your general keep fit enthusiast to give them a go.

Have fun, be safe and ring your Kettlebell.