Kettlebells

     I loves me some kettlebells. Some of you are probably thinking "Why would a grown man admit something like that?" I will grant you that kettlebells sort of have a bad reputation. And I understand why.

     Pavel Tsatsouline introduced kettlebells and his style of training to the USA in 1998. And almost over night, I began seeing kettlebells everywhere. The trouble is, most of the people hawking kettlebells had zero clue about how to use them. We had clowns telling people to use kettlebells for their 5x5 training. Others said that kettlebells were great for bodybuilding. I even saw a commercial for an at home training DVD, where the models were just holding tiny, pink kettlebells directly out in front of them. Seriously, what the heck people?

     So i completely understand why kettlebells have a bad reputation. But don't judge the implement harshly just because some jackasses do stupid crap with them. Let me be clear, kettlebells are not good for bodybuilding. And they aren't good for strength training. They will work in a pinch if you can't make it to the gym for a week or two. But if your main goal is getting huge and/or strong, kettlebells aren't going to be your main training apparatus.

     But kettlebells shine in one area; ballistic exercises done for high reps...or usually for very high reps. What do I mean by "ballistic movements"? Ballistic exercises are exercises where speed is an inherent trait of the exercise. The Olympic lifts and their variants done with a barbell are a perfect example. You can't slow down the speed of a snatch and successfully complete the lift.

     Ballistic exercises commonly done with a kettlebell include kettlebell snatches, cleans, jerks and swings. There are others. like the kettlebell high pull, but basically nobody does them. Snatches, cleans, jerks and swings are the meat and potatoes of kettlebell training.

     So what do I mean by "high reps"? I mean sets of 100 or more reps. In competitive kettlebell lifting, competitors do as many reps as they can in 10 minutes without setting the bells down. I imagine a 10 minute set is very painful.

    I imagine you're saying. "So what? You're doing weird exercises with a weird implement for high reps. What's the big deal?" The big deal is that ballistic movements done for high reps are amazing for fat loss and conditioning. And because of their shape kettlebells are great for doing ballistic movements for high reps.

     If you wanted to do 1 arm snatches, but wanted to do lower rep sets to focus on strength, then a barbell would be the implement to use. Let me tell you, heavy 1 arm barbell snatches are very cool. But when it comes to doing higher reps, barbells and dumbbells aren't so good. After lowering a barbell or dumbbell, you have to reset before each rep.  The way kettlebells are shaped, allows you to get into a rhythm, like in this video:

     You can't really get into rhythm like that with barbells or dumbbells.

     Pave Tsatsouline in one of his books tells of a Russian study where two groups are run through a battery of tests designed to test general fitness. Each of the two groups were assigned to a training protocol. One group trained by doing the exercises they had been tested on. The other group trained with kettlebells. After several weeks the groups were retested on the same battery of exercises. The scientist found that the group that trained with kettlebells actually had bigger improvements.

     Tracy Reifkind lost a 100 lb in less than a year, doing just kettlebell swings three times per week. She ended up losing 120 lb in less than 15 months.

This woman needs to take off the gloves and forearm protection.

     I personally lost a ton of fat in about 6 weeks by adding 2 sets of swings to my regular strength training. I'm not the kind of person who measures my food. I don't even weigh myself. I was just in front of a mirror without a shirt on one day and something just caught my eye. I could see my abs. I wasn't super cut by any means. But I did it with zero dieting and no special training beyond 2 sets of swings per day, 5-6 days per week.

     Kettlebellers talk a lot about what they call the "What the Hell" effect. Basically after spending a few months training seriously with kettlebells, you'll find other things are easier. You'll casually run up a flight of stairs, instead of slowly trudging up them. Helping your buddy move his couch will be a piece of cake.

     My WTH moment came when a friend and I needed to unload a 40 semi trailer packed with many tons of frozen food. And I don't mean unload by using a dolly. Because of the setup, we had to unload it by hand. I don't know how long it took, but it was a lot of work. When it was all over, I remember thinking "That wasn't that bad. Huh, must be the kettlebells." I was barely sore the next day.

     And that, gentlemen, is why I loves me some kettlebells.