Want to try Kettlebell Training? Here are answers to your questions!
What are the benefits of kettlebell training?
Why should I use a kettlebell?
Do kettlebells build strength?
Do kettlebells develop endurance?
Do kettlebells promote flexibility?
Do kettlebells produce coordination, quickness and agility?
Will the kettlebell help strengthen my back or shoulders?
What is kettlebell strength and conditioning at Grinder Gym?
What should I wear for a kettlebell workout?
What size Kettlebell is right for me?
What training equipment do kettlebells replace?
What do you need for kettlebell training at home or during open gym?
The kettlebell is best described as a cannonball with a handle. This simple Russian exercise tool that dates back to the 1700s can give you one serious workout, if used correctly. Kettlebells come in all weight sizes, from 9 to 108 lbs.
Definitely more demanding than a conventional dumbbell or barbell, the kettlebell is great for repetitive base lifting and for teaching principles essential to achieving any fitness or weight loss endeavor. It helps you to build strength, increase your flexibility, and improve your cardiovascular health. By design, the kettlebell constantly forces you to use your CORE and stabilizers to remain in control.
The kettlebell can help you to burn away fat and achieve lasting results that you can see and feel in the first few weeks of use. It’s a great all-in-one strength and conditioning tool.
What are the benefits of kettlebell training?
The kettlebell is truly an all-in-one fitness tool delivering incredible weight loss, fitness, and athletic performance development results. It offers your body feedback in a unique way uncovering how dynamic the human body actually is and can be. Kettlebell training combines components of athletic development, building multiple components of fitness simultaneously.
Why should I use a kettlebell?
Because the majority of the weight of the kettlebell is displaced from its center of mass, meaning that you are never handling it from the most optimal position (its center), it will feel heavier and provide more work.
The kettlebell will constantly challenge you, trying to throw you off balance, and as a result, encourage you to stabilize the body in every lift. The strength and endurance conditioning provided is not only to the major muscle groups, but also to the smaller more intricate postural musculature. Each lift asks the whole body to play a part; no part of the body is ever left out.
These demands lead to greater amounts of work imposed on the body, in less time, and teaches the body to learn to move and function as a ‘whole’ or integrated unit.
People from all walks of life use kettlebells. Everyone from military personnel and Olympic strong men to professional athletes and top fitness trainers have traditionally used this great training tool. However, its popularity has grown in recent years and now EVERYONE is using kettlebells for physical conditioning. This is because kettlebells are versatile, touching on all the major platforms of physical training (strength, flexibility, endurance, joint mobility, and health and rehabilitation).
Whether you are young or old, male or female, a newbie to exercise or a seasoned professional, the kettlebell can provide a challenging, efficient, and effective tool.
Do kettlebells build strength?
Yes. Kettlebell training lays the groundwork to develop incredible levels of strength by teaching you to find, connect, recruit, and incorporate more of your body into the production of force. The design of the kettlebell directs the body to include smaller postural musculature, and builds this strength right through to the tendons.
It accomplishes this through force production and force reduction. The primary kettlebell ‘Classical Lift’, the ‘Swing’, the ‘Clean & Jerk’ and the ‘Snatch’ all employ an eccentric loading process of the posterior chain or back portion of the body unique to its own nature. The kettlebell not only trains the body to produce greater amounts of work and force, but to be able to articulate the reduction of force. This is the ability to ‘catch oneself’ when falling, the ability to cut and change direction in sport, and absorb the blow of being checked or tackled and keep on moving.
It also accomplishes this through connective strength. This involves being able to link the body’s core with the extremities and elicit power right through this kinetic chain. This skill requires the recruitment of the connective tissue that spans across the body’s joints. Kettlebell training incorporates the use and development of these connective tissues (muscle and tendon) into every lift. The result is a high-level strength, creating stronger joints, superior posture, mechanics, and joint health—all of which carry over into any lifting, fitness, or athletic skill.
Do kettlebells develop endurance?
Yes. The kettlebell is a work capacity tool. The cardiovascular and strength endurance benefits of kettlebell lifting are completely unique and challenge the fitness levels of even the most conditioned endurance athletes. Marathon and distance runners shave as much as 12 minutes off their times in only a month of kettlebell and joint mobility practice.
Kettlebell training teaches the body efficient and effective use of energy during high repetition lifting. A pace must be set for the duration of the lift to maximize the use and application of force and an understanding of what is the appropriate amount of energy for the task. This is an extremely beneficial skill set to develop and to have in a strength and conditioning platform, especially for endurance athletes.
Do kettlebells promote flexibility?
Yes. Kettlebells also encourage a full range of motion in each lift, producing flexible bodies. This is again due to its design and how the tool is used.
Do kettlebells produce coordination, quickness and agility?
Yes. Kettlebell training builds coordination, quickness and agility while simultaneously developing your strength and cardiovascular conditioning.
This is done by inserting hand-to-hand drills or ‘juggling’ into your training regimen. You can also plug in a variety of footwork patterns to the basic ballistic lifts to give the repetition lifts a more dynamic component.
Will the kettlebell help strengthen my back or shoulders?
The kettlebell conditions your back to be strong and supple in movement. Unique exercises performed in static or dynamic positioning condition your back in even the most awkward angles. Because the majority of the weight of the kettlebell is removed from the handle, it maximizes rotator-cuff stability, shoulder joint health, and range of motion. The dynamic aspects of conditioning it provides, makes it an amazing platform for rehabilitative, injury preventative and strength-training development all around.
What is kettlebell strength and conditioning at Grinder Gym?
It is a combination of joint mobility and kettlebell training to create individual-based athletic development to achieve specific goals. Through assessments, refinement of quality movement and a progressive approach to skills development, we achieve fitness results and unlock the true athletic performance potential in every individual.
Our training environment is a comprehensive learning atmosphere, providing the client with the focus and guidance necessary to develop, perform, and excel in any movement skill set, practice or sport.
The great news is that ALL skills outlined here are combined into an encouraging and learning atmosphere.
Contact Dave DePew directly to book a New Student Orientation Session.
Cellular: (619) 840-8175 ***If you could Text would be great!
Setting up the orientation process is as easy as contacting us by phone. Make an appointment to see what we do in our unique facility. Orientations involve assessing your current level of physical fitness, determining clear fitness or athletic performance goals, and an introduction to the training.
Bring along a towel, exercise mat, lots of water (we also sell water), and please bring a small notebook and pen to take any notes and record details for your workout.
What should I wear for a kettlebell workout?
Wear comfortable clothing that allow you a full range of motion. Make sure they do not retain too much heat or allow you to be too cold. Layers are always great.
Flat-soled shoes are highly recommended but bare-foot Kettlebell training is ideal. You want to be able to grip and feel the ground with your feet to develop a better connection with the floor. This feedback is paramount. Shoes fitted with excessive cushioning disable your ability to feel the ground.
Running shoes or cross trainers are counterproductive and even dangerous when worn training with Kettlebells.
THE MORE WE CAN FEEL, THE MORE WE CAN DO.
Some examples of acceptable flat-soled shoes are Adidas soccer shoes, Converse Chuck Taylors, Diesel and Puma Speed Cats.
What size Kettlebell is right for me?
We can help you determine the one best suited to you. Generally, the majority of women start with either the 9kg (18 lbs) or 12kg (26 lbs) and gradually work up to 36 lbs. Most men will begin with either the 16kg (36 lbs) or 24kg (53 lbs). At Grinder Gym we offer a variety of different kettlebells classes that call for a range of different types, sizes and weight increments.
The advanced kettlebell practitioners will use competition kettlebells as high as 32kg (70 lbs).
Rates will range based on your commitment to our program. Check our
What training equipment do kettlebells replace?
Kettlebells replace barbells, dumbbells, belts for weighted pull-ups and dips, thick bars, lever bars, medicine balls, grip devices, and cardio equipment, and provide all the benefits of using these pieces of equipment to strengthen and condition the whole body and change body composition to any desired result.
What do you need for kettlebell training at home or during open gym?
If you want to do kettlebell
training at home, the following are recommended:
- Stopwatch
- Exercise mat
- Medicine ball
- Stability ball or BOSU
- Stretch band
- Reference material
- DVD workouts and sample instruction