It might sound odd but everybody is getting obsessed with kettlebells. Kettlebells look pretty similar to cannonballs but have a handle. They were invented in Russia in the 18th century and used consistently over centuries by the Russian military. Nowadays a kettlebell has been re-discovered by fitness clubs and is widely used in fitness training.
Kettlebells have become so popular because they offer miraculous results and thus are hot sales. Not just ordinary customers buy them but lots of celebrities also take them in their daily sport routine. The list of those who likes kettlebells includes such big names like Sylvester Stallone, Matthew McConaughey, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Aniston, Geri Halliwell and others. To add to that, top football clubs Chelsea and Liverpool factor kettlebells into their training and physiotherapists use them regularly in rehabilitation.
So, what’s so impressive about kettlebells? What’s the difference between swinging a kettlebell around and hefting barbells or free weights?
Unlike a dumbbell or barbell, the kettlebell’s centre of mass is offset from the handle,” explains trainer Jamie Lloyd. “This means the weight constantly pulls against your hand and requires not only strength and co-ordination, but also the use of the other muscles through your arms, shoulders and your core stabilizer muscles. You use around 600 muscles in a workout and exercise your cardiovascular system, too – it’s definitely a total body workout.”
As professionals say you don’t have to be super strong to train using kettlebells, for they come in different sizes and weights. The smallest weighs 4kg and the heaviest goes up to 48kg.
Training with kettlebells is much different from the one with standard weights, which are usually lifted carefully and slowly. You should fling kettlebells around with seemingly gay abandon. You can swing them, pump and pass them from hand to hand. The workout is fantastic. Some trainers say an hour of kettlebells helps a person to burn 1,500 calories (compared with 300-400 for normal weightlifting or an aerobics class).
A kettlebell class will supercharge your fitness and melt your unwanted fat,” comments Lloyd. “You’ll bust your belly fat, lose your love handles and feel fantastic, energized and strong. Keep it up for 30 days and you can drop a dress size.”
Of course no sport can be always safe but if you have proper instruction the risk is totally minimized. If you have learnt good technique once, you will always know how to prevent injuries.
But despite all that fuss and hyping the kettlebells one should understand that using just them doesn’t train all muscles of your body. Kettlebells can be just a part of your training regime but not the whole session if you want to achieve great results.
Now tell me: would you try kettlebells?
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July 9th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Those who have have disproportionate hips, have risk of suffering from bone degeneration, back problems, joint aches, rheumatism. To achieve fat-weight loss, exercise is important. One can go for kettlebell exercises. Various exercise can be performed with kettlebell. It helps to get fat reduction and taut muscles. And it is great for hip training. To get more knowledge on kettlebells exercise, refer http://www.zippy-health.com/hip-health-through-kettlebells-workouts/