Kettlebells are a traditional Russian training tool with a history dating back to 1704, where used by strongmen and the Russian Elite Military Forces to develop supreme functional fitness and also for injury rehabilitation. A Kettlebell looks like a cannonball with a handle and will sometimes appear daunting to first-time users, however, Kettlebells are becoming more and more well known and used within the fitness industry because of their versatility and ability to create fast results in a short period of time.
One of the main reasons Kettlebells are an inferior training tool is because the balance of the Kettlebell is not even placed like a dumbbell. It’s this displaced center of balance which forces the body to work harder in stabilizing every muscle, especially the core muscles in order to stay balanced and in control.
High-intensity training is the best way to reduce body fat and Kettlebells are an excellent tool to train with in order to keep intensity levels high. There are many exercises which can be performed with a Kettlebell; however, the main exercise would be the Swing, which quickly gets the heart rate up as it requires every muscle in the body to stay activated, even the deep stabilizing muscles will be working hard. It’s this extra intensity the muscles are put under during a workout which will increase your metabolism and increase fat loss, in fact within 20min of Kettlebell training you have the potential to burn faster and build more muscle than double that time on a cardio machine!
Training with Kettlebells will provide you with results such as;
- Fat loss and muscle definition
- Increased strength
- Improved cardiovascular fitness
- Increased explosive power and agility
- Flexibility
- Injury prevention and rehabilitation
- Increased tendon and ligament strength
Kettlebells can be an enjoyable training tool for everyone, from someone who wants to get fit and lose some body fat to elite athletes. A lot of women will be put off using a Kettlebell because they will think that it will cause them to look ‘bulky’, this is not the case though and many ‘non-bulky’ celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez will use Kettlebells in their fitness routines.
A good short Kettlebell routine which will quickly get the heart rate up is the Kettlebell Complex, click the video below to watch the workout.
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