Kettlebells are cannon ball shaped cast iron weights with a handle. They have been around for over 200 years in Russia. They can take the place of barbells, dumbells, belts for weighted pull-ups and dips, thick bars, lever bars, medicine balls, grip devices and cardio equipment.
Kettlebells claim to improve muscular strength, tone, fat loss and all-around fitness better than any another piece of equipment. Olympic weight lifters use kettlebells when they train.
Unlike dumbbells, kettlebells come in “poods”, an old Russian measure of weight that equals 16 kilograms, or roughly 35 pounds. An average man should start with 35 lbs, and an average woman should start with 18 lbs.
The popularity of kettlebell training have reached many gyms around the country, including the one I work at.
Kettlebell exercises are used by everyone from the weightlifter to the stay-at-home-mom. I see them used by clients at my gym, but only with a personal trainer who has been “trained” in using these weights.
My only concern is that sometimes I see the trainers allowing their clients to swing the kettlebell over head while they severely over arch their back. Any fitness profession with half a brain would tell you that this is horrible form that can lead to serious back injury.
As a Pilates instructor my work is all about form, so I immediately catch these things. But I’ve even had my clients come up to me and comment on how scary it is when THEY see people swing their backs around using the kettlebells.
Educate yourself. If you or your trainer decide to use kettlebells in your workout please watch your form, even if your trainer doesn’t do it for you. (Which is their job and why I have a problem with kettlebell training, thus writing this article). The last thing you want to do is throw your back out. Actually I think my real problem is with bad trainers who are not educated on proper form or care to help their clients achieve better posture and alignment.
While kettlebells may be a great workout, I think any type of exercise you choose is a great workout. Why? Because if you don’t like it chances are you won’t do it. But what’s not great about kettlebells is arching your back and using the wrong muscles to swing the kettlebell around. You can cause severe damage to your spine. As with any type of movement form always out ways function. Don’t sacrifice your form to lift more weight or do a movement you are not comfortable performing. With thousands of different ways to get in shape kettlebells are certainly a great option, but not the only.
If you choose to try kettlebells on your own here are a few exercises you can try, but please proceed with caution.
Entries (RSS)