New Year, New Workout, Why Not Kettlebells?

It is a new year and many will make resolutions to workout. They will find themselves in gyms full of tons of equipment. A machine that works this muscle or that muscle, it isolates so you can feel the burn. The real question is when in real life do you just use one muscle to do anything? The body is meant to work together as a machine. All the muscles working together to perform a function efficiently and as injury free as possible, whether it be walking up stairs or fighting for your life. That is where kettlebells come in. Few tools can give you a cardio, muscle building, speed building, and power building workout as well as Kettlebells can.

I have been training with kettlebells now for over 10 years. I was first introduced to them in the military, where efficiency of movement and incorporation of all muscles working together are key. Since my time in the military I have worked as a paramedic for a primary 911 provider in Texas. Being a paramedic requires lifting and being able to move weight from strange angles. More often than not the movement has to be fast because a life depends on it. I believe, no I know that my training with kettlebells has kept me injury free and improved my ability to do my job. Not to mention kept me in quite good shape.

So what is a kettlebell? A ‘kettlebell’ is a traditional Russian cast iron weight that looks like a cannonball with a handle. Most “traditional” gyms do not have kettlebells available for use. The reason for this is that most people don’t understand them and most trainers do not know how to use them. Kettlebells can be purchased via the internet, I purchased mine at a fitness equipment store. I even recently saw them for sale in Academy Sports.

Most men will start with a 35lb kettlebell working up to a 53lb kettlebell and women will start with an 18lb kettlebell and can move up to a 26lb one.

Don’t think that you will have to go out and buy a whole rack of kettlebells. One 35lb kettlebell can give you a full workout. I only own one 35lb, two 45lb, and one 53lb and I have been training with them for almost 10 years.

Kettlebells are great for a home “gym” or to incorporate them into your health club workout. I personally, have kettlebell only workouts and I also take them to the gym and incorporate them into some barbell workouts. The whole key is to keep changing things up and keeping my body guessing, but I’ll get into that in other articles about specific routines with them.

The new year is here and you are looking to get rid of the gut, fit in that dress, become healthier, or just find a better way to train. Kettlebell training is the answer. So go out and investigate a few sites like these www.dragondoor.com , www.liftkettlebells.com , www.uskettlebells.com and then come on back to check out some exercises and routines I will be posting. Let this be the start of a stronger, leaner, more powerful you. Hope to see you soon.