What is Kettlebell Training?
In other words, kettlebell training is any type of workout that uses kettlebells as part of the routine. Incorporating kettlebell versions of certain lifts into your accessory work can help improve your strength. This could possibly mean that you are using kettlebells to help with your rehabilitation or to improve your cardiovascular health.
Kettlebell training could make up the majority of your exercise routine. If you're looking to improve your strength, endurance, and athleticism, kettlebell-only programs can be very effective. These programs incorporate traditional weightlifting exercises like overhead presses, deadlifts, squats, and bench presses, but with kettlebells instead of dumbbells or barbells.
So kettlebell programs focus more on making you stronger and helping your endurance rather than just teaching individual moves. Kettlebells are a very versatile piece of equipment that can help with many different fitness goals.
Brief History of the Kettlebell
The history of the kettlebell – or Girya (in Russian) – spans back more than 300 years. Its first mention was in a Russian dictionary from 1704.
The first appearance of the kettlebell was in Russia, where it was used as a tool to counterbalance and measure rations of food accurately. The standard weights originated from measuring in poods.
But the unique tools quickly became a source of national pride for Russia.
Kettlebell-lifting gireviks often gave stunning displays of strength, coordination, and endurance while entertaining guests at social gatherings.
In Russia, the kettlebell is a matter of national pride and is seen as a symbol of strength. This text is discussing how in the past, any strongman or weightlifter was called a girevik, or a man who used kettlebells. Steeled, or strengthened, by their kettlebells, many Russian boys have become men over the years.
There was no denying the effectiveness of the tool and it was soon being used by Russian military and law enforcement teams.
The Red Army and the kettlebell are insparable. Within every Russian military unit is a gym referred to as the courage corner. These gyms are always equipped with kettlebells. Other countries spend time testing their soldiers with push-ups, but Russia prefers to test kettlebell snatches with a 53-pound kettlebell. Even the Russian federal tax police, who are not known for their skills with firearms, prefer to use kettlebells for strength training.
The kettlebell was very popular in Russia, but it did not have the same impact on the fitness industry in America.
The popularity of kettlebells started to rise at the beginning of the 21st century when Pavel Tstatsouline and his team brought their Russian secrets over to America and started to tell people about the incredible power of kettlebells.
While kettlebells have been around for centuries, most people today don't really understand how they work.
The don't realize the potential that that metal object has.
Benefits of Kettlebell Training
The main reason kettlebells have been around for so long is because they're effective. Working out with kettlebells has many benefits.
Here are some of the things kettlebells can do for you:
- Improve your cardiovascular fitness and build great work capacity,
- Stimulate your nervous system with explosive movements,
- Improve functional strength for everyday life and athletic performance,
- Improve your balance, coordination, and mental focus,
- Improve flexibility,
- Teach your body how to work as a unit (not in isolation),
- Develop exceptional mental toughness,
- Develop dense, intelligent muscle,
- Incredible fat loss potential due to the high metabolic nature of training,
- Develop incredible grip strength,
- Build a rock-solid posterior chain,
- Improve your overall core strength,
- Effective rehabilitating tool,
- Improve the strength of connective tissues,
- Improve workout efficiency (more benefits in less time),
- Allow you train anywhere and everywhere while saving you money.
Kettlebell Safety
The kettlebell is a unique fitness tool.
Your body will have a different reaction to a kettlebell than it will to a dumbbell or barbell. There is a lot of movement or activity involved in this tool.
When large metal objects are moving quickly, safety becomes a concern.
A lot of people use kettlebells without understanding how the activity works. Instead of focusing on the basics first, they jump into more advanced exercises.
Before you ever pick up your first kettlebell, there are some simple safety rules you need to follow:
Start off slowly. The goal is to slowly increase your training load. Don't try to do a hundred kettlebell swings on your first day of training. Be smart. Progress at your own pace.
Be aware of your surroundings. It is important to create a safe environment to workout in by ensuring that the area is clear of any potential hazards that could cause you to trip. Never try to save the kettlebell. There will be moments when the kettlebell seems to have a mind of its own and escapes your grip. Never try to save it. Always let it go. Let the object fall to the ground and then move away from it.
Wear appropriate shoes. This is to ensure you can keep good mobility in your ankles and not jam them when doing things like the kettlebell swing. Choose shoes for kettlebell training with a relatively low heel to keep your ankles mobile and prevent injury during movements like the kettlebell swing. The Vibrams and simple Chuck Taylors are great minimal shoes.
Master the hip hinge first. Without the hip hinge, you would not be able to generate the power needed to perform movements like the kettlebell swing, snatch, or clean. The hip hinge is a movement pattern that is essential to generate power for movements like the kettlebell swing, snatch, or clean. To properly execute the hip hinge movement pattern, check out The Hip Hinge: How to Master this Primal Movement Pattern.
Develop and use proper technique. You shouldn't work out with too much intensity until you have perfected the technique.
Focus at all times. When working with kettlebells, you need to be focused the whole time, from when you pick it up off the floor to when you put it back down. Do not concentrate on developing the technique and then make it haphazard. This is where you’ll get hurt.
Listen to your body. This applies to every form of training. Now that you are on the mend, it is important to listen to your body’s signals of when you need to rest and when you are able to push yourself a little bit more.
Programming Kettlebell Training for Beginners
Your form should always be your priority, whether you're new to lifting in general or just new to kettlebells. If you don't want to do a lot of swinging, your swing probably isn't very good. Instead of lifting heavy weights every day, lift lighter weights a few times a week to improve your form and get used to the movement.
If you have your form down, you can improve your kettlebell programming. If your main goal is to improve your barbell lifts, you should include kettlebell training as part of your routine to help with conditioning and recovery. Replace some of your dumbbell exercises with kettlebell moves, rather than just doing them at the end. This will help you maintain a reasonable workout volume to avoid overtraining.
To put more emphasis on kettlebells in your workout routine, proceed in the same way you would when designing any workout routine. Assess your goals first and foremost. Are you trying to get strong? Build muscle? Change your body composition?
Working with kettlebells will probably help you achieve all these goals to some extent. The type of kettlebell training you do will depend on what you want to achieve. As long as you are careful not to overdo it, you can train with kettlebells as often as you would with a barbell.
Kettlebell Exercises for Beginners
This is not an exhaustive list of kettlebell exercises that build a foundation, but rather a selection of some of the foundational movements often included in kettlebell routines. To give yourself a more difficult workout (after you have mastered the ones below), try some of these top kettlebell exercises for athletes.
Kettlebell Swing
The standard for functional fitness competitions is the American kettlebell swing. There are various ways to do a swing, but the most common way is to use your hips to push the weight up and over your head in one fluid movement.
Before attempting the standard swing, be sure to warm up your shoulders and lats to ensure active shoulder mobility. This is a great way to build power and muscle in your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.
Kettlebell Press
This movement is good for developing strength in one arm, stabilization of the shoulder and core, and building muscle. If you want to improve how you press, the one-arm strict press can help you improve your form and increase your power.
This kettlebell variation will offer the same benefits as overhead pressing, while also allowing you to build a collection of kettlebell exercises.
Goblet Squat
The goblet squat is an alternative to the traditional squat that is easier to learn and does not require as much mobility. It is a very natural squatting position for beginners.
This variation of the squat can be used to teach proper squatting mechanics, increase range of motion, and even be built into warm-up routines as a primer for your barbell work.
Kettlebell Lunge
The kettlebell lunge is a unilateral exercise for the lower body that helps to balance out the squatting and hinging movements. The weight can be held in the front-rack, goblet, or overhead positions.
This movement is versatile and can be performed with different types of lunges in multiple directions. It is important to include some single-leg exercises in your training routine from the very beginning in order to maintain a balanced body.
Kettlebell High Pull
This variation of the high pull is necessary to learn in order to develop the control and timing needed for the explosive Olympic-style movements of the clean and snatch.
It is important to have good timing while performing the exercise. Generate force with your lower body before using your arms to pull the bell. If you time it correctly, you can improve your athleticism while also training your upper back.
Kettlebell Carry
Carrying a load is a great way to teach your core how to stabilise your body, as well as improving your overall body awareness. There are many benefits to using kettlebells in your workout routine, including increasing your total body strength and awareness, which can impact your overall athleticism and injury resilience. Carrying kettlebells can also help to diversify your workout routine.
Types of Kettlebells
There are different styles and types of kettlebells, but they all fall under two main kettlebell categories:
- Professional Grade Steel Kettlebells
- Standard Grade Cast Iron Kettlebells
It helps to know the difference between the two.
The main difference is the material used to make the kettlebell. There is a difference in quality between professional grade and standard grade kettlebells. Professional grade kettlebells are made from steel while standard grade ones are made of cast iron.
But there is another more important difference: the size and weight of the kettlebell.
Kettlebell Exercises
I love kettlebells because they provide the opportunity to be creative with your exercises and your workouts.
There are two types of kettlebell exercises:
- Traditional kettlebell exercises
- Non-traditional kettlebell exercises
The exercises that are done with kettlebells that come from girevoy sport and are still used today in competitions are considered traditional. This encompasses the snatch, jerk, and long-cycle clean & jerk.
There are other exercises that can be done with a kettlebell that may not be used in competition, but are still considered traditional exercises. Some of the most popular exercises that can be done with a kettlebell are the kettlebell swing, the clean, and the Turkish get-up.
Kettlebell exercises that strays from the norm, are usually done with dumbells and barbells but can be done with a kettlebell as well. Instead of listing them all off, take a second to watch this video I created where I showcase 69 kettlebell exercises:
When getting started…
To begin kettlebell training, grip strength should be increased. If you don't have good grip strength, there are some things you can't do.
Around the Body Series: -Start with your right hand on your left shoulder -Reach across your body with your left hand and grab your right shoulder -Pull your right shoulder down and to the left while simultaneously pushing your left shoulder up and to the right -Release and repeat on the other side Around the Head Series: -Start with your right hand on your forehead -Reach up with your left hand and grab your right hand -Pull your right hand down and to the left while simultaneously pushing your head up and to the right -Release and repeat on the other side Once you have mastered the Swing Series, you can move on to the Deadlift Series. Progress slowly and only do things you are comfortable with.
Kettlebell Workouts
Kettlebells Kettlebells are a great way to add creativity and efficiency to your workouts.
Kettlebells are beneficial because they allow you to create brief but effective workouts when you have limited time. You can raise your heart rate and stimulate your muscles in just 20 minutes.
There are a number of ways you can incorporate kettlebells into your workouts:
Circuit training is a great way to get a full body workout using kettlebells. You can mix and match different kettlebell exercises to create an effective circuit. You can select four to five kettlebell exercises and create a circuit with them. You can also combine your kettlebell exercises with other types of exercises, such as bodyweight exercises, jump rope exercises, or cardio exercises, to create a variety of workouts. The possibilities are endless.
The goal of most competitive kettlebell exercises is to see how many repetitions you can do in a short period of time. This kind of training is difficult, but it will improve your ability to work like nothing else can. How many repetitions of an exercise can you do in a short amount of time? You should continue writing down your numbers, and also prepare a vomit bucket in case you need it.
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training): HIIT is a very popular form of training because of its metabolic effects. Choose a kettlebell exercise and set up a schedule of intervals, for example 30 seconds of activity followed by 30 seconds of rest. Now alternate between the two movements for a set period of time, like 5 minutes, and perform this sequence a few times. Again, get that puke bucket ready.
The “ladder” format is a strength-training strategy that is described in the book “Enter the Kettlebell!”. You start the ladder with one repetition, then take a very short rest. Move to two reps and take another short rest. Three reps; another short rest. Move your way up to whatever number you want. You can use this method for any kettlebell exercise you want, not just single-armed exercises like the clean & press, snatch, or jerk. To make the workout even more challenging, after you reach your final rep, go back down the ladder until you reach one rep.
The kettlebell can be used as a warm-up tool on days that involve a lot of pulling movements. Some exercises that work well for this purpose are from the series “Around the Body” and “Around the Head.” The kettlebell training programs below will provide you with more information on the types of workouts and training programs available to you.
