The Substantial Benefits of Kettlebell Training
How do kettlebells get you in the best shape of your life? How are kettlebells so efficient?
In this post, i will be explaining to you the reason as to why kettle bells can help you get in the best shape of your life, why they are so efficient, endless amounts of exercises you an perform with them, and lastly, why they are so overlooked
Let’s begin…
What are kettlebells?:
Kettlebells are a type of weight that you can use when it comes to exercises in the form of functionality, mobility, stability, hypertrophy, strength training, conditioning all into one.
Benefits:
1. Full body workout
What makes the kettlebell so efficient is that they provide you with a full body workout with just one kettlebell. Yes, you read that correctly, ONE KETTLEBELL. You are able to perform an exercise where more than one muscle group is working at the same time. Very efficient! Some of these movements will involve kettlebell swings, snatches, clean, jerk, Turkish get up, Gorilla rows and the list goes on. The full body workout will be dramatically increasing your strength, mobility, stability, flexibility, movement through longer rangers of motion and to top it all off, endurance. So, if you’re someone that is in a hurry, then kettlebells are perfect for you.
2. Efficiency and Versatility
You can perform workouts with a two kettlebells or even a single kettlebell. This is what makes them so great, they are extremely versatile and it you don’t require an excessive amount of equipment. All you need is a kettlebell (or 2) and some space and you’re good to go. Kettlebell’s do help to simplify things for you as your perform a whole workout session with just 1 or 2 kettlebells, without having to worry too much about the usage of other pieces of equipment and you can just crack on.
3. Strength Development
Now, because you’re moving you’re through different planes and ranges of motion, this will increase your strength and power through these different planes and ranges of motion. Performing various exercises with a medium to heavy kettlebell will increase your overall strength that you could now of dreamed of before. Why? Well, as I previously stated, you’re taking your body through different planes and ROMs (range of motions) that you may have done when exercising, which is crucial for your overall health and overall body strength. Overtime, you will be looking to increase the weight of the kettlebell, to give your body a new stimulus of a heavy weight which it needs to get used to, which is going to increase your strength overtime.
4. Improving Asymmetry
When i refer to different planes, i am referring to the Sagittal Plane, Transverse Plane and Frontal Plane. In the modern day of exercising and using gym equipment, especially when it comes to the compound lifts, they are all (specifically squats, deadlifts and overhead press) moving in the Sagittal Plane. And we seem to forget the two other planes. When it comes to kettlebells, you are able to move through all 3 planes which will increase your overall body strength through these planes as well as improving your asymmetry.
5. Core Strength
Now this one, is my favourite. So pay attention. A lot of people seem to lack core strength especially when it comes to everyday life, the gym, performing activities, the strength of out core seems to be overlooked…massively. But why it that? Well, with the gym rats today, they just want to look big and aesthetic, whilst completely ignoring the functionality of the core and its strength. Not just whether you have a six pack or not. The same goes with everyday life, as our core is an essential part of our strength to be able to rotate, balance, hold a position, movement, bearing a load, our core is vital for our everyday performance. What the kettlebell does is it greatly improves the strength, functionality and stability of our core.
How does it doe this? Well, as i alluded to in tip number 4, the kettlebell will be moved through the 3 different planes, and what this does is it improves our core strength through each of these planes. By performing different kettlebell core focused exercises, as well as other kettlebell movements where our core is involved, you will release the tremendous effects this will have on your core. Some of these exercises include: Kettlebell Swings, Crossbody Kettlebell swings; Kettlebell Pull Throughs; Farmers Walks; Around The Worlds; Suitcase Carries; Halos; Bent-over Rows, honestly the list goes on and there are multiple variations for these. But these are some of my go-to’s.
For people who prioritise weight lifting, you should be performing these kettlebell core exercises to improve your core strength. Now, if you don’t want to perform them because they don’t give you aesthetic abs. That’s just stupid, because you can get aesthetic abs from these movements, but more importantly, the main benefit of them is to improve your core strength. Now if you were to put this into practise, you can train these movements straight after your functional lifts to improve the mind-muscle connection with your core. This will also help with your brace when you are performing your compound lift as it will greatly improve your core strength and stability as you will find it a lot easier to lift and perform with those weights.
Athletes will be training their core on a consistent basis. Why? Because they will be taking their body through different movements and ranges of motion when they are performing in their sport. They need to have the best stability and strength because they may have to quickly change direction, they may get hit from the side, they will have to perform quick manoeuvres, they will have to be able to take a hit full-on. They need all of these and more to be the elite of the elite. There’s a lot of training which you don’t see them do, and kettlebell core strength and stability is one of them which has enabled them to reach the heights they have reached.
6. Focus on Functional Movement/Functionality:
What is functional movement? Well, to put it into simple terms, they are movements that we perform in our everyday lives. How do kettlebells improve our functionality? We know that functionality is things that we commonly do in our everyday lives such as picking up objects, squatting/bending over, rotations etc. and with kettlebell training, it enables us to be able to more through these movements that we so commonly do. This will in-turn improve our strength and most importantly our coordination. Performing KB swings, KB lunges, KB squats, Gorilla rows, Farmer walks and suitcase carries, Cross Body KB Swings and so much more.
To an extent, a majority (if not, then all) movements you perform in the gym on the equipment available to you, will be functional to an extent. But not all of the movements you may perform, you will not perform on a daily basis. Furthermore, they do not go through the whole range of motion, ad as i alluded to previously, they seem to only mainly move through the Sagittal Plane, which can cause asymmetry.
So the functionality of kettlebell training is something that cannot be ignored and you should be utilising it to its greatest affect.
7. Better Cardiovascular Fitness - Increase in Body Fat Loss
Another key aspect of kettlebell training is that it will greatly improve your cardiovascular fitness, which leads to an increase in the loss of body fat. Some of the exercises that you will perform with kettlebells will increase your heart rate, which overtime will improve your cardiovascular fitness/endurance. And this also leads to your body losing it’s fat due to the fact that the exercises you will be performing with kettlebells will be very intense (your heart rate will increase due to the intensity of the exercise, which will increase your energy output. Your body will use up more of it’s fat storage in-order to convert this into energy via ATP - Adenosine Triphosphate) due to the fact that it is a continuous form of training. Furthermore, because the exercises you would be performing will tend to be using your full-body, this will also promote fat loss due to the intensity - increase in your metabolism.
If your looking to have better cardiovascular fitness as well as decreasing your body fat, then it will be very beneficial for you to perform your workout session in the form of a HIIT session (High Intensity Interval Training). What is a HIIT session? HIIT is essentially in the name, a high intensity exercise training session, with intervals. How can i put this into practice with kettlebells? You may have a plan that looks like a follows:
30 seconds KB swings, 30 seconds rest
30 seconds KB Halos, 30 seconds rest
30 seconds KB racked squats, 30 seconds rest
30 seconds Cross body KB swings, 30 seconds rest
30 seconds KB bent-over rows, 30 seconds rest
30 seconds of KB clean and press, 30 seconds rest
And then repeat the cycle for 2-4 times
8. Improves Your Posture
It’s not secret that our posture today is not optimal, to say the least. And this can have a serious impact on your athletic performances as well as your everyday life. But how do kettlebells improve your posture? We know that kettlebells cover a wide variety of movements, but, the best components of some of the kettlebell exercises are that they work on our glutes, hamstrings, lower back, abs/core, mid and upper back, shoulders extremely well. These muscles in particular, are so important for our posture as they are all (expect for your abs) are based on your posterior chain. Our posture isn’t just singled out to our upper body, mainly our shoulders and neck, but it is our whole body make-up. To have an improved posture, we need all of these muscle groups to be firing on all cylinders in order to live a healthier life. Performing exercises such as kettlebell swings are so important to reduce our anterior pelvic tilt. This arises due to us sitting down all day and not having any functional glutes due to us sitting down all day. Kettlebell swings as i have pointed out, does wonders for our hips, but it is also very beneficial for our glutes, hamstrings, core, upper mid (mainly traps) and lower back. The KB swings enable us to establish an excessive amount of power in our hips that we so desperately need, and we are so void of. If you don’t do hip thrusts with a barbell, then KB swings are a great, and dare i say it, an even better alternative for our hip activation as it also works multiple other muscle groups as stated above.
Also, performing farmers walks (a kettlebell in either hand), is also so key for developing a better posture. This exercise works all of your back as well as your legs because you are walking with this wight, and you have to stay up-right in order to perform this exercise successfully and the reap the rewards from it. And also your core as well.
9. Control, Coordination, Mobility
Another one of the great benefits to training with kettlebells is that they tackle all 3 of the above. To be able to move the kettlebell through different ranges of motion, all be it if your swinging the kettlebell, snatching it, pressing it, holding it up right, it requires an immense amount of control to be able to control the weight throughout the difference movements, to get a peek muscle contraction and to condition those muscles whilst under the resistance of the kettlebell. Time under tension is something you should also prioritise when training with kettlebells, as this is an important factor for control of the weights as they are loaded onto your muscles.
You are also going to need good coordination when training with kettlebells, especially the more advanced you get with them. So when you are exercising with kettlebells, it will improve your coordination with different muscle groups in your body to be able to perform to a good-high standard with KBs. When performing the kettlebell swing, there will be and needs to be coordination from your glutes, to your hamstrings, to your lower-back, to your core, to your upper back, to your grip, it flows from one muscle group to the next. The same can be applied with KB snatches, as you have to use your hips to drive the movements through, legs to help drive the movement more, shoulders to be able to catch the KB overhead as well as good shoulder mobility, and finally a good grip to be able to keep the KB overhead and to press with it. Turkish get-ups are a very good KB exercise to establish coordination throughout your whole body and they work exceptionally well in a warm up.
Kettlebells are also great for your mobility. Mobility is to be able to move for freely and to be able to control the movement easier. Now kettlebells are great for enhancing ones mobility as you will be moving the kettlebell through the 3 different planes of motion that is essential to improve asymmetry. Not many weights that you find in the gym will enable you to be mobile with them, whilst kettlebells are so versatile they obviously offer a great range of exercises, and mobility exercises are one of them. Exercises like the kettlebell snatch, swing, crossbody swing, Turkish get-up, halos, combat stance and so much more.
10. Grip Strength
Due to the fact they you will be performing kettlebell exercises consistently with a good amount of intensity, this will enable you to establish an excellent grip strength. You may well be performing kettlebell exercises in the form of a circuit or a HIIT session, which means that you will be performing on exercise after the next. Therefore, this will greatly improve your grip strength. You may also perform kettlebell exercises like a flow, and a it suggests, you will be constantly flowing with the KBs so this will also greatly improve your grip strength. Grip strength is an important factor in our everyday lives as we are always picking something up. So by training with KBs this is only going to improve your grip strength which will also allow you to be able to lift and perform with much heavier weights and KBs.
11. Personal Review
Since i have started training with kettlebells i have noticed a difference when it comes to my power, flexibility, mobility, stability, strength, rotation, physique, and my overall performance. I have found that they are very fun and challenging (in a good way) to use. There are so many variations to kettlebell exercises that you will never be short of ideas! They excellent for working your full body, especially if you are short on time, but in general, they are great for a full body workout and improving the performance of the different muscle groups. I have only recently really dived into kettlebell training, as i realised that the weights we so commonly use today, aren’t necessarily efficient for us and they don’t really work for us in the ways we so desperately need. As well as injuring myself with the other eights available, i wanted a change, and i quickly found out that kettlebell training is right up my street and it is something i wish i had done ages ago. I enjoy the versatility and efficiency of kettlebell training and the way it gets your body working. As someone who prioritises calisthenics, i have found that kettlebells are a great help when it comes to my bodyweight performance as i continue to match them both together during my sessions.
Our ancestors didn’t have the modern day gym we had access to, yet they were still is excellent physical condition due to the functionality of their everyday lives and physical activity, which enabled them to be aesthetic and combat ready. You can develop an aesthetic and functional/mobile body by training more for functionality and conditioning of your body. Pair this with a good and healthy diet and you will be seeing the results both physically and mentally in no time. And as always…
Health is Wealth!