Kettlebell Swinging – The Hot New Swingers Lifestyle For Health

What was old is new again.  Is it nostalgia?  Not this time.  Kettlebells have actually been around for hundreds of years in one form or another.  It’s just a tried and true method of “swinging” your way into shape that doesn’t involve big band music and poodle skirts.  So what is a kettlebell?  It’s basically a cast iron ball similar to a cannonball where a loop that you can grip is welded to the ball giving you the ability to lift it and even swing it every-which-way when doing whatever exercise or drills that come to mind.  Normally the weights you see will vary from 10-100lbs in varying increments.

The primary purpose of kettlebell training is to increase functional strength and explosive speed.  So most “swingers” in the kettlebell lifestyle are athletes who are training to increase their performance in their respective sport.  Honestly when I first saw them my question to those who use them was, “What’s the difference between kettlebells and dumbbells?”  Seeing as how both can be gripped with one (or sometimes two) hands, my first impression was that kettlebells are just another marketing scheme to sell fitness gear.  But the “swingers” swear by them for several reasons that are legitimate on several fronts.

When it comes to swinging a kettlebell with two hands, it has an advantage over a dumbbell since most dumbbells have a narrower grip.  This narrow grip in dumbbells is because A) they are really only meant for one-handed use, and B) they have plates on both sides that gives weight to the dumbbell.  Also, since kettlebells are a smooth and compact ball, it allows you to avoid bashing yourself in the knees if you are swinging the kettlebell between your legs.  With larger dumbbells you would have to perform the same movement with possibly an unnatural stance.

When it comes to stability for overhead presses, kettlebells are much more stable due to their lower center of gravity when compared to dumbbells.  In addition, the ball portion of the kettlebells stabilized since it will maintain contact with your forearm throughout the press that further adds stability.  In fact, dumbbells often require much more assistance from training partners when doing presses overhead since they are so unstable when using the heavier weights.  While instability is good for developing your coordination, the risk to reward ratio falls dramatically once you are getting into the weights that could severely injure you should you slip in the slightest.  Kettlebells also have risks of injury if used improperly, especially to the wrists, but as long as you are not performing the “catches” where you whip the weight around your wrist, your risk of injury is negligible if not non-existant altogether.

Finally many people just prefer training with kettlebells because they are quick to grab during transition when doing circuits and are less cumbersome during the movement.  Due to their flat bottom, kettlebells will not roll away from you if you need to put them down quickly only to pick them up quickly later.

Since kettlebells are dynamic pieces of training equipment, describing the complex movements of swinging and pressing does not do them justice.  Therefore we’ll be assembling a series of instructional videos that will give you a better idea of what to expect in this hot “new” trend in the fitness lifestyle and post them here.  In the meantime, feel free to ask our resident kettlebell expert coaches as to how you might incorporate them into your training.  If anything, kettlebells make for an outstanding source of variety to keep your training fresh and interesting.

Filed under: Kettlebells

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