Kettlebell Workouts

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vjsinger

vjsinger

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Yesterday I got my fat butt up and went to the gym. When I was there I saw a guy working out with a rather strange looking piece of iron. I went over, in between his grunting and screaming, to ask what he was doing with that medieval torture device. He told me it was a Kettlebell and well...he wasn't the most personable guy so thats about all I got out of him. I watched him for a while and the excersises he did seemed to target all muscle groups and it looked really difficult. I thought it would be a good way to sweat and learn how to control your body. Does anyone do this stuff and if so, where do I start if I want to get into it?

Thanks
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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Yep, I've done/do just about anything you can think of. Nothing special except that it adds some variety to my other training. They seem to be the "hot" item now in fitness. People swear by the results but it's just because they weren't doing anything before. A male in decent shape can start out with ONE 35lb. After you get more advanced you can try 2.
 
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mb6606

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Goes along with old style Indian Club workouts - which are probably better for golf.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eaq2U6xUJAg&feature=channel[/media]
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

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mb6606 said:
Goes along with old style Indian Club workouts - which are probably better for golf.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eaq2U6xUJAg&feature=channel[/media]
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I like the "Check your ego at the door" sign in the background. I think he needs some Tiki torches or something in that gym:) Thanks for the post.
 
FloydPT38

FloydPT38

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Go for the DVD - you want to see someone using good form. The kettlebell is a good tool. And like curtisj76 says you can do a lot with the 35lb or 1 pood. Not sure where the name came from.
You can find a lot of articles and routines on the web regarding the kettlebell. A DVD is good for the form instruction and if you're serious there are a few instructors scattered around.
Pavel is the man when it comes to the kettlebell but you don't have to buy one from Dragondoor. It's good but expensive. I bought my first one there but have bought numerous ones since from other places and they have been fine and less expensive. Get training ideas from his site/videos etc.
Haven't used the indian clubs but the idea is good.
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

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FloydPT38 said:
Go for the DVD - you want to see someone using good form. The kettlebell is a good tool. And like curtisj76 says you can do a lot with the 35lb or 1 pood. Not sure where the name came from.
You can find a lot of articles and routines on the web regarding the kettlebell. A DVD is good for the form instruction and if you're serious there are a few instructors scattered around.
Pavel is the man when it comes to the kettlebell but you don't have to buy one from Dragondoor. It's good but expensive. I bought my first one there but have bought numerous ones since from other places and they have been fine and less expensive. Get training ideas from his site/videos etc.
Haven't used the indian clubs but the idea is good.
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Thanks for the info.
 
tongzilla

tongzilla

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vjsinger said:
Is there a reason for this??
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Because that's how the strongest men before us trained. Properly performed, full ROM barbell exercises are essentially the functional expression of human skeletal and muscular anatomy under a load. Balance between all the muscles involved is inherent as the muscles contribute their anatomically determined share of work.
 
FloydPT38

FloydPT38

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tongzilla said:
Because that's how the strongest men before us trained. Properly performed, full ROM barbell exercises are essentially the functional expression of human skeletal and muscular anatomy under a load. Balance between all the muscles involved is inherent as the muscles contribute their anatomically determined share of work.
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Wouldn't disagree with any of that other than if you wanted to be picky Barbell's haven't been around that long (mid 1800's). I believe Pavel said that Kettlebells have been used in Russia since the turn of the century. Farmers or perhaps blacksmiths have traditionally been the strongest men. Training like them would be a great way to get "real world" strong


"It appears that, originally, kettlebells were counter-weights used in Russian markets. Country folk started throwing them around and eventually they became very popular in Russia as a training tool. In 1913 the Russian magazine Hercules reported "Not a single sport develops our muscular strength and bodies as well as kettlebell athletics." A Russian strong man was referred to as a kettlebell man --girevik. Girya is Russian for Kettlebell. Although kettlebells develop strength, a kettlebell-trained body is not bulky."

Kettlebell History and Research

I bring this up because while they are new here (US) they are not new in Russia. Kettlebells are essentially a tool, very similar to dumbbells but superior in some ways. Barbells, dumbbells or kettlebells will help if you use them correctly.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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It's my personal opinion that Pavel is more of a marketing guru than anything else.

PS And stop calling me "comrade"! Man that is annoying.
 
FloydPT38

FloydPT38

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curtisj76 said:
It's my personal opinion that Pavel is more of a marketing guru than anything else.

PS And stop calling me "comrade"! Man that is annoying.
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Pavel is very much a marketing guy. Maybe not a guru but he has certainly embraced capitalism. He does have some good training advice even if most of begins with "Comrade".....
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

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tongzilla said:
Because that's how the strongest men before us trained. Properly performed, full ROM barbell exercises are essentially the functional expression of human skeletal and muscular anatomy under a load. Balance between all the muscles involved is inherent as the muscles contribute their anatomically determined share of work.
Click to expand...

Still don't understand WHY you SHOULD learn with a barbell before you use a kettlebell. You can still get a full range of movement with a Kettle bell..no. As for balance between muscle groups..Im sure you don't just lift the thing with one arm only all the time. Am I missing something..please help if I am.
 
D

d0n

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Pavel is a marketer as is DragonDoor it didn't take long to burn me out on him and is "give me money" routine. Mike Mayler was my favorite KB guru but he's way out there now with all those macro nutrients and hormones and other things he's gotten into. I do a lot less with the KB's these days mainly because I got bored with them. I like Josh Henkin's Sandbag routines. He's got a bit of marketing going on too but at the same time he gives you a lot of free videos on YouTube and his sandbags (as well as routines) are pretty dang good. He does a lot with KB's too. I've been doing circuits with the sandbag, kettlebells, and 2" ropes (battling ropes.) Pretty intense workout and doesn't take long to get drained.
 
D

d0n

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vjsinger said:
Still don't understand WHY you SHOULD learn with a barbell before you use a kettlebell. You can still get a full range of movement with a Kettle bell..no. As for balance between muscle groups..Im sure you don't just lift the thing with one arm only all the time. Am I missing something..please help if I am.
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I don't think you need to learn with barbell. IMO BB's and KB's are two different animals. There's tons of things you can do with the KB's as opposed to the BB's but on the same note, there's a lot of things you can do with the BB's that you can't do with the KB's.

The KB's do more "multi" muscle group work and it is not as easy to isolate a single muscle as with the BB. Also many of the KB exercises use momentum to get the weight up. Outside of power clean, I don't know too many other BB exercises that require the use of momentum.
 
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