Even if you’re a beginner, you must have seen kettlebells being pressed, pulled, or swung around by others in the gym. Its design is what makes it a unique piece of workout accessory- a black cannonball with a cast-iron handle, no other training tool can match its old-school appeal! The kettlebell is a round cannon-ball shaped weight that can be grasped by the handle, or its bell end. Gripping the kettlebell by its handle is the best way to practice as a beginner, but exercises like the squat are more user-friendly if you grasp the horns while performing it.
The kettlebell is an amazing tool for building muscle, burning fat, and developing cardio fitness, etc. We will walk you through some other benefits too in detail, in the following sections . With a single kettlebell and a consistent workout routine, you can take your fitness to the next level.
The guide that follows, covers everything you need to know to start making gains, right away using a kettlebell.
What is Kettlebell Training?
Any structured workout you’re doing in your workout program using kettlebells. This might even include simply incorporating kettlebell versions of certain weight training lifts in or you can also use kettlebells for active recovery, or for making cardiovascular gains.
It also improves your strength, endurance, and overall athleticism. The idea is to hold the kettlebell in one or both hands and go through a variety of exercises using the kettlebell. Traditional workout exercises like overhead presses, deadlifts, squats, and bench presses can also be the same but with kettlebells.
Moreover, a kettlebell training program might also focus on conditioning while building strength, with an emphasis on moves like swings and snatches. Kettlebells are an extremely versatile workout accessory or piece of equipment that can help with almost any fitness goal.Kettlebell training includes dynamic moves targeting almost every aspect of fitness such as endurance, strength, balance, and agility. It’s simple because you need just this small piece of equipment, but at the same time, it’s challenging, and efficient.
Benefits of Kettlebell Training
As mentioned above, there are many benefits that kettlebell training offers to beginners, if the workout is performed using proper form, under a trainer’s guidance or supervision:
Better Form
The main distinguishing aspect between a dumbbell training and a kettlebell training is the off-set nature of the load, and that makes it harder to control.
So, the kettlebell encourages you to do the exercise perfectly and while exercising if you can’t arch your back or twist to one side in an effort to complete the lift, you can immediately realize that your form has broken or the trainer who’s watching you will definitely know it and bring it to your notice. One of the exercises using the kettlebell is squatting with the kettlebell held in front of your body. This exercise makes you sit back more on the descent, improving the mechanics of your squat pattern. This enables you to perform more advanced exercises properly when you progress to a heavy barbell back squat.
Improved Core Strength
Pressing a kettlebell overhead creates the tendency to flare your ribs or lean back, so you have to lock your core in that much more to prevent this from happening. Similarly, in a swing, you have to brace your core to prevent your lower back from rounding dangerously at the bottom of the movement. So, in any and every exercise, you can count on your core having to fire harder to stabilize your body and ensure safety.
Building Muscles
You can build some serious muscle with kettlebells as these have a lot of muscle-building potential. Kettlebell circuits can target any area of your body for hypertrophy which can be used to up the intensity of your regularly-scheduled workouts. This intensity boost (by using the kettlebells) can give your muscles the extra stimulus they need to spark new growth.
Low-Impact Cardio
There’s nothing wrong with jogging while doing strength training, but if your joints are under pressure with your current cardio routine, kettlebells might come to the rescue! This fires up your heart rate in a big way because momentum-based kettlebell movements like swings, snatches, and cleans will improve your workout capacity and cardiovascular conditioning while being relatively low-impact.
Aids in Changing Body Composition
As kettlebell moves are explosive in nature, you’ll be accomplishing several goals at once such as developing power, building muscle, and losing body fat at the same time. Kettlebell training is an optimal combination for changing your body composition. Compound movements are even beneficial for fat loss as they burn more calories, maximizing cardiovascular engagement, muscle stimulus, and energy expenditure.
Precautions to be Taken as a Beginner
- Some beginners may take time to get used to this training, making it slightly a tougher workout form for beginners. You can’t directly start swinging a kettlebell, you first need to have foundation before testing your balance and core strength with a heavy weight. However, kettlebells can be used for static exercises like deadlifts, rows or squats.
- Requires Training and Practice – The key to kettlebell training is using a heavy weight that is enough for you to use the power of your hips and legs to help push or swing the weight up. If you don’t use the right technique and form, you might very easily hurt your back. So ensure to get some guidance from a trainer while opting for kettlebell workout.
- Risk of injury – The risk often arises from performing the moves wrongly rather than the exercises themselves. And hence, again, it’s importance to take some guidance or have a trainer supervise you while exercising.
Summary
As a beginner, it’s best to start the kettlebell training through a workout class or by getting some guidance from an experienced instructor for detailed breakdowns of the exercises. A professional can help with your form and in choosing the right amount of weights for your body type and as per your fitness goals. If live coaching isn’t an option, YouTube videos from trainers are another good choice.
We hope this guide has been helpful in providing an overview of kettlebell training. If you’re planning to buy a pair of kettlebells for yourself, then feel free to reach us!
