Why I Choose to Workout with Kettlebells
If you are anything like me life gets pretty full. I have two young kids (4 and 18 months old), a career as a firefighter with a fitness business, and I am finishing out graduate studies too.
My point.
Time and energy are both precious resources for anyone with a life outside the gym. That's why I've come to value kettlebell and calisthenics training above other fitness methods.
You can build strength, stability, power, mobility, and stamina along with an appreciable amount of muscle with just four kettlebells and enough space to lay down on. Even better, you don't need a ton of time to get an effective workout because of how kettlebell training naturally lends itself to full body strength and conditioning.
If you have a full plate and you have been feeling like you have let yourself go because you have not been able to make it to the gym like you used to when you were in your twenties.
If you want to avoid becoming the guy wearing a t-shirt in the pool but still want to be able to enjoy a burger, beer, or both now and then.
If you are looking for a way to keep the grim reaper at bay by building not only strength but stability and movement quality.
Then I invite you into the world of kettlebell training. I have explored the worlds of powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, bodybuilding, CrossFit, and strength and conditioning for sports and I have not found a better tool for training the regular, everyday, normal guy than with kettlebell training.
It may seem like an obvious statement but, guys like you and me are not professional athletes or actors training for a superhero movie. We don't have the same genetics and resources that professional athletes or actors have. The truth is that most athletes and actors look the way that they do in spite of how they eat or train because they have won the genetic lottery.
For those of us who did not get to pick our parents, it becomes important to ask if the fitness programs we see athletes and actors performing fit into our lives when we don't have the similar genetics and resources (think training staff, dietitians, personal chefs, and a career focused around appearing or performing a certain way).
I am not playing the victim here and I am not saying that you should give up because you did not win the genetic lottery. I am saying guys (and gals) like us need to approach working out differently if we want to get and stay lean, build muscle, and wake up every morning pain free because I for one don't want my physical ability and appearance to limit how I show up for my family on a daily basis.
It's one thing to be lean and muscular which certainly has an impact on self confidence but its another thing to move well too. Training with kettlebells allows for me to stay strong, lean, and muscular but also things that are more important to me like get on the floor with my kids, easily climb up and down a ladder with boxes in my hands, and navigate the playground as I chase my feral 18 month old daughter.
You don't get that kind of benefit from traditional training methods.
Traditional training is great for building elite levels of strength and muscle. But, what if you are not interested in competing in the top end of powerlifting or bodybuilding? Is the juice worth the squeeze? From time to time sure it can be beneficial to add in traditional training methods, but most every day normal people can achieve their dream physique with just four kettlebells and their own fair flesh.
So what is it that makes the kettlebell so great?
Short answer is the shape of the implement.
The shape of the kettlebell works with your body in a way that the barbell, dumbbells, and machines do not. This is especially true when it comes to ballistic exercises, the ability to transition between different movements without setting it down, and changing where the load is located on your frame during the exercise you are performing which allows for it to be more natural/joint friendly.
The kettlebell allows for you to perform high repetition ballistic exercises unlike any other implement making it the go to choice for building high levels of stamina and power endurance (and roasting calories). If you have any interest in performing in combat sports the high repetition ballistic kettlebell movements are a no brainer. Even if you do not care about combat sport and your only goal is to get or stay lean, the kettlebell swing has been shown to burn calories at a similar rate to running a six minute mile which means that it’s easier for you to find a little more wiggle room in your daily food intake for some higher calorie meals.
Another killer application of the kettlebell is complexes. Complexes are exercises done in sequence without setting the kettlebell down. You can do A LOT of work in a very brief amount of time with a kettlebell complex and the unique shape of the kettlebell allows for you to transition seamlessly from exercise to exercise unlike any other implement. Once again this makes the kettlebell an obvious choice for busy men and women looking for an effective and time efficient workout.
All to say that the kettlebell is uniquely suited to full-body, joint friendly, time efficient workouts that improve movement quality.
Is there anything that the kettlebell is NOT well suited for?
Sure. Just like any tool it has its limitations. For example, it has been said that there are no ankles and wrists in kettlebell training which is a fair assessment. If you are looking for the triple extension of the ankle, knee, and hips that you see in jumping and olympic weightlifting you will not find it in kettlebell training. However, you can easily add in a set of jumps for triple extension or skipping rope to address the ankle, likewise you can add in a few sets for trusty push-ups or crawling to address the wrist.
Another limitation in kettlebell training is pulling in the vertical plane of motion which can be remedied by adding in chin-ups or lat-pulldowns and while this is a “weakness” in kettlebell training it is also present in dumbbell and barbell training too.
The final weakness of kettlebell training is the ability to load an exercise maximally. Meaning that especially with lower body exercises like deadlifting and squatting you will find that you are doing 10 or more reps with your heaviest kettlebell fairly quickly if you are consistent with your training (I’ve also never seen someone front squat a pair of 48kg kettlebells and think it “wasn’t heavy enough”). Not a big deal unless you are looking to compete in the Arnold Classic as a powerlifter, bodybuilder or strongman who’s training methods require a different set of tools than kettlebells alone.
If you are not interested in bodybuilding or powerlifting you can still build respectable levels of strength, craft a lean, hard, functional physique, bulletproof your body as you age, build endurance that holds up in a wide variety of scenarios and do it all in half the time and with a quarter of the equipment when you train with kettlebells.
Sound too good to be true?
I invite you to give kettlebell training a try for a couple of weeks and experience the difference for yourself.