Kettlebells have been around for over a century. They were especially popular with the Russian military. The 1986 Soviet Weightlifting Album states that, “It is hard to find a sport that has deeper roots in the history of our people than kettlebell lifting.” In Tsarist Russia, anyone who lifted weights was known as a gerevik or “kettlebell man”.
In 1913, Ludwig Chaplinsky wrote in the Russian magazine Hercules that, “no sport develops our muscular strength and physique as well as kettlebell athletics.” Russian special forces attribute their increased strength, agility and incredible stamina to kettlebells. His strength training manual described the kettlebell drill as “one of the most effective means of strength development”.
kettlebell for weight loss
But can this implement, once used to develop incredible levels of strength, muscle, endurance and agility, also be used for weight loss? Well, if you are overweight, you will lose fat. And you’re lean, you’ll pack on muscle. I know, it sounds too good to be true. But understand that kettlebells are an athletic form of training. This means that your body will literally adjust to training as you push on it. A study by Voropayev (1997) found that 21.2% of top Russian giriviks increased their body weight since training with kettlebells and the same percentage decreased fat. In short, they developed very similar body structures:
- broad shoulders with pectoral indentation
- consider the muscles of the back
- venous arms
- rugged façade
- cut midsection
- strong legs with signs of calves
So you won’t look like a bodybuilder or fitness model with kettlebell training. But you will get leaner, bigger, stronger and a lot more athletic. To get started, you need to learn a few basic movements:
1-Arm KB Push Press
- Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, back straight and chest out, hold the kettlebell tight against your body with your right hand.
- Keep your elbows close to your body. Keeping your abs tight, contract your quads and glutes as you bend your knees, push your hips down, then straighten your legs to reverse the movement (forcefully as if you were about to jump).
- This motion should help push the kettlebell up and over your head. Make sure the kettlebell is straight or slightly pushed behind your head.
- Don’t let the kettlebell come in front of your body, or you’ll lose your balance and potentially injure yourself. Lower the kettlebell back to the starting position and repeat.
1-Arm 2-Point Row
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Hold a kettlebell in your right hand, with your left arm bent behind your back.
- Contract your abs, push your hips back, bend your knees slightly and lean forward. Sit up straight Start by squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Row the kettlebell toward your hips in an arch-like motion. Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top of the motion. Pause and release to slowly lower the kettlebell to the bottom position.
- Repeat.
establishing a routine
The best way to set up a kettlebell routine for weight loss is to perform high-intensity circuits, supersets or interval training. Using the above two exercises, we can set up a good upper body superset workout. A superset is one where you alternate between two exercises with little rest in between each set. Here’s a sample:
Round 2:
- 1-arm KB push press, 10 reps each side
- 1 Arm 2-Point Row, 10 reps each side
- rest 60 seconds
Start with only 2 rounds, and gradually work your way up to 5 rounds.
Source by Parth Shah
