Russian Kettlebell Lifting is an explosive blend of strength, power, flexibility and cardiovascular training all in one package with one of the most ancient and efficient exercise tools in the world — Russian kettlebell. The later is a great tool for building a strong, powerful and athletic body.
For years kettlebells have been used by strongman, athletes and military. Now fitness enthusiasts all over the world tuned in as well and report massive gains in strength, conditioning and flexibility! All on top of tremendous fat loss and total body composition make over!
At the Underground Gym kettlebells are some of our favorite tools for all-around athletic development. There are quite a few reasons for it.
- I consider kettlebells to be a four-dimensional tool, because not only it moves and needs to be controlled like a dumbbell (a three dimensional tool) when held with one hand, it also has an offset center of gravity, which leads to the unique feature of flipping over and creates sort of an “energy pocket”. That “pocket” is that “forth dimension” of a kettlebell.
- The flip of the kettlebell creates the need and teaches you to absorb ballistic shock, which builds strong tendons and ligaments. The skill of proper shock absorption is a must for any contact sport athlete, or anybody for that matter. The kettlebell’s ability to flip and an offset handle also create a unique opportunity for a whole array of juggling exercises impossible with any other implement.
- As opposed to the barbell, in most ballistic kettlebell exercises after absorbing the shock you need to redirect the force immediately. This skill is one of the cornerstones of athletic ability.
- Most kettlebells have thick handles, which is great for the grip. Any exercise with a kettlebell automatically turns into a grip exercise. High rep kettlebell ballistics, like Snatches or Long Cycle Clean & Jerks have to be experienced to appreciate how they work the grip and the whole body.
- The offset weight distribution of the kettlebell keeps your core constantly engaged in a dynamic battle to keep the weight from falling of to the side, where a dumbbell would “rest” on your bone structure.
- High rep kettlebell ballistics, like Snatches or Long Cycle Clean & Jerks have to be experienced to appreciate how much work your heart and lungs have to perform. If you still think that weightlifting and cardio are two different things try these exercises and let me know than!
- The sheer amount of exercises and objectives you can accomplish and perform with a kettlebell or two is staggering. Strength, power, endurance, conditioning, coordination, grip strength – and hundreds and hundreds of exercises to keep you interested. An athlete could be all set with just a couple of kettlebells and his own bodyweight.
- Kettlebells are also very portable, making it possible to take your practice practically anywhere. A variety of different weights would be ideal, but not an absolute must for individual development. According to my training philosophy, an athlete progresses not only by going up in weight, but also very importantly, increasing the complexity of executed movements and the ability to flow “effortlessly” for the untrained eye from one movement to the next.
- Due to the multi-plane movement potential of kettlebell as a tool, it leads very naturally to very effective sport-specific movements, given of course, that the administering coach knows the biomechanics of the respective sport.
I’m sure I could find a few more reasons to lift kettlebells, but you are getting the point across.
Providing Kettlebell Training for these NJ towns residents:
Lincroft, Middletown, Fair Heaven, Shrewsbury, Monmouth Beach, Colts Neck, Rumson, Tinton Falls, West Long Branch, Oceanport, Atlantic Highlands, See Bright, Highlands, Ocean, Hazlet, Red Bank, Holmdel, Eatontown, Long Branch, Asbury Park