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History Benefits of a Kettlebell Who can use a Kettlebell? Kettlebells for Martial Arts Kettlebells for Law Enforcement Kettlebell Weights Kettlebell Videos |
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History:
The kettlebell, or Girya in Russian, is an old Russian strength and conditioning tool. It has been used for centuries by the Russian military, police, and the laymen to gain strength, agility, power and endurance. It has been used both as a training and a testing tool in competitions. Although it first appeared in a Russian dictionary in the year 1704, nobody knows the exact origin of the kettlebell, although there are some theories.One of the theories is that the kettlebell started life as a farmer's balance weight, used to measure out quantities of goods on balance scales. As it is the nature of people to compete and test their strength against others, the balance weights were then also used in competitions to see who could lift them the most. Another theory is that the kettlebell was invented by the artillery branch of the military, who added a handle to the cannonball in order to develop strength that they could apply to loading the cannonball in battle.
It is known, however, that regardless of the origins of the kettlebell it was indeed used by the artillery soldiers and all other branches of the military, the police and militia, the laymen, and professional athletes and wrestlers of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. Famous strongmen and wrestlers like Eugene Sandow (the man appearing on the Sandow statuette, presented to the winner of the Mr. Olympia), Louis Cyr (famous Canadian Strongman), Georg Hackenschmidt (the first widely recognized World Heavyweight Champion in wrestling and inventor of the Hack Squat), and many others lifted kettlebells.
More recently the kettlebell has been used by such people as Dr. Valentin Dikul, a Russian strongman and therapist known for juggling 90kg (198lb) kettlebells on stage. In the western world the kettlebell is now used by the US Marines, Special Forces, FBI, and the Secret Service. It is taking off with members of the RCMP. Now everybody from housewives, to professional athletes and mixed martial arts fighters, to firemen and police officers, to post-rehab patients are learning and benefiting from everything a kettlebell can help you achieve.
Benefits of a Kettlebell:
The kettlebell is a whole body strengthening and conditioning tool. Due to its design and the manner in which kettlebell training is performed, it helps to train virtually all the muscles in the human body. The benefits from this include weight management, total body strength that can be used in any environment and not only when sitting on a gym machine, improved agility and coordination, explosive power, endurance, aesthetics, super strong core, and the list goes on.With a kettlebell there is no longer a need for a multitude of resistance machines, treadmills and stationary bikes. By its design the kettlebell constitutes a gym in and off itself (although as the trainees progress they will usually move on to a heavier kettlebell.) Training with a kettlebell trains the legs, core, back, shoulders, arms and chest. More importantly almost all, or most, of these muscles come into play on virtually all the kettlebell lifts. This trains the body as a single unit, developing well coordinated, dynamic strength that can be used in a wide variety of athletic, combative, and everyday situations.
Who can use a kettlebell?
Almost everyone! Kettlebells come in a variety of weights that allow people at any training level to start using a kettlebell. The usual weights are 8kg, 16kg, 24kg, 32kg, 40kg and 48kg. The reason for this is that the kettlebell normally comes in increments of a 1/2 pood -- an old Russian weight measurement denoting 16kg.The kettlebells are then perfect for seasoned athletes, fighters, law enforcement personnel, beginners, youth and older adults alike.
Kettlebells for Martial Arts:
Kettlebells are perfect for martial arts. As I have already mentions in the sections above, they help to develop a great deal of explosive, dynamic strength and coordination. They also help to develop a great deal of strength endurance and superior conditioning through the use of kettlebell circuits.As you can see, I keep stressing such things as explosive, dynamic strength, coordination, endurance, conditioning, power, coordination, and more. Go on, read that list again. These are all things of paramount importance to a martial artist of any discipline. Yet, I see many martial artists (whether in the gyms or on TV), even top professional guys from organizations like the UFC training with isolation, bodybuilding style, exercises on machines. While this may develop strength in the individual muscles or improve aesthetics it does not help the athlete develop any of the skills that are needed to succeed in combat. What martial artists need is an exercise strategy that helps to strengthen the muscles, joints, and cardiovascular system in an integrative fashion, so that they may work effectively as one system to deliver optimal results. Enter The Kettlebell!
Kettlebells for Law Enforcement:
Kettlebells are perfect for law enforcement and military personnel, firefighters, and in fact members of almost every other profession. The obvious benefits are the ones already stated above, namely, explosive, coordinated, dynamic strength balanced out by great strength endurance and conditioning. Indeed, kettlebell training is great for police officers for the same reasons it's great for martial artists. The less obvious benefits for military and police is an improved performance in shooting qualifications due to the increased forearm strength, stability and coordination developed by kettlebell training.Pood to Kilo to Pound conversion:
1/2 pood = 8 kg = 17.6 lb3/4 pood = 12 kg = 26.4 lb
1 pood = 16 kg = 35.2 lb
1 + 1/2 pood = 24 kg = 52.8 lb
2 pood = 32 kg = 70.4 lb
2 + 1/2 pood = 40 kg = 88 lb
3 pood = 48 kg = 105.6 lb