Monday, August 27, 2012

Kettlebell Training


The Kettlebell is an old Russian training tool that has been recently rediscovered for full body conditioning.  Kettlebell workouts are said to improve strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and balance.

But does a kettlebell workout provide enough resistance to improve strength over traditional weight lifting?  Does a kettlebell workout improve cardiovascular endurance better than traditional cardiovascular exercise?

The American Council on Exercise did a study on the workout intensity on kettlebells versus treadmill running.  As expected, the kettlebell workout was intense.  Heart rate and oxygen consumption increased rapidly.  The average caloric expenditure was 20 calories per minute with the kettlebells.  The intensity was high but VO2 max was higher during the treadmill run.

Furthermore, kettlebell training does improve strength and power for your beginner clients.  But experts agree in order to improve strength and power for your experienced athletes, traditional weight training may be more beneficial.  Moreover, you will have to incorporate other traditional exercises to really target some of those muscles that kettlebells don’t fully incorporate.

In summary, if you are looking to change up your routine, give kettlebells a shot.  Similar to circuit training or cross training, you will receive some strength benefits along with very good cardiovascular benefits.