WHAT ARE THEY?
Kettlebells look like a bowling ball with a suitcase handle attached. They are made of cast iron in three traditional Russian sizes; 1 pood (16kg), 1.5 pood (24kg) and 2 pood (32kg). Originally designed for use as a counter-balance when measuring grain, kettlebells became the ultimate training tool for the Russian peasant.
The kettlebell is the freest of free-weights. They are to dumbbells what dumbbells are to machine weights, the reason being that the kettlebell displaces the centre of mass away from the handle, meaning the bulk of the weight is constantly pulling against your hand. You must use your whole body to control the kettlebell, requiring skill and co-ordination as you work to maintain your form.
HISTORY
From the early to mid 1900s, strongmen developed absurd levels of strength with the aid of kettlebells. So popular were kettlebells in Tsarist Russia that any strongman or weightlifter was referred to as a girevik, or ‘kettlebell man’. Legends like Sampson and the great Russian Eugene Sandow used kettlebells religiously to build muscles of incredible strength and density. In fact, such is Sandow’s legacy that his body still features on the Mr Universe trophy to this day.
For decades the Russians dominated power sports and wrestling at world championship and Olympic levels, their vastly superior conditioning due to a program prominently featuring kettlebells.
‘Kettlebelling’ has long been a popular sport in Russia, drawing many athletes from other strength sports such as Olympic weightlifting and power lifting, and has recently taken off in America, with championships being held at Harvard and other universities. There are two events: jerks with two kettlebells and snatches with one. Russian athletes lift the heavier 1.5 and 2 pood bells for many repetitions to earn a national ranking. At the highest level of the sport, the numbers are huge: Oleg Neskromny recently set a new world record in the 80kg weight class by snatching a 32kg kettlebell 100 times with each arm within 10 minutes!
Perhaps the most significant endorsement of the kettlebell, however, comes from the Russian Military’s ‘Spetsnaz’. Members of this elite special forces unit are revered around the world for their supreme strength and endurance, much of which they owe to intense kettlebell training regimes.
WHO’S USING THEM?
The recent emergence of the kettlebell in the western world is thanks largely to Pavel Tsatsouline, probably best known in martial arts circles as the author of ‘Beyond Crunches’, Bulletproof Abs’ and ‘Relax into Stretch’. Nicknamed the ‘Evil Russian’, Pavel is a former trainer of the Spetsnaz. He is one of the world’s leading experts on strength training and currently works with the US Marines and many of the S.W.A.T teams. Kettlebell instructors can also be found among Department of Energy nuclear security teams, the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, the Secret Service Counter Assault Team, and so on.
Pavel’s ‘low-tech, high-concept’ principles define what kettlebells are all about. Many are starting to catch on, including two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion Steve Maxwell, who’s workout consists of a wide variety of kettlebell and callisthenic drills done in a circuit.
What Do Kettlebells Offer?
Borrowing the lifting movements from competitive weight lifting (the clean-and-jerk and the snatch) and adapting them for a more generalised approach to fitness, a countless variety of kettlebell exercises can be performed, enabling one to target various muscle groups and movement patterns. They are also effective in eliminating imbalances and deficiencies in build.
Kettlebellers develop an extremely strong back and core, great flexibility in their shoulders and hips and immensely strong joints. Significant gains in speed, shock-absorption, leg and hip power and gripping ability are also achieved. Pavel Tsatsouline describes the hardcore kettlebeller as having ‘the work capacity of an android and the pain tolerance of an immortal’.
Core strength:
As any martial artist knows, the power comes from the hips and the torso, or core. Using one kettlebell at a time challenges the body’s equilibrium, placing constant demands on the core musculature. This results in a mid-section built for combat and ready to deliver harder and faster offensive moves.
Hips:
In many of the drills your hips are required to contract explosively. These powerful muscles combine with the core, enabling bone-breaking kicks and punches to be delivered at high speed.
Absorbing Shock:
Often the kettlebell will rotate around your hand and hit your forearm. At the moment of impact you must tense up to dissipate the shock. This constant tensing conditions the body to absorb shock, allowing you to block punches and kicks more easily. With correct form, the level of impact can also be easily controlled.
Muscle and Joint strength:
Strength is measured by your muscles’ ability to exert force. Physics tells us that Force equals Mass multiplied by Acceleration. The high-speed ballistic movements of many kettlebell drills are extremely effective at developing muscle force. Connective tissues develop greater strength and ease of contraction, giving you harder, denser and stronger muscles. Grip strength increases due to the constant demands the thick kettlebell handle places on the hands.
Stamina:
Increasing endurance levels is vital to all martial artists. Often a fight will be decided not by who is strongest at the beginning of the fight but by who is strongest once fatigue sets in. High-rep kettlebell drills require strength and endurance. Exercises like the clean-and-jerk and the snatch require the whole body to work together, making them far superior to high-rep isolation movements used in most commercial gym programs.
Once you’ve learnt the technique of the exercises the results should come quickly. Most people start with the 16 kilogram kettlebell in order to learn the basics of the exercises, then progress to heavier kettlebells as proficiency increases. By the time you are working competently with the 24 and 32 kilogram kettlebells you will already have made notable strength gains.
Programs:
Of the two, the snatch (below) is simpler – you can do quite well with basic technique and a lot of grit. But kettlebell programs can be tailored to your specific needs as a martial artist. Their versatility is only limited by your imagination.
A training session may last from 10 minutes to an hour. You can keep reps low (five or less) to develop your absolute strength or do higher repetitions (from 10 to 50) to work strength endurance. The best thing is, you don’t need a gym or a vast collection of specific equipment.
For further information and purchasing your very own kettlebells go to
www.australian-kettlebells.com
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