kettlebells?

[AF-Temp]

Recently I had some exposure to kettlebells for the first time. While I was down in Georgia training for my new job, a few of our workouts had kettlebells as part of the overall workout. Usually they were mixed in to some other kind of circuit, so we would just do kettlebell swings, or sometimes a push press or similar. It seems like a good change of pace from what I have been doing.

Have any of you seen a full-body kettlebell workout, or is it geared more towards supplementing a normal workout? I was thinking about switching over to kettlebells for awhile if I could get a decent workout out of them, mostly just for something new to do. I tried searching the forums and even googling it, but I didn't find anything that seemed very practical. I'm mostly just looking for something I could do 2 or 3 times a week in lieu of the more typical weight lifting workouts.

[Lisa~]

The best (only?) reason to use kettlebells is for the fun and variety.

You might find enough info on Mike Mahler's site to put together a program you can use twice a week:

Free Training and Nutrition Articles - Mahler's Aggressive Strength

[kuri]

Search youtube for "steve cotter" & "kettlebell athletics" and you'll find plenty of video demos.

As for using KBs only it all depends on your goals, BBs and DBs are better for certain purposes, but if it gets you excited about training then why not.

[strambo]

kuri is right on, use the proper tool for the job. Barbells/db's are the best tools for developing absolute strength and building muscle mass.

Kettlebells are outstanding strength-endurance tools and build killer anaerobic fitness levels (though they can be used for other things). I brought my 52lb kettlebell with me to Afghanistan. I figured worse-case I could work with it exclusively as I knew I could be at some remote locations. As it turned out, I had access to decent gyms for most of the time with plenty of BBs/Dbs so I used them when I was focusing on 1RM strength (even set a deadlift PR woo-hoo!) and used my kettlebell for everything else.

I love kettlebells mainly for the carryover effects they have. For example, I don't like to run. In the last 17 months, I've run maybe 3-4 times. My 2 mile run time last June was ~14:20 before hittin' my kettlebell hard in A-stan. My 2 mile run time on a PT test yesterday wa s 13:18. I'm no Gazelle, but cutting a minute off a 2 mile time by swinging a weight seems good to me.

You can definitely do full-body kettlebell workouts, no problem. I would either cycle 2 days KB's with 1-2 days traditional weights or cycle 2-4 weeks KB's with 2-4 weeks of something else. Kettlebells are kinda fun and different, lots of challenges that keep you interested in training.

[coach hale]

Kettlebells offer a nice alternative to traditional weight training.

I use kbs for various throwing movments in addition to popular movements such as swings, snatches etc...

There are various companies that sale kbs. Beware of the type of kb you use if you decide to throw as some kbs will break.

Refer to Mike Mahler, Jeff Martone, Dave Randolph and Steve Cotter for various routine suggestions utilzing kbs.

thanks
Coach Hale
www.maxcondition.com