Why Kettlebells Represent FUNCTIONAL TRAINING in it's Purest Sense

The History: Since the 1800's, Kettlebells have slowly but surely made their way into the mainstream spotlight as one of the top, new ways to improve physical fitness. Developed in Russia as a counterweight for market produce sales, the kettlebell was born. First being used by the farmers as a juggling instrument which turned into exercise brought upon "Girevoy Sport", which in Russian means Kettlebell sport. In 1948 Russians commenced kettlebell sport (Girevoy sport) which pitched a man and a time clock against the maximal repetitions obtained in 3 types of lifts , the snatch (weight swung with one arm straight above head ) , the clean & jerk ( 2 bells swung to chest once , and then put overhead as many times as possible) and the one armed push press. This sport inevitably made it's way to America and the Kettlebell is now one of the best overall functional exercise tools of our time.

Now that the history is out of the way, lets talk about the importance and overall greatness of kettlebells.
When an individual typically weight trains, as I've talked about in my previous blogs, they train in one plane of motion. Kettlebell training uses momentum rather than stationary strength to produce movements. Training in multiple planes while using momentum, kettlebell training improves the body's cardiovascular level, postural control, total body muscular strength, endurance and power.

The Science: You see, when a regular free weight is situated in your hand, the center of the mass, being the weight, is in the palm of your hand. Thus when performing any exercise with a free weight the center of the mass remains constant and the lever stays the same. A kettlebell has a U-shaped handle so the center of the mass of the kettlebell lays outside of ones hand. As the kettlebell rotates around the person's hand while performing an exercise, the kettlebell rotates therefore creating a fluctuating resistance arm and a variable lever length throughout each exercise that is performed. In addition, while performing rotational exercises, such as a single arm swing, centrifugal force is involved creating a greater inertia.

The functionality: Ask yourself this next time you go into a gym and look at the people lifting weights, "what are they doing?" More than likely someone's either standing up, laying down in the supine position or sitting up moving a single joint in a stationary position. Ask yourself another question, "Is that how we move?", do people actually move in one plane of motion. When are you actually every going to press something over your  head while you sit in a chair, probably never!!! That is why kettlebells are a great way to incorporate the various muscle groups into a single motion while still getting the great strength training effects of free weights.

Being both durable and economic, kettlebells can train people in all walks of life whether being young fit and athletic of elderly. So next time you get into the gym, see if they have some kettlebells and try it out for yourself. As always I stress proper form and technique, so if you are going to begin a kettlebell routine, you should educate yourself on the proper movements and safety behind using these great tools.