What is a Kettlebell?
Intro | Benefits | Kettlebell Users | Kettlebell Sizes / Weights
Introduction
A kettlebell is made of cast-iron and looks like a cannonball with a fixed U shaped handle that originated in rural Russia in the mid 1700's. They were originally used as a counter balance weight for weighing grains. The farmers picked them up and started swinging them around and they became a form of weight training. Over time, the Russian military understood their potential and started to use them, as did Russian strongmen, weightlifters and wrestlers. They are now becoming more common in gyms and sports training facilities worldwide.
Today, fitness experts regard kettlebells as the ultimate training tool for all-round fitness and physical development. Voropayev (1983) observed two groups of college students performing a standard Armed Forces military physical training test consisting of pull-ups, a standing broad jump, 100m sprints and a 1km run. The control group followed a university prescribed program focusing on the exact exercises. The experimental group only used kettlebells and showed better results in every one of the tests!
Kettlebell training is great for your heart. Siberian scientist - Shevtsova (1993) studied 75 kettlebell lifters with 3 to 5 years training experience and recorded a long-term decrease in the heart rate and blood pressure, 110/70 in the summer and 114/74 in the winter. They clocked an average resting heart rate of 56 beats per minute. The heart rate dropped not just at rest, but also during and after exercise, the time it took the heart rate to slow down back to normal, after exercise, also decreased.
The use of kettlebells as a training tool should be considered "ancient wisdom worthy of modern realisation"
Read about the Benefits of Kettlebell Training