The past is back… with a vengeance! Athletes find Kettlebells.

 

Kettlebells and variations on Kettlebells have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years but recently a whole new generation of athletes have been seeking ways to gain an edge over the competition, and many are finding that Kettlebells are the answer.  Athletes are discovering that Kettlebell training develops strength with staying power or sustained strength which makes itself available over an extended period of time making it ideal for athletic competitions where losing strength towards the end of the battle can mean the difference between 1st and last place.

If you go down to the gym you are going to see weight lifters lifting maximum weight for relatively few repetitions which stimulates muscle hypertrophy.  This is great for developing larger muscle mass but larger muscles does not always mean more power.  These kinds of lifters are developing short strength or burst strength which means they can lift a lot of weight, but they cannot lift this weight or hold this weight for very long.   For example, many NFL players could probably lift a small car at the beginning of a game, but how many do you think could still conquer this feat at the end of a game? Sustained strength is particularly important for athletes like martial artists, boxers, hockey, basketball and any other athlete that competes in long duration events where the last minute burst of energy can mean going home with a win!

Check out our website where we have information about our Kettlebell training. If you are interested now, you may call Rob at (719) 313-7802 or email rob@downtoearthwellness.com

Cannonballs with handles?

First off, kettlebells have nothing to do with cows or any other type of farm animals. If you are looking around your gym and you see a cannonball with a handle on it, you are looking at a kettlebell.

Invented in Russia and used for decades by strongmen, kettlebells offer users a wider range of motion than dumbbells that sit in the palm of the hand, and they also better simulate the tasks we perform in our daily lives, from swinging grocery bags to lifting babies from the floor to pulling ourselves up after a fall. Kettlebell workouts are catching on because they work the whole body at once without stressing the joints and provide both cardio and strength training at the same time unlike your typical gym workout where you work single muscles at a time without strengthening the supporting muscle groups and you usually are not raising your heart rate to the cardiovascular workout range.

Kettlebells range in weight from the 4-pounders to over 100 pounds for serious competitors.  Women usually start with a 15 – 25 lb. kettlebell and men usually start with a 25 – 35 lb. kettlebell.  35 lbs. may seem like a lot of weight but often you will be using both hands which allows you to use this kind of weight.  Another thing is that much of the time, you are using not just your biceps or or your deltiods to move this weight around, you are using your whole body which is what Kettlebell training is all about, functional movement.  Functional movement we define as the kinds of movements that we make everyday.  Examples of some of these everyday movements are lifting a jug of milk and reaching to put it back in the refrigerator, helping your child out of a high chair at the table, placing tools in the back of a pickup… the list goes on and on! These kinds of movements put stress on all the supporting muscles that you simply do not strengthen as part of a normal weight routine at the gym. 

Have you ever noticed that when you move wrong or try to lift something wrong and you pull a muscle, you don’t usually feel the pain in your your quads, hamstrings, biceps or any of the larger muscles that we usually work out at the gym?  It always seems to be a tiny muscle in your shoulder or in your back or maybe in your leg somewhere and this is because, in most people, those muscles are usually weak and are easily hurt because they are not strong enough and are not worked enough to keep them strong and able to deal with the stresses we put on them.  The movements used in Kettlebell training work these small muscles along with the large muscle groups, giving you tone and functional strength. 

Kettlebells can also melt the extra pounds off of your body and tone your muscles like no other program out there.  Here’s a simple recipe to melt the pounds off:  Take a well planned Kettlebell exercise routine, add in the determination to follow it 3 – 5 days a week, and finally throw in healthy, properly preportioned meals and you have yourself a simple plan to lose weight.

Check out our website where soon we will have information about our Kettlebell training. If you are interested now, you may call Rob at (719) 313-7802 or email rob@downtoearthwellness.com