I’ve started working out recently with kettlebells and have to say it’s really good so far. It’s also quite deceptive, you’d think “this will be easy, look how light the weight is!” but after a few reps you’ll really start to feel it.
There are a lot of instructional videos out there, I’ve found this one to be quite good for starting out.
The modern version of the kettlebell appears to have originated in Russia in the late 19th Century and spread from there, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be going away any time soon.
What’s particularly nice with a kettlebell workout is that you’re getting in a good amount of cardio and building muscle at the same time, this is quite beneficial if you have limited time to get a workout in, this way you’re killing two birds with one stone (to a certain degree at least).
As showing in the video above, when doing the basic kettlebell swing you will build up your core strength but you’ll also strengthen your lower back, glutes and many more, here’s a graphic of the various primary and secondary muscle groups which get worked during the kettlebell swing.
My advice to anyone starting out with kettlebell training is to take it slow, don’t buy one that’s too heavy for you, as I said earlier you’ll think it’s easy at the start as the weight isn’t super high but you’ll soon find out that you’ll be feeling the burn after a short amount of time.
If you’re a member of a gym and haven’t tried kettlebells yet then speak to one of the trainers there and get them to go through the motions with you, proper stance, posture, technique etc.
Here’s a great article from Onnit Academy about what weight kettlebell to start out with for both men and women.
Hope you guys do start up with the kettlebells, I honestly think you’ll really get in to it after a little while and will begin to see the positive effects.
