Today, we have a guest post from Chris Hale, a co-owner of Rocky Mountain Flex and a NASM-certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist with certifications in Metabolic and Neurological Adaptations with Kettlebells.
With over 16 years of experience, Chris has been helping clients build strength and transform their bodies. Today, he’ll dive into the history and benefits of kettlebell training and share a workout to help you get started.
Kettlebells – you know them, you’ve probably swung them, and maybe you’ve even wondered where they came from. While kettlebells have been around for centuries, it was Pavel Tsatsouline who introduced them to the US in 1998 and started the kettlebell revolution. What was once considered an “alternative” training tool has become standard equipment in most gyms (including ours), and for good reason.
At Rocky Mountain Flex, kettlebells are one of our members’ favorite training tools. You can find our kettlebells on our turf space, which is the perfect place for kettlebell training, HIIT workouts, and functional training. We’ve created a space where you can challenge yourself with our selection of kettlebells, medicine balls, sled, ski erg, rowers, power racks, and more.
History of the Kettlebell
Kettlebells originated in Eastern Europe many years ago. As folklore would have it, kettlebells were used as counterweights in Russian markets. Then, after hours when the market closed, farmers would use the kettlebells to swing and toss around both for fun and for physical exercise.
As with most resistance training techniques, the Russians/Eastern Europeans were the first to start incorporating kettlebells for exercise. Kettlebells have been used in Russian physical culture for centuries, and in 1948, kettlebell lifting officially became an organized sport called girevoy sport. In 1981, the USSR government created the Official Kettlebell Commission in order to keep the masses fit and help decrease healthcare costs. Kettlebells were an easy way to get weights in people’s hands and get them moving without having to have an entire collection of different weights and machines.
The USSR had a unique position in history:
- They had complete control over what to use and promote for health and fitness
- They had the most advanced sports and human performance scientists at the time
- A need to minimize upfront costs and a desire to reduce long-term health expenses
- A desire to maximize the longevity and work capacity of its population
Their choice of tool to achieve these goals was the kettlebell.
Kettlebells are about efficiency. Efficiency of movement, cost, space needed, and they’re multipurpose. Perfect for a home gym setup, as all you need is 1-2 appropriately challenging kettlebells, a little bit of space, and you have a complete training system!
Another aspect that makes kettlebells unique from other weights is that the weight is not perfectly centered in the hand. The weight and center of gravity extend away from the hand on a handle and better mimic objects you would actually encounter in the real world. For example, a backpack. You have a strap with off-centered weight from the handle. The takeaway here is that kettlebells better prepare you for the type of objects we actually encounter in the real world.
The Benefits of Kettlebells Include:
- Strength
- Increased power
- Endurance
- Caloric expenditure
- Improved aerobic capacity
- Functional movement patterns
- Improvement in timing and space
- awareness
- Grip strength
- Better balance
- Improved coordination
- Focus
- Core stability
- Injury prevention
Injury prevention is one of the big benefits of kettlebells. Most often, injuries occur during the deceleration of weight. For example, jumping. Landing and absorbing the force of the jump is where most people injure themselves. Not the initial leap. Kettlebells help teach your body to better manipulate weight that is not perfectly centered in your hand and to better absorb force through rapid, smooth deceleration by spreading forces through the body. Kettlebells help promote trunk stability and encourage hip-dominant movement.
READ: WHY YOU SHOULD START KETTLEBELL TRAINING TODAY + KETTLEBELL CIRCUIT WORKOUT
Training for Balance and Symmetry
As we train, balance and symmetry are what we’re chasing with our workouts. Whether you’re seeking symmetry just for aesthetics or muscular balance and control to move and perform better outside the gym, balance is a key component. Balance from our left to right side and from the front to the back of our bodies.
With that in mind, this kettlebell workout focuses on unilateral movements combined with supersets. Supersets are two exercises performed back to back with no rest in between. If you haven’t used supersets before, they’re a great way to really up the intensity factor and get yourself going. Not only that, but they also allow you to pack in more work in less time. There are many ways to do supersets, but for this workout, we’ll have you targeting the same muscles for each pair of exercises.
Unilateral Kettlebell Workout with Supersets
Perform each pair of exercises, then rest; repeat the same pair for 3 (or 4) sets
- Sets: 3x (4 if being ambitious)
- Reps: 15
- Rest: 45 seconds between supersets
- Before starting: Perform a dynamic warm-up to prep your body to train
Let’s Get Started!
1A.) Single Arm Overhead Shoulder Press
1B.) Single Arm Upright Row
- Do both these exercises for reps on one side, and then transfer over and do the same on the other side
2A.) Bent Over Single Arm Row (elbow in close to the body, hand in neutral grip position)
2B.) 2 Arm Kettlebell Swing x 2 (1 set after each set of rows)
- Do the row for reps on one side, then the kettlebell swing, then transfer over and do the row on the other side, followed by another kettlebell swing
3A.) Single Arm Press Lying on the Floor
3B.) Push-Ups – As Many As Possible (AMAP)
- Regress this exercise if you need to. Knee pushups or pushups on a raised surface will work. Keep good form! Put your knees down or work at an angle if your pushup form looks like a wet noodle with no core/trunk stability
4A.) Single Leg Squat (weight held by your side on the same side as your squatting leg)
- Regress to two-legged squats if your balance or strength won’t allow you to single leg squat yet. Hold the kettlebell in the rack position for this regression. Each circuit switches up which side you hold the weight on
4B.) Single Leg Deadlift (hold the weight in the OPPOSITE hand from the leg you are standing on)
- Regress to two feet on the ground and two hands on the kettlebell if unable to stand on 1 leg
5A.) Seated Russian Twist
5B.) Crunches – 20-50 reps depending on ability
Kettlebells are great for training the body to manipulate weight more efficiently, learning to absorb force through the body, are low cost and easy to have and use for home or in the gym to achieve great results in less time.
“Physical fitness is the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness without undue fatigue and ample energy to enjoy leisure time pursuits and meet unforeseen emergencies.” – The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport
So the next time you want to add a new challenge to your body and shake up how you go about your workouts, give kettlebells a try!
Author
Chris Hale
Chris Hale is one of the co-owners of Rocky Mountain Flex and a NASM-certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist with over 15 years of experience helping clients achieve their dream bodies. With a passion for fitness and a personal journey that includes placing top 5 in an Atlantic States NPC physique competition in NYC, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge to his training. He holds certifications in Metabolic and Neurological Adaptations with Kettlebells and specializes in guiding clients through effective weight training, cardiovascular exercises, and nutrition strategies. Chris is dedicated to helping clients understand the science behind their transformations and empowering them to feel strong, energized, and confident.
