I am often asked why bother using kettlebells as opposed to dumbbells or any other implement commonly found in gyms. It’s a good question so let’s talk about it a bit.

There’s been a huge buzz about kettlebells in the last few years and many people have embraced the kettlebell culture enthusiastically. Kettlebells have also had significant impact in the arena of women’s fitness and I’m still not sure why. Possibly some very effective marketing, possibly the colour pink.

A kettlebell is one tool among many. If your ultimate goals are fitness, strength and health, there are any number of tools, toys and techniques you can use to achieve these. Andrew Stemler, author of the Kettlebell Training Guide, whom you would suppose has an interest in bigging up the kettlebell, in fact says:

“A kettlebell, in spite of the hype, is neither a gym in the palm of your hand, an item that flenses fat from your body, nor builds indestructible bullet-proof abs: that’s done by hard work, skill, determination and diet.”

All this is true. And yet, I am falling for my kettlebell.

Movement

First of all, it’s way sexier looking than a dumbbell (no, I don’t get out much). Dumbbells are shaped for convenience, to fit around your hand, but they look clumsy. A kettlebell is a thing of curved beauty and its shape is complete without you. You have to work around it.

This is a significant difference between kettlebells and dumbbells: the relationship between your body and the way it moves around the kettlebell. You can do this because the kettlebell swings from a handle, so it’s an extension of the limb, a dance partner.

A dumbbell doesn’t swing free, it’s just something you have to carry. You can’t move around it in the same way.

With the kettlebell handle, you can fairly easily let go of the kettlebell and catch it again, making your moves flow better. If you’re really adept, you can let go of a flying kettlebell and move your body around it before catching again. Check out Chip Conrad’s spectacular Strength Rituals DVD to see this in action.

So you’ve got a broader range of exercises you can perform with a kettlebell and you can create better flow between them. I bet you never heard that argument before: you can dance with a kettlebell (no, I really don’t get out much).

Challenge

There are some kettlebell-exclusive exercises. But any exercise that you can do with either a dumbbell or a kettlebell will be that bit harder with a kettlebell. In fitness terms, harder is generally better. The kettlebell is harder to control so provides all sorts of stabilisation and grip challenges as well as resistance.

What’s more, the folks at Bodytribe have discovered that using kettlebells with bands takes your training to a whole other level.

They’ve tried using bands with dumbbells but it doesn’t quite work. The shape of the kettlebell handle, on the other hand, is ideal for attaching a band and getting some serious resistance going (see Strength Rituals DVD for more on this; yes I’m pimping this yet again. There’s a good reason for it!).

Home workouts

Kettlebells have been enthusiastically taken up by the home workout crowd. Perhaps this is another reason for their popularity with sensible women who eschew wii fit and the val slide (don’t get me started!!!).

A kettlebell is a very useful workout tool to have around the house and you can easily get away with just having two different weights rather than the full range of every weight ever made. See A Girl’s Guide to Choosing A Kettlebell for some good advice on what weights to choose.

A set of kettlebells is cheaper than gym membership, will last longer and is never closed or full of nincompoops.

I can’t see myself ever using just kettlebells for my training but for some people they could easily be the sole tool for the job. Kettlebells will give you fitness, mobility, stability, strength endurance and explosive power. They can do wonders for fat loss (as long as your diet is right) and maybe a bit of muscle growth. They won’t make you super strong – for that you need barbells.

Will dumbbells do the same thing? Yes. But they’re not as much fun! Josh Hanagarne, the World’s Strongest Librarian, knows what I’m talking about.

Getting started

The best way to decide whether a kettlebell is for you is to get yourself to a decent workshop, something like the Crossfit Reading kettlebell workshop which I went to recently (I believe they are doing the next one in November so keep an eye out).

You do need to have someone teach you the exercises properly. A kettlebell is an awkward shaped object and there’s a bit of technique involved even in the simplest exercises.

But once you’ve mastered those, there is a whole world of groovy kettlebell moves to try which are quite advanced.

Roll up, get yer kettlebells here!

• Cast iron kettlebells
• Steel kettlebells
• Sets of kettlebells

Are you a kettlebell fan? Are you a sceptic? Share your thoughts below!

Written for gubernatrix.co.uk by Andrew Stemler of Crossfit London. Andrew was the first person to teach me kettlebells and I have benefitted from the infamous ‘hosepipe’ technique (mentioned below). Andrew has written a great kettlebell training guide which is available in the shop. He is also originator of the i-Course (all the Crossfit skills in one day) and the Elite Fitness Manual. Over to Andrew >>

Choosing the right weight of kettlebell  is easy.

There are just two rules:

1. Avoid ones that are stupidly light
2. Avoid those that are stupidly heavy

But thats too stupidly obvious.

Start off thinking about the basic moves you will be doing. You will be swinging and snatching, so get something that you can swing in one hand – a bag, a dumbbell from a gym, a patient cat – and see how it feels (swing it forward to about chest height and let it swing back).

Start light and work your way up. Find a weight that is challenging but fun (refer to rules 1 and 2). I find this tends to be between 8 and 16kg.

Ideally you will learn to snatch a kettlebell with a really light weight. On the Crossfit London i-Course we use a ring of hose pipe. Once you have the technique, I’ve seen most women happily snatch between 6kg and 8kg. At this early stage, people seem to be happy snatching what they can press a couple of times but it can be nice to practise your first few snatches on something light (note, not stupidly light).

The problem is that if you buy too light a bell, you quickly need another; too heavy and your form goes and you injure yourself.

A difficult choice. The reality is that you need a bell to swing and one to press and snatch. This probably means two bells.

If you are terrified by weight, a 6kg and 8kg could be a starting point. I’ve spoken to one very annoyed girl who bought a mini pack (a 1kg, a 2kg and a 4kg). She gave them to her four year old and bought an 8kg and 16kg.

My gut instinct is an 8kg and a 12kg for most women, but you could need access to a 4kg and 10kg dumbbell as well.

I suppose the real point here is this:

Do you understand what a particular weight means to you? Can you visualise 3kg, 5kg, 10kg and what basic moves you can do with those weights? If I made you squat with 30kg are you happy or sad?

So get to know how you feel about different weights. At the worst, if your 15 kg child rushed at you wanting to be picked up, can you do it?

It’s the weight, not the tool that’s important. Understand what you can lift, and the other decisions become easier.

Thanks for that, Andrew! Here is a video clip from Andrew on the kettlebell snatch: how to punch up through the movement in order to catch the bell before it whacks you on the wrsit, and how using a bit of hosepipe will help you get the technique.

I agree with Andrew’s suggestion of two kettlebells. At the moment I only have a 14kg and it is not suitable for all exercises. I’ve been trying some of the more adventurous kettlebell exercises from the Bodytribe Strength Rituals DVD and find 14kg a little heavy as a learning weight for some of the exercises. On the other hand I could handle a larger weight for exercises like swings, cleans or windmills.

More from gubernatrix

• Steel competition grade kettlebells
• Andrew Stemler’s kettlebell training guide
• Advanced kettlebell exercises on the Strength Rituals DVD

The new kettlebell emporium will be opening in August 2009 and for you, dear readers, there will be introductory special offers and promotions, so watch this space!!

I have had several requests from readers for more posts on kettlebells and I am very happy to be able to oblige at last. Kettlebells are the perfect at-home tool for strength, fitness, endurance and fat loss, so I am not surprised that you want to see more of them

I have linked up with the lovely people at Wolverson Fitness who are very generously sponsoring my kettlebell content. I genuinely couldn’t do this without them.

Wolverson kettlebells

I first came across Wolverson Fitness kettlebells at a Crossfit Reading kettlebell workshop (see the review here) and was very impressed with the quality and useability of the ‘bells.

• Good clearance under the handle
• Nice range of colours (great for instructors and clubs)
• Well made and hard wearing
• Competition standard design
• Weights in increments of 2kg rather than 4kg (brilliant for beginners)

But importantly, these were great kettlebells at a reasonable price. Anyone who has tried to shop for a kettlebell knows that there is a wide range both of price and quality available. Personally I found it all quite confusing so I was very happy to find a product that was both affordable and great quality.

When I got in touch with Wolverson they were enthusiastic about getting involved with gubernatrix.co.uk. It’s great to work with a company that sees the benefits of supporting the functional fitness community as well as just, you know, selling stuff.

So loads of kettlebell fun to look forward to this summer. Remember, there’ll be introductory special offers, so start writing your wish list now!

Sorry folks but we can only ship within the UK mainland.

You can set the timer to go off at regular intervals, such as every minute. This would allow you, for example, to do a circuit that involved changing exercises every minute without having to worry about looking at a clock or a watch. This is extremely useful if, like me, you do a lot of your circuit training on your own or outside where you are not in sight of a clock.

Moreover, the Gymboss allows you to set two interval lengths, so you can use it to do tabatas – where you need one interval of 20 seconds and one interval of 10 seconds.

I’ve been using a Gymboss interval timer for several months and I think the product is so useful that I have decided to host some links to the site. If you decide to get one too, you can give your much-needed support to this site by purchasing your Gymboss via the banners and links here.

Workouts using a Gymboss

Interval timers like Gymboss make a whole host of conditioning workouts much easier, especially if you work out on your own.

1. Tabata protocol

The Tabata protocol consists of 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest. This cycle is repeated 8 times, for a total of 4 minutes. Tabatas can be performed using any exercise. The key is to perform at maximum intensity, which has the effect of increasing aerobic capacity and raising the body’s metabolic rate for long after the exercise itself has finished.

If you have never tried tabatas, you are in for a surprise! 20 seconds doesn’t sound like a very long time, but the body fatigues more quickly than you expect, especially if you are not used to high intensity work. Whatever exercise you choose, whether squats, press-ups, burpees or something else, count the number of reps you do in the first 20-second interval and try to get the same number of reps in each of the subsequent intervals. It’s a lot harder than you think.

Read more:

Ross Enamait on the effectiveness of tabatas

2. Crossfit Workouts

Some Crossfit workouts involve timed intervals, such as the popular Fight Gone Bad. In this workout there are five stations:

1. Wall ball
2. Sumo deadlift high pull
3. Box Jump
4. Push press
5. Row

You perform each exercise for one minute before moving on to the next without a break. When all five exercises are complete, you rest for one minute, then start round two. Fight Gone Bad is usually performed in either three- or five-round versions.

Read more:

Gubernatrix does Fight Gone Bad with Crossfit London

3. Circuit training

You can use the Gymboss to put together your own circuits for high intensity workouts. A favourite circuit of mine is:

1 minute row
1 minute thrusters (front squat followed by push press)
x 3 rounds

Simple, tough but very rewarding!

Read more:

Ross Enamait has some more ideas for timed intervals that he has summarised in this guest post for Workout Routines.

However, once you learn how to get the rings under control, you will want to aim for some of the more technically challenging gymnastic moves as well. You will get fantastic upper body strength, a core of steel and you’ll look very impressive at the gym to boot.

Have a look at my ring training video for demos of the easier ring exercises you can do to get started and read the guide below.

Dips

Ring dips are surprisingly harder than bar dips. The key to remaining stable in the dips is to keep the rings as close to your body as possible. When you dip down, aim to get your hands into your armpits. You get a much better range of motion with ring dips than you do with bars in the gym because they are much closer to your body.

Mastering ring dips is an essential precursor to learning the muscle-up. If you have trouble doing full ring dips for reps at first, practise negative ring dips. Use your feet to get yourself up into the top position and slowly dip down to the bottom position with no assistance. Once in the bottom position, use your feet to assist you to the top again.

Pull-ups

For pull-ups, the rings will naturally give you a neutral grip (palms facing inwards), which is very wrist friendly.

Pull-ups are also part of the progression to learn muscle-ups, as you need the strength to be able to do, say, 10-15 pull-ups before starting to learn the muscle-up. With the rings you can start to get used to the false grip, which is necessary for muscle-up technique, and do false grip pull-ups to practise.

Watch a video seminar on how to do chin-ups with a false grip from Crossfit London

Inverted row and vertical row

There’s more than one way to row using the rings. The more normal method is to have your feet on the floor with legs stretched out in front of you, and pull your chest up to the rings using a rowing motion (see my video if you are not familiar with this move).

However, you can make it more difficult by hanging upside down and pulling your whole body up.

It’s tricky because you get a bit of swing and it’s hard to stay balanced in the position, let alone pull your bodyweight up. But worth the effort!

Push-ups

Like the dip, it’s easy to get a better range of motion in the push-up when using the rings, bringing your hands all the way into your armpits. The first time you do this, you will feel it the next day, even if you have been doing normal push-ups on the floor for years!

Because you have to work to keep the rings stable, decline push-ups (head higher than feet) are much harder than they would be if you were using something solid. Incline push-ups (feet higher than head) are even more challenging with the rings.

Equipment

It’s easier than you think to get hold of some rings, or ring-like objects. Here are a few options:

• Buy readymade rings specifically for this type of exercise.
• You can make your own using some metal and straps. My rings consist of a bit of metal pipe threaded with a roof rack strap. I’m lucky enough to have a pipe with a curve in it, but straight pipe would also work.
• You can put up handles hanging from chains, as explained in this article by The Mighty Kat.
• And finally, you can even use a couple of judo belts tied together. I’ve tried it, they do work!

More exercises

Crossfit London’s Ring Training guide.

Some useful ring videos from Petranek Fitness:

• Front lever/back lever
• Ring flyes
• Ring bridge
• Skin the cat

Impressive stuff in this video clip ranging from relatively simple to quite advanced (handstand push-ups, one arm row, L-sit muscle-up)

Extreme rings from Muscle Beach!

So what’s in my gym bag?

• Workout log & pen

Very important items! You can see from the picture that I have invested in a sturdy, attractive journal rather than a few scraps of paper or a flimsy jotter. Everything gets recorded: sets, reps, weights, timings, notes on form. I’ve had this log for a couple of years now and it’s good fun to look back to the days when I first started lifting properly. I also have an online log but this is less convenient to carry around in the gym!

I strongly recommend using a workout journal or log. Successful strength training is all about progression – steadily increasing weight or volume lifted. So it’s vital to know what you did last time. People in the gym who don’t have workout logs either do the same thing every week or just make it up as they go along. Neither tactic gets great results.

• Liquid chalk

I apply liquid chalk before I start lifting, as I get very sweaty palms and bars can so easily slip out of your hands! Liquid chalk comes in a little bottle, which is expensive but lasts for ages because you only need a penny-sized blob. The stuff dries on your hands within a few seconds so it’s a convenient and discreet way to chalk up.

• Gloves

These are just a back-up really. I prefer to lift without gloves – bit of a purist that way. I think you get a better grip and a better ‘feel’ for the bar without gloves on. I do get callouses but they aren’t that bad and in any case, I’m not really bothered.

Occasionally I will use the gloves if the bar hurts. For example, at a previous gym they had a pull-up bar with ridges cut into it. Presumably it was to help you not to slip but it just hurt my palms so I used gloves for that one. Also I find sometimes that if I use the monkey bars at a playground (outdoor training in the summer is a laugh!) they tend to be quite slippery and gloves can help.

• Towel

Everyone should use a towel, it’s only fair on your fellow gym users!

• Gym card

Well, I wouldn’t get into the gym without it. Otherwise it’s yet another piece of useless plastic taking up space in my wallet.

• Water bottle

Reusable and I fill it from the gym’s water fountain. I got into the habit of taking a bottle round when I used to go to a gym that didn’t have a free water fountain – meanies!

• Lipstick

Yes, amongst all these accoutrements of strength, a dash of the feminine. Sometimes it just makes me feel a little bit more human at the end of a hard workout. Also, my lips do sometimes go a bit blue after I cool down and I look ill if I don’t add a bit of colour!

So there you have it – the mysteries of my gym bag revealed. What do you carry in yours?