10 Reasons I Love Kettlebells by Logan Christopher

I want to share with you all the reasons that I love training with kettlebells.

1 – They’re Different

Back when I first tried a kettlebell I was pretty much a bodyweight only guy. I had been led to believe that “weights didn’t build functional strength”. The thing that led me to believe this was when I worked out in a gym I didn’t get much in the way of results, but when I switched 100% to bodyweight training I started making real gains. Now I know that it wasn’t the weights themselves that caused my lack of gains, but how I was training.

Although as they become more popular, kettlebells are being watered down in many ways. Still, by and large, if you get into kettlebell training, you’re likely going to be doing something very different from “conventional fitness”. This difference is a good thing because most people quite simply don’t get the results they want, and when that happens something different is necessary.

2 – They’re Fun

On a related subject, and this one is certainly open to interpretation, the training that is done with kettlebells tends to be more fun then “conventional fitness”. I don’t know about you but I’d rather swing, press and snatch a kettlebell then run on a treadmill or do a spin class.

This isn’t to say that it’s not going to be hard work, but still a lot more fun can be had in your training with kettlebells.

3 – Quick, Efficient Workouts

With a kettlebell you can do a full body workout that builds both strength and conditioning in 10 to 30 minutes. You don’t need to spend a lot of time on it. Just the other week Forest Vance gave me a challenge workout that he puts a lot of his clients through.

For men with a 24kg kettlebell (of course this can be modified up or down)

2 Clean and Presses each arm
4 Snatches each arm
12 Goblet Squats
16 Alternating Swings

This is one round and you repeat for 5. Try to get it under 5 minutes and you’ll know what a quick, efficient workout is.

4 – Great for Building Explosive Conditioning

Although kettlebells can certainly be used for strength building, doing many exercises just like you’d do with a dumbbell, the true beauty of kettlebells comes in doing higher repetition stuff. They’re built for increasing your work capacity. They are used in explosive ways over and over again. Just try a snatch test and you’ll see.

5 – Kettlebell Snatch Test

The kettlebell snatch is one of my favorite exercises, which is why I pursued it to such a high level. There are some different versions of this test. Typically its 10 minutes long, but that can be changed. In one version you can only switch hands one time. In another version multiple hand switches are allowed. Both are brutal although in different ways.

It’s a phenomenal test of both your technique in the movement and your conditioning ability. When you can put a bell overhead more than 200 times in ten minutes you’re doing pretty well.

6 – Grip Strength

Swinging and snatching kettlebells will work your hands quite well. Depending on the kettlebell you have you’ll likely find a thicker handle than a barbell or dumbbell has, which will build up this often neglected part in your body.

If you want to take it to another level try the various “bottoms up” exercises that can be done with a kettlebell like the clean and press. Instead of the ball of the kettlebell resting against your forearm it will be inverted and you’ll be gripping the handle hard to keep the bell balanced.

7 – The Swing

You can’t really talk about the kettlebell without talking about the swing. All the ballistics are built off of it. Plus this by itself can be pursued to a super high level. My friend Bud Jeffries lost over 100 lbs. with training built primarily around the swing, while working up to workouts that involved 1000’s of reps.

It can also be made really heavy which is a great athletic power builder.

8 – Jump Higher and Longer

I was not born athletic. It was only through my training that I was made so. One benefit I’ve found from all the kettlebell ballistic exercises is that it transfers over to jumping. I’ve done some gymnastics myself and one move I was really happy to achieve was the back flip. Now my technique for this move isn’t that great. I hardly tuck at all. But I can jump quite high so that I don’t need to tuck very hard. When I tested it my standing long jump was quite good, for never work specifically on long jumping.

9 – All in One Gym

If you have just one kettlebell you can get a great workout with it. Depending on the size you’ll have to change up your exercise selection but it doesn’t matter if its light or heavy, you can train with it. Of course, a wide selection of kettlebells just improves your options, but you only need one. With it you can build strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination and even more.

You learn how to train with kettlebells and your bodyweight and you can go very far. I believe there are distinct benefits from using other tools like barbells and many more, but if I had to choose just two it would be bodyweight training and kettlebells.

10 – Kettlebell Juggling

I saved the best for last. In my opinion kettlebell juggling gives you the best of just about everything above and it’s the most fun training I’ve ever come across. Now its not actual juggling, as in throwing three balls or clubs from hand to hand. Instead it’s the flipping, spinning, and catching of (usually) a single kettlebell.

This builds strength, conditioning, coordination, and grip all at once. As you improve in your skills you’ll also have tons of fun. It needs to be practiced outside in a safe area because you will drop it but other than that there is no reason not to give it a try.

So there you have it. There are even more reasons than this to use kettlebells, and if you read this far its likely you’ve already got your own. But I hope I’ve given you a few new ideas of things to try the next time you use them.

Logan Christopher has been called a Physical Culture Renaissance Man for doing many different things in the world of strength. Some of his most famous feats include pulling a firetruck by his hair and juggling a kettlebell that was on fire. His average training is a combination of hand balancing, gymnastic skills, kettlebells, heavy weight lifting and more. He especially likes to focus on the mental training needed to regularly perform at a peak level. You can find more about him at www.LegendaryStrength.com

Jon

Jon Haas, "The Warrior Coach" has been training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu for more than 25 years and is currently ranked as a Kudan (9th degree black belt) under Jack Hoban Shihan. He has also trained in Okinawan Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Russian Systema, BJJ, Krav Maga, as well as Internal Martial Arts of Yiquan and Aiki.He is a certified Underground Strength Coach-Level 2, a certified Personal Trainer as well as founder of Warrior Fitness Training Systems. In 2008, Jon wrote the book, Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts, and since then has created numerous other online training and coaching programs helping people around the world become the strongest, most capable versions of themselves!

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