Bell your excess weight away!!

A great article that will be of interest to anyone wondering the benefits of Kettlebells, muscles used during kettle bell training found on urban massage.




Should you train with kettle bells ?? 

I think you should definitely  include them in your fitness regime if you have any questions or doubts, this article will provide all the answers to get you swinging those bells. 



Have a read :



Kettlebells offer training using dynamic moves targeting strength, balance, agility and cardio endurance. It is possible to work virtually your entire body with just a small group of kettlebell exercises. Results can be extraordinary and the technique is popular. Kettlebells can be used by men and women, to help you achieve your fitness goals, transform your body and provide a challenging and fun workout!

Because we typically sit so much these days, our core muscles become weak and our ‘posterior chain’ (back of the body) tight and stressed. Kettlebells address this imbalance. A dynamic workout is also a motivational way to work stress out of the body.



Benefits of Exercising with Kettlebells



1. Fat Loss and Toning: Kettlebells are awesome for fat loss and muscle toning due to the intense workout, keeping your metabolic rate raised after you finish your session – meaning more calories also burned at rest.





2. Functional Fitness: Kettlebells work the body through functional training, using movements our bodies were designed to do in real life: bending, squatting, twisting, swinging, pressing, pulling, pushing.



3. Increased Strength and Power: Kettlebell movements are ‘ballistic’, a form of strength training applying force, using fast twitch muscle fibres, where we lift, accelerate, and then release weight, rather than slowly lowering it. Ballistic training requires muscles to contract quickly and forcefully to develop muscular strength and power.



4. Condition, Stamina, Endurance: Kettlebell training can increase your condition, stamina and endurance enabling you to work out longer and harder, with less fatigue.



5. Core Strength and Stability: Kettlebell training encourages core stability, improving posture by working postural muscles in a functional way, helping reduce lower back problems, as core muscles strengthen and stabilise the spine. Weak and unbalanced core muscles are linked to low back pain as they are unable to help maintain appropriate posture and reduce strain on the lower spine.



6. Strong Posterior Chain: Muscles down the back of the body: back muscles, glutes, hamstrings and posterior calves play a key role in many lifts, promoting astronger posterior chain.



7. Fun! The gym can become monotonous and boring – kettlebells workouts are dynamic, varied and fun.



Examples of Kettlebell Exercises



1. Swing: Embodies speed, power, strength, and endurance.Swings can be one or two-handed, powerfully working core, back and shoulders, arms, glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and driving through the hips as the ball is raised to chest level.



2. One-Arm Clean: Builds strength and endurance, involving both a swing and lift component. The upper body gets a workout as the kettlebell is lifted up against your upper arm.





3. One-Arm Snatch: Builds explosive strength, power and endurance. Similar in form to Swing, Kettlebell Snatch differs in the end point, where the kettlebell is punched overhead, making core muscles work hard to keep your body stable through the punch.



4. Deadlift / Stiff Leg Deadlift: Help tone and strengthen hamstrings, core, lower back and glutes.



5. Windmill: Involves twisting to touch your opposite foot, placing emphasis on abdominals (particularly obliques) and building a strong back, arms and shoulders – with the bonus of working on balance and stability.



6. Lunge: By extending a leg and lowering the body’s centre of gravity, resistance is displaced onto the leg muscle areas to firm the lower body.



7. Squats: Works quadriceps, gluteals and hamstrings.





Muscles Used in Kettlebell Training



Hamstrings: The hamstrings get called into play when your knees go from a straight to bent position. Any squatting exercise will recruit the hamstrings. They are also contracted for stabilisation with exercises like one/two arm swings, single or double snatch, and clean and press.



Quadriceps: The quads primarily extend the knee. One of the quads (rectus femoris) also crosses the hip joint and is a hip flexor. Any type of squat with kettlebells activates your quads.



Back Muscles: Classic kettlebell movements like snatch, clean and swing involve heaving the kettlebell from the ground up into the air, so your back muscles are involved. Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids and erector spinae get recruited with any exercise that involves a pulling (“rowing”) motion toward your body.



Shoulders: Overhand grip for swinging kettlebell exercises works shoulders and arms. Gripping the kettlebell tones forearms. Overhead clean and press, or even basic snatch, works shoulders: levator scapula, trapezius, deltoids and rotator cuff. Shoulder muscles are stabilisers with all kettlebell exercises and any exercise involving an overhead movement.



Gluteals: The gluteals are located in the buttock region. Different fibres of these muscles flex, extend, abduct or externally rotate the hip, so your glutes get recruited when your thighs go from a close body position to a straight leg position, or vice versa. These muscles are also recruited for stability when doing swings and deadlifts.



Core : The “core” muscles stabilise the spine and pelvis, and some run the entire length of the torso. When you lift, swing or even hold the bell, you contract your abs to maintain postural alignment and stability, and create a solid base of support, allowing you to generate powerful movements of the extremities whilst protecting the back. Rectus abdominis (“six pack”), obliques, transverse abs and erector spinae are all core muscles.



Referenced from pure urban massage







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Melissa Mc Inerney

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