WHY TRAIN WITH KETTLEBELLS?

I want it all. I want to work on my strength, conditioning, appearance, and flexibility all at one time. Not to mention, I only want to workout for 20 minutes. The first thing you'd say to this person is that it sounds impossible. The first thing I'd say is welcome to the kettlebell!

Kettlebells provide such a great and effective workout. There are a few things you'll notice when you start swinging kettlebells, but one of the first and most important things is that it's not boring. I dare you to start doing swings, snatches, cleans, and windmills and feel like it's a waste of time!

There are many great benefits I'll cover, but first is that kettlebells are great for burning the fat right off your body. Let's take a normal exercise you'd see in a gym, say the arm curl. During the exercise you work, without getting too technical, your biceps! Now, let's take the kettlebell swing. During the swing you work your hamstrings, your glutes, your your back, your shoulders, and your grip. Not to mention your heart and lungs work much harder to pump blood and oxygen into all of those muscles. Due to the extra work, your body burns far more calories than a traditional workout would.

Another great benefit is the strength you gain from kettlebells. Due to the unbalanced nature of the bell, you have to work even harder to keep it under control. This extra work leaves you, again burning more calories, but also develops all around, useful strength. Every time you win the battle of controlling the kettlebell means you are getting stronger and stronger.

Kettlebells keep the fire burning! After an intense kettlebell session you raise your EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) significantly. What this means is your body has to work hard to normalize itself from what you did during the workout such as clear all the lactic acid, refuel glycogen stores, etc. Again, your body works harder so you burn more calories in the long run!

All of these benefits have been about losing weight or gaining strength, but a major benefit is the endurance and conditioning you gain from kettlebells. Kettlebells have an amazing ability to build your stamina and work capacity. While you're body is receiving all the benefits of a strength-building workout, your heart and lungs are also getting a workout. This dual workout provides the body with aerobic and anaerobic training all in the same workout. There's that efficiency again.

If you wanted to do a traditional gym workout, how much equipment do you think you need? Do you have the space for that? A kettlebell, on the other hand, takes as much space a shoe box and to use it, all you need is enough room to swing your arms. Don't feel like working out inside? No problem! Take it to the beach, park or anywhere you want. That's freedom you can't buy. Unless, of course, you bought a kettlebell.

Kettlebells are a great tool that can be used as a stand-alone system or with many others. Of course, they are not the end-all solution, but whether your an athlete, a bodybuilder, an outdoors person, or just want to find another great way to get into incredible shape, kettlebells have a place in everyone's workout.