Body Building

Body Builders and Power Lifters ...The Australian Ironman Says it All!

The following is reprinted from Australian Ironman, April 2005 edition (Australia’s leading Bodybuilding magazine) Every strength athlete, including bodybuilders can benefit from applied Kettlebell lifting. By incorporating Kettlebell lifting into your program you will notice a drastic improvement in:

Work capacity
Strength endurance increases, which allows for increased volume and intensity in conventional training.

Tone
Residual contraction, strength and muscle quality are improved due to sarcomere hypertrophy and hyperplasia versus sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. The latter refers to the ‘pump’ which occurs when blood rushes to the muscle to deliver nutrients, such as oxygen, and remove waste such as lactic acid.

The pump is associated with high-rep sub-max isolation training and, although it may improve muscle mass, the contractile elements in the muscle fibre are not stimulated to the same degree as they are during Kettlebell lifting and strength training.

Stability
Control in manoeuvring and manipulating intrinsic and extrinsic loads is enhanced.

Speed
Fast-twitch fibres fire up because the intent of many Kettlebell movements is rapid acceleration.

Injury resistance
Overall resilience improves as flexibility, shock absorption ability and supportive musculature (including the trunk, the hip and shoulder stabilisers, and the neck) strengthen. Increased joint and back integrity and flexibility means a longer and safer sporting career.

Fat loss
High intensity interval training is not only safe and effective with Kettlebells, but it also creates a maintenance effect for lean muscle mass you already possess. And you won’t have to worry about the torment of prolonged cardio or fad diets.

Entertainment
Kettlebell training is not only a challenge, it’s fun. The exercises require complete focus and an endless array of variations and combinations can be performed.

Function
The posterior kinematic chain (muscles running along the back from the skull to the ankles) and the trunk receive special emphasis due to the inherent nature of the lifts. In general, these are your most important functional muscle groups.

When asked "Is it possible to gain substantial muscle mass with kettlebells?"

Pavel Tsatsouline replied, “Yes, you can get outstanding muscle mass gains, provided your training protocol is designed accordingly and you throw enough protein and calories down the hatch. As a rule of thumb, to build beef, one should do slow kettlebell exercises (grinds), fives (five reps) or quick lifts of 10s (10 reps). Keep your rest periods minimal either way.”