imported_Rick
16-10-2006, 10:03 AM
Two of the best things about kettlebells are what they bring out in you mentally during a work-out.
First, they are simply fun. Swinging something around is fun, and when it's a weight that could easily go through your wall or break your foot if you dropped it, it adds a level of excitement to things whether you like it or not! But mostly, you do. KB's turn weight lifting into something you don't just grind through, but something that is easily identifiable as a skill. And a skill is something you practice, and play with, rather than simply a chore. Most people lift weights for reasons besides lifting weights -- they want to look good, gain muscle, be healthy, etc. But the lifting part they probably far more often than not would rather skip if they could. Weights are just a means to some other end.
Lifting KB's is fun, and the mechanics are tricky, so you can lift KB's not just reluctantly as a means to an end but as an end in itself. Sure, you might get much stronger or leaner, etc., but compare it to playing pool. You might win money if you get good at pool, but people are more than happy to practice it just to get good at shooting pool for the fun and challenge of it. Same with KB's. They aren't so much a burden as an opportunity to try to get good at something fun and a bit out of the ordinary. To a certain extent, the fitness is almost gravy.
The average person will find KB's naturally motivating for far longer than they will barbells and dumbbells or calisthenics, or any activity whose primary goal is pure fitness rather than getting good at something interesting and fun. When I walk by my KB's, I'm usually dying to pick them up for at least a few reps, but know I shouldn't disrupt my recovery by always playing with them. My dumbbells just collect dust.
The second thing KB's inject mentally into a work-out, besides fun and the desire to practice with them, is a high level of concentration. KB's are off-balance, so when you move them, especially overhead, you absolutely must concentrate. I can slam out dumbbell reps while practically brain-dead and barely paying attention, but wouldn't dare do that with KB's. This added level of necessary concentration brings you fully into the moment, which makes you pay more attention to minute physical sensations, keying you in to flaws in your balance, tension, alignment, breathing, etc. Being forced to pay attention makes you aware of your body in a way that can make you a safer and better, stronger lifter. Since balance and alignment become key issues, it can prompt you to integrate your full body and all its power much more carefully into your moves, which can rapidly result in an ability to lift more weight and do it more safely as well. This can only help to accelerate your fitness goals.
Could we all concentrate just as hard with a dumbbell overhead as a KB? Probably not. We'd have to make an effort and never let it slack, and have to know how to get that focused in the first place. A KB's off-balance center of gravity simply forces us to learn how to do it, and quickly; if we don't, we aren't going to have either the strength or the confidence to get much weight over our head, or to make sure our last reps have anywhere near the focus of our first. The KB alerts us to BE HERE NOW in a way we don't need in a lot of the rest of our lives, and in no uncertain terms. Most of us would probably benefit a great deal by applying that integrated concentration elsewhere in our lives, but even if we only apply it to keep us from getting our brains bashed in by our own kettlebells, it still serves us well. It will still make us stronger and more fit faster, and improve our full-body coordination and mind-body integration. What more, really, could you want from an exercise, or a lump of metal?
Any way you look at the KB, it is the most efficient exercise tool I know of. Cost, size/space, variety, effectiveness for a wide variety of goals; strength, strength-endurace, fat loss, cardio (aerobic and anaerobic)grip and even hypertrophy.
Blarg from DD
]And kettlebells are the real deal. The marketing can seem a little over the top, but that seems to be the style these days. At least DD doesn't bomb my e-mail the way some other very big names in fitness do. Anyway, KB's are a great tool, and how good they are has nothing at all to do with the hype.
BStramel from DD
Aussie comrades- feel free to post your thoughts.
First, they are simply fun. Swinging something around is fun, and when it's a weight that could easily go through your wall or break your foot if you dropped it, it adds a level of excitement to things whether you like it or not! But mostly, you do. KB's turn weight lifting into something you don't just grind through, but something that is easily identifiable as a skill. And a skill is something you practice, and play with, rather than simply a chore. Most people lift weights for reasons besides lifting weights -- they want to look good, gain muscle, be healthy, etc. But the lifting part they probably far more often than not would rather skip if they could. Weights are just a means to some other end.
Lifting KB's is fun, and the mechanics are tricky, so you can lift KB's not just reluctantly as a means to an end but as an end in itself. Sure, you might get much stronger or leaner, etc., but compare it to playing pool. You might win money if you get good at pool, but people are more than happy to practice it just to get good at shooting pool for the fun and challenge of it. Same with KB's. They aren't so much a burden as an opportunity to try to get good at something fun and a bit out of the ordinary. To a certain extent, the fitness is almost gravy.
The average person will find KB's naturally motivating for far longer than they will barbells and dumbbells or calisthenics, or any activity whose primary goal is pure fitness rather than getting good at something interesting and fun. When I walk by my KB's, I'm usually dying to pick them up for at least a few reps, but know I shouldn't disrupt my recovery by always playing with them. My dumbbells just collect dust.
The second thing KB's inject mentally into a work-out, besides fun and the desire to practice with them, is a high level of concentration. KB's are off-balance, so when you move them, especially overhead, you absolutely must concentrate. I can slam out dumbbell reps while practically brain-dead and barely paying attention, but wouldn't dare do that with KB's. This added level of necessary concentration brings you fully into the moment, which makes you pay more attention to minute physical sensations, keying you in to flaws in your balance, tension, alignment, breathing, etc. Being forced to pay attention makes you aware of your body in a way that can make you a safer and better, stronger lifter. Since balance and alignment become key issues, it can prompt you to integrate your full body and all its power much more carefully into your moves, which can rapidly result in an ability to lift more weight and do it more safely as well. This can only help to accelerate your fitness goals.
Could we all concentrate just as hard with a dumbbell overhead as a KB? Probably not. We'd have to make an effort and never let it slack, and have to know how to get that focused in the first place. A KB's off-balance center of gravity simply forces us to learn how to do it, and quickly; if we don't, we aren't going to have either the strength or the confidence to get much weight over our head, or to make sure our last reps have anywhere near the focus of our first. The KB alerts us to BE HERE NOW in a way we don't need in a lot of the rest of our lives, and in no uncertain terms. Most of us would probably benefit a great deal by applying that integrated concentration elsewhere in our lives, but even if we only apply it to keep us from getting our brains bashed in by our own kettlebells, it still serves us well. It will still make us stronger and more fit faster, and improve our full-body coordination and mind-body integration. What more, really, could you want from an exercise, or a lump of metal?
Any way you look at the KB, it is the most efficient exercise tool I know of. Cost, size/space, variety, effectiveness for a wide variety of goals; strength, strength-endurace, fat loss, cardio (aerobic and anaerobic)grip and even hypertrophy.
Blarg from DD
]And kettlebells are the real deal. The marketing can seem a little over the top, but that seems to be the style these days. At least DD doesn't bomb my e-mail the way some other very big names in fitness do. Anyway, KB's are a great tool, and how good they are has nothing at all to do with the hype.
BStramel from DD
Aussie comrades- feel free to post your thoughts.