A Brief History

In 2001, Rolling Stone called the kettlebell the “Hot Weight of the Year.” In the years since, there has been a massive surge of kettlebell programs and manufacturers, clamoring to keep up with this trend. But kettlebells are far from new.

In fact, weights with a handle attached have been used in several cultures throughout the world, across the span of time.

But, because of their recent rise in the fitness mainstream, kettebells are often seen as a hot new trend—a kitschy, hyped up form of exercise that will come and go much like jazzercise or step aerobics. Not only have kettlebells been a part of the fitness subculture in the States since the nineties, they have been a component of Eastern European culture for centuries.

The exact history of the kettlebell remains a mystery, but references of it in Russian dictionaries can be found as far back as the 1700s. Although they were originally used as counterweights for Russian merchants, they eventually made their way into the hands of men who recognized their value as an interesting object to sling around. They were entertaining. Diverting. And eventually, acknowledged for their ability to forge fitness.

After much popularity within Soviet military circles, kettlebell sport was born. The sport as it is known today consists of the snatch and the clean and jerk, performed for as many repetitions as possible within a set period of time. These lifts, although they share the same names as those in Olympic weightlifting, are nothing like their barbell “counterparts.” Yet, even within the world of kettlebell training, there is much diversity regarding styles and systems.

And herein lies the problem. In a culture with varying ideas on how to build strength, lose fat and develop athleticism, we often find ourselves questioning whether or not a tool or a program will successfully nourish those goals. Some kettlebell proponents say it’s the only tool you need to forge elite levels of fitness, while pockets of powerlifters and weightlifters consider them an inconsequential tool. But, to every thing there is a season, and knowing why and when to use a kettlebell in your training will help determine whether or not they are right for you.

Avoiding DOGMA

“Truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive.”
-Bruce Lee

Who ever thought a little ball of iron could stir up so much controversy?

On both ends of the spectrum, both for and against the use of kettlebells, there are strong, decisive opinions. Opinions that present themselves as fact and serve to do one thing only:

Perpetuate fitness dogma.

One need only spend a few moments on social media outlets to dial into the current state of the fitness world and realize that there exists dogma in just about every circle. There are training styles all over the map that claim to be the ultimate, not only touting their benefits but also endeavoring to debunk that of others.

Here’s the problem with dogma. When an ideology exists that is so deep rooted it resists the possibility of varying opinions, it sets itself up for failure. It’s one thing to believe in following the fitness path that you’ve chosen. It’s another thing altogether to claim that path is the only way to achieve elite levels of fitness. Once you subscribe to dogma, you’re stuck. You cannot change your mind without altering the very paradigm upon which you’ve built your ideals.

There exists, in the fitness realm, both anti kettlebell dogma and the idea that the kettlebell is a supreme training implement, rendering all others useless. Obviously, both of these competing beliefs cannot be wholly true. We must remove the dogma in order to see what really lies beneath this big ball of iron. Once we’ve done that, we can see that it is simply a tool, like any other, void of superhero abilities. In seeming dichotomy, the kettlebell touts an aggregation of benefits as well as flaws.

What is a kettlebell good for?

Now that we’ve established that the kettlebell is not, in fact, the ultimate fitness tool, let’s discuss the ways in which it is quite useful and unique in it’s own right.

Although the benefits of any weighted implement, including the kettlebell, are multitudinous, what sets the kettebell apart is its efficient use as a fat loss tool. While interval based training and metabolic resistance can be achieved any number of ways, kettlebells are perfectly suited for these purposes. This is due to the fact that kettlebells can be easily used in complexes, chains, and circuits.

For our purposes, let’s describe these 3 training methods as such:

Complex: a training block in which the lifter performs a set amount of repetitions of one exercise before moving on the next, without ever setting down the kettlebell.

Example:
KB swing x5
KB clean x5
KB push press x5
KB snatch x5
Rest, repeat

Chain: a training block in which the lifter performs one repetition of each exercise before returning to the start of the set, for a set number of sets without ever setting the kettlebell down.

Example:
KB swing x1
KB clean x1
KB push press x1
KB snatch x1
Repeat 5 times, rest

Circuit: a training block in which the lifter performs all repetitions of one exercise before moving on to the next, while setting down the kettlebell in between exercises.

Example:
KB goblet squat x5
Rest
KB swing x10
Rest
KB snatch x10
Rest, repeat

Can complexes, chains and circuits be easily performed with barbells and dumbbells? Of course they can. In some ways, barbell complexes can actually be more effective, given that you can add considerable load compared to other tools. But the aspect of the kettlebell that makes it truly unique in its efficiency lies in the transitions.

While barbells and dumbbells can certainly lend them selves well to fat loss modalities such as complexes and chains, kettlebells can do the same job with more fluidity due to the ease of the transitions.

In addition to the transitions, the kettlebell brings something to the table that the other implements simply do not: the swing. This ballistic exercise is fantastic for stimulating a metabolic response, and can easily be thrown in with other kettlebell exercises to create a complete conditioning session. The swing alone, with its eccentric speed during the hinge and concentric power during the lockout, is a potent ingredient in any fat loss recipe.

Kettlebells for Beginners

Another useful application of the kettlebell is its tendency to lend itself well to teaching movements—especially squatting and hinging. We all know those tragically motor challenged folks; you know, the people who can’t figure out how to perform compound lifts to save their lives? These are the same poor souls who find themselves lost in the timing of an aerobics routine, or stuck four asanas behind in a vinyasa. They lack kinesthetic awareness and spatial control. Lifting just isn’t their thing because they’ve simply not had success in figuring out the movements.





Here is where the kettlebell reigns supreme. Because of its unique shape and anatomy, the kettlebell makes it quite easy to teach even the most motor challenged person to squat and deadlift. The handle in and of itself is useful in this realm.

For example, to perform a squatting movement, you simply need to grab the kettlebell by its horns (the sides of the handle) and hoist it to your chest with the elbows pointing downward. From there, the elbows are perfectly positioned to find themselves on the inside of the knees upon the descent. This not only helps teach proper depth in the squat (when the elbows touch the vastus medialis the hips have usually broken parallel), but encourage the lifter to spread their knees and feet, avoiding valgus and other collapses.

Regarding the deadlift, the kettlebell again makes mastering the hinge pattern easier and more accessible. Because the implement can be placed in between the feet, as opposed to in front as a barbell would be, the lifter is encouraged to sit their hips back into a hinge to reach for the bell. In addition, because of the handle, the kettlebell becomes easier to grip and subsequently lift than a dumbbell between the feet.

Being able to teach basic, compound movements can prove to be challenging, especially when working with beginners or less athletic clients. The kettlebell makes this job less cumbersome, simply by virtue of its shape and handle.

But that’s not all the handled ball of iron is good for. Being able to hold onto the implement differently than one would grasp a barbell or dumbbell, allows an abundance of variety during training. Several exercises can be performed including the swing, snatch, clean, press, jerk, push press, squat, halo, Turkish get up, bottom up press, Sots press, and so one. This variety is beneficial for two particular reasons:

1) When performing complexes, chains and circuits for fat loss, variety keeps training fresh and fun.
2) Because the toolbox of movements is so big, the average lifter can experience strength, conditioning, mobility and stability with just one simple tool.

It is important to note that the kettlebell may not be the absolute best tool to develop any of the above skills, but it is unique in its ability to offer all of them simultaneously. Furthermore, if fat loss is in fact the goal, all one would need is a few kettlebells in order to develop fun, effective and efficient single or double kettlebell complexes, chains and circuits.



What is a kettlebell not good for?

So kettlebells are great for fat loss, but can they actually help you build strength and gain mass?

Yes and no. It truly depends on what type of strength you’re after, your training age and the equipment which you have available to you. But ultimately, kettlebells will typically fail to be enough.

There is no way you could convince me that a kettlebell deadlift is superior to a barbell deadlift in terms of building absolute strength. The same can be said for the kettlebell front squat, due to the fact that one can almost always squat heavier kettlebells than they can clean. Kettlebells are, however, wonderful for building upper body strength, such as with the strict overhead press, and can be effective in achieving absolute strength in beginner athletes and strength endurance in advanced athletes.

But what happens if all you’ve got access to are a few kettlebells? Inevitably, you are going to eventually outgrow them. Your strength levels will reach a point in which, even with all the leverage manipulation you can muster, the bells just aren’t heavy enough. If you find yourself in a gym with a full set of kettlebells up to 48kg (and in some cases, beyond), you may be able to take advantage of strength gains. But at some point, the barbell will take its rightful seat on the throne of strength gain glory. It’s a far superior tool with regards to building serious strength over an extended period of time.

To Bell or Not to Bell

Whether or not to incorporate kettlebell training into your program is certainly a personal preference. There are days when a kettlebell complex just doesn’t quench my iron thirst, and others when a barbell complex sounds awfully daunting. Although I feel that just about any athlete can benefit from the explosive hip snap of the swing, ultimately, what it comes down to is this:

What are you training for?

As a full time coach, I have taught countless people how to lift. I’ve used every tool from a kettlebell to a barbell to a suspension trainer. I reach into the toolbox, and I pull out the tool that will best suit the job. There are situations, as discussed, in which a kettlebell can do a more complete job as a stand-alone tool than any other implement, and other times when it just falls short. Certainly the most advantageous scenario would be to have access to a rack with a full set of plates, as well as an assortment of kettlebells and other toys with which to play.



Whatever you choose to do, arm yourself with the knowledge that everything serves a purpose, and aligning yourself on either end of a zealous spectrum can prove suffocating. Subscribing to an ideology that kettlebells are a waste of time, or conversely, the be all and end all of training tools, can deprive you of the open mind required to truly absorb the iron experience.