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A 'kettlebell' or girya (Russ.) is a
traditional Russian cast iron weight that looks like a cannonball with a handle.
The ultimate tool for extreme all-round fitness.
The kettlebell goes way back, it
first appeared in a Russian dictionary in 1704 (Cherkikh, 1994). So popular were
kettlebells in Tsarist Russia that any strongman or weightlifter was referred to
as a girevik, or 'a kettlebell man'.
"Not a single sport develops our
muscular strength and bodies as well as kettlebell athletics," reported Russian
magazine Hercules in 1913.
y
train with kettlebells?
Because they deliver extreme
all-round fitness. And no single other tool does it better. Here is a short list
of hardware the Russian kettlebell replaces: barbells, dumbbells, belts for
weighted pull-ups and dips, thick bars, lever bars, medicine balls, grip devices,
and cardio equipment.
Here is why the kettlebell dominates other exercise equipment
Vinogradov & Lukyanov (1986) found a
very high correlation between the results posted in a kettlebell lifting
competition and a great range of dissimilar tests: strength, measured with the
three powerlifts and grip strength; strength endurance, measured with pull-ups
and parallel bar dips; general endurance, determined by a 1000 meter run; work
capacity and balance, measured with special tests.
Voropayev (1983) tested two groups of
subjects in pullups, a standing broad jump, a 100m sprint, and a 1k run. He put
the control group on a program that emphasized the above tests; the experimental
group lifted kettlebells. In spite of the lack of practice on the tested
exercises, the kettlebell group scored better in every one of them! This is what
we call "the what the hell effect".
Kettlebells melt fat without the
dishonor of dieting or aerobics. If you are overweight, you will lean out. If
you are skinny, you will get built up. According to Voropayev (1997) who studied
top Russian gireviks, 21.2% increased their bodyweight since taking up
kettlebelling and 21.2% (the exact same percentage, not a typo), mostly
heavyweights, decreased it. The Russian kettlebell is a powerful tool for fixing
your body comp, whichever way it needs fixing.
Kettlebells forge doers' physiques
along the lines of antique statues: broad shoulders with just a hint of pecs,
back muscles standing out in bold relief, wiry arms, rugged forearms, a cut-up
midsection, and strong legs without a hint of squatter's chafing.
Liberating and aggressive as medieval
swordplay, kettlebell training is highly addictive. What other piece of exercise
equipment can boast that its owners name it? Paint it? Get tattoos of it? Our
Russian kettlebell is the Harley-Davidson of strength hardware.
o
trains with kettlebells?
Hard comrades of all persuasions.
Soviet weightlifting legends such as
Vlasov, Zhabotinskiy, and Alexeyev started their Olympic careers with
old-fashioned kettlebells. Yuri Vlasov once interrupted an interview he was
giving to a Western journalist and proceeded to press a pair of kettlebells. "A
wonderful exercise," commented the world champion. "…It is hard to find an
exercise better suited for developing strength and flexibility simultaneously."
The Russian Special Forces personnel
owe much of their wiry strength, explosive agility, and never-quitting stamina
to kettlebells. Soldier, Be Strong!, the official Soviet armed forces
strength training manual pronounced kettlebell drills to be "one of the most
effective means of strength development" representing "a new era in the
development of human strength-potential".
The elite of the US military and law
enforcement instantly recognized the power of the Russian kettlebell, ruggedly
simple and deadly effective as an AK-47. You can find Pavel's certified RKC
instructors among Force Recon Marines, Department of Energy nuclear security
teams, the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, the Secret Service Counter Assault Team,
etc.
Once the Russian kettlebell became a
hit among those whose life depends on their strength and conditioning, it took
off among hard people from all walks of life: martial artists, athletes, regular
hard comrades.
Kettlebell training is extreme but
not elitist. At the 1995 Russian Championship the youngest contestant was 16,
the oldest 53! And we are talking elite competition here; the range is even
wider if you are training for yourself rather than for the gold. Dr. Krayevskiy,
the father of the kettlebell sport, took up training at the age of forty-one and
twenty years later he was said to look fresher and healthier than at forty.
Only 8.8% of top Russian gireviks,
members of the Russian National Team and regional teams, reported injuries in
training or competition (Voropayev, 1997). A remarkably low number, especially
if you consider that these are elite athletes who push their bodies over the
edge. Many hard men with high mileage have overcome debilitating injuries with
kettlebell training (get your doctor's approval). Acrobat Valentin Dikul fell
and broke his back at seventeen. Today, in his mid-sixties, he juggles 180-pound
balls and breaks power lifting records!
From Pavel's books and videos:
Enter
The Kettlebell or
From
Russia with Tough Love for comrades ladies. From an RKC certified
instructor;
find one in your area. Kettlebell technique can be learned in one or two
sessions and one can start intense training during the second and even first
week (Dvorkin, 2001).
Kettlebells come in 'poods'. A pood
is an old Russian measure of weight, which equals 16kg, or roughly 35 lbs. An
average man should start with a 35-pounder. It does not sound like a lot but
believe it; it feels a lot heavier than it should! Most men will eventually
progress to a 53-pounder, the standard issue size in the Russian military.
Although available in most units, 70-pounders are used only by a few advanced
guys and in elite competitions. 88-pounders are for mutants.
An average woman should start with an
18-pounder. A strong woman can go for a 26-pounder. Some women will advance to a
35-pounder. A few hard women will go beyond.
"Kettlebells are like weightlifting times ten,"
stated Olympic Silver Medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling Dennis Koslowski, D.C.,
RKC. "…If I could've met Pavel in the early '80s, I might've won two gold
medals. I'm serious."
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