Saturday, February 16, 2013

Kettlebells are better at fat burning rather than strength building. Says who?

If you can't grab a barbell, grab a kettlebell.  Kettlebells are convenient, effective, and safe (with proper coaching and technique).   Kettlebells can be great for traveling, vacation, and just a break from the strain of heavy weights.  I still enjoy traditional lifts but rarely end a workout without using a kettlebell.  They are great for warm ups (wall squats, halos, get ups) and they are great finishers (metabolic training).  Do yourself a favor, find a specialist and and sign up.

Transference Of Kettlebell Training To Traditional Olympic Weight Lifting And Muscular Endurance

Pat Manocchia, David K. Spierer, Jackie Minichiello, Steven Braut, Jessica Castro, Ross Markowitz

PURPOSE: Kettlebells are commonly used across a broad spectrum of strength and conditioning programs, from novice or beginner recreational 

users to elite level athletes. Many of the movements conducted with kettlebells are of a ballistic nature, similar to that of Olympic lifts. Since kettlebell training and Olympic lifts display some similarities regarding the technique, we hypothesized that training with kettlebells would translate 

into a resultant improvement in strength and power during Olympic style lifts.  This may be of significance when deciding proper training regimens or seeking an alternative to traditional lifting. The research data purporting the efficacy of kettlebell training is, to our knowledge, scarce, 

and scientific examination as to whether this exercise modality positively correlates to Olympic lift strength/power is nonexistent. The purpose 

of this study was to examine the translational effect that a10 week Kettlebell training program would have on strength, power and endurance 

for Olympic style barbell lifts and bodyweight exercises. METHODS: Using a standard periodization model, 15 subjects, age range (20-72 years) 

with various levels of experience in physical fitness regimens underwent a 10 week, 2 day per week program using only kettlebells consisting of 

group (class) training sessions. Each subject was tested prior to (T1) and after the completion of the 10-week session (T2). To determine changes 

in strength, power and endurance subjects were tested on a barbell clean and jerk (3 rep max), barbell bench press (3 rep max), a vertical jump 

and a 90degree back extension to failure. RESULTS: Statistical analysis using paired t-tests were conducted on all dependent variables. Kettlebell training results in a translation of strength, power and endurance measured in traditional lifting techniques. Data demonstrate significant differences 

in bench press strength (51.7 ± 25.0 kg vs 56.4 ± 27.1 kg, p< .05) and back extension endurance (45 ± 5.7 reps vs 54 ± 9.3 reps, p< .05). Kettlebell 

training produced a highly significant difference in the traditional clean and jerk, (30.8 ± 16.7 kg vs 38.5 ± 17.1 kg, p< .001). No differences were 

apparent in the vertical jump. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest a significant improvement of strength, power and endurance as a result of 

kettlebell training. Although gains in the traditional Olympic lifts were greater than that seen in lower extremity power, kettlebells proved to 

have a considerable transferability to traditional weight training and bodyweight exercises. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Our findings indicate that 

kettlebell training provides a measurable improvement of strength, power and endurance as measured by barbell and body weight exercises. 

Taking into consideration that our subject demographic was broad in regards to training experience and age, our data suggest that kettlebells 

can be used as an effective method for improving fitness and is not restricted to either highly skilled or elite level athletes. While further investigation into this subject is recommended, our data suggests that due to the positive translation of kettlebell training to that of Olympic lifts, the use 

of kettlebells as a training implement is an excellent alternative to traditional weight lifting. 

No comments: