Kettle bell training Part 1
Whenever I tell my colleagues about Warrior Training Ground and what type of training we do here, I generally get a raised eyebrow followed by questions mixed with confusion. “An RTS® instructor using kettle bells?” Anyone familiar with RTS® or MAT® and the brilliant education available there can understand why the question is asked. Anyone who really understands the material will understand the answer. To start this series I want to just start with what a kettle bell is and is not. I have heard kettle bells promoted in some of the dumbest ways imaginable. “Dynamic Conditioning”. Uhmm… like there is another kind. “Russian Strength Training”. Uhmm… not if I’m not Russian and using them for something not even the Russians can take credit for. A kettle bell is not some magical tool. A kettle bell is a typically ball like hunk of mass usually made of steel these days with a handle welded on one side and a flat spot on the other. It is unique from a dumbbell in that the handle is located outside of its center of mass and clear of the rest of the rest of the kettle bell. In part 2, I will discuss the opportunities this presents for exercises. It follows the same laws of physics (most notably inertia) as a dumbbell, a med ball, or a rock. The most important thing to take away here is that the kettle bell itself does not make it a good or a bad thing to use for exercise. They can be implemented to make uniquely challenging workouts. They also make great door stops. The decisions of the person who chooses to use it and what he or she choose to do with it and how much devotion to appropriate progression, control and joint/neuromuscular integrity is what makes or breaks the choice to “use” a kettle bell.
