CrossFit and Kettlebells

The kettlebell or girya as the Russians call it, is a cast iron weight looking somewhat like a cannonball with a handle. The kettlebell has become a popular exercise tool due largely to the efforts of strength and flexibility coach Pavel Tsatsouline of Russian Kettlebells.

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’.

Kettlebell workouts are intended to increase strength, endurance, agility and balance, challenging both the muscular and cardiovascular system with dynamic, total-body movements

Common kettlebell lifts:

Kettlebell swing
This conditioning movement is performed either one-handed or two-handed. The kettlebell swings at arm’s length from between the legs to approximately head-level, with the legs, hips, and lower back providing the motive force.

Kettlebell snatch
Similar to a traditional snatch, the weight moves from a lower position to over the head with the arm extended.

 

Kettlebell jerk
A competition lift, like the kettlebell snatch, this lift culminates with the weight overhead at arms’ length.

 

Why are kettlebells superior to many other fitness equipment?

• The kettlebell is the ultimate in conditioning the body for extreme decelerations. Think of all the sudden stops and direction changes on the football field. If you have not conditioned yourself to handle these forces, you will perform sub-par and run a high risk of injury. Traditional strength training, even the Olympic ‘quick lifts’, does not address this issue as the weight is either dropped or treated to a slow negative. As Brett Jones, RKC Sr. put it, “You cannot swing a barbell between your legs.” You could try it with a dumbbell -at least until the sheer width of it takes your knees out. The compact kettlebell can be dropped from the lockout between your knees and way behind you where it will impact load your hips.

 

• This dynamic loading sets up the hip muscles for a powerful contraction. The kettlebell is the definitive tool for developing the hip thrust, the power generator in all athletics. Be it a jump, a kick, or a punch, when expertly performed, it comes from the hip.

 

• The kettlebell will make your back resilient. Unique Russian exercises condition your back from every conceivable angle, statically and dynamically. One would have to take up powerlifting, yoga, strongman, gymnastics, and a couple of other things to half way imitate the benefits of kettlebell training.

 

• Kettlebell’s offset centre of gravity maximizes shoulder strength, flexibility, and health. Most Russians have never heard of ‘rotator cuffs.’ Save for combat wounds, shoulder injuries are virtually unheard in the Russian armed forces. They train and test their personnel with repetition one-arm snatches with a 53 lb. kettlebell rather than pushups.

 

• The kettlebell is an outstanding grip, wrist, and forearm developer. A thick and smooth handle combined with the ballistic nature of many exercises loads the grip like rock climbing. Bottom up cleans and similar leverage drills unique to kettlebells take care of the wrists.

 

• The position of the handle allows dynamic passing of the kettlebell from hand to hand for a great variety of powerful juggling type exercises strongly endorsed by the Russian Federation State Committee on Physical Culture. These drills develop dynamic strength and injury-proof the body in many planes unlike conventional linear exercise.

 

• The kettlebell will give you infinite freedom of lifting. It has been said that kettlebells to traditional free weights are what barbells and dumbells are to machines. Taming a kettlebell is akin to medieval sword, spear, and battleaxe play, liberating and aggressive.

 

• The Russian kettlebell is a complete, no-compromise, extreme hand held gym. “We train with kettlebells in case civilization is temporary,” stated the Philadelphia Kettlebell Club, “…don’t rely on anything you can’t carry.”Source: RussianKettlebells.com

 

 

Sooner or later a CrossFit WOD will include Kettlebells. If you have never used them before then you can learn how to safely lift them by viewing the ‘exercise & demos’ section on CrossFit.com.

However, it is highly recommend that you receive training from a CrossFit affiliate coach or an approved kettlebell coach. Two respected certifiers for kettlebell coaching are the RKC and UKKA.

Pavel Tsatsouline’s Certified Russian Kettlebell Instructors (RKC) of which there are a few in the UK – the most highly rated of which is Rannoch Donald RKC  who is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. For more information on Kettlebell workshops with Rannoch visit:  http://mainpage.simplestrength.com/

• RKC Instructors – Scotland
• RKC Instructors – England, Wales & Northern Ireland
  
• RKC Instructors – Republic of Ireland
  
• UKKA (United Kingdom Kettlebell Association)

 

To view a list of recommended Kettlebell equipment suppliers click here.