Time for a new
post.
Actually I didn’t write
too much yet, maybe because I didn't really know what to write about. So after
2 days of hunting for a new topic, I decided to write about something that
changed my lifestyle and had a very big effect on my attitude towards every
aspect of life.
It all started 2 years
ago when a friend of mine told me about that sport he is doing and that he
wants to achieve the trainer’s license. I thought that I have to give it a try.
I had this often that I started a sport like basketball, karate or volleyball
and after a few months I just gave up because it did not enjoy it anymore. So I
decided to go to my friend's first session and try this new sport called
Kettlebell. What happened was that I actually got addicted to it. Since then I
just can't stop, even though I often feel like a car crash victim after the
work out.
The word Kettlebell
refers not only to the sport, but
to the weight itself. It
is simple thing, a cannonball with a handle on it. J
Kettlebell wasn't always
a sport. Originally it was used as measure weight in agriculture. Later in the
17th century the Soviet army used it as physical training equipment. Who else
than the Russian.:)
So it was used in the
army for a long time, but the man who made it one of the most famous sports of
the 21 century was Pavel Tsatsouline. He not just popularized it over the
world, but he also contributed to it and standardized the whole system to bring
out the best of this seemingly simple iron ball with a handle.
Basically it uses the
rules of weightlifting, but it goes further. There are an infinitive number of
exercises that can be done with the kettlebell. It is used to perform cardio
exercises as well as ballistic exercises and strength training. A training
session combines kettlebell exercises and own-body-weight exercises to make the
torment more interesting and varied.:)
In the last few years
kettlebell conquered the world and nowadays you won't really find a fitness
centre where there is no kettlebell training offered or at least a few kettlebell's
standing in the corner. They also refer to it as the fitness revolution. Just
type in kettlebell in to the youtube search box and you will find tons of
videos explaining how to do it. Be careful though the most of the people in the
videos don't really have the knowledge to give instructions. The real masters
of kettlebell are called RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge). This means that
they accomplished the training tests lead and controlled by Pavel Tsatsouline
and learned everything that is to know about the basics of kettlebell. Last
year Pavel founded a new system called strong first. Basically it is the same
as RKC just the name is different.
Even though it is just a
weight, the exercises are pretty complex and need much practice in order to
make them properly, because without instructions of a professional trainer
these exercises can be very dangerous. After a few month of training the
progress is astonishing. I could do things with my body that I never thought I
could. It gave me a much better control of my body. What’s more it helped me
with my back problems and it had effect on my lifestyle too. Before I started
the sport I was shy to try things. I always thought that this is too much for
me or that I am not able to do this because blablabla. Since I train regularly
I got much more active not just physically but also mentally. It motivates me,
or better said it taught me how to motivate myself.:)
I linked some further
videos at the bottom if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IzNfoXsOWs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifSUbSv9KRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpFL_q_Zemw
