Kettlebell

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