How to Kettlebell!

When we first floated the idea of a kettlebell challenge out to our friends and family, a common question was “What is a kettlebell?”  Well, check out the little picture here to get an idea of what they look like.  As for how much they weigh, they probably start around 1-2 pounds and go up to ALOT.  Like over 50 pounds.

As with any physical exercise, you should first make sure you are in good health and your body is able to handle the stresses of exercise.  See your doctor if you’re not sure.

Proper form is essential to prevent injury and optimize strength development.  Find yourself a fitness coach if you don’t have a lot of experience with kettlebells and lifting exercises.  You may want to start your training with bodyweight exercises – we’ll put up some info on this, but you can always ask Google about it, too.

We will keep a list here of some web resources with instructions and guidelines.  If you find a good link, email me and I’ll put it up here for others to check out.

How to  Properly Perform and Teach the Kettlebell Swing, Featuring Mike Boyle (Stack.com)

Take your time learning this, and get some coaching along the way to make sure you’re doing it right. Here is a great training video!

• Learn proper back alignment and motion (use the broomstick)!
• Develop the proper hip-hinge motion
• Add a weight held firmly at chest level to hip-hinge
• Add dead-lift
• Video yourself from side and front, and compare with the trainer video to make sure you’re doing it right
• Once you’ve mastered proper hip-hinge and dead-lift, add the dynamic swing to your kettlebell routine

Exercise Progression

How to start off and progress through your workouts (probably over weeks/months, not one day)

• ALWAYS warm up the muscles that you will be working out before each workout
• Incorporate some gentle static stretching before a workout, and more dynamic stretching after a workout (advice from my massage therapist)
• ALWAYS think about proper form – no strain on your back or neck
• Start with no weights to get the form correct
• Move up to small weights and low set/rep numbers, always keeping proper form
• Over time, gradually increase the amount of weight and/or number of sets/reps, keeping good form
• Video yourself from side and front, and compare with the trainer video to make sure you’re doing it right
• Once you’ve mastered proper hip-hinge and dead-lift, add the dynamic swing to your kettlebell routine