Curated by Marcello Doppio
The kettlebell is rapidly growing in popularity among fitness enthusiasts and athletes.
The overall conditioning that this type of training can offer can be considered one of the best in the general athletic preparation phase of any sport or fitness in general.
In almost all physical activities, in fact, there are elements of strength, speed, endurance, agility and coordination.
The exercises that improve the ability to overcome external resistances are strength exercises, while those that raise the ability to react and the frequency of movements to the maximum are speed exercises, those that are of considerable duration or that have numerous repetitions are defined exercises of resistance, those composed of complex movements are known as ordination exercises .
Strength, speed and endurance are important skills to guarantee a successful performance and the relationship between these (strength, speed and resistance) is the basis of the physical qualities of each athlete.
Strength training as a conditional ability is nowadays also rigorous in sports where it was generally contraindicated. By now in any sport the methods for the development of strength must be included in the training programs, in the appropriate terms and ways, paying attention not to neglect the development of other motor skills.
The Kettlebell can manage to satisfy these different needs very well, with this simple tool, in fact, you can perform different exercises and exercises that develop the skills mentioned.
Particularly indicated it turned out to be for example in combat sports, and in all those activities that required the development of "resistance to force" and "power", as for the special military units from which superior physical skills were required in terms of strength, strength and agility.
According to "strength", according to Harre (1976): " The body's ability to resist fatigue in long-lasting strength performances". Criteria for resistance to force are the intensity of the stimulus (as a percentage of the maximum contractile strength) and the volume of the stimulus (sum of repetitions); the "power", on the other hand, is the ability to perform an explosive movement and results from the interaction of force and maximum speed. The combination of resistance and speed is called resistance to speed.
S. Cotter states that kettlebells develop better than any other force / resistance equipment, mental hardness / physical hardening, martial specificity and efficiency (economy of movements).
In the practice of a martial art or in a fight, the strength / resistance, or better, the resistant force is the ability to fight with intensity for prolonged engagements. This becomes even crucial when maximal force comes into play, or in other words the ability to carry really powerful blows. The maximal strength is equally important both for the power of a knockout shot and for a quick submission, but a complete martial artist must be able to carry multiple shots in different combinations even for a long time. This requires tremendous skill, both in terms of strength and endurance. Snatches performed with a high number of kettlebell repetitions, for example, develop a solid working capacity and an equally solid anaerobic threshold. It means that one is able to express power even if tested aerobically. And this skill for a martial artist is essential. What really matters is not how strong you are in conditions of freshness, but how much you can be strong when you are out of breath and have spent the energies that affect the execution of the techniques. Since kettlebell exercises require the use, effort and recruitment of the entire body, they prove to be a far better means of training than training at high reps with isolation movements performed, for example, with the barbell or handlebar.
The use of kettlebells involves the grip, the hips and the center of gravity, as well as the posture in each movement. The highly ballistic nature of some exercises such as swings, cleans, snatches and jerk, impressively mimic the type of recruitment of the whole body prompted by the execution of punch, kick and projection techniques.
The kettlebell, therefore, can be inserted very well both in the general exercises (exercises that involve a relevant muscle group but that do not present any common element with the athletic gesture of the specialty and that deviate, by time of execution, position and displacement, from the gesture of competition) that in special exercises (exercises that respect the gesture of competition, but modify the temporal characteristics of the technique and reduce or increase the speed).
It could be said that kettlebells represent the missing link between free body exercises and activity with classic free weights. In all movements, in addition to strongly stimulating the affected area, the stabilizing muscles are activated in a strong manner. Wanting to draw up a sort of ranking based on the stimulation of the stabilizer muscles, kettlebells should definitely be placed first.
The kettlebell allows greater freedom of movement, guaranteeing more natural trajectories, adapting more to the lines of the body.
• They are safe as long as the exercises are performed in the correct form of execution
• Significantly improve grip and hand strength (eg Snatch and Bottom-Up and Clean)
• Strengthen the musculoskeletal system helping to prevent sports injuries
• They are cheaper than traditional gym equipment, no benches or other facilities are required for their use.
• Increased shoulder and pelvis mobility
• In addition to muscle growth, they are also useful in weight loss thanks to metabolic conditioning
• They greatly reduce training times; with a couple of kettlebells you can train even in 30 minutes
• They perform an excellent motor conditioning
• Thanks to the separate load on the limbs, they are useful in recovering any unbalance in force
• They help improve and refine the playing technique with barbells and dumbbells
The use of kettlebells allows both to obtain a remarkable state of general shape (keeping body weight under control) and to increase strength without increasing muscle mass. They also represent a valid alternative to those one-piece exercises with weights that are often stressful on a musculoskeletal level.
Bibliography :
Periodization of sports training (Tudor O. Bompa)
Optimal training (J. Weineck)
Internet sources
