It’s been 9 years now since I was first certified to teach Kettlebells by former world champion and record holder Vasily Ginko.
From the very fist Kettlebell Seminar held in Ireland. Seems like such a long time ago
Which means it’s been closer to 11 years that I’ve been practising with them.
But they’re still my first choice for a single implement workout, especially if general conditioning is the goal.
As much as I love my bodyweight training, my barbells, sandbags and maces. I always come back to Kettle.
Before I met Vasily and was fully introduced to the classical Kettlebell Sports lifts, the only information we had came through the “Hard Style” channels.
And this was a good thing, because now there’s so many people with such little knowledge and experience talking about kettlebells it’s painful to read their articles and watch their videos.
The thing is, even after all this time, I still come back to using much the same lifts as I used back then.
Because the basics, the fundamentals, if done well, will always work.
They will always develop a body that is strong, agile and enduring.
And the ability to string these exercises together easily into simple complexes means that a lot of work can be done in a very limited space of time (or even, limited space…)
For example, my little training session yesterday, which looked a bit like this:
A video posted by Dave Hedges (@dave_hedges) on Oct 3, 2016 at 9:57am PDT
Now, that’s a 36kg kettlebell and I worked for 45 minutes straight on this complex. Usually we only do this for up to 10 minutes, before moving onto something more lower body focused.
But I’m training to develop all round work capacity and mental fortitude for the upcoming swing challenge ( <— that’s a link, click on it!) hence the 45 minutes with bell that’s heavier than otherwise necessary.
But all round work capacity and mental fortitude is what the kettlebell is all about.
Which is why it’s earliest adopters were all former gymnasts, martial artists and fighters from all walks of life.
Don’t ever be afraid to check out your kettlebell instructors credentials, or better yet, his clients performances. And then come and see me anyway!
Regards
Dave Hedges