Posts Tagged ‘dumbbells’

Dumbbells Vs Kettlebells

Dumbbells Vs Kettlebells 

So what are these relatively new kettlebells that everyone seems to be going on about?…they look like cast iron balls with a handle on it…but is there more to them than meets the eye?

Derrick Twum and Myself were invited to a fitness roadshow last week where we used allot of new up and coming equipment to give reviews and had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of people that were attending the event.

Whilst using some of the gym equipment we moved over to the free weights section and noticed a set of kettlebells sitting there waiting to be used.

I have seen kettlebells being used in demo videos but never really had the opportunity to use them myself so we thought we would give them ago.

We went through a number of exercises that were illustrated on a poster and to my amazement they were actually really good workouts  and worked up quite a sweat.

Now I wouldn’t replace them for dumbbell exercises completely but they were an excellent way to get warmed up and get the heart pumping!

The handle plays a vital part in allowing you to swing and clinch the kettlebell in certain ways which a standard dumbbell doesn’t allow you to do, but all in all there were allot of exercises that could also be done with a dumbbell!

So is there really a big difference between a dumbbell and a kettlebell?…

Yes I believe there is, I no longer look at them as a ball of cast iron with a handle, that handle allows me to perform warm up exercises I wouldn’t really perform using a dumbbell or I could but it wouldn’t feel as comfortable as using a kettlebell.

Our favourite exercise had to be the kettlebell swing , this exercise is a great way to warm up the entire body, it really works the back, legs, shoulders, hips and we found our hearts were really racing after this exercise!  (we will be releasing a kettlebell training video VERY SOON – Watch This Space)

As we raised the poundage the exercises naturally would have become more difficult but the intensity was allot higher than we anticipated, this wasn’t necessarily because we were lifting heavier weights but due to the fact that every set you perform you are using the majority of your muscles resulting in quicker fatigue, where as with dumbbells you are isolating the muscle you are working thus using less energy and calories. 

This is why there is a big mention on burning hundreds if calories whilst training with kettlebells on every kettlebell training video and posters,  you definately can but one word of warning, make sure you practice and get the exercises done correctly, due to the swinging nature of these workouts you want to make sure you don’t end up injuring yourself! 

Start off with light weights and master the exercise before raising the weight and trying more complex workouts.

Good Luck and share you stories of kettlebells with us in our forum

This articles belongs to Musclemadness