Posts Tagged ‘kettlebells’

(I talked about kettlebell training for cardio previously – part one here and part two here).

I just recently read the results of a new study using kettlebell training:

Scand J Work Environ Health. 2011 May;37(3):196-203.
Kettlebell training for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health: a randomized controlled trial.
Jay K et al.

This study split 40 participants with a high prevalence of reported musculoskeletal pain symptoms, into two groups- a kettlebell training group and a control group (no exercise).

The exercise group consisted of “ballistic full-body kettlebell exercise 3 times per week for 8 weeks” The main outcome measures were pain intensity of the neck/shoulders and low back, isometric muscle strength, and aerobic fitness.

After 8 weeks the exercise group had reduced pain levels significantly in the neck/shoulders and low back and increased muscle strength of the trunk extensors but not the trunk flexors or shoulders. Aerobic fitness did not improve at all in the exercise group.

The pain results are great as we’d normally have shied away from high speed ballistic training in a clientele reporting pain – but why was there no improvement in trunk flexor strength ? Quite simply – they didn’t train trunk flexion at all. They only trained trunk extension…

From the study:

Each session lasting 20 minutes included a 5–10 minute warm up and a 10–15 minute interval training.

 

The interval training consisted of 10 intervals of 30 seconds with rest period of 30–60 seconds. The intervals consisted of constant work with participants choosing an appropri-ate progression level as follows: (i) unweighted swing; (ii) deadlift with a kettlebell; (iii) two-handed swing with a kettlebell; and (iv) one- handed swing with a kettlebell.

 

During the first 4 weeks of training, the rest between sets was one minute of active recovery. During the last 4 weeks, the rest was compressed to 30 seconds of active recovery

They only did deadlift or swing-type movements. That’s training specificity 101 – the SAID principle – specific adaptation to imposed demands – you improve what you train. If you want to improve the whole body, you need to train every movement.

What about the lack of aerobic fitness improvement? (as that contradicts earlier studies).

Same thing basically — it was 4 weeks of 1:2 work:rest using low loads, and then 4 weeks of 1:1 (using higher loading or more advanced exercises). So the lack of aerobic improvement may just mean that the routine wasn’t cardiovascularly demanding enough.

The researchers noted: “We attribute the lack of change in aerobic fitness to insufficient cardiovascular stimulation in the brief training sessions. The session duration of 20 minutes (consisting of 5–10 minutes of warm-up followed by 10–15 minutes of kettlebell training) does not leave ample duration to stimulate significant cardiovascular adaptations.”

Overall it’s a pretty cool finding though. This was one of the first studies to look at power training or ballistic movements and their effect on reducing pain. The researchers mentioned “Our study is the first to demonstrate that ballistic cyclic training with high peak forces markedly lowers pain symptoms in both the neck/shoulder and low-back region.”

My take home advice:

An earlier study showed that explosive training burns 13% more calories during training than slow controlled reps, and 7% more calories post training. The kettlebell studies I posted earlier in this blog show how this type of training can create metabolic demand, the following study-

J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Dec;24(12):3369-80.
A comparison of high-speed power training and traditional slow-speed resistance training in older men and women.
Sayers et al.

- recommends that training programs for older adults emphasize high-speed movements at low external resistances, I think it’s safe to say that training programs both for yourself, and for your clients need to include some form of ballistic or explosive training.

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AC

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(I talked about kettlebell training for cardio previously here).

A new study that I just reviewed (for our upcoming fat loss seminar) had ten subjects undergo a customized kettlebell snatch workout.

The researchers had the subjects establish their maximum kettlebell snatch rate per minute, and then the subjects performed ¼ of the max reps in rounds of 15s on, 15s off for 20 mins alternating arms. (For example, if they performed 20 reps in their max test, they would work at a rate of 5 snatches every 15s for the workout).

So the workout was e.g. 5 KB snatches in 15s with your right hand, rest 15s, and then repeat with your left hand and rest. That would be one minute (or one round), and this was repeated for twenty minutes.

Caloric burn was 13.6 cals per min aerobically and 6.6 cals per min anaerobic (20.2 calories per minute). That’s a very intense workout and the subjects showed heart rates of 93% of max on average.  But again, as I pointed out before – you’re burning a ton of calories per minute, but the reps are a lot lower (and less heavy on the joints) than a traditional cardio workout (such as running sprints).

Kettlebell training can be a fantastic, perhaps even more effective than traditional methods, cardiovascular training tool.

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AC
PS – For a done-for-you kettlebell fat loss workout program combining kettlebell training and traditional bodyweight training, check out => Kettlebell Revolution

This is something that regular readers will know I’m big on. A hybrid or “mixed” approach to training. Instead of picking a “style” e.g. kettlebells – why not take an MMA approach to training and just use what works – even if it means combining “styles”. With that in mind – Pavel and Chris Frankel KILL it with this new program!!! Check it out:

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Alwyn
PS – For more EXCELLENT TRX exercises – check out the TRX exercise database here

Here’s a very simple metabolic workout that I did earlier this week.

I used a gymboss timer to track my work intervals – but you could do it with a regular stopwatch, or even just looking at the second hand on a clock.
This looks simple – but I tracked heart rate and found it to be a great interval training session!

All i did was the following:

1) Start the gymboss timer and set it for one minute repeats (so it ‘beeps’ every minute)
2) Do 10-12 kettlebell swings or similar (takes about 2s per swing on average)
3) Rest for the remainder of the minute
4) Repeat at the start of the next minute (when the timer beeps)
5) Go for 30 mins or however long you want the interval session to be.

This was an effective 30 min interval training session, using a 20-25s on, 35-40s off work:rest interval.

I changed up the swings – going from two hand swings, to one handed swings (5 each side), to hand-to-hand swings. I also added a round or two of kettlebell snatches, and a round or two of kettlebell clean and jerks (I only did 3 each side of these to keep the work interval the same).

Give it a try, next time you want a short and effective interval workout.

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Alwyn