Why do you want to learn how to turn kettlebells into the best home workout?
At risk of overstating the obvious, it's because life for people around the world has been flipped on its head.
Suddenly, millions of diligent, disciplined gym rats are faced with the prospects of no longer having a second home.
With the coronavirus shuttering gyms far and wide, people are scrambling to cobble together a Plan B.
Considering so many people are obligated to "shelter-in-place" and/or self-isolate, take one guess what Plan B is.
Yeah that's right- working out at home.
The softbell, an unorthodox sibling of the kettlebell.
And if you're still not convinced, we know exactly what you should watch.
Kettlebells = The Best Home Workout
People are flocking to home gym equipment companies now, so they can stay in shape while bunkered down. Think about all the people who are professional fitness freaks, and who have worked all their lives to achieve where they're at now. They don't want to lose all that progress over the coming months. And that progress slips away real fast. So health minded individuals are snapping up home gym gear left and right at the moment. The best piece(s) of home gym equipment you can own is a kettlebell. To start, let's exclude all the people who own garage gyms and have specific training needs (i.e. bodybuilders, Crossfitters, etc.). If you're just looking to maintain a fitness baseline, just getting into training to boost your immune system, or fending off boredom, this is for you. Kettlebell training has all kinds of awesome benefits, which we'll touch on later. For now, let's look at why they make the best home workout. 1. They are relatively inexpensive compared to other equipment, especially if you buy used. 2. They are compact and have a small footprint. This means that you do not need much space to use them and they store easily. 3. You get a quality, all-body workout in a short period of time. All you need is 20 minutes, maybe half an hour, a guest room or living room and the motivation to workout. BOOM. Done. So let's take a look now at the actual fitness benefits of kettlebell training. Why can't I just use dumbbells at home?Kettlebells Generate Real World Strength
The primary kettlebell advantage is that it promotes functional strength and requires your body to move as an entire unit. Also, as mentioned above, kettlebells provide an effective workout in a small amount of time. So why is that and why are they better than dumbbells? As this article states, it's because: "A kettlebell’s weight is not distributed evenly like it is with dumbbells. This creates the need to counterbalance and stabilize your body during kettlebell exercises, which are amazing for core strength, balance, and coordination." The offset center of gravity that kettlebells feature, notches up the engagement of more muscles unlike any other piece of equipment. The advantages of kettlebells don't stop there. Check out this study from the Journal of Fitness Research. The results of the study revealed a wide range of significant benefits to kettlebell training: almost 14% improvement in aerobic capacity, almost 15% in leg press strength, 9% grip strength increase and a 70% bump up in core strength. These are all types of strength you use on a daily basis, especially core and grip strength, even though you may not realize it. Another advantage of a kettlebell and why it's the best home workout, is its unilateral nature. There are various benefits of unilateral use, namely that we often use our muscles in daily situations in a unilateral manner. Also, being able to use a kettlebell unilaterally allows people with previous injuries, weak joints or other issues, to focus on using the non-affected muscles or areas of their body. Finally, kettlebell training makes the best home workout because it activates fast-twitch, type 2 muscles fibers, which we lose as we age. These types of muscle fibers are invaluable when we get older to prevent falls and trips, making kettlebells ideal for exercise as we get older. Those are a lot of benefits. The softbell, an unorthodox sibling of the kettlebell.
