Recently, the method of functional training is gaining popularity. The peculiarity of this type of training is that both power load and cardio are combined in one set. It is thanks to this movement that everyone rushed to do crossfit and workout. But if you don’t want to radically change the usual training program, but just want to add some variety to the load of muscles, then try exercises with weights.
Training Benefits
Exercises with this simple projectile have a number of advantages over other types of training, namely:
- There are no restrictions on the location of the training. Classes can be held both at home and in the gym. If desired, you can take the kettlebell into the garden, courtyard or sports court. Just take the shell with you and do your health.
- With this type of training, not only target muscles are included in the work, but also many stabilizing muscles. This means that a set of exercises with a weight does not only work to build mass, but also develops strength indicators, increases endurance and trains the respiratory system.
- Kettlebell is a rather heavy tool. Working with it, we give the projectile significant acceleration, which means that you need to try very hard so as not to drop it on your foot. In this way, we develop coordination and dexterity.
- The muscles of the cortex are strengthened. The effectiveness of the inclusion of these muscles in the work of a kettle can argue with the bar.
- Economical type of training. No need to spend money on a subscription and an expensive training program. It is enough to acquire the necessary shells.
- Exercises with kettlebell at home greatly benefit compared to the monotonous program in the gym. Indeed, the dynamic load is much better involved in the work of all muscle fibers due to the duration of the "useful" part of the training and a high level of heart rate.
Technical features of training
Kettlebell allows you to use two fundamentally different types of training:
- explosive and dynamic;
- specialized and static.
Both that, and another option of occupations is suitable for development of the following physiological indicators:
- Strength - because the weight of the projectile can reach 50 kg.
- Coordination and balance - to keep the body in a static state when working with a heavy moving object is a rather difficult task.
- Endurance - a combination of strength and aerobic exercise perfectly trains the heart muscle.
- Mass growth - any exercise with weights leads to shocking and stretching of muscle groups, which in turn will respond with an increase in additional fibers.
- Weight reduction - if you perform a set of exercises with a kettlebell at an average heart rate, you can achieve the launch of catabolic processes in fatty tissue, most importantly, do not cross the threshold of the maximum allowable value.
It is important to understand that a weight can only contribute to muscle gain in a natural way, as this type of training can be compared to working with your own weight in terms of load level. When using pharmacological support, this projectile will not be as effective as simulators. However, it should be borne in mind that almost all exercises with weights include more than one joint in the body, which means they are basic. If you select the appropriate weight of the projectile, you can get a good hormonal response of the muscles to the workout, which will be an impetus to the increase in mass.
Always remember the safety precautions, and also protect the ligamentous apparatus of the hands. To do this, use bandages or special bracelets. All jerking exercises train not only muscles, but also our tendons and ligaments. The main thing is not to overdo it with a working weight, since there is a great chance of stretching or dislocation.
Bench press
Target muscles: arms and shoulder girdle.
Technique: one or two weights are held with arms bent at the elbow on the chest. Your task is to bring your hand upright while holding the projectile. The exercise is performed alternately or with two hands together. When the projectile returns to its original position, there are two ways to go:
- To make a throw is a more correct execution option, so we will not spend energy on the negative phase of the exercise, which will significantly increase the number of working repetitions.
- Slowly lower the projectile to the chest - in this case, the exercise with a kettlebell turns into an analogue of the bench barbell standing.
Important: exhale when rising, and inhale when lowering. Respiratory control is very important, otherwise slight hypoxia and excessive stress on the heart are possible.
Kettlebell push
Target muscles: legs and back.
Technique: starting position and goal are similar to the first exercise. However, the projectile is lifted not at the expense of the muscles of the shoulder girdle, but with the hips and back. To do this, slightly tilt the body forward and bend the legs at the knee joints. When pushing the kettlebell with your whole body, give it a motion vector and straighten your legs. When throwing to the starting position - again take the supporting position.
Undermining one kettlebell with two hands
Target muscles: legs and back.
Technique: To perform this exercise with a weight, place it on a support. As this, you can use a stack of pancakes, a step or a platform. Grasp the kettle handle tightly with your hands and gradually, with pendulum movements, give it acceleration. The maximum amplitude of rise should be approximately at eye level. During the exercise, the back should remain level and at maximum tension. Small deflection in the lumbar region is allowed. This technique of working with shells not only functionally affects the target muscles, but also develops the general strength indicators of the body and significantly increases endurance.
One-hand weights
Target muscles: legs and back, almost all stabilizer muscles.
Technique: this is one of the best exercises with a kettlebell for strength. The steps are identical to the previous exercise, except that one hand is used. For reliability, it is better to wrap the handle of the kettlebell with plaster or wear special gloves for training. Perform as many repetitions as possible and change your working arm.
Important details:
- Lower your arm with the shell as low as possible. To increase the amplitude, you can perform an exercise from a bench or platform. The wider the max, the stronger the target muscle groups are included in the work.
- The weight vector should be directed strictly up, and not forward. Your task: to create controlled pendulum movements, and not just keep the projectile in the air.
- You need to give acceleration to the weight with your whole body, especially the biceps of the thigh and the lumbar region of the back. If you actively use your hands in your work, this will lead to fatigue and reduce the effectiveness of your workout.
- Do not forget about breathing, in very energy-intensive exercises it is important not to interrupt. Better to spend a little more time relaxing than putting your heart at risk.
Throwing kettlebells on the chest
Target muscles: all major muscle groups, especially chest muscles + emphasis on the development of coordination.
Technique: one of the best exercises with a weight on pectoral muscles. Here you will again need support for the projectile. Grasp the handle with your hand, undermine the projectile and stop it on the chest. Then, along the same path, reset the weight. In order to perform this exercise as efficiently as possible, keep your core muscles tense: tighten your stomach, tighten your back and tighten your buttocks. After finishing with one hand, immediately proceed to the other.
Jumping With Kettlebell
Target muscles: legs and shoulder girdle.
Technique: This is a fairly energy-intensive and difficult exercise with a weight for men. Women should not perform it without preparation. Or take a very small weight. It will be more convenient if the kettlebell will stand on a platform or other support. Starting position: sitting emphasis, clasping a shell with both hands. The goal is to jump out of the initial stance while holding the kettlebell on straight arms extended upward. Remotely, this exercise resembles a burpee, but instead of clapping hands, we throw the kettlebell up. In no case do not round your back, this may result in pinching. Especially if the weight of the projectile is too large.
Squats with a weight behind
Target muscles: legs, back and buttocks.
Technique: a good and effective exercise with weights for girls. Such squats will be a great alternative to plie, a classic squat with a barbell, as well as all kinds of exercises on the lower body in Smith's machine. Starting position: average setting of the legs, the weight is held behind the back. Your task is to sit as low as possible, without dropping the shell. Ideally, you should touch the weight of the floor. This exercise perfectly develops coordination, because it is quite difficult not to lose balance, hold the kettlebell and correctly squat at the same time. If you change the setting of the legs, you can significantly modify this type of training. A wide stand will better engage the back of the thigh and buttocks, and a narrow one will include the front of the legs and calves.
Chin weights
Target muscles: chest, shoulder girdle, arms, upper back.
Technique: this is an excellent exercise with weights for all muscle groups of the upper body. In the initial position, the projectile is held with two hands in front of him in a free hanging. Our goal is to raise the projectile to the chin, spreading the elbows as wide as possible. To enhance the effect of this exercise, try to hold your hands at the top point for 3-5 seconds, and only then do a reset. Make sure that the movement of the weights is carried out strictly parallel to the body. The projectile should be lifted only by force of the hands, do not give the weight additional acceleration with a jerk.
Kettlebell deadlift
Target muscles: arms, deltas, and latitudes.
Technique: one of the best basic exercises with weights. It has a similar counterpart to dumbbell. However, there a bench is used for stop, here we do without additional equipment.
Starting position: take the right leg back, as in lunges, and slightly bend the left leg at the knee. The left hand must be rested with force on the foot of the same name, while also bending it at the elbow. With our free hand, we pull the shell to the chest, while lifting it parallel to the body - strictly vertically. Do not take the elbow of the working arm to the side and watch the back, it should be straight and without deflection in the lower back. If possible, you can do this exercise from the bench. After performing the maximum number of repetitions on one hand, do not forget to do the same with the other.
French bench press kettlebell
Target muscles: triceps.
Technique: A great exercise for beginners. It pumps triceps well and develops coordination. You can perform both standing and lying on the bench. And if you put the bench in the opposite direction, as in the Roman chair, the effectiveness of the exercise will increase several times. Grasp the body of the kettlebell with both hands and slowly lower it behind the head. Try to keep the load with the extensor muscles, do not use the biceps and shoulders. Elbows are false to look strictly forward. Or up if the exercise is performed while lying down. And be sure to watch your breath.
Kettlebell jerk
Target muscles: the whole body works.
Technique: this is the most effective exercise with weights at home, which at one time will give a load to all muscle groups. Try to start with a minimum weight, otherwise there is a risk of damage to the ligaments of the brush. Starting position: the weight is in a free hanging on one arm. In one sharp movement, you need to move the projectile on a straight arm above your head. The first time it may seem difficult, but as soon as you master the technique, difficulties will no longer arise. Such an energy-intensive training will greatly increase endurance and will contribute to overall strength progress. The main thing is to observe all technical features:
- Do not interrupt your breathing and monitor your heart rate. Extreme aerobic workouts, together with strength training, are very stressful for the heart.
- Do not round your back or curl. All you can allow is a slight deflection of the lower back, no more.
- In the lifting phase of the kettlebell, make a slight turn with the brush. This movement is very similar to pronation and supination, as in exercises for biceps and triceps.
Push-ups
Target muscles: arms, chest and deltas.
Technique: a good exercise with weights for all muscle groups of the upper body. Especially useful for those for whom ordinary push-ups are no longer enough. In this type of training, we use weights as support for the hands. Due to their height, we significantly increase the amplitude of movement of the body, which means we get the maximum stretching of the pectoral muscles. Exercise can be significantly modified by slightly changing the distance between the shells. With a narrow setting, the arms and shoulders will be more actively involved in the work, and with a wide setting of the hands, deltas and latitudinal ones will work.
Kettlebell lifting
Target muscles: calves.
Technique: this is perhaps the best exercise with a kettlebell to pump your lower legs. Take a maximum weight in each hand and start to rise on your toes and lower back. To increase the trajectory of movement, you can use the footrest.
To summarize
When working with weights, it is better to choose the average speed and intensity of training, especially if you are new to this business. Try to pick up weight for 10-12 reps, otherwise the strength of the training will not be so effective. Be sure to rest between sets for at least 1-2 minutes. And between exercises, you can space up to 5 minutes. When building an individual program, alternate bench presses and traction exercises - this will avoid the state of overtraining and increase your performance.