Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Build Muscle Up with Variety by Using Kettleballs

By Jared Conley

While kettleballs have been around for over 100 years in countries such as Russia, their use was not common until recently. In America, kettleball training is just exploding, thanks to some very unique benefits that you can achieve with kettleballs. For anyone looking for muscle weight gain, kettleballs make a compelling entry in your workout routine.

Kettleballs look like miniature bowling balls with large, thick handles. They come in many weights from around 4 pounds to 70 pounds, but the heavier weights aren't used often, because kettleball training is more focused on conditioning, explosive strength, and movement, instead of sheer strength.

The beauty of kettleball training is their versatility. In one short workout you can accomplish a number of objectives. Some of the numerous benefits you'll gain from kettleball training include:

* Strength increases

* Explosive power improvements

* Improvement in your conditioning level

* Improved flexibility and range of motion in your muscles and joints

* Anaerobic conditioning improvements

* Core strength improvements

* Stabilization and balance improvements

* And I've saved the best for last: kettleball training will boost your metabolic rate for quite some time after your workout is complete, making kettleballs ideal candidates to help you build muscle up and shed fat.

Kettleballs do have drawbacks, however, but they can be overcome. The drawback cited most frequently is that kettleballs only work for core and upper body conditioning, and not your lower body. To make up for this you'll need to pair your kettleball routine with a solid lower body session, or perhaps even a quick high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout.

Keep in mind that ketteballs will be most effective in interval-based workouts, so traditional body building sessions aren't the best fit. However, if your goal is to build muscle up and you stay abreast of advances in exercise science, you're probably already aware that traditional strength training exercises aren't the most appropriate option.

With the many benefits that kettleballs offer, they should be added to your workout workout, provided that your workout already emphasizes recent discoveries in exercise science and is a good fit for your goals and body type.

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