My experience with kettlebells

Thought this would be a good time to give you my experience with kettlebells. In particular, I'd like to give my thoughts and opinions on the past week tagging along on the Steve Cotter tour.

Straight off the bat I'm not a fitness person. I play golf. I can walk 18 holes comfortably and am happy with my golf level. I haven't done any serious training since I ended a soccer career over 15 years ago. I feel I'm a typical Aussie bloke, a bit overweight but generally in good health.

What a shock it was to attend the first of Cotter's seminars in Melbourne. I had delusional thoughts that it wouldn't be too hard and I would be able to cope. I've actually been swinging kettlebells on and off for years. At one time they helped me lose 12 kilograms and get me back into shape. I've fallen off the wagon somewhat but there's no excuse.

Two minutes into the warm up I knew I was in trouble. With my hamstrings and quads cramping, it wasn't much fun and a bit embarrassing.

Things only got worse.

Steve's a fan of classical girevoy sport. This means long and timed sets. So instead of 5,10 or 15 reps, you have to pump out 200 reps or more in up to ten minutes. In a word - tough!

The first exercise was the kettlebell swing. It's a fairly easy looking exercise, but swinging it for seven minutes straight certainly sorted me out. Actually, I only lasted for 4 minutes. My back gave out and I had to quit. Cotter encouraged me to continue, but with someone jabbing my lower back with knives I though it wise to sit out.

One thing that kept me positive was career fitness people struggling to finish also. Maybe they took too much weight or simply weren't accustomed to this different style of training? At any rate I was keen for exercise number two once the pain in my back subsided.

The Clean is a foundation kettlebell move. A proper Clean moves the kettlebell from between your legs and into a rack position.

The Kettlebell Clean

Watch someone perform it and you will think it looks easy with not much to it. It's actually a technical lift. A good rack position allows you to repeat the move many times while being able to get a rest when you get tired. This is a key point for girvoy sport - because you're performing long sets you need to be efficient with your movement. There's no wasted motion and everything is geared towards getting the most out of your system.

The key points are;

• legs straight in rack position
• elbow rests on your hip bone
• kettlebell rests over your centre of mass - it's not to the side
• the kettlebell handle resting on the heel of your hand - it's not in the fingers
• the shoulder is relaxed and even lowered - to help you rest on the hip bone

I think Cotter likes the Clean. He put us through a ten minute set - changing to the other hand after five minutes.

It starts out easy, I thought I would be able to cope no worries - pumping out rep after rep without a worry in the world. But after three minutes my arm was on fire. I found the resting position uncomfortable. My bicep was about to explode. I tried relaxing - that helped a little but then my forearm started to complain.

I started to appreciate the necessity for good technique. Looking around the room at the strained faces I could see that I wasn't the only one hurting. Good technique takes the pressure off the prime moving muscles and off loads it to the postural muscles - muscles with high endurance and perfectly adapted for long set kettlebell lifting.

The last minute on my left arm was excruciating. Determined not to be last I worked through it. Cotter said that a minute is only two TV commercials. It's true and they usually fly by. That little mental tricked worked its magic and I managed to finished - just.

That mental trick only worked once. After the seventh class it no longer weaved its magic. I had to find other ways to 'tough' it out.

Changing hands was a godsend. The pain instantly disappeared and I felt brand new again. With my right arm slightly stronger I was able to get through to the finish with only moderate discomfort.

The next phase of this self imposed torture test were the overhead moves. Steve took us through three kinds of exercises, the basic press, the push press and the jerk. Each move went for six minutes (three minutes on each arm).

Interestingly, he had them in the above order for good reason. The basic press fatigues the arm and shoulder. The push press introduces more leg and hip drive, giving the arm a bit of a rest. The jerk incorporates about 80% body - allowing plenty of work to be achieved even with tired arms. In a sadistic kind of way Steve pushes you to the limit and beyond - the fatigue (I should say exhaustion) forces you to adopt a more efficient technique.

The Press

The Jerk

Many struggled with the jerk. It requires two distinct moves, the first is a bump off the chest primarily performed by the hips and legs and the second is to squat underneath the kettlebell. The jerk is an efficient method of getting weight overhead - but it does require learning the technique. The main difficulty seems to be learning to move up first and then under the weight second. Here's Steve Cotter performing a one-arm jerk;

Cotter performing a one-arm kettlebell jerk

After a short break Steve had us move into a more dynamic exercise, the kettlebell snatch. The snatch incorporates both the clean and the swing and ultimately ends with the kettlebell overhead. I find it a fun exercise, but after all the other exercises (and the warm up) it proved difficult.

The Kettlebell Snatch

Many found the snatch tough on the hands. The kettlebell can slide across the palm causing friction and blisters. Both Paul Tucker and Steve had some useful advice in avoiding damage to the hands. The trick is to keep the bell in the fingers on the downswing and then bump it over the middle of the hand on the way up. The kettlebell ultimately rests in the heel of the hand at the top position. This little tip saved my hands and avoided any further pain.

Here's a little video of Steve explaining the move;

After seeing Steve perform his stuff many times I began to appreciate the sport of kettlebell lifting. Sure, it's tough and requires a strong mindset but great results can be achieved if you stick with it.

My back loosened up (the first time in years) and I started to feel stronger and fitter. A nice side benefit was that I lost 3 kilograms during the week. My body adopted better technique - it had to, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to complete the long sets. This gave me a sense of accomplishment, especially when I felt I was keeping up with some long-term fitness professionals (note: this thinking was probably slightly delusional after a long week of travel and exercise).

The best result has been getting the fitness bug. Since I've got back I've been swinging my kettlebells regularly - and I'm starting to enjoy it. I've gotten over the bump of sore muscles, horrible fatigue and poor motivation. It's all good.

I understand that girevoy sport is not going to be for everyone. It's hard work and requires a different mindset from traditional workouts. But if you're after a change and like pushing yourself to the limit then this could be just what you're after.