Women & Kettlebell Sport Training

Most female clients say the same thing when they come to me: I want to lose weight and tone up but I don't want to get bulky.  Most women don't want to get huge and look like this (not to say it's not impressive, but it's not the look that the majority of women are trying to achieve):

Don't worry, girls, you have to work VERY hard and probably start injecting male hormones in order to get "bulky".  The fact is that nearly all women are lacking the hormone profile that would enable them to get big from weight training.

Many women fear heavy weights because they are worried that it's the heavy weight that will make them big, so they stick to light weights, Pilates and cardio.  If anything has proven that heavy, hard training for women makes them anything but "bulky" it's kettlebell sport.

The Women of Kettlebell Sport

The women of the Ice Chamber Kettlebell Sport team are a perfect example.  And these are not women who have been athletes all their lives or have "good genes", they're just like the rest of us, they are mothers and wives, they work full time and they have had issues with their weight in the past.  Check out these before and after photos:

These pictures are courtesy of the Ice Chamber, there is a full article by Maya Garcia (founder of the Ice Chamber and also an accomplished kettlebell sport athlete) here at the Athleta Chi site that's really worth reading.

The women above are regularly lifting 20kg, 24kg and 28kg kettlebells and doing things that a lot of men would cry just thinking about.  These are heavy weights (both Sara and Surya weigh under 65kg themselves so are lifting a significant proportion of their bodyweight).

And Ksenia is phenomonally strong and puts a lot of men to shame, but as you can see from the clip below she's about as far from "bulky" as you can get.

Feeling Strong

As you can see from the generic statement I tend to get from women about what they want from their training, it's usually focussed on aesthetics.

What a lot of women don't understand is that lifting heavy and dedicating yourself to a goal by training and competing in something like kettlebell sport makes you feel good.  Feeling strong, carrying yourself well, moving gracefully, pushing beyond what you thought you were capable of is incredibly rewarding and empowering - really this should be the goal and the improvements in physique merely a bonus.

The Perfect Sport for Any Woman

Kettlebell sport not only provides the benefits of strength, empowerment, self esteem and the look that most women are after, it also requires very little equipment (just a few Pro Grade kettlebells, some sweat bands and chalk) and it can be done in a very small space, even at home.

Kettlebell sport is also a very inclusive sport, pretty much anyone can do it (and do well at it) if they have the dedication - you don't need to be a natural athlete or have good genetics to achieve a lot.

Getting Started

For more information on kettlebell sport you can email [email protected]; or check out our website.