For me, outside of a good squat rack, the kettlebell is the most important piece of equipment for a home gym. As we will cover, no other piece of equipment allows you to do as much as a kettlebell – this means you can get more done with less money and less equipment!
A kettlebell is simply a weighted ball with a handle attached to it. Kettlebells come in different sizes or weights. They may range from five pounds all the way to two hundred! Now, for reasons we’ll cover in a minute, unlike dumbbells you only need one of each weight that you are going to use. Again, this saves you on money and space.
So what uses does a kettlebell have?
- Cardio-vascular exercise/metabolic conditioning: Swings, cleans, and snatches are kettlebell exercises that use your entire body, are rhythmical in nature, and can be done for periods of time. This makes them ideal for both cardio-vascular exercise and metabolic conditioning. They can be done by themselves or in conjunction with other training tools. For example, below is a metabolic conditioning session that combines kettlebells with core exercises:
KB swing, right hand
KB swing, left hand
Plank
30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, perform 3 times
KB clean, right hand
KB clean, left hand
Crunch
30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, perform 3 times
KB snatch, right hand
KB snatch, left hand
Reverse crunches
30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, perform 3 times
- Mobility: There are several kettlebell exercises that develop shoulder and lower body mobility. These include goblet squats, lunges, overhead squats, get ups, and windmills. They do not have to be done with a lot of weight to be effective.
- Strength training: If it can be done with a dumbbell it can be done with a kettlebell. The design of the kettlebell also makes it more shoulder friendly than a dumbbell. With kettlebells I’d like to encourage you to think unilaterally; in other words work one side at a time. Several reasons; it’s harder, it develops balance, the other side of your body is not compensating, and it engages your core.
- Other uses: I also use kettlebells to secure heavy ropes during a heavy rope session (i.e. no need to secure them to a wall or anything like that) and to anchor the cage during certain exercises.
I prefer to use CAP cast iron kettlebells because they are indestructible and are made to withstand pretty hard use.
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