Combat Stamina Development with Kettlebells
Kettlebells as a fitness tool belongs to the ‘old school’of weight training, but is still in todays UK’s fitness climate even more relevant. In kettlebell training, all the movements are ground based and it focuses on human strength. Regular training with kettlebells can develop skills which are useful for athletes and martial art students.
In Russia, kettlebells or ‘girya’ as it is known there, has been used at military camps for years now. Kettlebells are powerful tools which military personnel or combat sports athletes need to train their bodies to a high level of fitness and strength. Armed personnel undergo combat stamina development with kettlebells and are regularly checked for their combat readiness.
Kettlebell training can be very useful for combat sports like wrestling, judo, kick boxing, boxing and martial arts. Apart from enhancing strength, kettlebells can improve stamina, balance and agility of the body, which is so necessary for combat athletes. Combat stamina development with kettlebells is possible due to a combination of cardio workout and strength training which other weight training techniques do not offer. Workouts at gyms can become boring for many people, like using treadmills, rowing machines and multi gym equipment. Cardio workout to build the stamina using kettlebells is more fun and not at all boring. Kettlebell training is high intensity interval training and not the regular, slow cardio, thus you can see quicker results in much less time. The ballistic nature of the exercises improves the stamina and over all strength.
Since many years, combat stamina development with kettlebells was practised by soldiers from the Russian Special Forces who had amazing agility. Physical stamina of person is the constant physical effort expected out of the body, a very important aspect of combat training. Effects of regular kettlebell training can be seen on the wrist, forearm, shoulders and back, as they become strong by absorbing repetitive shocks. Kettlebell exercises increases the body’s ability to absorb shocks efficiently, required for games like hockey, football, wrestling and martial arts.
Martial arts and wrestling requires enduring strength, which means that you are able to deliver till the end. While maximum strength is very important, increased stamina will take you to the end to produce better results. For Combat stamina development with kettlebells, one has to perform many sets of grueling exercises. Doing high repetition sets of kettlebell exercises like the snatch and combinations of clean, jerk and snatch, can give a good cardiovascular workout.
Holding kettlebell and carrying out various exercises is very challenging and in the process makes the grip very strong. Combat Grip training is useful for all combat sports like boxing, wrestling and marshal arts. Flexibility, agility and mental toughness, also count a lot in combat sports and activities. For combat stamina development with Kettlebells, exercises like Turkish get ups, windmills and twist movements, have become routine exercises for athletes. These movements coordinate different muscles to work in tandem against gravity.
For complete combat sports conditioning, kettlebell exercises are very effective as they not only improve stamina, power and strength; but also work on balance, flexibility and muscle coordination at the same time and most importantly, the kettlebell workout is not boring but very challenging and so much fun.
For FREE kettlebell workouts go to:-
http://www.russiankettlebellsuk.com
Jamie Lloyd is a Certified Personal Trainer and the owner of Russian Kettlebells UK in London. He One of only a handful of certified Russian Kettlebell coaches in London, and is passionate about coaching kettlebells and even uses them for his own training. http://www.russiankettlebellsuk.com
