Build lean muscle mass with kettlebell training

Build lean muscle mass with kettlebell training.
In 2011 Peter Petrou fitness was rated by WOMOW as one of the top 3 personal training businesses in Sydney Australia and my aim is to make top quality personal training affordable to everyone, including exercise tips and advice. Below is just one of numerous articles published online by me to help try to educate people when it comes to health and fitness.
I am constantly informing clients that the best way to lose fat and keep it off is to build lean muscle mass. A statement I seem to be repeating day after day is “Studies have shown that the more lean muscle mass you have the faster your resting metabolic rate will be”. Which basically put means that the more muscle you have the more fat your body will burn, not only when exercising but while at rest. We all know about the benefits of cardiovascular exercise and we also know that lifting weights is great for building muscle mass and for years I have been recommending clients combine cardio training with a weights training program as the most efficient fat loss program. Enter the kettlebell; kettlbells will give you a great cardiovascular workout while at the same time assist you in building lean muscle mass.
Studies also show that the larger the muscle group used while exercising the more calories will be burned.
So it should stand to reason that if you are working all your muscles with every exercise you will be burning the most calories. Another reason why kettlebells are such a great weight loss tool is that when doing traditional weights training there is always a target muscle and if doing a compound weight lifting exercise there are also numerous minor muscles being used as assisting muscles. Yet when training with kettlebells all exercises work your muscles through their full range of motion and it is impossible to target a single muscle as almost all of your muscles are coming to play with every exercise.
Kettlebells are probably the most inexpensive, basic and simple piece of exercise equipment around today. They are also one of the best. I don’t think kettlebells will ever completely replace weights but they are incredibly effective for rapid weight loss and they are cheap to buy, require very little space and can be heaps of fun to use.
I own and operate my own personal training company in Sydney and as a lot of my clients know and a lot of them first hand, I really enjoy kettlebell training and think it is an ideal form of training for weight loss. They are handy and versatile and they are probably the most inexpensive piece of exercise equipment you can find that are pretty much a compact, portable gym that you can do everything with.
But more importantly they work.
The Russian Kettlebell basically looks like a cannon ball with a handle. Many call them Russian Kettlebells but apparently Russians did not invent the kettlebell. I was reading somewhere a little while ago where it said that birth of a kettlebell goes all the way to ancient Greece where Olympians used kettlebells made of stone to sharpen their fitness skills (ha-ha okay that was actually the first and only article I ever read that said kettlebells originated in Greece and not Russia but my background is Greek Cypriot and I thought it sounded good so I thought I would roll with it).
Using Kettlebells as a workout tool has quickly risen in popularity and has been utilized as a training tool from celebrities to mixed martial artists with all of them claiming that they have finally found the perfect workout tool and guess what? They could be right. Some celebrities who are huge fans of the kettlebell workout include actresses Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Angelina Jolie, Kim Katrell, Katherine Heigel and Kim Basinger. Actor Matthew McConaughey is proud to show off the results of his kettlebell training and Sylvester Stallone even included a kettlebell session in the movie Rocky Balboa. Athletes from all sports have proven the benefits, including Lance Armstrong, martial arts behemoth, Bob Sapp, and the one and only, legendary Bruce Lee.
Working out with kettlebells is fast and effective. As even the most basic exercise utilizes almost every muscle group which equals hard and intense training session and more calories burned than whilst doing other more traditional forms of training.
The medium to heavy weight used and the high amount of repetitions completed whilst training with kettlebells makes kettlebells not only ideal for building lean muscle mass but also great for increasing your cardiovascular fitness.
Another aspect of kettlebell training that make them such a great exercise/weight loss tool is the instability of the kettlebell which requires the use of your core stabilising muscles and the fact that the basic swinging movement from which core strength is developed and from which all other kettlebell exercises are based. All Kettlebell exercises are compound exercises that use not only all the major muscles in the body but also as stated previously all the minor muscles that come into play as assisting muscles and stabilizers.
Are kettlebells the ultimate training tool? Well they may-be.
Maybe you should grab one and find out.
Peter Petrou
Peter Petrou fitness Pty Ltd
www.peterpetroufitness.com.au
Remember: it’s easy to get fit, it’s just hard work