Maintaining Fitness during Quarantine; Kettlebells comes to my rescue

Before New Delhi went into a complete lockdown, I managed to bring home 3 kettlebells weighing 20kg, 24kg and 32kg from my Fitness Centre and boy am I glad that I did. Thanks to these kettlebells, I have been very consistent in my training/practice and been building up on the gains I have made over the last couple of years since completing my StrongFirst Kettlebell Course and then later becoming the first Certified Kettlebell Instructor (SFG level 1) in North India under StrongFirst system. In this blog, I will cover the history of Kettlebells, StrongFirst, Pavel Tsatsouline and the Hardstyle Kettlebell ( a lifting style). Please watch my video below practicing different kettlebell movements at my home. 

Kettlebell definition

In case you don’t know what a Kettlebell is, then here it is. A Kettlebell or “Girya” (Russian name for kettlebell) is a cast iron or cast steel weight shaped like a cannonball with a handle on it.

Kettlebell exercises categories

A kettlebell is used to perform slow, controlled exercises like the Military Press, Deadlift etc. This category of exercises are termed as “Grind” exercises. A kettlebell is also used for exercises like Swings, Snatches etc where the person or Girevik ( Russian name for Kettlebell Athlete) accelerates the kettlebell at a maximum speed to either direct the force straight in front as in a Swing movement or force is directed overhead as in a Snatch movement. This category of exercises are termed as “Ballistic” exercises.

Kettlebell benefits

Both these category of exercises and learning the proper way of doing these from a StrongFirst Certified Kettlebell Instructor like myself, can help any individual, a kid, housewife, office worker, athlete, fire fighter, police, military personnels to get really Strong, powerful, mobile, faster, leaner, able to use the whole body as a single unit, able to generate maximum force using their hips better, cardio benefits, develop a very strong midsection and able to perform their duties in everyday life or their field to their best. The benefits are huge and if you have been in the area of exercising for long or just started or thinking about starting, you will do yourself a great favour by learning the right way of using this virtually indestructible, compact, versatile, hand held gym called Kettlebell from a StrongFirst Certified Kettlebell Instructor like myself. This investment in your learning will give you lifelong benefits and save you lakhs of Rupees/ thousands of Dollars in gym membership. Lots of people around the World during this Covid-19 Pandemic have used the kettlebells at home during the lockdown and realised the value of having kettlebells at their homes even more.

Kettlebell history

A kettlebell is not a fad and has been around for more than 300 years. In the old Russia, the farmers created Kettlebell to weigh their crops. Russian Kettlebell weight was measured in “Pood”, which was a term coined to denote 16.38 kg or 36.1 lbs (pounds). The farmers started using these kettlebells and got strong. Later, the Kettlebells were used by the Russian Army and Russian Athletes. Girevoy Sport or Kettlebell Athletics became very popular in Russia and around the world and a lot of kettlebell athletes compete in Kettlebell competitions around the world today.

Popularity of Kettlebells in the US and the world

Kettlebell was made popular in America by StrongFirst Founder and Chairman, Pavel Tsatsouline in 1998. Pavel used to train the Spetsnaz, the Special Forces of Russia as their Physical Training Instructor. Pavel’s interview with Joe Rogan became very popular on the YouTube where Pavel shares his wealth of knowledge and answers questions on training, benefits of kettlebells over barbell, variable loading and mitochondria health etc. Watch the video below:

My kettlebell certifications from Australia and now from StrongFirst

Although, I had done my Kettlebell level 1 and level 2 certifications in Australia many years back but learning the StrongFirst Kettlebell course from StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Shaun Cairns was an eye opener and successfully passing my StrongFirst SFG 1 last February (2019) or level 1 Kettlebell Instructor Test was by far the Most Important Fitness Certification of my Fitness Industry career . The three day SFG 1 Certification is one of the hardest and takes a lot out of your body. The Snatch Test where I had to perform 100 Snatches with a 24 kg kettlebell without making more than 3 mistakes was the most challenging. Preparing for SFG 1, one should commit at least 3 months. I shall write a separate post on the StrongFirst SFG 1 Certification in the near future.

About StrongFirst

StrongFirst is a School of Strength and has Bodyweight, Kettlebell and Barbell modalities as it’s three pillars. I simply love the Hardstyle Kettlebell style and the Strength Training Principles taught by Master Instructors in the StrongFirst Workshops. The focus is always on Quality and aspects of Safety and Performance go hand in hand. If you want to learn more about StrongFirst, I highly recommend visiting the website www.strongfirst.com and also reading and learning from the number of very useful articles on the website and if you want to take it to the next level, attending their courses. It could turn out to be your best investment in yourself even if you don’t want to train Clients.

Personal Strength Gains from regular Kettlebell practice

In the course of achieving my SFG 1 certification, I have noticed my personal Strength increase immensely so much so that I have been able to successfully Turkish Get-up the Beast i.e 48 kg Kettlebell many times now. Also, I have been able to half Turkish Get-up a human more heavier than 48kg a couple of times.

Turkish Get-up is one of the most beneficial exercises and one of my favorites on which I shall write a separate post. It is one of the all time favorites of the Old-time Strongmen in Russia and Turkey. Watch my videos below performing these exercises with the Beast and a human.

Contact me if you are interested in learning exercises like Turkish Get-up, Kettlebell Swings, Kettlebell Snatch or more.