The following cut out is from my presentation to the NSCA workshop to a group of trainers and coaches.
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As modern fitness professionals, we are always open to optimizing performance potential with “new” ideas, twists on older methods, or different combinations of quality movements. Functional fitness and athletic movement training or has become more the norm in the general population over the past 5-10 years. Those quality movements that strength coaches have been using with athletes such as squats, presses, pulls, functional core development, plyometric and explosive training are making their way into the weekend warrior, soccer-mom, or Joe-fitness’s programs. The key is to find safe and effective progressions in proper loads and volumes.
We understand that strength training and interval training is not only more efficient for our average clients that want to improve their total health and wellbeing, but it works better in terms of raising their resting metabolism, improving their cardio function, and increasing their quality of life through attainable results.
Circuit training has been shown to improve cardiovascular function as well as, if not better, than traditional steady-state cardio exercise. The inclusion of strong fast contractions, as in the form of a plyometric (rapid lengthening and shortening of muscle), not only can help to improve strength thereby raising metabolism, but help to increase caloric expenditure during the exercise bout. That is to say, that the combination of resistance strength training and plyometric training can produce time efficient and very effective results in the areas of cardiovascular fitness training, strength training, and performance training.
Balance, coordination, and synchronization are all important factors to consider as well in a total fitness program. In the past decade, the BOSU ball and other balance equipment pieces have become favorite components to most trainer’s and strength coach’s programs. Balance training not only forces deeper muscular contractions allowing for more total muscle synchronization and coordination, but it also trains proprioception and neural pathways. These elements are all important not only for the athlete, but for our clients (who aspire to perform athletic movements).
Typically a trainer or coach must train many of these components of fitness separately. Certainly, some of them are tied together, but a program might consist of load training with a back squat, plyometrics through box jumps, DB cleans for explosive power training, single leg RDL’s for balance training (maybe on a BOSU for extra challenge), a woodchopper with a superband or cable for neuromuscular training and functional core training. All these might be in a circuit to raise heart and breathe rate. These are just examples to illustrate that separate pieces of equipment often times are used to accomplish what a kettlebell can do by itself.
I am not saying a kettlebell is better than all these movements or pieces of equipment, I am simply saying that its unique capability provides a VERY efficient and effective way of accomplishing all the components of fitness and athletic movement training. Through the design alone, the awkward shape and displaced center of gravity, we will have to activate deeper muscular contractions to move it trough space, hold it under tension, and control it’s swinging momentum all under large neuromuscular coordination. Learning the skill of basic kettlebell movement (which anyone can do because the movements are so rudimentary – but they still require practice and proper movement to avoid breakdown and therefore injury) will give your clients and athletes a unique opportunity to train in a way that DB presses, and BB cleans, box jumps, and other movements cannot.”
