Hot and Hard: Kettlebelles

Feel the Burn
Unlike dumbbell or barbell exercises, kettlebell movements often involve large numbers of repetitions, and are in their nature holistic. They work several muscles simultaneously and continuously for several minutes, or with short breaks. This combination makes the exercise partially aerobic. In one study, kettlebell enthusiasts performing a 20-minute snatch workout were measured to burn, on average, 13.6 calories per minute aerobically and 6.6 calories anaerobically.






ги́ря
Kettlebells are cast-iron weights made up of a ball and a handle. They come from Russia, where they were first developed in the 1700s. In Russian, they are called ги́ря (‘girya’). The first appearance of the word in a Russian dictionary was in 1704. They were originally used as standard counterweights that bore the Imperial Seal to weigh out dry goods on market scales. People started throwing them around for entertainment, and at some stage after that, they began to be put to use for exercise.




Know your poods
Kettlebells are traditionally measured in units called ‘poods’. A pood is roughly equivalent to 16kg (or 35lbs) and in events sanctioned by the International Union of Kettlebell Lifting and the International Girya Sport Federation, this unit is still used in competition. A 1 pood kettlebell is yellow, if it’s green it’s 1.5 poods, and the red ones are 2 poods.




Back in the USSR
After the Russian Revolution, the use of kettlebells for physical training began to flourish inside the USSR, and was commonplace in the military, among Olympic athletes, and rural workers. In 1948, kettlebell lifting was declared the national sport of the Soviet Union. In 1981, a government commission made it compulsory to train with kettlebells in an attempt to increase productivity and reduce healthcare costs. The Russian army to this day tests the strength of its recruits not with push-ups, but with kettlebell snatches.




From Spetnaz with Love
Although kettlebell training had spread across Eastern Europe during the Cold War, they were still virtually unknown in North America in the late twentieth century. But in 1998, Pavel Tsatouline, former Soviet Special Forces (Spetnaz) physical training instructor, introduced them to American strength athletes in a series of publications. The response was such that he was approached by Dragon Door Publications, who offered to manufacture kettlebells in America, if Tsatouline agreed to teach people how to use them.




Dig the New Thing
By 2001, Dragon Door had published The Russian Kettlebell Challenge and manufactured the first US-made kettlebells. Certification for kettlebell trainers was established, and Rolling Stone voted him the ‘Hot Trainer’ of 2001, and in 2002, the same magazine named kettlebells the ‘Hot Weight’. Within a decade, kettlebells were a worldwide phenomenon.





Apologies for the terrible pun in the title. Hope it didn't spoil your enjoyment!

Kettlebell History (from Kettlebell Science), and more history from Kettlebell USA
Wikipedia on Kettlebells and Pavel_Tsatsouline