Kettlebells over barbell? Really?

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  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    I occassionally like kettlebells as a change of pace from dumbbells or for conditioning work, but I'd never personally use them over barbells.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Kettlebells can be a great conditioning tool. And are a lot of fun....

    However, you can also do complexes with a barbell and get the same kind of metabolic training effect.

    At the end of the day they're all tools and need to be chosen appropriately according to your goals. If you want pure strength, then you have to get under a bar at some point. But you can get some pretty f*cking heavy KBs and do sets of 5 and build strength. How far you can take this is probably limited at some point, but you'd get some mileage from single leg work, etc before you'd completely mined that seam, so to speak.

    Personally on one of my "cardio/conditioning/whatever" type days I like to do barbell complexes and finish off with some KB's. Why make everything either/or?

    Any well-rounded routine needs some strength, some conditioning and some flexibility/mobility type work in it. How you cash that out in terms of equipment is up to you and probably evolves with you over time as your strength/fitness changes.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    Kettlebells are a great conditioning tool and depending on your goals they MAY be all you need. However there comes a certain point where, depending on what your goals are, there is simply no replacement for a barbell with access to lots and lots of plates. IMO the only area where kettlebells really shine over barbells is when working out at home. It's a lot easier for people who prefer to do their workouts at home to get a few kettlebells than it is to get a squat rack with an olympic bar and a bench and hundreds of points of plates. Personally I think kettlebells are a lot more fun though.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
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    I prefer the barbell over KBs, but I use both and I think kettlebells are extremely useful.

    it's definitely not an either/or type of thing. I think the most important part of this post is that you feel like you aren't being listened to. Find a trainer/coach that will give/teach you the skills the you want to learn. The workouts you enjoy are the ones you will stick with. That being said, kettlebells can be a ton of fun.
  • chymerra
    chymerra Posts: 212
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    kettlebell workouts are INCREDIBLE. it improves hip drive, grip strength, tones all muscles in your body and improves cardiovascular endurance *all in one workout!* throw in some exercises tabata-style and you'll have a killer workout. i do KB/tabata workouts every saturday for 1hr and i'm WIPED after every workout.

    How do you make a 4min workout last 1hr?

    all of the KB classes i've done aren't pure KB but mixed in with Tabata moves. KB lifts and swings are about half of that but then we alternate lifts/swings with things like burpees, plyo training, bear crawls, ab work, ab work with KBs etc.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I use kettlebells and barbells in my PT sessions, I guess they're good for different things. My gym doesn't leave them out for people to use as apparently some have been stolen. Much harder to get out of the gym with a barbell lol.

    I was thinking of getting my own kettlebells to use at home.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
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    I love barbells. But I'll admit when doing Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer, you can still get a great workout in with kettlebells. Though, she only used them for certain compound exercises.

    I guess it depends on what you're doing and how much weight you're using whether or not it's going to be a challenge. When I think of barbells, I think of all the major/largest muscle groups. With barbells you have the ability to go higher and higher in distributed weight. Kettlebells are much like dummbells. How much weight can you bench with a kettlebell?
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Kettlebells are the current fad (sure, been around for 100 years, but tell me where you could buy one 10 years ago) but that doesn't mean you can't get in shape using them. Hell, you can get in shape with a heavy stone and a pull up bar. So try them and see how you like them.

    IMO, get the trainer to teach you correct form on the basic compound lifts. If you switch gyms or go on vacation or whatever, you'll always be able to find benches, barbells and racks. Most commercial gyms do not have KB equipment.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    For some reason, I don't know whether it is because i'm female or just because they are the current "fad", but everyone i approach is telling me to use kettlebells instead.

    Are they really that superior? If so why do I hardly ever see anyone using them on here or at the gym?

    You need to be more assertive. Tell your personal trainer that you want to learn the basic compound barbel lifts FIRST! If they can't teach you those lifts, then ask them to refer you to a trainer who can.
  • misssiri
    misssiri Posts: 335 Member
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    I'll speak for myself when I say that kettlebell training was my first exposure to deadlifting and I bet you that is the case for many females posting here.

    Yes, they are great but I would go with the barbell training. Learn the compound movements like deadlifting and you will be able to lift a lot heavier a lot faster than if you use kettlebells. You can incorporate kettlebells later if you want. They are fun.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    kettlebell workouts are INCREDIBLE. it improves hip drive, grip strength, tones all muscles in your body and improves cardiovascular endurance *all in one workout!* throw in some exercises tabata-style and you'll have a killer workout. i do KB/tabata workouts every saturday for 1hr and i'm WIPED after every workout.

    How do you make a 4min workout last 1hr?

    all of the KB classes i've done aren't pure KB but mixed in with Tabata moves. KB lifts and swings are about half of that but then we alternate lifts/swings with things like burpees, plyo training, bear crawls, ab work, ab work with KBs etc.

    No offense but tabata isn't a type of move. It is a timing sequence, and a tabata workout by definition can only be 4 minutes long. Regardless of the exercises used, if a workout does not follow the specific timing sequence of 20 seconds work > 10 seconds rest 8 times in a row, it's not a tabata workout and shares nothing in common with one.
  • resistance_freak
    resistance_freak Posts: 899
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    kettlebell workouts are INCREDIBLE. it improves hip drive, grip strength, tones all muscles in your body and improves cardiovascular endurance *all in one workout!* throw in some exercises tabata-style and you'll have a killer workout. i do KB/tabata workouts every saturday for 1hr and i'm WIPED after every workout.

    How do you make a 4min workout last 1hr?

    You could do it 15 times.
  • resistance_freak
    resistance_freak Posts: 899
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    Also, I want to agree with someone who said earlier in the thread that this doesn't have to be an either/or approach with regards to KB or Barbells (or dumb bells). Why not incorporate them all into your routine? Along with some bodyweight type exercises as well.

    All approaches have benefits that can be leveraged. Just align the benefits of each with whatever your particular fitness goals are and follow a program that includes exercises that are most beneficial to your goals.

    I know it sounds like I'm over-simplifying everything. That's because I am. But really, that's about all there is to it.
  • AprilEC
    AprilEC Posts: 32 Member
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    I have been in a kettlebell class for about a year now and I love it. The kettlebell training gives you more of a workout than a barbell (personal opinion). Its a mix of strength training, circuit training and cardio. You might not see a lot of people using them in the gym for a couple reasons (off the top of my head), 1.) it could be a lack of knowledge. People may just not know how to use them or what they're purpose is. 2.) you need a good amount of space to really utilize a kettlebell. So if they do know how to use them, they may not have enough room to really work with them. You would need to take them in a corner away from people (just in case you lose grip!) or in a closed workout room. But again, I LOVE LOVE LOVE kettlebell!
  • CoachDreesTraining
    CoachDreesTraining Posts: 223 Member
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    Personally, kettlebells are easier for me to teach. They can also be safer.

    One good example is with the deadlift. With a kettlebell, you can straddle the weight, bringing it closer to your center of gravity, which takes some of the load off your back. It also teaches you to reach back with your hips opposed to rounding your back.

    A lot of people that learn to deadlift with a barbell let the weight get too far away from their body, get themselves hurt, and decide to go do leg curls instead.

    Tell your trainer that you're OK learning the movements with kettlebells, but once you get the hang of it you'd like to switch to barbells, to gain strength.
  • Godan2b
    Godan2b Posts: 57 Member
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    Kettlebells take up MUCH less space, you can take them with you even on a car trip, just throw one in the floor board of the back seat and there your go. Or you can take them to the local park. Check out Lisa Shaffers' site http://www.nofearfitness.com/index.php I was lucky enough to train with her first using kettlebells and Mike Mahler starting back 7 years ago.
  • postrockandcats
    postrockandcats Posts: 1,145 Member
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    They both have their positives and negatives. I do both, but with an emphasis on barbells and free weights.

    My thing? If I went to a trainer for the purpose of learning how to workout with a barbell and the trainer told me not to bother without a good reason, I'd get another trainer stat. If you hired an installer to lay carpet and they came with tile and refused to lay the carpet, you'd kick them out, right? Or you went to Zumba and they changed it to a Spinning class because it was "better" you'd be mad, right? This is YOUR fitness and YOU hired THEM. Unless they had a legit health concern about you doing barbell work, then that's what you should be doing if that's what you want.

    You could be passive aggressive and say you didn't realize they didn't know they didn't know about barbell training and could they give a name of someone that can? :P
  • twelfty
    twelfty Posts: 576 Member
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    in short they're supposed to be better because the kettlebell weight isn't centralised to your wrist so you're using more stablizing muscles when using them, also because of this they're supposed to be very good for toning

    where a dumbell or barbell requires less stabilizing because it is central to your wrist

    also @godan2b sorry... but how on earth do kettlebells take up less space? to get the versatility of dumbells in kettlebells you'd need a trunk full of them lol

    kettlebells aren't my thing but i do see why they're popular, and probably do work the way people are saying but i wan't conventional looking muscles and i don't trust these give that effect given how you see some people who are toned up these days looking... weird
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    in short they're supposed to be better because the kettlebell weight isn't centralised to your wrist so you're using more stablizing muscles when using them, also because of this they're supposed to be very good for toning

    where a dumbell or barbell requires less stabilizing because it is central to your wrist

    also @godan2b sorry... but how on earth do kettlebells take up less space? to get the versatility of dumbells in kettlebells you'd need a trunk full of them lol

    kettlebells aren't my thing but i do see why they're popular, and probably do work the way people are saying but i wan't conventional looking muscles and i don't trust these give that effect given how you see some people who are toned up these days looking... weird

    Lol! What a load of nonsense!

    Get under a heavy barbell and do some squats and tell me your stabilisers are not under stress. Or OHP. Or (insert-name-of-heavy-barbell-compound-move-here)

    That last paragraph may need some unpacking, because I couldn't really understand it. I did recognise the word "toned" though and I thought "Uh oh......"
  • Bardane
    Bardane Posts: 60 Member
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    I have been learning basic compound barbell lifting for the last couple of months. My trainer introduced some kettlebell exercises for me to do as a cardio exercise and a way to improve my hip drive. I do a 3 times a week lifting programme and throw in a couple of tabata kettle bell workouts. I find them a fun addition to my schedule, and one I can do at home easily

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