kettlebell training

supermum123
supermum123 Posts: 34
edited October 5 in Fitness and Exercise
has anyone used a heart rate monitor whilst exercising with kettlebells? If so how many calories have you actually burned?

Replies

  • Saffyra
    Saffyra Posts: 607 Member
    bump.

    I'm interested to know as well. I always log it as circuit training. It will be fun to know how correct that is once I get my HRM for Christmas.
  • anyone??
  • nicolemarie045
    nicolemarie045 Posts: 131 Member
    I took a kettlebell conditioning class, and for about 50 minutes of kettlebells/body weight exercises/strength exercises I would burn about 375-450 depending on how hard I was working. I am 5'6" and 140 lbs for reference, and that was all according to my Polar FT4.
  • jtintx
    jtintx Posts: 445 Member
    has anyone used a heart rate monitor whilst exercising with kettlebells? If so how many calories have you actually burned?
    At an avg of about 75% max HR I burn about 110 calories per minute.
  • jtintx
    jtintx Posts: 445 Member
    has anyone used a heart rate monitor whilst exercising with kettlebells? If so how many calories have you actually burned?
    At an avg of about 75% max HR I burn about 110 calories per minute.
    I just reread what I wrote and can't let that HUGE error go....I meant to say I burn about 10 calories per minute. Sorry.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    It totally depends on what kind of kettlebell exercises you are doing. Repetitive grinds like presses, get-ups, and deadlifts don't burn many calories if you're using a medium or light weight (relative to your own strength). Even using a heavy weight, you're not likely to burn even 10 calories per minute. That is not to say these aren't important exercises; building muscle is very important for fat loss, not to mention all the other health benefits that come from getting stronger. But while actually exercising, strength lifts don't burn a significant amount of calories.

    With ballistics like swings and snatches, however, 10 to 15 calories per minute is realistic, depending on the weight you are using (the heavier, the better, in terms of calorie burn) and assuming a vigorous effort.

    FYI, you're going to run into certain members of this site who will try to convince you that HRMs are worthless for kettlebell training because kettlebell swings are an upper body exercise, which is a complete and total lie. It's like saying a squat is an upper body exercise just because you're holding the bar on your shoulders. The kettlebell swing is almost entirely a core and lower body movement. All of the energy is generated from the hips and glutes. If you are doing anything more than just holding the weight with your arm/hand, you're doing it incorrectly, and you are going to hurt yourself.
This discussion has been closed.