It was March 2005, and Camille Hetman was in bad shape. Over the past 20 years, she had suffered multiple injuries from car accidents, and now, as she approached her 50th birthday, she was feeling every one of them. "I had become very weak; everything hurt," she recalls. It was hard to do everyday activities. "Going to the grocery store was a challenge; I was just dragging my body around."
Hetman tried Pilates and wrenched her neck in the process. In her experience, yoga was "too severe." Following the advice of her doctor, she enrolled in a new kind of fitness training that, given her past exercise history, might seem improbable. It involved picking up and swinging cast iron "kettlebells," Russian-invented weights designed to strengthen muscles and ligaments. In just weeks, "my body started changing; the way I carried myself was changing and it was exciting," she says.
Within a year, the painfully thin, 5-foot-2-inch Hetman had lost her aches, added pounds in sinewy muscle, was standing taller by an inch, and gained incalculable self-confidence in her abilities. She now works as a certified kettlebell instructor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
Kettlebells date back to 18th-century tsarist Russia, where they were called girya, and a strongman was known as a girivek, or "kettlebell man." Variations on the kettlebell include the ancient Chinese training system known as Shi Suo Guong, or "the art of the stone padlock," which involves swinging a similarly heavy object with a handle. Until recently, kettlebells were primarily the purview of the male and the macho. They were key training tools for KGB, FBI and Secret Service agents; military men of all branches, especially those involved in extreme duty, like Navy Seals or Special Forces; firemen, policemen and others who needed the super strength training that swinging heavy kettlebells could provide. However, kettlebells have been lightened and the techniques have been expanded so that they can be used by people of all ages who want greater strength and mobility.
Hetman's clients include everyone from firefighters and cops to 70-year-old grandmothers and teenagers. "It doesn't matter how old or how strong you are when you start," Hetman says. "It's a great way to retrain yourself so that you incorporate breath awareness and mindful movement with the kettlebell. Pretty soon everything becomes easier. You minimize stress on your back, neck and shoulders and on your ankles and knees." Hetman compares using kettlebells to "becoming a dancer in your body. You learn how to properly move in your body, which many of us haven't learned, or have forgotten how to do."
How Kettlebells Work
Kettlebells, which look like cannonballs with handles, range in size from tiny two-pounders to 175-pound behemoths. They are extremely versatile. Kettlebells can be swung with one hand or two, lifted over the head, carried, and used for doing planks, pushups, and other exercises. The most basic kettlebell move is the "swing," which works the arms, shoulders, upper back, glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. The kettlebell is held with both hands, arms straight out, about waist high. Feet are placed shoulder-width apart. The bell is swung backward between the legs as the knees bend into a squat position, and then swung forward again as the body rises back into its original position.
Getting Started
Hetman suggests that unlike many exercises, which can be learned from reading books or watching videos, training with kettlebells should be learned in person from an experienced kettlebell instructor. "You need a hands-on experience," she says. "What you see on a video and how you organize your body [to swing a kettlebell] are two different things, so you need to be able to have someone show you how to break down [a move] just to be safe. Levitra cheap"
There are many licensed kettlebell instructors working privately or in gyms or fitness clubs. However, Hetman emphasizes that you need to spend time finding the instructor that's right for you. "You should interview several trainers until you find someone that you can connect with." People looking for extreme weight training have different needs than people looking to rehab from injuries or get general toning, she says. "You need to find someone who can facilitate your particular needs." The beauty of working with kettlebells, Hetman adds, is that once you know how to use them, you don't need to spend much time with them. "The kettlebell is only a tool, but it's a very efficient one," she says. "You only need five to 10 minutes a day. It's not like traditional weight lifting."
Good to Know
A Danish study found at  that kettlebell training markedly strengthened muscles and reduced pain from workplace injuries to backs, necks and shoulders. Another study, conducted by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), found that exercising with kettlebells improved heart rates and oxygen intake more than working with traditional weights such as dumbbells and barbells. The ACE study also found that the average study participant burned about 400 calories during a typical 20-minute kettlebell workout, about the same calorie burn as running a six-minute mile or cross-country skiing uphill.
resource: https://lespepitestech.com/startup-de-la-french-tech/chinn-urology
