The Future of Kettlebells Zachary Fabian American Military University Abstract The Future of Kettlebells There are many items and services that we use every day. Some enhance our lives while other lead to stagnation. I chose a piece of fitness equipment due to my general interest in the item and my belief in its growing importance in the volatile fitness industry. I believe that despite the faddish nature of the fitness industry, kettle bells will only gain further popularity in the future. My conclusions are that kettlebells will become similar to barbells in the sense that it has stood the test of time as an effective fitness implement. History A kettle bell is essentially a cast-iron cannonball with a handle. Its origins date back to ancient Greece. “Analysis of literature and museum archival material shows that kettlebells have been known as far back as ancient Greece. At the museum Olympia in Greece, it is possible to see a stone …show more content…
kettlebell weighing 143 kg, with the following words carved in it “Bibon heaved up me above the head by one hand”.” (Sanchez, 2014) Russians started using them back in the 1700’s as a means of weighing crops by counterbalancing the scale. “The first appearance of the word in a Russian dictionary appeared in 1704. They were originally used as handled counterweights to weigh out dry goods on market scales. People started throwing them around for entertainment and they were later put to use for weight lifting.” (Kettlebells USA). They saw little popularity in the West throughout the 1900’s, mostly appearing in some circus shows as a strong man prop. This changed in the early 2000’s due former Russian special forces instructor Pavel Tsatouline, he wrote an article that was well received in America and led to the manufacturing of kettlebells in the US and training certification led by Pavel. (Wesley) This led to the introduction of kettlebells to health clubs and fitness gyms across the nation. Supply and Demand of Kettlebells In the early 2000’s, there were few non-Russian manufacturers of kettlebells. An American company Dragon Door teamed up with Pavel Tsatouline to start making high quality kettlebells. (Dragon Door) The problem was, not many people knew how to use them safely. Kettlebells were also quite expensive due to manufacturing and shipping costs. Around the same time as Pavel was making waves with his articles about kettlebells, a fitness instructor from Santa Cruz, California co-founded a company that would revolutionize the use of kettlebells. Greg Glassman created Crossfit, a training philosophy that uses a wide range of implements to achieve a higher level of functional fitness. One staple of Crossfit is the kettlebell, used in many daily WOD’s (Workout of the Day). Crossfit gained popularity slowly in the early 2000’s but exploded after 2008, their affiliate program has led to the creation of thousands of new gyms, all outfitted with kettlebells. The current number of affiliates according to Crossfit.com is 12,144 while in 2005 they had only 13 affiliate gyms. (Crossfit) That number continues to rise almost daily. The military has also adopted the kettlebell as a fitness implement in base gyms, shipboard gyms, and deployed forces across the world. The Army base in Fort Bragg, like many military bases, has qualified fitness instructors teaching kettlebell movements in their fitness classes. “Here at Fort Bragg, Tucker Gym houses about 30 sets of kettlebells, ranging in size and weight from 8.8 pounds to 70 pounds. Kettlebell 101 participants typically start within the 24 to 33-pound range and increase weight depending on workout goals.” (Avalona-Butler, 2010) Many companies have started selling kettlebells since the rise of Crossfit. Companies like Rogue Fitness and Again Faster formed to supply crossfitters and their affiliates with all the items they need. Not many American companies actually manufacturer kettlebells in the US. Most have them made in China due to cheaper manufacturing costs. The demand for kettlebells has exploded in the past decade, with the introduction of kettlebells into gyms all over the world. The supply of kettlebells has risen to meet this increased demand, mostly through the formation of companies catering the Crossfit athletes and the affiliate gyms they attend. Equilibrium Price According to (Indexmundi), the price of Iron Ore in US dollars per Dry Metric Ton, has risen and fallen dramatically in the last decade. From 28.11 in December 2005 to a high of 187.18 in February 2011, falling back to 39.60 in December 2015, which is the lowest price since December 2007. Unfortunately, there are not records of historical prices for kettlebells, to correlate to the price iron ore. From my personal experience, kettlebells were very expensive in the mid 2000’s, the price per pound was around $2.50. Current research into prices from leading kettlebell suppliers shows that high quality kettlebells range from $1.25 to $2.50 per pound kettlebell not including shipping costs. Prices were pulled from Roguefitness.com, Againfaster.com, Dragondoor.com, Aderfitness.com. The price has dropped mostly due to the increased production of kettlebells. Before the mid-2000’s, the only companies producing kettlebells were in Russia. As more and more companies started selling kettlebells, the manufacturers in China were able to streamline the production system to lower costs, as well as the companies ordering more kettlebells at a time. The equilibrium price continues to slowly fall as demand and supply levels even out. Future Market The market for kettlebells shows indications of continuing to increase in the future due to the following: manufacturing costs continuing to fall, an increased integration of kettlebells in fitness gyms across the world, and the innovation of some companies to produce kettlebells considered by some to be functional art pieces.
The number of Crossfit affiliates has risen very quickly in the past decade. The rate of increase has started to slow in America while it continues to expand quickly internationally, especially in Europe, South America, and Oceania. As kettlebells continue to gain solid footholds in the military, bases and battalions will lean towards the simplicity of kettlebells and away from the complex, expensive machines that currently fill our gyms. We as Americans have always looked towards the Russian military for training ideas; the Russian military has used kettlebells since the 1900’s. It will only take a fitness forward Admiral or General to make the necessary changes to our militaries fitness
programs. The market for kettlebells outside of gym outfitting has risen as well. I personally own two kettlebells that I use for home workouts. Some companies have created 3D mapped kettlebells with animalistic faces such as Onnit’s Primal Bells, Legend Bells, and Zombie Bells. (Onnit) The artistic nature and visual appeal have attracted celebrities such as Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and Joe Rogan, who can be seen using them in workouts on their social media accounts. As the digital age continues on, there will continue to be a push back in certain areas. One such area is fitness, people are running away from “globo gyms” and running towards “functional fitness gyms”. Kettlebells are functional implements by nature and fulfill the primal need of humans to move heavy items in explosive movements. Works Cited Avalona-Butler, A. (2010, September 3). Fort Bragg Soldiers work the whole body; Kettlebell 101 promotes strength, better health. Retrieved from army.mil: fort-bragg-soldiers-work-the-whole-body-kettlebell-101-promotes-strength-better-health Crossfit. (n.d.). Crossfit Affiliate Map. Retrieved from Crossfit: http://map.crossfit.com/ Dragon Door. (n.d.). About Pavel. Retrieved from Dragon Door: http://www.dragondoor.com/store/bio_pavel_tsatsouline/ Indexmundi. (n.d.). Iron Ore Monthly Price. Retrieved from Indexmundi: http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=iron-ore&months=120 Kettlebells USA. (n.d.). Kettlebells USA. Retrieved from What is a kettlebell: http://www.kettlebellsusa.com/what-is-a-kettlebell Onnit. (n.d.). Onnit Kettlebells. Retrieved from Onnit: https://www.onnit.com/kettlebells/ Sanchez, T. (2014, October 23). History of Kettlebells. Retrieved from Thierry Sanchez Strength For All: https://thierrysanchez.com/kettlebell-history/ Wesley, C. (n.d.). History of the Kettlebell. Retrieved from Kettlebell Science: http://www.kettlebellscience.com/kettlebell-history.html
A college campus is nothing without a gym. College sports, and cultural events take place in the T.M. Elmore Gym on Alabama A&M’s campus. This gym is located on the west side of A&M’s campus between Louis Crews stadium and Dr. Ernest L. Knight West Campus dorms. This building has made a large impact on the culture of the school considering that the gym is home to sports teams, classrooms, pep rallies, guest speakers and convocations.
In the article, “Undulation Training for Development of Hierarchical Fitness and Improved Firefighter Job Performance,” a research was conducted when a critical problem emerged from the extraordinary job risks of firefighting. In this article, it was recognized that firefighting was a high risk occupation in which many activities were life threatening. Yearly incidences brought on from these life-threatening activities and conditions included cardiovascular disease from the inhalation of smoke as well as musculoskeletal injuries from the physical demands of the job. The problem was lying in the fact most fire departments were failing to adequately prepare the firefighters in terms of health and physical fitness to take on the physiologically challenging demands of the job. Now, there are contemporary training methods to boost physical fitness and cardiovascular health in order to make the firefighters “emergency prepared.” However, despite the emphasis on physiological training, previous research had shown that the traditional physical training programs were inadequate to prepare firefighters because it featured systematic physical exercises during specific mesocycles and little variety. In this research, standard resistance training, or standard training control, was compared to and put to the test against undulation training, a method to draw out a specific systematic arrangement of different physiological factors and components in order to accommodate the need for simultaneous development of physical fitness and performance needs. The purpose was to determine the influence of both types of training on muscle adaptation as well as assess how well the trainings transferred over to situations and testing areas that really utilized...
Muscle endurance is the ability to perform a lot of repetitions against a given resistance for a long period of time. The combination of strength and endurance results in muscle endurance. Muscle endurance is used in may sports such as rowing, swimming, cycling, distance running, field hockey and American football. Normally, an endurance muscle program involves lifting about 12-25 repetitions of moderate loads. In some cases, this is inadequate for many sports such as boxing, canoeing and x-cross skiing.
“Accept the challenge so that you can feel exhilaration of victory”. This quote was said by George S. Patton is discussion the important role that Athletic trainer should work and work until they win. Who are we are highly qualified multi skilled health care professionals. Also Athletic trainer prevent diagnosis treatment and rehabilitation of emergent acute or chronic injuries. Were also known for being high qualified multi skilled health care professional. Being and athletic trainer is a great and hardworking career. That involves meeting new people, dealing with different challenge each day, Also it has moderate schooling.
Our table is dismissed. I head back to gym with a full stomach, something that shouldn’t happen. Third block is the lunch block and the eighth grade special block. This shouldn’t happen and as principle the first change that would be in immediate effect would amend the schedule to be specials during first, second, and fourth block. This will cause improvements in health with gym being at least an hour away from lunch for the eighth grade; dietary habits considering people eat as minimal food as possible to preserve their stomach, and enthusiasm because students will see any change to the current schedule as a robust change. In addition, I would change the current format of the schedule. Extend math and English to 3 hour classes, but on an
The gym is a place where a typical American college student goes to work out their bodies. Based on the fact that I personally could be considered a gym rat, a stereotypical name for someone who spends a lot of time in the work out area. This is partially by choice being on the swim team requires the strength training equipment that is available to our disposal in the gym. While I have been to the gym many times I haven’t really taken the time to take in the other people around me. Within this ethnographic exercise I will explore the college gym norms within Roger Williams University.
Every part of our body is a science. I never imagined the hidden science in the movements of the body. The science of kinesiology is the science of body movements. I grew up watching my grandma and the changes in her body as both of us got older, I could walk and balance properly while she lost it. I always felt bad when she was not able to get up and walk properly and as caring grandson I always gave her my hand. It was a great feeling for me to take care of her in her last days. Her difficulty in moving always pointed me to do something for her and I landed doing kinesiology- the science of human movements. I completed my high school at Cathedral High School in West Texas. I was an active member of National Honor Society as well as Spanish Honor Society. I held the treasurer position for one year in the society, which I felt proud of. I was not excellent at my academics, was just an average student struggling with the subjects of chemistry and anatomy. It is strange at one point of time suddenly when u come across a certain situation or an accident and u just realize your dream and...
Entertainment has been an established part of the American culture almost since its founding. The types of entertainment that most Americans enjoy in today's world are going to the movies, going out to eat, and exercising. Different forms of exercise vary from running and playing sports to weight lifting. Those who enjoy weight lifting can choose to do so in the privacy of their home, in a community center like the YMCA, or in a health club. At a health club one can expect to find a wide variety of people; however, some of these people add to the downside of working out at a local health club because they can be annoying and obnoxious. Three types of these annoying, obnoxious people found at the weight room of a local health club are the show-off, the know-it-all, and the wanderer; these types can be identified by their physical appearance, their social behavior, and their attitude.
middle of paper ... ... High-intensity interval training: Applications for general fitness training. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 31(6), 44-46. Syatt, J. a.
In this paper I will be looking at an article called The Over Training Syndrome, which was written in 1994. I will be comparing the information in the article with the content from the week 6 Qualifying Sports Training lecture. This will be done by directly quoting the article, then the lecture and having a short discussion on the quoted point. The four areas of comparison will be; the definition of overtraining, the cause of overtraining, the effects of over training, and the recovery time from overtraining. The goal of this paper is to discuss the advancement in knowledge over the last twenty years in these four points on overtraining.
One of the Army leader’s roles is to plan, assess, and prepare execution of daily training. The training that is carried out is based on tasks, conditions and standards. The Army training prepares Soldiers to always fight to the optimum level of operations. In fact, some of the crucial issues include versatile, lethal, agile, and survivable force. The mission is always challenging but Physical Readiness Training, or PRT, prepare the Soldiers to fulfil the mission regardless of the constraints of an operational environment. To achieve victory, Soldiers depend on their coordination, resiliency, strength, stamina, as well as agility to fight and win. The operation and fighting ground requires the best physical conditioning (Headquarters Department of the Army, 2012). In general perspective, Army Physical Readiness Training is accomplished in various chapters, which include approach, system, leadership, types of program, planning considerations, execution of training, preparation and recovery, strength and mobility activities, as well as endurance and mobility activities.
Gabboth, Tim. "Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). Feb2012, Vol. 26 Issue 2, P487-491. 5p." N.p., n.d. Web.
What exactly does that mean? “Kettlebells are great conditioning tools for developing cardio respiratory and muscular endurance,” says Wittenstein. They
The earliest recognized kettle-shaped vessel was discovered in Mesopotamia and dates back to between 3500 and 2000 B.C.E. It’s made from bronze and features a decorated spout. However, aside from its similar shape, experts don’t believe that it shares any comparable functions with the kettle which has evolved over the past 200 years. The history of the electric kettle is linked with that of early iron and copper kettles, which were originally used for cooking. Kettles for cooking eventually evolved into tea kettles, which took different forms in various countries. The elegant Russian samovar, made of metal, is thought to have originated in Persia. In England, silver kettles became part of the English tea tradition
Physical training is a very essential part of the army culture. Physical fitness has a direct influence on their combat readiness which also ties into needing to be mentally and physically tough. Being physically fit allows you to be productive and also gives you the opportunity to enjoy even the little things in life. It also allows you to be able to adapt and survive through tough living conditions. Having the proper diet and exercise can improve a person’s quality of life. Maintaining a high level of fitness helps you perform at higher levels throughout your life. Healthy muscles are less susceptible to to injury, less likely to tear and give in to stress. Which is why it’s important to take care of your body. Soldiers who don’t meet military fitness standards risk being discharged or maybe disciplinary actions.