Kettlebells Offer Health Clubs a Short Duration, Effective Exercise for Men and Women of All Ages

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 2, 2006 -- With all the modern gadgets such as pod casts, interactive videos and entertainment systems for gyms, would you believe that a 300-year-old Russian device that resembles a cannonball with a handle attached to it, would be the hottest up-and-coming item for health clubs?  They're called kettlebells and they're the current rage in trend setting fitness centers. And, KettleBell Concepts of New York is leading the charge with its advanced kettlebell training modalities and products.  

Health clubs across the US are experiencing the intersection of two societal trends.  One is the increasing demand for resistance training driven by a continuous flow of scientific findings, which champion the benefits of  developing muscle, especially in women.  The mammoth boomer market is a finally starting to get this point. 

The other trend is time compression.  Novice exercisers just don't want to spend a lot of time in gyms, period.  Clubs need to offer programs that are fun and extremely time-efficient which  provide maximum results in a couple of  30-minute workouts a week.  

Kettlebells do just that,  provide  maximal resistance training increased flexibility, improved cardiovascular conditioning - all in compact 30-minute sessions.  Kettlebells challenge every muscle in the body, particularly the core stabilizers.  The good news for personal trainers is that they take up very little floor space. 

La Palestra Provides Medical and Human Performance Training With Kettlebells
La Palestra is a Manhattan medical fitness hybrid club combining medicine and fitness to optimize health and human performance. Its owner, Pat Manocchia, and his trainers started incorporating kettlebells about five years ago and were certified by KettleBell Concepts four years ago. 

"Kettlebells are compact and don't require a lot of space. Ultimately, resistance is resistance, but kettlebells provide a resistance that creates a little longer lever than traditional dumbbells.  So, the forces that you generate are greater per size of the implement," said Manocchia. 

La Palestra researches all exercise modalities and adopts those that get their members the best results.  Manocchia  explained, "What surprised me the most, was the speed of the neurological benefit of kettlebells, it happens very quickly to develop coordination.  People learned it quicker than I had expected that they would. "  

The Aquatic & Fitness Center Certifies Its Training Staff
The Aquatic & Fitness Center in Bala Cynwyd,  Pennsylvania, recently completed their Level One certification through KettleBell Concepts.  The club's Personal Training Manager, Vanessa Mock, spearheaded the training process and became certified herself.

"What I love about kettlebells is that the center of gravity is different than that of  barbells or  free weights. The center of gravity of a free weight sits in the palm of your hand, with a kettlebell, because of the handle, it's actually on the outside...then momentum throws off the center of gravity, which causes a lot of changes to happen in the neuromuscular system.  Your reaction is different, it stimulates your body a zillion different times than a free weight would," said Mock.

CrossFit Gulf Coast Intensifies Its Training With Kettlebells
Cross Fit of Gulf Coast, of Sarasota Florida, a high intensity boot camp, eschews  fancy cardio machines, television sets, and entertainment systems and opts for gymnastics rings, climbing ropes, Olympic weights, and kettlebells to give its clients positive results.  Workouts are shorter than most people expect, but its also more demanding.  The center focuses on working muscles, connective tissue and the nervous system in a unique number of ways.  It favors anaerobic conditioning which shortens the training sessions.

It's owner, Frank DiMeo, a certified trainer, martial arts expert and former US paratrooper, incorporated kettlebells three years ago and was certified by Kettlebell Concepts in November of 2004. 

"The beauty of kettlebells is that it involves the whole body with every exercise. There's a lot of core stabilization,  a lot of flexion and extension,  a lot of rotation across various planes. It uses several different joints at one time, it's a very comprehensive way to work the entire body," said DiMeo. 

Kettlebells Are Ideal For Men and Women of All Ages
Because of its past success in military strength and endurance training, one may falsely assume this modality is dominated by young burly men. Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is truly an exercise for both sexes and all ages.  DiMeo offers kettlebells to his women as well as his men. "Most of my clients are female.  They're totally enthralled with kettlebell training, they trim down, but stay strong." 

La Palestra also prescribes kettlebells to a wide variety of clients.  "Our client demographic is diverse, ranging in age from 17 87. We have multiple bypass patients, pregnant women, [people with] back problems, professional athletes, amateur athletes in every sport and every level," said Manocchia. 

Kettlebells As A Personal Training Tool
Kettlebell training has been a boon to the personal trainer business model. It's a fresh idea that delivers quick observable results.  

Kettlebell training requires a minimal capital investment in equipment that can be safely used in a relatively small space or even transported in the trunk of a car. "For individual training, I only need an 8 ft. x 8 ft. square, and that's plenty of room.  For small groups, we'll actually disperse it into a circuit at different locations so people arent clustered in one spot," described DiMeo. 

KettleBell Concepts Provides Both Training And Kettlebell Equipment
KettleBell Concepts, based of out New York City, provides turnkey training and products. "We are in full-scale distribution of the kettlebells themselves -- our warehouse is fully stocked for immediate shipment ", said David Ganulin, founder and president of Kettlebell concepts. 

"We invested heavily in our particular design of Kettlebell.  To cater to all age bands and fitness levels, even kids and seniors, we provide kettlebells ranging from 4 kg. to 40 kg. Not all the weight is in the ball part, it's equally distributed between the handle and the bell part, which makes it better balanced, and just feels nicer and is less intimidating. In particular, we offer a neutral gray color so that it would be attractive to women, " Ganulin added.  

The KettleBell Concepts Training Process
KettleBell Concepts  provides three levels of CEC/U approved kettlebell instructor training anywhere on the globe.  Its popular Level One, "Introduction to Kettlebell Lifting", will  jumpstart a safe and effective kettlebell program in any gym or studio.  

Level One is a 2-day course offered to existing qualified fitness professionals. It teaches safe lifting techniques, as well as the specific biomechanical, neurological, and physiological principles of kettlebell training. 

"I found KettleBell Concepts and brought them in to train our instructors," said Mock,  "We recently trained 14 instructors across four of our greater Philadelphia health clubs.  It involved two intense days of mostly hands-on training." 

"We learned the fundamentals from the bottom up. The program is structured so personal trainers and group instructors can explain the muscles that are working, how they are working,  and why you would do one movement over another," she added, "To get started we took the level one basics which was still pretty hard.  There are still two more tiers to the program before you become a master instructor." 

DiMeo summed up his favorable dealings with KettleBell Concepts, " They have shown an extreme level of professionalism,  and offer a very good amount of fairness and accountability in the fitness industry, their line of kettlebells is exceptionally good for the money.  The instruction is very good I highly recommend them." 

About KettleBell Concepts
KettleBell Concepts, based in New York City, supplies both kettlebells and kettlebell instructor trainings to health clubs personal trainers and boot camps all over the world.  Its courses are CEC/U approved by the NASM, NSCA, ACE, AFAA, ISSA and other governing organizations.  

The company has trained over 500 instructors internationally. It has  instituted kettlebell training at Equinox health clubs, Spectrum health clubs, La Palestra Center for Preventative Medicine, Highland Park Hospital and many others.  For further information call (800) 876-6090 x711, email info@kettlebellconcepts.com, or visit www.KettleBellConcepts.com.