Kettlebells: A Brief Explanation of the Sport

First used to train Olympians and Eastern European strongmen, kettlebells (weighted balls with handles) can be traced as far back as the 1800s.  Kettlebell lifting methods were designed to increase strength, stamina, and coordination by challenging our muscular, cardiovascular and central nervous systems simultaneously.  They have proven throughout history to be a powerful training tool involving ballistic multi-joint movements requiring full body integration.  This specialized form of weightlifting expands our strength-endurance capacity under a submaximal load over time and requires athletes to work under tremendous stress while remaining calm in order to focus on technical precision, breath control, and energy conservation.  Spectators marvel at the sense of relaxation elite kettlebell lifters display while accomplishing seemingly supernatural feats of strength.

Kettlebell Sport (or Girevoy Sport as it is called in Eastern Europe) is an organized weightlifting contest that emerged in the USSR over 60 years ago out of the original methodologies pioneered by elite Russian kettlebell lifters.  In competition today, men use kettlebells weighing between 24kg – 32kgs for the Biathlon and Long Cycle Clean & Jerk while women use a single kettlebell weighing between 12 – 24 kgs.

Up until recently, women were only allowed to participate in the Snatch event (swinging, extending, and locking the bell overhead) due to fear that the rack position (resting the bell on the hip, chest and forearm) would damage breast tissue.  However, as female participation increased in recent years, many female kettlebell lifters began to dismantle the myth in training.  Once the World Kettlebell Club set a critical precedence in 2007, women were allowed to compete in both of the traditional events.  Winners are determined by the highest number of repetitions executed overhead without the setting the bell(s) down within ten minutes.

KB Sport Divisions:

• Biathlon: Jerk & Snatch

• Long Cycle: Clean & Jerk

Here’s a video of the female junior snatch competition at the 2009 IUKL Ventspils Atlants: