Dumbbell training can be greatly improved by applying the kettlebell program design. Dumbbells are one of the most effective pieces of equipment in your fitness training toolbox. Unfortunately, most men and women don’t use dumbbells to their full potential and miss out on the true benefits of building muscle, burning fat, and improving fitness. Ironically, the rise in popularity of kettlebell training has provided the means to resurrect the dumbbell exercise.
For those of you who don’t know, a kettlebell is basically a cast iron ball with a handle. They have been used by Russians and strongmen around the world for centuries for effective physical training. There is no doubt in my mind, this barbaric tool is brutally effective.
But, the biggest contribution of kettlebell training isn’t your form. You see, kettlebells are not adjustable. They are a solid mass of variable weight. (Obviously you can get kettlebells in different weights, but the workout can be done with one kettlebell and one weight.) This seems to go against popular exercise programs that change the weights based on the muscle group they are training.
So can you really get a great workout with just one weight? Absolutely!
Using just one weight, kettlebell trainees are forced to use their imagination and ingenuity to create training programs to improve the entire body. (This is similar to the challenge faced by bodyweight calisthenics, where your body weight stays the same.) And the results are spectacular. Using just a weight and a kettlebell, you CAN simultaneously improve overall fitness, build a strong, athletic body, and burn unsightly, unwanted fat.
But as much as I love kettlebell training, I’m here today to talk about how to improve your dumbbell training. The fact is, most people don’t have access to kettlebells, but they DO have access to free weights. So why not use the effective training methods designed for dumbbell kettlebells?
You see, the effectiveness of kettlebell training proves the common belief that you need a room full of equipment and a host of different weights to create your best performing body. So, using the same dumbbell kettlebell training methods, you can get a great full-body workout that improves muscle strength, power, and endurance while SIMULTANEOUSLY increasing cardiorespiratory endurance and burning massive amounts of fat.
So this is what I suggest.
Stop thinking of your body as a combination of specific muscles. This is what bodybuilders do. They divide the body into different muscles and try to target the muscles for maximum muscle growth. But I want you to start thinking about the body as a whole. And to train the body as a whole you need to use compound exercises that use as many muscles as possible to complete the exercise.
You see, fitness has nothing to do with muscle size. Fitness is a combination of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, power, flexibility, speed, coordination, agility, balance, precision, and toughness. And using just one dumbbell, one weight, you can target all of these physical skills and create a performance body that not only performs great, but looks great too!
The effectiveness of kettlebell training is a mind-opening experience. The “traditional” methods of using different weights to target different muscles are discarded. Applied to dumbbells, the kettlebell program design builds fit, lean, strong, and athletic bodies.
Isn’t it time you got the most out of your dumbbell training by applying the kettlebell program layout?
