TrainerTiff: Are You Ready for Some Kettleball?

If you're getting tired of your usual workout, sometimes all you need is a new toy.

So, maybe next time you're feeling bored in the gym, you can look for those little iron balls with handles. (You know, the things that look more like they belong in an 18th century tool box than in a modern health club.) They're called kettleballs.


If you're unfamiliar with kettleballs, they're great for resistance training and can be used in place of a lot of dumbbell exercises.

What I like about most about them is that you work your total body while doing most exercises, which makes them efficient calorie burners. For example, a kettleball version of an overhead press engages more muscle groups than, say, a machine overhead press. So while those two exercises probably yield similar muscle-toning or muscle-building benefits, the kettleball version is going to be a better short-term fat-burner.

Check out this link for some exercise demonstrations.

Tips for using a kettleball for the first time:

• Ask a trainer for help.
• Start with a light weight until you get comfortable with the movements.
• Remember, this is a more advanced thing. Kettleballs aren't really for beginners. Newbies should stick to the basics: dumbbells, barbells, machine weights and cardio.

So if you're hitting a sticking-point -- either in motivation or results. Trade one of your usual weight training days for an all kettleball workout. This slight change in your program should help keep things interesting. No one likes a boring workout.

Tiffiany Moore is a certified personal trainer and NANBF figure competitor. Read more at www.trainertiff.com. Questions or comments? E-mail trainertiff@hotmail.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/trainertiff.