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528 Chama, N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87108 http://www.cbass.com |
From The Desk Of Clarence Bass
By Clarence and Carol Bass
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Kettlebell Training For Seniors
Photo of Clarence by Laszlo The April 2025 ARTHRITIS ADVISOR tells us that kettlebell training can help older adults maintain strength. While we agree with this, see my caution below. Adults between the ages of 60-80 who had no prior exposure to resistance exercise underwent kettlebells instruction twice a week for one year with testing at six months and twelve months. They showed improvements in subsequent testing. This study presented at the 2024 Integrative Physiology of Exercise conference showed that kettlebell training improved muscle mass, grip strength, upper leg strength, reduced the time to climb a flight of stairs, and improved standing from a sitting position in a chair. Kettlebells may also decrease whole body inflammation as shown by blood marker testing. * * * As you may remember, I wrote in 2001 that Kettlebells Are a Blast--If You're Careful. My experience suggests that KB training may not be the best place to be introduced to strength training - unless you have instructors, especially for an older exerciser. Once mastered, however, KB training can be a wonderful way to increase and maintain strength. If you are interested in pursuing kettlebells, I suggest that you start by reading my article: https://cbass.com/KB Blast.htm which shows that it takes some practice to master kettlebell training. Our friend Pavel Tsatsouline popularized kettlebell training in this country. You can read all about it in his books: The Russian Kettlebell Challenge (2004), Enter The Kettlebell (2006), and Return of the Kettlebell (2009). The books are still available on Kindle, but several of his more recent books such as Kettlebell, Simple and Sinister are offered by Pavel's company StrongFirst, Inc. https://apparel.strongfirst.com/strongfirst/books or on Amazon. Pavel's product line offers kettlebells (8 kg to 48 kg - 17+ to 105+ lbs): https://www.strongfirst.com/shop/kettlebells/strongfirst-kettlebell/ ) . It is estimated that 15.6 million people now use kettlebells for training. The advantages as a training method are that not much equipment is needed and training can be done at home. Today there are companies that offer adjustable kettlebells, kettlebells in colors to denote weight, while others focus on the kettlebell design offering unique kettlebells such as ape/monkey, zombie, skull, and zoobells (animals), etc. One of the latest TikTok fitness challenges was doing 100 kettlebell swings every day for 30 days. While this may be an interesting experiment for an advanced trainer already familiar with kettlebells, this is not advisable for most people. Remember, sudden jumps in intensity or volume are likely to result in injury. This is one of Pavel's first books, which you'll find in my home office.
May 1, 2025 Comment on this article: FEEDBACK Ripped Enterprises, P.O. Box 51236, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87181-1236 Home | Products Index | Ripped Bks | Lean Adv. Bks | Lean For Life | Recommended Bks | |Consultations | Tapes | To Order | Feedback] Copyright © 2025 Clarence and Carol Bass. All rights reserved. |
