Have you heard of kettlebells? Those strange weighted, coloured balls with a handle that often sit in the corner of a gym?
Intrigued by kettlebells and always wanting to keep you up to date with the latest fitness trends, I decided to investigate further and I’m now able to offer a kettlebells class on a Tuesday morning in Sutton Courtenay and a home workout video club.
I took up the challenge of the kettlebells and I was hooked! The aim is to swing and lift the weights in different ways, along with lunges and squats to give a whole body workout. The major benefit of using kettlebells is to improve strength and flexibility.
The Gemma Pearce Fitness Kettlebell class is a ‘bring your own’ set up so you can choose the weight that suits you best. See below for my recommendations.
Kettlebells are known to give great results in a short amount of time, they’ve been around for a long time, originating in Russia in the 1700s.
In the class, we’ll work through a warm up and learn all the proper, safe techniques for lifting and swinging the kettlebells. We’ll mix up one-arm swings with shoulder presses and squats, using most of our major muscles in our bum, hamstrings, thighs, back, shoulders and arms. We’ll get out of puff as this is a great cardiovascular workout too! But it’s all done at your own level of difficulty and pace, you won’t be made to do anything that your body can’t manage. You'll also get a 10 minute workout sent to you so you can use your kettlebell at home between classes.
If you can't make the Tuesday morning class, why not join the Home Workout Club?
You'll get 1 x 10 min workout video per week sent to you via email and is ideal if you want to increase your exercise, but struggle for time and 100% want to strengthen, tone and burn calories. You'll be able to exercise whenever you want and as many times as you like to in the luxury of your own home, as an addition to your normal classes or if you cannot make a class that week. Find more information here.
Strength and balance as we get older
As I got stuck into the kettlebells workout, I thought more and more that it will be fantastic for older people who need to improve their strength, agility, balance and energy as they get older. In fact, it’s a great way to combat the old age ‘frailty’ that we face. We all lose muscle mass as we age so building the muscles up with kettlebells is one way to fight back.
The UK government has recommended that GPs prescribe weight-training for older people to help them maintain an active life, carrying on their everyday activities and walk further. In a series of studies, older people who did strengthening exercises, combined with aerobic exercise twice a week, and ate increased amounts of protein to help build muscle, saw the most benefits.
So if you feel up for a new challenge and think that you need a muscle boost to help you feel fitter, stronger and able to take on your daily routine with gusto, why not join us on a Tuesday morning at Sutton Courtenay Village Hall to pump some iron (in the nicest possible way!)
Visit www.gemmapearcefitness.co.uk/timetable for more details.
Kettlebell recommendations:
I suggest a 4kg or 6kg kettlebell - buy at Argos, Decathlon or use one of the links below.