They take up very little room
You can leave two or three kettlebells in the trunk of you car and pull them out whenever you want. If you cannot get to the gym for a workout in your lunch break then use the kettlebells in the trunk of your car.
Compound movements
Kettlebells are such effective pieces of training equipment because they don’t isolate one muscle group (like machine weights) but target various muscle groups at once. When you are fighting you are constantly working your whole body therefore it is Important to train your whole body.
Functional Strength
Kettlebell develop fantastic functional strength. Functional strength simply means being strong in a functional way. For example there is no point being able to bench press 300 pounds if you cannot escape side control.
Have you ever fought someone who can barely bench press 60lbs but when you fight them they are as strong as an Ox. That’s functional strength. Put simply – its being strong when it matters most.
Targets stabilizer muscles
One reason why kettlebells get you so strong is because they strengthen all of your stabilizer muscles as well as the main muscle groups. This is due to the fact that the kettlebell is an uneven weight. Therefore you have to work extra hard to push, pull and control it.
Heart rate skyrockets
As soon as you use kettlebells as part of a workout you soon realize how quickly your heart rate can sky rocket. This is because the kettlebell targets the whole body, giving you a complete workout that will test your strength endurance.
Strengthens your glutes
The Kettlebells signature technique “the Swing” targets your glutes, which is an area of the body that is neglected by most athletes and trainers. The Kettlebell Swing strengthens the glutes which will develop a lot more power in the lower body and hips which will assist in having a stronger sprawl and kicking power.
Full body movements
Each exercise targets more than half your body. Whether you are performing a swing, squat pull or overhead press you will always be using more than one muscle group. This is perfect for MMA fighter because you are constantly using more than one muscle when fighting.
Grip strength
Due to the thick grip on the kettlebell you will develop strong grip strength whether you like it or not. Gripping the handle for a session will have your forearms screaming.
Unilateral training
Is simply training one side at a time opposed to both at the same time. For example the beauty with kettlebells is that you can train one hand at a time. This will force your core to activate and stabilize harder because you are now unbalanced. You can do this with exercises such as Clean and presses, Overhead presses and Turkish get ups.
Increased fat loss
Whether you are using Kettlebells or not, working out a higher intensity will burn more calories during exercise. Great for people who want to lose weight and tone up.
Increase strength
Within the first 3 weeks of starting kettlebell training you will find that your strength will increase rather quickly and soon plateau. This is a normal response to starting an exercise program. Increase strength will definitely help your Judo game due to the fact that Judo is such a physical sport.
Increased flexibility
Many individuals find that when they start a new program they become more flexible. This is due to two things. The first is that performing exercises properly will improve your muscles full range of movement. The other reason why flexibility improves is because after every strength session I encourage you to stretch for roughly 10-20 minutes. This is more than most people do in a week. As mentioned previously flexibility is vital for evading techniques as well as fulfilling a greater sweeping action with throws such as Uchimata and Osoto Gari.
Increased metabolism
Your metabolism is how much energy your body is using while at rest. Your muscles need more energy to function than fat does. Therefore the more muscle you have the more energy you are burning while sitting at your desk at work.
Increased speed, power and endurance
By completing a kettlebell program – depending on its aim you can begin to develop speed, power and endurance. MMA is an sport that needs a variety of physical attributes. By doing a gym program you can build the attributes you may need in order to become a more complete Judoka.
Bone strength
Participating in a gym program will assist in strengthening your bones. The bones in the human body use the shock and exercise you do, to grow stronger.
When a bone is weakened from various types of exercise it produces small molecules called Osteo-blasts. These Osteo-blasts travel to where the bone is weak and strengthens it. This is good news for athletes in a contact sport because bones such as your ribcage are used to protect vital organs such as your heart and lungs.
Injury prevention and joint stability
Due to the fact that weight training strengthens your muscles and tendons this is good news for your joints. Having strong and stables muscles is a great way to avoid injury and perform Judo to the best of your ability.
Improved co-ordination and balance
While completing exercise you must be in tune with your body. You must simultaneously know where you feet are as well as what your hands are doing. During strength training you will be using your brain to co-ordinate movement of various aspects of your body. This in turn will improve your balance as you will become more familiar with your body.
Improved posture
People who spend all their time in front of a computer tend to have stronger chest and shoulder muscles and rather weak muscles in the upper back. This muscular imbalance results in certain individuals having a slightly bent over posture. In order to improve posture we must have a balanced body. Performing a gym program will assist in improving your posture by strengthening the muscles that need strengthening and loosening the muscles that need loosening. This will greatly assist in injury prevention as well as give you a nice upright posture.
Make you feel better
After a few weeks of strength training you will feel better. You will not only feel stronger, but you will have more energy than prior to training.
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