Kettlebells For BJJ

My diet has been going well...I have shown myself real willpower to lose weight and it is working...

Time to ramp up the intensity with some exercise (supplemental to jiu jitsu training of course!)... which meant hitting the weights. I had bought a few kettlebells a year or two ago with the intention of using them, but just never really got them into my routine. They had turned into very heavy door stops.
 

The pink one is Jesslyn's....wise ass!

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First, a little KB history...

Kettlebell history is a controversial subject. Seems that nobody REALLY knows how and why they came into such prominence in Russia. They best explanation I have ever read is that during a time when cannon production was at it's peak in Russia, there was no standard size cannonball. Since each cannon fired a slightly different sized cannonball, it became impossible to have a constant supply of ammo in each size for each cannon. This posed an incredible problem for the Russian military, who quickly standardize the bore of each cannon (and therefore size of it's ammo).

Since the cannonball was produced in a standard size and was plentiful, it was not long before it was being used as the defacto standard for weights in trade. One cannonball or pood was 35-ish pounds, and could be used to measure out potatoes, or flour, or whatever else was for sale at the market.

Working day-in-day-out with a large round weight was cumbersome. I can only imagine that there were a few broken toes from a cannonball that slipped out of a vendors hand. Somewhere along the line there was an idea to graft a handle onto the weight to make handling easier, and the "modern" kettlebell was born.

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Kettlebells build muscle (and strength) in a different way than other weights. Because of the dynamic, off-centered, approach to controlling the weight, it promotes full body movement and exercise. A "functional" strength.

I like the idea of having functional strength. I have spent some time a few years ago hitting the machines in the gym. I wasn't very impressed with the how it built strength in very narrow plains of movement. I could bench press a decent with my arms at 90 degrees, but change that angle and I was as weak as a kitten. My body was starting to look great, but had little real strength.


for the past 3 weeks (on my Jiu Jitsu "off" days), I go through a 25 minute workout with my 'bells. It has been paying off tremendously physically and mentally. I feel "tighter" and with improved strength, my "upa" is more explosive, and my cardio has increased.

I have been surfing YouTube for a few cool videos of training with kettlebells for BJJ. Turns out there are hundreds of different videos (though most go over the same techniques or slight variations)

Here are some of my favorites:

I personally love the shrimp move with the KB @ the 0:50 second mark

 

This video is great for the explanation of what each KB exercise is and how it translates to Jiu Jitsu 

Great instruction for my most feared KB exercise... the Turkish "Get Up"

Based on the results I am seeing in this short time I have been using them...I can see these kettlebells being in my life for while...

Mike