Kettlebells | Support Studies

Kettlebell Training in Madison Wisconsin.

Voropaoyev-demonstrated that the group that swung Kettlebells were 25 percent more effective in training for the standard military push up, pull up, one kilometer run, standing broad jump, and 100 meter run than those in the group that trained specifically for those events.

Given kettlebells' surge in popularity, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) decided to look into the science behind this workout trend.

The ACE Study

To analyze the energy cost and exercise intensity of kettlebell workouts, ACE enlisted the help of the research experts at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Exercise and Health Program. The team, led by John Porcari, Ph.D., and Chad Schnettler, M.S., recruited 10 volunteers, male and female, ages 29 to 46 years, all of whom were experienced in kettlebell training.

"They [kettlebell enthusiasts] make these all-encompassing claims about increasing your muscular strength, endurance and aerobic capacity with kettlebells, like, if you do this, that's all you need to do," says Porcari. "So we wanted to look and see how much of an aerobic workout you really do get and how many calories you really burn." During the 20-minute workout, the average calorie burn was 272 calories, not counting additional calorie burn due to the substantial anaerobic effort.

"We estimated oxygen consumption and how many calories they were burning aerobically, and it was 13.6 calories per minute. But we also measured the blood lactate, so anaerobically they were burning another 6.6 calories per minute," explains Porcari. "So they were burning at least 20.2 calories per minute, which is off the charts. That's equivalent to running a 6-minute mile pace. The only other thing I could find that burns that many calories is cross country skiing up hill at a fast pace."

Researchers credit the brisk calorie burning to the fact that the kettlebell snatch workout is a total-body movement that is also done very quickly due to the interval-training format. "We knew it would be extremely intense," says Schnettler. "It's a quick workout, and you do get a big bang for your buck in a very short amount of time."

The Bottom Line

Kettlebells can provide one heck of a workout. Based on comparisons with data from previous research on standard weight training, the HR and V-O2 responses during the kettlebell snatch routine suggest it provides a much higher-intensity workout than standard weight-training routines. Furthermore, the kettlebell snatch workout easily meets industry recommendations for improving aerobic capacity. "This is good news for people who are looking for a very good resistance-training workout that will also help them lose weight," says Schnettler. "For people who might not have a lot of time, and need to get in a good workout as quickly as possible, kettlebells definitely provide that."

This is equal to 1200 calories per hour and this is not including the afterburn!