Kettlebells are the bees’ knees when it comes to toning and fat burning, according to exercise physiologist Richard Garard.
“It has a good fat-burning effect because your heart rate’s up, and because of the fact that you’re using your whole body in all those movements, and your core has to be really strong throughout, with the right technique,” he says.
Technique is the key word. Without proper instruction from a trainer who has undertaken specialised kettlebell training, these things can be dangerous – especially at the weights Garard recommends.
“Kettlebells can be used in four-kilo increments, so a woman might be swinging 12 to 16 kilograms, but they can do that with a high volume of repetition so they might do 20 or 30 reps,” he says.
Once you’ve got your technique right, Garard recommends integrating your kettles into your HIIT cardio: “Use them in eight 20-second intervals and see how many swings you can do in each round,” he says. Here’s betting you’ll be stuffed by round five or six.
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