Kettlebell Sport and Youth Athletics

Growing up in the United States of America, team sports are the primary mode of exercise for many young individuals. I participated in ice hockey and lacrosse from elementary school all the way through college. Both of these sports, as do many others, require an individual to possess strength and stamina over the duration of the contest. Unlike classic endurance sports such as running, jogging and swimming, these team sports also require an explosive power component and some high-level strength. A limiting factor for many individuals in team sports is their ability to recover from one bout of high intensity activity to the next, over the course of the contest.

In 2006, I discovered kettlebells and the unique training methodology taught by Valery Fedorenko. Using timed kettlebell sets in my training I discovered I was able to recover from bouts of high intensity team sport play quicker than ever before. I also was performing at a higher work threshold. As an additional benefit, my mental capacity to stay focused on the task at hand also increased. As a strength coach for team sport athletes, I wanted to see if they experienced the same results I did.

I work with youth athletes in basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse and swimming. I continue to have my athletes train with methodologies borrowed from powerlifting and weightlifting, but I integrate the kettlebell into their workouts with the classic lifts of swings, snatch and long-cycle (clean + jerk) repetitions. The purpose of the kettlebell training is to increase the athletes work capacity without the muscular strength losses that can occur with traditional cardiovascular exercise.

Through integration I found that swings and snatches can be effectively performed at the conclusion of the other forms of lifting. 2-arm jerks however, need to be performed before traditional training of the upper body. Traditional training with non-ballistic exercises produce a ‘pumped’ effect in the muscles, creating a situation that limits the mobility needed to properly perform the 2-arm jerk. I utilize timed sets in the 4-8 minute range with repetitions per minute ranging from 4-20 depending on the exercise and weight.

Subjectively, all athletes gained mental focus along with total body strength. Objectively, my swimmers posted times in the water faster then before, breaking school records in the process. I have a football player that has dropped 10 lbs. of body fat while being able to increase his hang clean from 110kg to 130kg over a 4 week period.

Overall, I feel that kettlebells can and should be utilized by all athletes in their training. As trainers we need to stay focused on the athlete’s individual needs and goals, but also recognize the broad spectrum of fitness, both physical and mental, that kettlebell training has to offer.