Albert Suckow
Southeast Georgia's Only RKC-Certified
Kettlebell Instructor

The elite of the US military and law enforcement instantly recognized the power of the Russian kettlebell, ruggedly simple and deadly effective as an AK-47. You can find Pavel's certified RKC instructors among Force Recon Marines, Department of Energy nuclear security teams, the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, the Secret Service Counter Assault Team, etc.

Once the Russian kettlebell became a hit among those whose life depends on their strength and conditioning, it took off among hard people from all walks of life: martial artists, athletes, and regular hard comrades.

Voropayev (1983) observed two groups of subjects over a period of a few years and tested them with a standard battery of armed forces PT tests: pull-ups, a standing broad jump, a 100m sprint, and a 1k run. The control group followed a typical university physical education program that emphasized the above. The experimental group just lifted kettlebells. In spite of the lack of practice on the tested exercises, the kettlebell group showed better scored in every one of them!

Russian kettlebells are not for Kens and Barbies who want to look like 'a collection of body parts.' K-bells forge doers' physiques along the lines of antique statues: broad shoulders with just a hint of pecs, back muscles standing out in bold relief, wiry arms, rugged forearms, a cut midsection, and strong legs without a hint of squat-induced chafing. Kettlebells melt the fat without the dishonor of aerobics: losing 1% of body fat a week for weeks is not uncommon. If you are overweight, you will lean out. If you are skinny, you will get built up.

• The kettlebell is the ultimate in conditioning the body for extreme decelerations... “You cannot swing a barbell between your legs.”
• The dynamic loading sets up the hip muscles for a powerful contraction. The kettlebell is the definitive tool for developing the hip thrust, the power generator in all athletics. Be it a jump, a pick, or a punch, when expertly performed, it comes from the hip.

• The kettlebell will make your back resilient. Unique Russian exercises condition your back from every conceivable angle, statically and dynamically.
• The kettlebell's offset center of gravity maximizes shoulder strength, flexibility, and health. Most Russians have never heard of “rotator cuffs.” Save for combat wounds, shoulder injuries are virtually unheard of in the Russian armed forces. They train and test their personnel with repetition kettlebell one-arm snatches with a 53 lb. kettlebell rather than pushups.
• The kettlebell is an outstanding grip, wrist, and forearm developer. A thick and smooth handle combined with the ballistic nature of many exercises loads the grip like rock climbing. Bottom-up cleans and similar leverage drills unique to kettlebells take care of the wrists.
• The position of the handle allows for dynamic passing of the kettlebell from hand to hand for a great variety of powerful juggling type exercises strongly endorsed by the Russian Federation State Committee on Physical Culture. These drills develop dynamic strength and injury-proof the body in many planes unlike conventional linear exercise.

In Soviet times weightlifting legends such as Vlasov, Zhabotinskiy, and Alexeyev, started their Olympic careers with kettlebells. Yuri Vlasov who defeated might Paul Anderson once interrupted an interview he was giving to a Western journalist and proceeded to press a pair of kettlebells. “A Wonderful exercise,” commented the world champion lifter. “...It is hard to find an exercise better suited for developing strength and flexibility simultaneously.”

Only 8.8% of top Russian gireviks, members of the Russian National Team and regional teams, reported injuries in training or competition (Voropayev, 1997). A remarkably low number, isn't it? Note that these were not regular guys but elite athletes who push their bodies to the edge. Which does not give you an excuse to lift kettlebells flippantly; any type of strength training can be dangerous if you use bad judgment. As for the age, at the 1995 Russian Championship the youngest contestant was 16, the oldest 53! And we are talking elite competition here: the range is even wider if you are training for yourself rather than for the gold.

Surviving the Challenge of the RKC: Mike Robertson

“I've competed in powerlifts and done a lot of crazy things in sports and competing, but this was the most brutal 3 days I have ever experienced. It was challenging to say the least. You'd better be prepared going in,” he advises.