3 Reasons Why You Don’t Need More Than 1 Kettlebell to Get Stronger

One of my favorite quotes ever is from the Chief instructor of StrongFirst’s kettlebell education department, Brett Jones:

“Lock me in a room with a 16 kg kettlebell. I will get stronger.”

This is coming from one of the pound-for-pound strongest guys you’ll ever meet. And it’s no BS either — Brett has truly mastered the art of strength training and all the nuances that go along with its successful attainment, including achieving insane grip feats like closing the Captains of Crush №3 gripper and bending the Iron Mind Red Nail. If those words mean nothing to you, look them up. They’re insanely hard.

Anyway, about 2 or 3 seconds ago in the headline I wrote you don’t need more than 1 kettlebell to get strong.

You don’t have to be that extreme since there are definitely benefits to owning a multitude of kettlebells and other equipment, but most people make the mistake of thinking that owning an entire caravan of bells and other equipment is their ticket to strength.

It’s not!

It certainly doesn’t hurt, but it’s no guarantee either.

Here are 3 reasons why sticking with only 1 kettlebell can be one of the best things you do for your strength.

#1: Builds a solid training base

The problem with the “just add weight” approach to strength training is that at some point, it doesn’t work anymore. Seriously. You can’t just keep adding weight indefinitely. If you could, we’d all be benching 2,000 lbs within a few years of training.

To coax your body to get stronger, you need to build what we might call a “training base” — a set of skills that includes more than just lifting heavy weight, but also being able to do more reps with the same weight, and more reps in less time, doing different variations with the weight we have, etc. This more than anything will set you up for more long term success than just your desire to add weight each time you work out.

#2: Forces you to stay focused

I’m a big believer in intelligent variety in training and learning how to get the most out of the least.

However, with that said, you’ll still get the majority of your strength and conditioning gains from the old school, no BS basics: movements that fit into the categories of upper body press, upper body pull, lower body press, lower body pull, and so on. If you’re maximizing these movements, even with just one kettlebell, you are sure to see major improvements in your strength (not to mention your endurance, muscularity, leanness, etc)

#3: Encourages the use of some of the best tactics kettlebells are known for

One of the greatest advantages to kettlebell training is the ability to seamlessly move from exercise to exercise, giving you a dynamite workout packed with strength gains.

One example is complexes and chains — both of which require you to do 2 or more exercises in a row. These were a favorite tactic of Romanian Olympic lifting coach Istvan Javorek as well as Vasily Alexeyev, the first man to overhead press 500 lbs.

You may not have Olympic-level ambitions, but the fact remains: single-kettlebell complexes and chains will pack strength on you faster than you can say “how much ya bench?”

As a final example, a US Special Forces Operator (who is active duty and thus must remain anonymous) has told of how his limited access to equipment (one 24 kg kettlebell, a pullup bar, some Indian clubs) has been very helpful in maintaining his strength and endurance. This is a guy who can do one-arm chin-ups with ease, close some of the heaviest hand grippers in the world, AND runs ultra-marathons in his free time. If that doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will!

Keep this in mind next time you think that one kettlebell you’ve got can’t possible take you where you need to go.

On that note, if you like training that:

• Gives you more strength than it takes from you
• Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously
• Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine

Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge.

As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts — NOT instead of them.

How?

By harnessing the power of your body’s gait pattern (i.e. walking pattern) to unleash the strength ALREADY hidden inside you — via movements like crawling, loaded carries, and more.

Even cooler:

Many find that it actually amplifies their strength in their favorite kettlebell and bodyweight moves, like presses, squats, pull-ups, and more.

And best of all, it’s free.

How free?

I’m talkin’ freer than the 4th of July, my friend.

Get thee thine own copy here => http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

Have fun and happy training!

Aleks Salkin