The American Council on Exercise just named kettlebells as one of the top fitness trends of the year, and for good reason!

With kettlebells, it’s easy to get cardio without the boring use of cardio equipment, they provide functional strength without the monotony of isolated movements, they are fun and provide varied workouts, flexibility, and more muscle involvement, thus equaling greater fat loss and muscle toning!

One note on kettlebells, however, is that due to the increased use of stabilizing muscles, lower weights will have to be used initially, when doing similiar exercises with dumbbells.

Kettlebells originated in Russia in the early 1700′s and were brought to the United States by a man named Pavel Tsatsouline.

When training clients, I make it a point to show them the difference in doing an exercise with a kettlebell, as opposed to a dumbbell, because unless the form is correct, the benefits of kettlebells are diminished with inproper form.

Only time will tell, but it looks like kettlebells are hear to stay, what with all of their wonderful benefits to helping us get in great shape and staying healthy!