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Ergo-Log

08.08.2010


Kettlebell training burns 20 kcal a minute

If you combine interval and kettlebell training you can burn 20 kcal per minute. Sports scientists John Porcari and Chad Schnettler, both working at the University of Wisconsin, managed to devise a 20-minute training session that achieved this: their test subjects burned an amazing 400 kcal.

Kettlebell training burns 20 kcal a minute

Kettlebell training burns 20 kcal a minute

Kettlebell training burns 20 kcal a minute
Kettlebell training has become popular outside Russia thanks to the power sports guru and innovator Pavel Tsatsouline. Tsatsouline used kettlebells to train Russian soldiers. The classical training form became popular in the West because it fits perfectly in the popular CrossFit trend. Instructors quickly discovered that you can combine cardio and strength training by working with kettlebells, making it possible to devise rapid but effective workouts.

The training consisted of 15 seconds doing an x number of one-armed snatches with the right hand. [The photos show how this is done.] Then the subjects rested for 15 seconds, followed by another 15 seconds of snatches, this time with the left hand. This alternating pattern of 15 seconds exercise and 15 seconds rest was continued for 20 minutes.

The researchers calculated the x number of reps for each test subject beforehand. They did this by getting the subjects to do as many snatches as they could in one minute and then dividing that by 4. So if a subject did 20 snatches, they had to do 5 during the training session.

The subjects could choose out of kettlebells weighing 12, 16 or 20 kg.

This kind of training is heavy going on the heart muscle. There’s another study on the effect of kettlebell training that shows this. [J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Apr; 24(4): 1034-6.]


Kettlebell training burns 20 kcal a minute


By measuring the subjects' oxygen use, the researchers calculated that they burned 13.6 kcal per minute during the workout.


Kettlebell training burns 20 kcal a minute


"We also measured the blood lactate, so anaerobically they were burning another 6.6 calories per minute", Porcari explains. "So they were burning at least 20.2 calories per minute, which is off the charts. That's equivalent to running a 6-minute mile pace. The only other thing I could find that burns that many calories is crosscountry skiing up hill at a fast pace."

Source:
ACE FitnessMatters January/February 2010 6-16.

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Strength athletes who train with heavy weights get ripped 07.05.2010
Strength training with supersets burns an extra eighteen kcal 13.04.2010
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