yes, Tdog. this IS training int he 21st century.. http://www.olympicfitnessclub.com/images/pullover.jpg
For some exercises, it would appear so-but it would be tough to "swing" a dumbell, i gather the idea is the respective "lack" of balance, the pendulum aspect, promotes more "core" strength or something. The vids on this site are great! http://www.artofstrength.com/Videos/KettlebellTraining/tabid/178/Default.aspx
You know i was joking 'bout the roid-ragin bit, right atticus? Yeah, gotta do something, these things look the goods....id have to train up to just lifting the damn things at this point. Working on a colour scheme at the moment, the bells on "Art of Strength" look funky. Im supposed to be working on some tattoo designs at the moment, maybe i can test some ideas on the bells.
I'm just a weekend warrior, so I don't really buy into all of that. As someone who doesn't want to live in a gym, I prefer to focus on the most efficient exercises to stay in shape and look good. Those would be the basic exercises as compared to the isolation variety. I do very few isolation exercises in my entire routine. I think that the fancy stuff is largely an inefficient use of time and energy for most people who work out less than about 5 hours a week with weights, and only do so to stay in shape and look good. Basic exercises are the "core." In the main, I believe that isolation work is more "finishing touch" stuff for people who are already in very good shape. I'm convinced that the more exotic the exercise looks, the less useful it is for general purposes. For example, I regularly see either flabby-muscled or skinny people do a lot of isolation exercises. That's like building a car and focusing on the air conditioning before you even have the chassis in proper basic form. Cart before the horse stuff. As for "swinging," I associate that with cheating. Unless you are looking to hone a specific technique that you may need for a specific sport or competition, I don't think that swinging with weights adds much in the way of value. (Again, I'm just a weekend warrior.) As with trading, I think the basic stuff is key. The fancy stuff is usually advocated by people selling videos, books or programs, or those who want you to use expensive equipment for one reason or another. Vendors are everywhere, eh?
Another BS workout fad. Definitely try before you buy. You can get kettlebells from Dick's Sporting Goods. I'm returning mine.
Heck, im not even a weekend warrior. There is nothing ive seen so far that isnt basic, core, do at home exercise, certainly nothing that isolates with a kettlebell over traditional barbell sets etc? A sandbag, a couple of ropes, and a kettlebell, it doesnt sound fancy to me! I can see why fighters use them, put it that way. I have a problem right between the shoulder blades, where two vertabrae were rubbing together-so most traditional stuff, bench press, overheads, bent over rows, i cant do, and a dodgy knee, so to me, these things look like a very interesting alternative.
By "basic" exercises for weight training, I mean bench press for pecs, (weighted) dips for lower pecs and triceps, (weighted) chins for lats, presses for shoulders, squats for upper legs, deadlifts and so on. The basic exercise addresses one muscle group principally and other muscle groups tangentially but meaningfully. Most people (like me) should probably just stick to this core "meat-and-potatoes" stuff for the most part, assuming reasonably good health.
But-but-thats what i thought you meant from your previous post, now im even more confused!! Kettlebell stuff is far less isolationist than even that, by my reckoning, sure the changing hands etc is just plain dangerous and "fancy" in my opinion. I should mention, i dont have sound on my pc, so maybe the guy in the vids was talking about isolation, but its just not true-theres nothing about any KB exercise that doesnt work tangentially, across all body parts. I understand what you mean by "basic" now, but by that reckoning, KB's would be even more basic, which is why im confused. Not trying to pick a fight here, im just saying, hoo-ee, the injuries ive had from the basic lifts you mention (especially dips) make me wonder why i would consider any exercise at all, and if any, what, so there are no KB converts here, aint preachin 'nuttin. I used to do bo staff routines with a crowbar, (slowly), that kind of stuff, all i can say is that that sort of work made me stronger, and standard lifts, apart from high rep low weight squats, didnt really-because i was injured most of the time from trying, i mentioned the injuries. Thanks for your input, i know what you mean now, I guess now i have to step up to the plate and actually use the damn things somehow, see if they arent just a fad, and can actaually condition a lardass couch potato without injury. For the record, pavel's "enter the kettlebell" dvd is great, its a shame they went for the constant "comrade" gimmick, but it is really solid stuff, i cant help but recommend it, its actually quite good.