Kettlebells: Not Just For Olympians

Great Results In A Short Time

(CBS)  Early Show Fitness Contributor Minna Lessig visits an Equinox gym in New York City where their newest fitness class is reintroducing a-centuries-old exercise device. The kettlebell. The following is her report.

It was in Eastern Europe where kettlebells first earned the reputation as a tough training tool for both Olympians and soldiers alike, reports Early Show fitness contributor Minna Lessig.

And now they're available for everyone willing to get back to basics with their workouts.

"You're getting cardiovascular, you're getting strength training, and you're getting a tremendous amount of calorie burning involved," says fitness trainer David Ganulin of an Equinox gym in New York City.

He believes the benefits come fast, but learning to do kettlebell exercises properly is key.

"Not everyone can pick up a kettlebell or should pick up a kettlebell and just start swinging it around. You'll get hurt. It's like learning how to do a valuable movement like a squat or a bench press. It's so good for you, but you have to know what you're doing," he says.

Kettlebells are measured in poods, an old Russian unit of measuring equal to about 36 pounds. A typical kettlebell weighs one and a half poods or 52 pounds. There are female-friendly 18-pound ones, which also are great for beginners.

The difference between using a kettlebell and lifting dumbbells is momentum, says Adam Cronin, a trainer at Equinox gym.

“Dumbbells don't do that. In real life, we pick up bags, we pick up babies, we pick up things, and we're always moving things around. Doors, swinging doors, they all have momentum. So dumbbells and machines don't generally offer that. So this is kind of awkward and teaches the body to deal with those kinds of things," he explains.

On Tuesday, Cronin shows you a few exercises you can try right at home. The following is the routine:

Double Arm Swing – "Just make sure your feet stay flat and your back stays arched. Bring it down between your legs and just start swinging it. You can start at your shoulder height and then bring it way up. You get a lot more momentum then. And you can switch to a single arm, a little bit harder. You can switch arms."

The Clean - "Progressing from the one-armed swing, we can go to the clean. Where you swing it out and bring it up to the body," says Cronin. You work your entire body. "Right to your fingertips. So with a single arm swing, you shrug and bring it in tight. Then you throw it back out," he says.

The Russian Twist – This exercise really works your abs. “You can start with the kettlebell in the palm, feet on the ground and you can start twisting from side to side with an arch in your back. To make it a little more difficult, pick your feet up off the ground and swing it back and forth and you can really give yourself some momentum by holding it by the handle," Cronin explains.

"Try something new. When people come down here and they try these things and they swing the weight around a little bit, the calories are burned really quickly. They feel it in their legs, their butt, their thighs. And they walk around saying 'Oh wow! That's great!' And it was 10 minutes," Ganulin says.