The Reality Of The Kettlebell.

In this introductory article to kettlebell training, I'll be discussing some of the pros and cons of this training tool. I will look at the realistic benefits one can gain from training with it and also some of the limitations involved in it as well as some of the dangers.
To begin, many people ask me if kettllebell training is effective for gaining muscle mass and strength. To answer this as completely as possible I'll need to begin by saying that barbells and powerlifting style workouts are the best way to gain muscle mass, increase power and strength. With that being said, the next important point to make clear is that kettlebells are excellent training tools for gaining mass and functional strength, however they should not be your first choice if that is your only goal and you want to do it as fast as possible, I would go the powerlifting route in that case, or at the very least consider cross-training.
If however, you want the versatility and freedom to train whenever and wherever you like, then kettlebells might be a better fit. If your goal in training with them though is to gain mass and strength then you'll want to invest in two kettlebells of the same weight as training with two kettlebells is necessary for stimulating bigger gains, more weight = more gains. Simply put by doubling the kettlebells you are putting your body under double the stress.
They true beauty of kettlebell training is in the verstility of the training tool. Kettlebells can be trained at home, outside and pretty much anywhere. You don't need extra equipment like a bench or a gym to take full advantage of them, and training with them will develop flexibility, endurance as well as strength.
One of the biggest limitations of kettlebell training is the difficulty in increasing resistance. Because it's almost impossible and impractical to add weight to a kettlebell, (you can add magnetic weights in increments of two and half to five pounds) but this is tricky and doesn't work well with all exercises especially swinging and explosive movements. It's also very expensive to buy multiple kettlebells and most people will own, 2-6 kettlebells to maintain gains from training with them. More than this would provide increasing resistance but as stated would be very costly. My personal kettlebells are one fifty-five pounder, two seventy-two pounders and two one hundred-five pounders. This allows for very strenuous workouts. The lack of incremental weight is compensated for by adjusting the time under tension and other variables involved in increasing the resistance involved.
One of the biggest dangers that everyone training with kettlebells should be aware of is that because many of the movements are explosive and involve lifting the kettlebells overhead, caution needs to be taken in making sure that the kettlebells are always under your control and this takes practice before getting used to it enough to perform the exercises with heavy weight in a safe and secure manner.