Vires Fitness signature tool, but just what are kettlebells? How do they differ from conventional weights? And why is something so basic so good?

A kettlebell's centre of mass is offset from the handle, which means the weight rotates around, and constantly pulls against your hand. They therefore require not only strength and co-ordination, but also the use of the other muscles through your arms,shoulders and your core stabiliser muscles. Kettlebells are a fantastic tool to work both the aerobic system and develop strength, endurance and conditioning all at once. An intensive 1 hour kettlebell workout can burn up to 1400 calories, and use over 600 muscles.

Kettlebells are not new, they have been used as a training system by the Russian army for years, but have more recently been utilized by athletes and mixed martial artists as a tool of choice, and have been given the celebrity thumbs up as a workout tool by the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Matthew McConaughey, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Aniston and Geri Halliwell. Top football clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool have also begun using these fitness tools within their training programmes, and even 5 time world strongest man Mariusz Pudzianowskihas sworn by them.