Do you use Kettlebells with your clients even though you are not “KB” certified?
I want to train my PT clients with Kettlebells but I’m not KB certified. In the past – I would tell them not to train with instructors who have not been properly KB certified/trained. But now I feel like I’ve limited myself from using a major (main stream) piece of fitness equipment. I know there is a fine line in KB trained instructors. I see so many teaching the swings in an unsafe way. Am I being over cautious?
Hello Patty,
I do not train my clients with kettlebells. I also see other trainers use questionable form with kettlebells not to mention free weights too. I personally find kettlebells too invasive with the shoulder therefore, I use alternative movements and exercises that are just as effective with safety in mind.
Sincerely,
Michael
I don’t believe anyone should train another person with any piece of equipment without understanding how to properly use that equipment themselves. Kettlebells are great to train with (and have been since WAY before they became mainstream). I understand your concern, having seen instructors use/teach these with bad form myself. If you can perform KB exercises with proper technique (if you can tell when others aren’t, you probably are) then you shouldn’t have any problems incorporating their use into your clients routines. I am not certified and my clients regularly use them. I’ve attended a few KB classes with respectable instructors in the past but, they really aren’t so complicated that you need a certification to show the basics. If you want to utilize some of the more advanced techniques then I would suggest going to a good KB instructor and get them to train you for a while, that’s what they do. If you want to do KB specific training then I would definitely get the certification first, so you are able to teach the beginner to the advanced. I would feel limited without my KB’s.
Very rarely and if I do it’s just holding them for load or simple “swings” but nothing heavy duty.
I think there’s a place for everything but I also think being sensible and training wisely is first and foremost.
As for getting “certified” in KB, I am wondering if whether or not pretty soon every move we make will require “certification” or shall I say “sub-certification”?
Aside from being a specialty piece of equipment, I view kettlebells as simply free-weight, and I use them that way. I imagine that there are specialty ways in which you can use these devices, but for ‘general use’ as simple free weight, I do not see the need for to add another certification. This is not without precedent since there are many other pieces of specialty equipment such as TRX, BOSU etc. that I, and other trainers use in their training repertoire without obtaining a specialty certification to do so.
In my opinion, it’s as with anything else – the utility of the piece of equipment itself is all in how you use it. If I felt uneasy or uncertain in how I was using a KB, or if certification were REQUIRED before I could use it, then “yes,” I would obtain a specialty certification.
LaRue, CSCS
www.lecfitness.com
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Sure, why not, if you are proficient and can properly demonstrate, also it is weight appropriate, sure. I am not TRX certified but use it almost daily. I have no desire to get certified in KB’s, but I adapt it into my workout if it calls for it. If you don’t feel comfortable using them in your own workout then I would not recommend you use them to train someone else, simple-period!