This is a great question and one that has many answers!The short answer is yes, kettlebell training can get you big. But it would be equally correct to say kettlebell training won’t get you big. If you want to get big with kettlebell training you can. If you don’t want to get big and muscular and still workout with kettlebells that is possible too.
How can this be? At the end of the day, whether you get muscular or not, and this applies to women as well as men, depends on what routine you follow, what exercises you perform and most importantly, what you eat.
In simple terms, if you want to build and grow your muscles you need to be eating more calories per day than you use. You cannot increase your weight if you do not have a surplus of calories at the end of the day. Whether these extra calories get turned into fat or muscle depends on many things. Where the extra calories come from, protein, fat or carbs, can determine if they are ‘turned into’ muscle or fat. Whether you are doing weight training or not, can also determine whether you get big and muscular or not, from eating over your daily calorie requirements.
How to Get Big with Kettlebell Training
When you say ‘big’, I’m assuming you mean more muscular rather than fatter! If you want to get more muscular from kettlebell training, then you need to follow a good hypertrophy kettlebell routine and eat a suitable diet that is high in protein and consists of more calories than you expend each day. You will also need plenty of rest to ensure your muscles have time to recover, repair and grow in between sessions. Check out this article on how often you should do kettlebell workouts to make sure you are on the right track.
How to Avoid Getting Big with Kettlebell Training
For lots of people, the end result of working out and exercising is not to get bigger and more muscles. There are many reasons why people workout and all of them can be achieved by working out with kettlebells at home:
- Get toned and firm
- Achieve an athletic physique
- Improve functional strength
- Increase fitness levels
- Say goodbye to being skinny fat
As most women trainers don’t want to get big and bulky and more muscular they tend to shy away from kettlebell training. This is a shame because working out with kettlebells at home is more than suitable for women. In fact, for woman who want to workout at home, kettlebell training is one of the most cost effective and easiest ways to get started and achieve some of the goals women often have such as: getting toned, become more firm and losing fat.
To avoid getting big and bulky when kettlebell training, the best option is to limit the amount you eat. By this I do not mean go on a crash diet or start cutting meals, simply do not eat excessively over your maintenance amount. This applies to men and women who don’t want to get muscular. If your daily calorie expenditure is 2000 calories a day, don’t eat over that amount and you won’t put on any weight in the form of muscle or fat. Try eating slightly over that amount, say 100-200 calories a day for slight muscle growth and to get that ‘toned’ or athletic look. Increase the amount of protein you eat too which can be easily done with protein shakes or eating more chicken breast, fish or lean meat.
Why Kettlebell Training is Great for Most Goals
Kettlebell training at home is a great way to start working out without spending a small fortune. You can pick up a kettlebell for around $30 depending on the weight you want. Read this article to find out what weight kettlebell you should pick. This is less than one month’s gym membership so with minimal outlay you can really get going in pursuit of your goals. By changing the exercises you perform and the number of repetitions you do for each one, you can change from trying to build muscle to working towards getting a more toned and athletic physique.
If you are ready to start kettlebell training at home read our guide to the best kettlebells available to buy online now.
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