It is hard to imagine a gym without certain pieces of equipment. Dumbbells are one of those pieces of equipment. Walk into any gym and chances are that you will see racks with long lines of increasingly heavier dumbbells. Dumbbells deserve their place in any gym. After all, they have been proven to be an effective training device since the time of the ancient Greeks who first started making use of weighted stones. The only difference is that we now have stainless steel bars and rubber coated weights as opposed to carved out granite. With dumbbells being able to boast a pedigree like that, it is difficult to argue that we should be training with other forms of weights.

Kettlebells, on the other hand, have more recently exploded in popularity in the Western world. According to Steven Cotter, kettlebells have their origin in Russia, with references to kettlebells found as far back as 1704. Kettlebells were even made a national sport in the Soviet Union in 1948. After the success of Russian weightlifting athletes, kettlebells started becoming more mainstream and found their way into western culture where they are now the mainstay of most functional training style gyms.

Is There a Difference?

The main, and obvious difference between kettlebells and dumbbells is the handle. A dumbbell features a short bar with equal weights on either side of the bar. There is space for a single handgrip on the bar. Whereas, for the kettlebell, the weight sits below the handle and there is room for two hands to grip the handle. This may not sound like a very big difference but it will affect your training and therefore your choice of apparatus.

The different handles affect how we hold and use the weights, particularly with pushing movements. When using a dumbbell, the centre of mass will be in the middle of the bar with an equal amount of weight sitting on either side. Therefore, during the exercise you will be pushing directly through the centre of mass.

This differs from the kettlebell where the weighted portion of the kettlebell hangs below the handle. During a pushing motion the centre of gravity will now be off centre, meaning the kettlebell will rest against your forearm. However, a kettlebell does give you the option of having a two-handed grip on the handle as an option for exercises.

Should I Use a Dumbbell or a Kettlebell?

With these differences in mind, we can now select the piece of equipment that is best suited to your training goals.

Strength Training

The goal of strength training is to maximise muscle fibre activation. The more muscle fibres that are activated the more benefit you get from the exercise. To do this the muscle fibres need to be contracting at the correct angle. In other words, the movement should be in the same direction as the muscle fibres. If you were to use a kettlebell, the offset weight will result in the weight and muscle fibres being slightly out of alignment. Dumbbells offer a higher amount of muscle recruitment as the centre of mass is not offset, making the dumbbell the better choice for strength exercises.

Cardio Training

Traditionally in the Soviet Union, kettlebell competitions were won by the athlete who could complete the greatest number of repetitions. This is still one of the notable features of a kettlebell. The positioning of the handle of a kettlebell makes it easier to move the weight through a variety of movements to create complex exercises such as the single arm snatch. This results in more muscle groups being active which increases the cardio component of training.

Stability Training

Once again, kettlebells were used in the Soviet Union to help strengthen nondominant sides. While there are a variety of exercises that make use of unstable surfaces or balls, a great way to train for stability is to have an offset weight that you have to stabilise against to stop it from pulling you over.

This can be achieved with a dumbbell in exercises such as an offset squat. It is just easier holding a kettlebell for an exercise like that as well as having the centre of mass in an even more offset position. The kettlebell can also provide stability training for the shoulder by having the kettlebell in a bottom-up position with the kettlebell upside down above the handle.

The centre of mass is now above the handle and will challenge the stability muscles when doing a shoulder press. But remember that there is always a trade-off of strength training for stability training, so if maximum strength is your goal then you should stick to the dumbbells and Barbells.

Power Training

Power training can take many forms, from Olympic lifting to plyometrics, as well as many different forms of equipment such as Medicine Balls and barbells. Both kettlebells and dumbbells can be added to the list but with kettlebells it is just easier. For exercises such as the kettlebell swing, the kettlebell has space for two hands and in an exercise such as the clean and press the kettlebell is able to rotate around the hand, making the exercise more comfortable.

Kettlebells offer you a wide variety of options when it comes to training. You would just need a single piece of equipment to do a high intensity exercise flow such as kettlebell swings, offset squat, renegade rows and Russian twists. You can get the heart rate pumping, get a full body workout and include some stability and power training all in the single flow. You will also improve your strength. That goes without saying.

But if increasing strength is your primary goal then dumbbells should take preference. It should be remembered however, that we are talking about maximising your training and there is nothing wrong about using a kettlebell in a traditional strength exercise.

Written by guest author Brendan McBirnie.

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Tags: Equipment > Dumbbells ; Equipment > Kettlebells ; Exercise Type > Strength