Bristol Kettlebell club member – Andy Farquharson
When did you get into kettlebell training?
September 2011
What attracted you to kettlebell training?
My partner had been doing it and kept saying I’d really enjoy it. I have never done exercise classes before I’d used the gym and didn’t think It would be for me – how wrong was I!!
Some say it’s really tough, is it?
Each session is totally different and however tough a session is you always leave feeling exhausted but exhilarated (once you ve mastered the basic techniques and co ordination you are away!)
What other types of fitness have/do you enjoy?
I live for my golf and play at least twice a week – kettlebells has helped my game massively.
There is a lot of hype surrounding kettlebell training, what kind of results have you seen?
It has helped hugely with my flexibility / agility/ explosive power – when I now swing a club I have way more strength and so have increased my driving length. My hamstrings were really tight and I couldn’t get anywhere near to touching my toes – I can do this easily now. When I started I could only hold a plank for 1.5 mins and now can do nearly 3.5 mins. Working within the group motivates me to push myself and not slack off as you sometimes do in a gym work out.
What size kettlebells do you work with?
For 2 handed swings I use a 24kg, single hand swings a 16kg and 16kg for everything else.
What are your future goals within kettlebell training?
To continue to increase my strength by using heavier bells, I want to work up to swinging the 32kg for 2 hand swings and 20kg for all single work, and to be able to hold a plank for 5 minutes.
Words from Pete – Andy struggled to grasp some of the movements initially but the performance increase he saw very quickly in golf motivated him to continue. Now he has mastered all of the exercises he continues to get stronger and see further strength and conditioning improvements and regularly beats his buddies on the golf course because of this. The explosive strength and power gained through kettlebell training carries over to all sporting activities and Andy know’s this all too well. I keep asking him to tell his friends about the club but he likes to keep it as his secret weapon, ha ha! Good on ya Andy, you’ve come a long way!
