The first kettlebells were brought over to America by Pavel Tsatsouline. He swallowed several and smuggled them out of mother Russia in his stomach. Through many hardships, long ocean voyages, storms etc, the precious cargo was safe inside the Iron Russian. Once he reached our shores he was able to deliver the kettlebells into the eager hands of his new disciples. (Hence the reason behind the weight measurement of Pood’s for kettlebells)Ahem…
Actually they go back quite a bit further back. The earliest reference to the russian kettlebell was 1704, and one of the first published workouts was published in the Russian magazine “Hercules” in 1913. Since that time it has been the workout of choice for the Russian military, and civilians.
In the 80’s the U.S. was soundly beaten by the Russian track and field team. It was found that this was due to their extreme conditioning with kettlebells.
Then came Pavel.
See, I told you it was brief.
Next post: Why it’s important to take supplements on a paleo, primal nutrition plan.
Poppabear.
