Running will always count as my first fitness love. It ignited my passion for physical movement in elementary school when I ran circles around my parents’ three-acre backyard. While my relationship with running has ebbed and flowed over the years—while staying pretty consistent over the past decade—it’s also provided a path to new ways to stay active.
I don’t necessarily remember my first time in a weight room, though I would guess it was sometime in high school during doubles for cheerleading, getting prepped for the fall football season. But I do remember working with a trainer at Syracuse University, also with the cheer squad, learning about bench presses and deadlifts Published: Sep 23, 2024 2:07 PM EDT I dont necessarily remember my first time in a.
When I moved to New York and started working in fitness media, I had ample opportunity to try out other Health & Injuries, especially in the form of group fitness. And while I had a love affair with indoor cycling and barre for a bit, nothing quite piqued my interest as much as kettlebells.
A certified personal trainer by the time I swung my first bell, I knew this piece of oddly shaped equipment added a metabolic conditioning element to typical weight training, which upped the intensity—and the fun factor!—of lifting. So when a fellow trainer at the studio where I worked at the time asked if I wanted to join in getting a kettlebell training certification, it didn’t take all that much convincing to sign up. The catch? In order to actually obtain the certification, I had to perform 80 snatches in five minutes.
A Part of Hearst Digital Media kettlebell moves, requires a single-arm swing that takes the weight all the way overhead to stick a landing at the top, arm extended with bicep by ear, with the bell flipped around the hand and resting on the back of the forearm…only to go right back down into a swing position and repeat. It takes a decent amount of skill and lots of strength and power.
To make sure I hit the 80-rep mark with a 12-kilogram kettlebell (about 26 pounds, which the course assigned to me based on bodyweight), I had to train for it over several weeks—and I hired an expert to help. This was not only the first time I followed a training plan to build strength (not mileage), but also the first time I worked with a personal trainer myself to master the form on a range of kettlebell moves. And that’s when I found my second fitness love.
of the Best Leg Exercises to Fight Fatigue over those eight or so weeks before the in-person test, and seeing my progress in strength, precision, and power, brought a sense of accomplishment and a boost in confidence that I had previously only experienced with running. I started with 10-pound kettlebells and worked my way up to that 26-pound bell, learning the technique for single reps of snatches, swings, cleans, and Turkish get-ups and eventually hitting double-digit reps.
While I was literally shaking during the test to get the certification—a mix of nerves and excitement making me a little unsteady—it ended up feeling slightly easier than expected, and I hit those 80 snatches and the rest of the moves required to pass. I haven’t stopped swinging kettlebells on the regular since that March 2019 course.
Like running, the beauty of kettlebells lies in how easy it is to see your hard work pay off in improvement. While the moves on my kettlebell training plan initially felt super challenging, each one eventually became much more manageable with practice, making me feel strong and accomplished for mastering them and being able to lift more weight week after week.
Unlike running, kettlebell training requires a certain level of coordination and technique, which offers a sense of achievement comparable to acing a test in school after weeks of studying. Also, similar to research that indicates that standing tall with hands on the hips, chest proud, and chin up (a.k.a. a power pose) can skyrocket your self-esteem, so too does tossing a 20-pound bell straight overhead.
Even better: There’s always more to learn with kettlebells. While you can lift heavier or smooth out your swings, snatches, and cleans, you can also string exercises together into a complex—one of my favorite ways to train with this equipment. That might look like doing a single-arm swing to a clean to a diagonal lunge. Or it might mean doing a Turkish get-up to a snatch to an overhead reverse lunge. The options are pretty much limitless!
I love the repetitive motion of running and how finding my stride and comfortable pace allows me to just let my body do its thing. But challenging my muscles and joints to hit fuller ranges of motion, testing my mind to remember various form points throughout each exercise, and zeroing in on how each rep feels across muscle groups, provides the perfect complement to a linear sport. It allows my mind and body to work together in new and exciting ways.
Since weight training regularly, and particularly working with kettlebells, I haven’t suffered from major injuries or aches and pains that used to leave me sidelined from the sport I love. It has also helped me test my total-body strength in a way you can’t experience on the road.
One of my favorite things about working as a fitness editor at a running publication is finding ways to convince endurance athletes that adding strength training to their schedule can not only support performance gains but simply make them feel better (read: less achy) and capable of hitting a certain mileage or pace goal. It makes you feel strong, physically and mentally. Plus, my best argument from personal experience: Like any runner, I’ll always come back to my first love, but with kettlebells, I’m happily in a fitness throuple that satisfies my need for strength, speed, and a nearly never-ending dose of confidence.
Mallory Creveling is an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, who also holds multiple other fitness certifications and regularly stays on top of her continuing education in the field. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for a wide range of publications, and she has nearly 10 years of experience as a trainer and fitness instructor. Mallory stays on top of the latest science in wellness, has worked with some of the best experts in their medical fields, and regularly interviews researchers, trainers, athletes, and more to find the best advice for readers looking to improve their performance and well-being.
As a freelance writer, Mallory's work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, Pennsylvania.
