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Ironclad coupleDate: 05.02.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team Canada
Andy and Krystle Campbell met in a New Brunswick gym through a mutual friend seven years ago.
Smitten with each other, the two like-minded fitness enthusiasts soon started lifting weights together.
Their romance blossomed over the next several years, and so did their physiques.
But shortly after moving to Edmonton in May 2004, the couple decided that their workout routine was becoming, well, routine.
"It was becoming boring and extremely repetitive," Andy recalls.
Plus, the buff duo had become involved with mixed martial arts training, and they suddenly found themselves looking for more functional ways to keep fit, Andy explains.
After much research, the health-conscious hardbodies, who got married less than two years ago, eventually traded in their barbells and dumbbells for kettlebells.
Huh? Kettlebells? If you're like me, you've probably never heard this term used before. But kettlebells aren't new.
Resembling a bowling ball with a handle, kettlebells have apparently been in use for more than a hundred years - most notably by Russian athletes and 19th-century strongmen.
Over the past several years, the cast iron weights have enjoyed a revival of sorts in North America, with celebrities like Lance Armstrong and Penelope Cruz jumping on the kettlebell bandwagon.
Even Sylvester Stallone used them for a training sequence in his movie, Rocky.
"A lot of people don't know about them," says Andy, 31.
"And people are scared of what they don't know," adds Krystle, 24. "If people try it for themselves, they'll love it."
Andy and Krystle, who now train exclusively with kettlebells three times a week and for up to 45 minutes each session, say it's the ultimate fitness tool.
Kettlebell exercises, they say, are total-body movements that combine explosive strength, speed and agility.
"It's more core body," Krystle explains. "You're using your whole body to do everything, rather than just isolating to one muscle group."
The kettlebell proponents, who were recently certified under Montreal kettlebell guru Shawn Mozen, point out that they can more efficiently work their muscular and cardiovascular systems. And it's intense.
"You could do a couple exercises continuously for five minutes and you couldn't even breathe at the end of it," says Andy, a welder who used the kettlebells to drop from 205 pounds to a lean 185 on his 5-foot-11 frame.
"I'm stronger than I was. It's a different kind of strength. Bodybuilding's good for putting on quick mass. But this stuff's better for your ligaments and your tendons."
Krystle, who weighs 135 pounds at 5-foot-5, is a nurse in University Hospital's general systems ICU. She says the extra strength comes in handy when she's assisting patients who have limited mobility.
And because she has to contend with shift work, Krystle also enjoys the convenience of having her kettlebells at home for late-night workouts.
"You can work out at 12 o'clock at night if you want," she says. "Or we can go to the park in the summertime with the kettlebells and work out there."
Keeping fit with kettlebells? It may just be an ironclad match - something these two lovebirds know all about.
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