Home-Based Kettlebell Exercise and Coronavirus Outbreak: Practical Suggestions

The coronavirus pandemic and the adopted social isolation to contain the virus spread led to several negative consequences including the decrease in the population's physical activity levels and increased physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Home-based physical exercise assumes fundamental importance to maintain physical activity and fitness levels. Among the various exercise possibilities of home-based exercise, the kettlebell exercise can be a useful and low-cost tool. The kettlebell is a round-shaped steel or cast-iron weight, commonly described as resembling a cannonball with a handle whose dimensions increase with weight that varies from 2 to 92 kg. Kettlebell exercise offers an opportunity to train multiple muscles through functional exercises that could be performed at home to improve and maintain health-related physical fitness (e.g., cardiorespiratory capacity, muscle strength, and body composition) and mental health. In addition, kettlebell exercise (with a progressive increase in training overload) could be an alternative of home-based exercise program for the general population during pandemic outbreaks.