Good Sweat
Meet the New Yorker who introduced kettlebells to the nation
David Ganulin was studying martial arts in Japan in the 1990s when he came across kettlebell-like objects. “I knew they could be the next big thing,” he remembers. “They’d been used for hundreds of years and had a certain legitimacy. Plus, in the gym world, everything is cyclical. This was the workout that time forgot.”
Thanks to Ganulin, kettlebells are now commonplace in gyms across the country. But just ten years ago, he says, only old Russian dudes on the Coney Island boardwalk were using them. “I thought—let’s bring them to Equinox, let’s bring them to Crunch!” says, Ganulin, who today is the CEO of Kettlebell Concepts, a New York City-based company that teaches the fitness cognoscenti how to incorporate kettlebells into group fitness and personal training.
Kettlebell crusader David Ganulin
At first, Ganulin was literally laughed out of gyms. “I was presenting these bizarre-looking iron objects and suggesting that people swing the weights around,” he remembers of his peddling days, going from gym to gym, in NYC. Only Russian trainers, who’d grown up seeing kettlebells used in competitive lifting, seemed familiar with them. (Though Ganulin says they were used in this country in the 1920s, along with sandbags and medicine balls, which have also come back into vogue.)
The last stop on his sales train was Equinox, where Dr. Paul Juris of the Equinox Training Institute and Carol Espel, Equinox’s the national group exercise guru, both immediately understood the magic of these hunks of iron with a handle attachment. So Equinox became the launch pad for the nationwide kettlebell craze.
First trainers used kettlebells in one-on-one training. Then the concept carefully spread to group fitness, where dozens of trainers influenced the method. Now classes of toned New York women swing around the same style weights once favored by Russian competitors and their Coney Island fitness brethren.
An athlete in the 1920s poses with his kettlebells
The genius of kettlebells? The hunks of iron are economical: They provide a total body workout, unlike most gym machines that isolate muscle groups. And because of their uneven center of gravity, they simulate real-world movements like hauling your groceries home, dragging your bags through an airport, or picking up your kids.
In terms of efficiency, the cardio-weight training combo of kettlebells is really appealing for busy New Yorkers, says Ganulin. It’s a case of an old world object meeting a very modern need. —Alexia Brue
Hi Alexia,
Introduced KB’s to the nation? LOL! Well. . . .not sure there’s any one person that can take credit for that given their history.
But, I will pat myself on the back for being stubborn enough to keep going in the NYC environment. And THAT should be a BIG pat on the back. It’s definitely part of why my hair is going gray now. ;)
Thanks for the great article.
Cheers,
Dave
Um…It was a guy named Pavel that “re-introduced” them to us lazy farts!
They were known to Americans since the huge wave of immigrants entered NY from Western and Eastern Europe in the beginning of the 20th Century.
And they were forgoten sometime in the late 40′s,even though they were looked different from what we have today.Besides that in Russia they mostly not changed in size and weight.
And today in Russia they all unified and standardized no matter what they used for Sport or Fitness.
As for the Coney Island the second wave of immigrants from Russia arrived in NY in 1970′s and some Masters of Sport brought them to Brighton Beach and they still use those “made in USSR” bells there.
Great article! I am a KBC certified trainer and love KB’s!
Hi David,
Great story about you and glad to see you’re getting the recognition you deserve on Kettlebells. I like the comments that other wrote you.
Congratulations……..
Bob / The DM Shop
Hi David,
The article is awesome, your hard work and passion is finally paying off. The picture of you is goregous. Ok Hottie what about getting Kettle Bells to Asheville, NC.
I work out at Rush! the gym is open 24/7, it offers Kick Boxing, Palates, Step, Sculpt, Yoga, Zumba and Spin classes. It is missing KB’s. The Kettle Bells are just sitting on the floor of the Gym, when I use them with the few moves I master with proper form – I get the attention of Instructors. I am certain they would embrace KB’s immediately.
Come on down…
Much success to you
Looking for the best KB trainers in LA visit kokomokettlebell.com
[...] fitness classes, says David Ganulin, founder of Kettlebell Concepts, and the country's de facto kettlebell authority. Not anymore. Gyms and boutique studios across New York City are realizing the benefits of these [...]
[...] Dogg Athletics, the company that owns Spinning and Peak Pilates, announced a partnership with David Ganulin’s KettleBell Concepts. Ganulin said the partnership will allow him to take the company to the next [...]