I just went back to the gym yesterday after a few months off to rest (and get some work done). They had rebuilt parts of the gym and everything is much bigger and better... Now I noticed they have a whole new section with kettlebells. Sure I know we have instructionals and that there are millions of sites and youtube videos that I can checkout. I just wanted to hear from some people I trust before I spend all the time and energy to learn how to use them correctly...
...so Im curious if anybody here has experience and can tell me if, in your opinion, its something worth learning?

I like them. Especially for turkish get ups (TGUs). I'll use kettlebells on an off day to add more of a cardio circuit routine. They're good for building strength but not mass. So don't expect to get swelled using them but expect to get stronger. I recommend.

Thx mate for the insights! You have any prefered instructional or site with excercises?

I liked Steve Maxwells 300 kettlebell challenge. But you can pretty much build your own circuit with all the different moves you can do with the kettlebell. Try and experiment and have fun!

Ya I mix them into my workouts every now and then. I like them. Their different then standard dumbbells. Like Lyn said its not really used for mass so I would just add 1 or 2 exercises with them in your workouts.

http://mymadmethods.com

Has some pretty good workout plans. For kettlebells, sandbags, rings etc.

Ok...
I'll check for this!!

Thanks guys, I appreciate the tips! Just by the looks of the kettlebells I can imagine a few exercises that would be great for shoulder training. And for overall conditioning I guess, like a "heavy" workout.

This:

http://mymadmethods.com/workout-databas ... l-workouts

awesome

Kettlebells are an excellent tool which help build functional (explosiveness) strength. All the exercises you do with the KB will most likely be compound that will include a huge range of muscle groups that fire up and make your entire body work. Unless you do bicep curls,. LOL. There's a million different exercises and combination that you can do. Honestly you should learn and perfect the swing before anything else. This is the core of all KB exercises. If you can't do a proper swing everything else is going to suffer.

Here's a video of me doing a kb overhead press on an indoboard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d44JtiZsNnU
I was just messing around, but these types of exercises can kill you if your basics ( the kb swing ) is not in place.

Good luck!

Thanks mate. The exercise you are doing looks good, but hard, and yeah I dont doubt you could kill yourself if you are not careful (lol). But seriously I tried playing a little with them and they seem to be easy enough to handle. From what I see its basicly a question of doing all kinds of body exercises and movements, but with the addition that you include the kettlebells in different ways depending on the exercise. It feels like they would be a perfect addition to just lifting weights and such. Probably possible to train muscles that are hard to do with the traditional dumbells. Can probably figure out my own ways of using them easily if nothing else works