You can find a variety of techniques for strengthening the muscles of your body. Various pieces of equipment can also be used to provide a challenge to the muscles. Jobe exercises have a specific focus on the muscles of the shoulder girdle and use dumbbells or resistance bands. Kettlebell exercises can be used to strengthen multiple muscles of the body. The kettlebell is a metal weight with a handle attached to one side.
Physiology
Your muscular system develops by overcoming resistance. This is the basic premise of strength training. If strength is your goal, the muscles do not know whether you are using a kettlebell, a dumbbell, a resistance band or two rocks for resistance. Your muscles cannot see and are only responding to the increased demand placed upon them. So, whether you choose a kettlebell or jobe exercises, if strength training is your goal, both will provide that result.
History
Originally made popular by Dr. Frank Jobe, the jobe exercises were designed to rehabilitate injured baseball players and are now used in a conditioning program. Jobe exercises focus on the shoulder and upper back muscles. In other words, the muscles that are used in order to throw a baseball. The main concentration is on the smaller shoulder muscles of the rotator cuff.
Kettlebell exercises have made their way into mainstream fitness programs. Originally made popular by Russian strong men, kettlebell exercises are designed to improve strength, endurance and flexibility. Kettlebell exercises utilize major muscle groups as well as the core.
Jobe Exercises
Jobe exercises use light hand weights or resistance bands to perform the workout. The Bone and Joint Clinic of Richmond Pennsylvania lists these as jobe shoulder exercises: Shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, shoulder shrugs, internal and external rotation. Shoulder flexion involves lifting a weight straight out in front of the body. Shoulder abduction is lifting a weight out to the side at shoulder level. Shoulder shrugs are mimicking the "I do not know" motion by bringing the shoulders towards the ears. Internal rotation is lying on your side with a light weight in the bottom hand and rotating a bent arm in a windshield wiper motion. External rotation is similar but with the weight in the top hand.
Kettlebell Exercises
The swing is one of the most common kettlebell exercises. According to ACE Fitness, this movement involves grasping the handle with one hand while standing in a wide leg squat. You use your legs, hips and glutes in order to thrust the kettlebell up to the level of the shoulders. The swing could be mistaken for the jobe shoulder flexion exercise as the arms are doing the same movement. However, the swing's power is initiated in the legs. The other jobe exercises could be performed with a kettlebell. You could lift the kettlebell out to the side for shoulder abduction, or lift it into a shoulder shrug. Specific kettlebell exercises can be used to strengthen the chest, back, core, arms and legs.
The Difference
Both kettlebell exercises and jobe exercises can be used to train the body. Jobe exercises have a specific focus on the shoulder and have been used to treat injuries in baseball players. Kettlebell exercises target more muscle groups than the jobe exercises, and the kettlebell can be used to perform the jobe exercises. No matter your reason for strength training, each mode of exercise will challenge your muscles. Please seek qualified instruction before beginning either workout program.
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