Liberty Gray has helped a mul­ti­tude of Ferris stu­dents change their lives and now trains the women’s bas­ket­ball team.

Gray is the proud owner of Club Liberty in which she trains peo­ple with only one tool: Kettlebells.

Kettlebells are weights that look a lot like a can­non­ball with a han­dle. Kettlebells have gained pop­u­lar­ity in the U.S. in recent years with the appeal of being able to con­di­tion the entire body.

Gray, a for­mer body builder, believes that ket­tle­bells are a much bet­ter option than tra­di­tional weights.

“We dis­cov­ered them about five years ago in a mag­a­zine and fell in love with them,” said Gray.

Working out with ket­tle­bells involves total body motion, which trains mus­cle groups that tra­di­tional weights are not be able to hit. They offer more func­tion­al­ity, instead of iso­lat­ing body parts. The high inten­sity work­outs not only train mus­cles, but also pro­vide a car­dio work­out simultaneously.

“The great thing about ket­tle­bells is that they keep your work­out really fun,” said Gray.

Since the work­outs keep the lifter in con­stant motion, ket­tle­bells are great for ath­letes. The women’s bas­ket­ball team has been work­ing out with Gray so far this sea­son. Even though bas­ket­ball pre­dom­i­nately is not a sport that requires a lot of strength, ket­tle­bells still will help the women on the court. The total body motion from the work­outs will make them faster and pro­vide greater strength under movement.

“They hated it at first, but now they have fallen in love with it,” said Gray, “It has been a riot work­ing with the team.”

Kettlebells also offer the oppor­tu­nity to com­pete in a pro­fes­sional sport. The World Kettlebell Club is a world­wide orga­ni­za­tion that grants rank to all coun­try clubs and their mem­bers. Club Liberty cur­rently has more girve­viks (ket­tle­bell lifters) that have achieved rank with the American Kettleball Club than any other club in the United States.

The World Kettle Bell Club holds com­pe­ti­tions in which girve­viks com­pete in the long cycle and the jerk and snatch. Contestants are divided by gen­der, weight, and rank.

Annette Jarman, a Ferris mar­ket­ing stu­dent, placed first in her weight divi­sion in Las Vegas, Nev. this past year. Freshman Nicole Totten won the over­all ama­teur lifter award in Columbus, Ohio with 327 reps of a 26-pound bell.

Jarman has been work­ing out at Club Liberty for a year and is cur­rently one of the train­ers at the club. She began like any other stu­dent at Ferris and was look­ing for a way to lose weight. Since she has been work­ing out with ket­tle­bells, Jarman has lost over 65 pounds.

“Kettlebells have helped me out in so many ways, it is super addict­ing,” said Jarman, “I just can­not get enough of it.”

Jarman said ket­tle­bells have done amaz­ing things for her mind and body. She was over­weight before and is now com­pet­ing in a pro­fes­sional sport.

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