Get a handle on a kettlebell workout

“That was a fake groan! You’re advanced now!”

Missy Beaver is encouraging one of her students, Nicole Visram, who grimaces back and cranks out the repetition, hoisting an 18-pound kettlebell above her head. She then tosses the iron weight, which resembles a cannonball with a thick handle, onto the sand with a satisfying whump.

“Five of these, five of these, five of these,” Beaver says, demonstrating the next kettlebell exercise to the students, swinging it slightly above waist level and, still holding on, letting it fall between her legs, with knees slightly flexed.

The class will include more than 10 exercises, but I’m already sweating after just one. By exercise No. 7 I’m numb with purpose, and after the last, I’m elated. Did I mention that the instructor makes us run laps on the beach too?

In my years of avoiding health clubs for outdoor sports, one result has been a lack of workouts purely for fitness. With my wedding several months away, I am feeling soft and especially susceptible to get-fit-quick schemes. Look up kettlebells on the Internet and you see mostly pitches by he-men promising short sessions, fat burn and quick results.

After one or two 40-minute sessions I certainly felt stronger, though I can’t be sure if I really was. Real-world physical tasks with a propensity to strain -- such as hoisting grocery bags, luggage or planters -- seemed easier to me because I was learning to lift with my upper and lower body in conjunction, not stress my lower back or knees.

Another effect I noticed was a stiff knee, which I had begun to feel some months ago. It had started to throb after one of my initial workouts with kettlebells.

“You probably didn’t hurt yourself,” said Beaver, a petite California blond with a firm handshake. “What the kettlebell does is unmask your injuries, forcing you to deal with them.”

Perhaps. But in any case, Beaver examined the underside of my knee, pronounced it swollen and began to massage it briskly. Within minutes it felt spry enough for me to join the class.

Though the members of my class were mostly in their 20s and 30s, kettlebell enthusiasts include people much older and professional athletes. As far as the he-man image, well, most of the students in my class were women.

Instructors in kettlebells emphasize proper form to minimize the risk of injury. In swinging the heavy kettlebells, for instance, the arms and back are along for the ride while power is generated by thrusting the hamstrings forward.

With their thick handles and varying weights, kettlebells work the forearms while negotiating the exercises, such as swinging the heavy weight between your legs, switching hands with the kettlebell in midair, or doing sit-ups with one bell held aloft.

A Russian artifact that was adapted by the Soviets for military and Olympic training, kettlebells were shown in a 1983 collegiate study to be a superior alternative to pull-ups, wind sprints, standing broad jumps and a one-kilometer run. The U.S. Army website contains an article praising kettlebells.

Yet “anytime a heavy weight swings between your legs, there’s a real concern about lower back strain,” said Robert Girandola, a professor of kinesiology at USC.

Attending a class is a good way to promote technique that will be effective and help prevent injury. Some of Beaver’s students were even using kettlebells as rehabilitation.

“Before I met Missy, I never thought I could stand up straight again,” said Chris Wilson, 31, who was rubbing the shoulder he dislocated in a ski crash, an injury that was keeping him from surfing. “Kettlebells are by far the most effective exercise I have ever tried.”

Wilson said he was able to maintain fitness relatively easily attending class only once a week, and he planned to lift kettlebells more often as part of a regimen for building up his shoulder so he could go surfing again.

Beaver said the kettlebell workouts invigorate circulation around injured body parts while not taxing them exclusively. For me, that meant sitting out a kettlebell exercise that involved deep knee bends.

Although he had no direct experience with kettlebells, USC’s Girandola said they likely confer similar benefits to other kinds of resistance training. “There doesn’t seem anything unusual about it,” he said.

My personal litmus test was the degree of soreness I felt the morning after my first class. My hamstrings, abs, biceps and forearms were plenty tender. By the next day, however, I had fully recovered and was ready for more.

Despite my belief that my overall body strength had improved, it was fun looking forward to taking another class on the beach, sweating in the setting sun and unwinding with the exercises. It’d been 13 years since my last formal weight training, and kettlebells proved a fine way to break the drought.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)Kettlebell classes are in session

Where to learn:

* Missy Beaver, www.misfitla.com, (310) 437-9400. Classes seven days a week in Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica and Hollywood.

* Mike Mahler, www.mikemahler.com, (310) 578-6092. Lessons and seminars by appointment only.