There’s more than one way to do any style of workout. Consider high-intensity exercise, which typically includes running and cycling. Here’s what happens when you add kettlebells to the mix. If you’ve been shown how to use these handled weights, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Researchoffers an interesting workout to consider working into your routine.

Researchers had 8 male volunteers perform 12 minutes of kettlebell swings using a Tabata regimen of 5 minutes to warm up, 8 intervals of 20-second all-out effort with 10 seconds between sets and 2 minutes to cool down. For the next session, subjects did three 30-second sets of all out cycling with 4 minutes of recovery between sets. Oxygen consumption and calorie burning were both higher during kettlebell training.

True Strength Moment: Interval training with kettlebells appears to offer a great alternative to your typical cardio day options. You’d think the benefits of this type of training would be limited to younger, more physically fit adults. A post on today’s ABB Performance Blog suggests otherwise.