Kettlebell buyers' guide
by Scott Bird
June 7, 2006
6 comments
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For anyone considering adding a kettlebell or two to their home gym, here are a couple of points to keep in mind :
- Kettlebells have traditionally been manufactured in various sizes, each of them based on the old Russian unit of measurement pood. A pood is equal to 40 funt (фунт, Russian pounds), and is approximately 16.38 kilograms (36.11 pounds). The pood was abolished in the USSR in 1924, but many kettlebells are still manufactured in multiples of 16kg.
- Men usually start out with a 16kg(36lb) bell - this is the one I have, and it’s harder than the weight would suggest. For anyone with a few years of weight training under their belt (and certainly for competitive powerlifters), or anyone over 183cm/6’ and about 90kg/198lb, a 24kg bell is worth considering. If you get a chance to try one out somewhere before you buy it, pick it up and clean it. That’ll give you a reasonable idea.
- The female equivalents of the 16 and 24 are about 8kg and 12kg (on average - of course there are those who would easily work with more than this). Once again, if you can try before you buy, great. The thick handles and concentrated weight make a difference.
- If you’ve already got a kettlebell and are considering a second, a typical progression (for men) is 16/24/32. Once you have these three, if you want more, start again at 16. There are plenty of exercises involving two bells, and many of these are easier with the same weight for each.
- I’ve never tried the adjustable kettlebells - I’m sure that some of them are great - but remember that you’ll be swinging them over your head, dropping them on various surfaces (particularly if you try a bit of kettlebell juggling - good fun), and generally giving them a bit more punishment than the typical dumbells. Personally, I prefer the old-style lumps of iron for that reason.
- If you do end up going for the traditional bells, remember that they last indefinitely and the design hasn’t really changed over the years. If you see one on ebay, or a friend is selling one; grab it.
- There are many more kettlebell exercises than you might imagine. It can be well worth investing in a book or DVD demonstrating some of the basic moves.
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Comments
Personally, it might be worth it just to have something measured in poods :).
So, are you on a program with these or considering one? Where do these fit in? That’s the hard time I usually have figuring out any exercise program.
We’re kind of excited about our new periodization program, but we’ve had to work to figure it out and keep on learning new things as we go through it. I’m interested to hear how this works for you.
Posted by: Bud Gibson | June 7, 2006 4:39 PM
As you’re finding with the periodisation program, the best way to get a feel for these things is just to do them. I’m still trying various kettlebell moves in a fairly unstructured way (if there’s a bit of sun and I’m not suffering from a Total Gym workout, it’s time to swing that thing); and I’m not yet sure how it’s all going to tie together.
Once I have the rack + weights at my disposal I’ll have a better idea of how to tie in the kettlebell training. I suspect I’ll somehow merge it into a standard WSB template.
Posted by: Scott | June 7, 2006 10:23 PM
I should ask the people at my gym about these. Even though most of the gym members are of Russian (or Georgian or other former USSR) background, there’s only one pair of kettlebells in the gym, and I’ve never seen anyone actually use them. Granted, they’re 24Kg, so the size is not for everyone, but there are some pretty strong guys in the gym, and I would have expected a higher usage.
Posted by: Mich | June 8, 2006 9:53 AM
Please do Mich - I’d love to see them get a lot more attention, and having them in gyms would be a great start.
Posted by: Scott | June 8, 2006 10:41 AM
Scott, what I’m finding in our periodization program is that we triangulate between reading and doing. I find you actually only read closely when you try to do it. Then you discover what it is really all about.
Further, when you do read books and write-ups, the authors typically have not included everything. That’s where I think blogging and other accounts of actual experience can play a good role.
Posted by: Bud Gibson | June 8, 2006 2:31 PM
Agreed. The read->do->read cycle seems to work the best for me.
Posted by: Scott | June 9, 2006 9:20 AM