Kettlebells have been in use for at least hundred years. I believe they were even used in some American older gyms before the 70s. I still think you can get very strong from them and may help with rehab as well.

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/05/07/bec...l-workout/
That's pretty cool workout with some old school kettlebell pictures. The comments are rediculous though. And the first exercise looks like the dual swing but with different name.

I still do barbell training as well, starting strength style and chin/pull ups. There all just tools in the pursuit of fitness.

While these things DO work for losing weight (lost 40 lbs with only these things alone) and increasing explosiveness, they are not, as others have stated, as good as they are hyped up to be. You will see only small increases in definition, and very minimal gains in terms of muscular bulk. They WILL lean you out pretty well though; It just might take a while.

alright so i went to my friends gym the other day where they had kettlebells.

i picked up a 30 lber and was surprised at how strange it felt... i wouldn't have guessed that it weighed 30 lbs if i hadn't seen the label on it. i began with kettlebell swings and was surprised at how difficult they actually were. it isn't exactly heavy, but it was hard as fuck to do a 1 minute round of swings with proper form. definitely more an endurance thing over strength. after the first round my lower back felt extremely tired. i deadlift quite often too so i was pretty surprised.

i'll definitely incorporate kettlebells into my routine more often... but like what many have said in this thread, not so sold if they actually get you leaned up as fast as everyone people say so. i'll still keep doing my barbell/dumbell/bodyweight/cardio routine, i'll just add about 2 days of kettlebell work on days where i'm just doing cardio or bodyweight exercises.

Bumping this thread...is there any "bible" of kettle bell exercises?

I'd like to incorporate them into workouts but would like to read up on form, programming, etc.

Strong bump, but I was very skeptical of kettlebells (and still think they're overpriced), but the basic between the legs to horizontal swing is actually a good workout. Tried a 24 kg recently and I think I am going to get one for work. Get 5-10 minutes in every hour of work and that burns some calories in the course of a day. Only problem is it doesn't fit the nomad lifestyle.

Personally, I don't see the need for any other exercise, the swing is a full body combination of legs, backs and shoulders that seems effective in terms of time mostly. The other ones like one handed cleans are cool too, but I'm still going to go to the gym, so why do exercises which barbells do better? Kettlebells for me are great as an office workout or home workout, but not a barbell substitute.

http://www.amazon.com/Kettlebell-Rx-Comp...kettlebell

This book looked pretty good on it. I think videos tend to work better for learning the form and light weights. Snatches and cleans, can be brutal on the forearm until you get the form down.

Bump.

Anyone here have solid results from a long term kettlebell program? Pavel's 'Simple and Sinister' program seems to be popular around fitness forums ... basically 50 single-handed swings for each arm + 10 Turkish get-ups. Every day.

I'm an active guy and I lift. What weight should my first kettlebell be? 16, 18, 20kg?

Should I get one heavy (for swings) and two lighter (for other exercises)?

Quote: (05-10-2015 06:21 PM)Ringo Wrote:  

I'm an active guy and I lift. What weight should my first kettlebell be? 16, 18, 20kg?

Should I get one heavy (for swings) and two lighter (for other exercises)?

24kg is the standard weight for men. A 32kg would be good as a heavy option.

Its comical these days to see grown men doing what looks like jazzercise with spandex on using kettlebell's meant for 10 year olds and grandmas.

12-16kg for starters according to Pavil Touslinenene. No idea how to spell his last name. The problem with the 24kg is that it will fuck up your wrists if you don't have the form down. The weight rotates and will slap the back of your arm if you do it incorrectly. When you first start you might. The higher the weight the more damage it will do.

Quote: (05-10-2015 08:25 PM)kbell Wrote:  

12-16kg for starters according to Pavil Touslinenene. No idea how to spell his last name. The problem with the 24kg is that it will fuck up your wrists if you don't have the form down. The weight rotates and will slap the back of your arm if you do it incorrectly. When you first start you might. The higher the weight the more damage it will do.

Thats false information.

There is only one move called the Snatch where the bell can hit your wrist, but that wont happen if you take like two minutes to watch a youtube video on how to do it. And its an advanced move and not one to begin with. And a simple web search will show you how to properly swing the bell.

12-16kg is a womens weight. To each his own I guess.

A snatch is advanced? A Turkish getup is advanced. I would not want to do that with 24kg. Also a lighter weight allows you to larger amounts of reps and more variety of exercises. Granted I have several weights up to 24kg. I also recommend not getting a rough finish on the handle like I did on my heavy weights. That shit will tear your hand up unless you have chalk.


I don't recommend dual kettlebells either. I have duals of a few, its expensive, and its difficult to balance rather than just switching arms after a set. So maybe get a 16 kg and a 24 kg. 16 kg still won't be fun for a Getup, but you could probably do that with light dumbbell until you get the different parts of the movement right.

Quote: (05-10-2015 09:07 PM)kbell Wrote:  

A snatch is advanced? A Turkish getup is advanced. I would not want to do that with 24kg. Also a lighter weight allows you to larger amounts of reps and more variety of exercises. Granted I have several weights up to 24kg. I also recommend not getting a rough finish on the handle like I did on my heavy weights. That shit will tear your hand up unless you have chalk.


I don't recommend dual kettlebells either. I have duals of a few, its expensive, and its difficult to balance rather than just switching arms after a set. So maybe get a 16 kg and a 24 kg. 16 kg still won't be fun for a Getup, but you could probably do that with light dumbbell until you get the different parts of the movement right.

Yes it is. 24kg is a fairly light weight and a pretty standard low beginners weight for men.

OP - hit me up if you have questions or want a program. As with anything on the internets, trust but verify.

Quote: (05-10-2015 09:07 PM)kbell Wrote:  

A snatch is advanced? A Turkish getup is advanced. I would not want to do that with 24kg. Also a lighter weight allows you to larger amounts of reps and more variety of exercises. Granted I have several weights up to 24kg. I also recommend not getting a rough finish on the handle like I did on my heavy weights. That shit will tear your hand up unless you have chalk.

I think that the kettlebell snatch is a stupid movement and largely the product of all those dragondoor hucksters trying to squeeze every bit of value out of a kettlebell to justify to all their goons why they have to spend all that money on a clumsy dumbbell that's not even adjustable.

The one armed dumbbell snatch or even db jerk is much safer than swinging a kettlebell around the hand and catching it on the back of the forearm. Even those unilateral dumbbell oly type lifts I wouldn't consider all that safe, they're best done when completely fresh since you're trying to catch pretty significant weight overhead with just one arm.

I usually do them when there's nobody else in the gym for sets of 3 per arm, going up five pounds until I can't get a decent set of 2 reps, but I don't recommend them for everybody. I would much rather do them with rubber plates and a barbell but there are no olympic platforms at anytime fitness.

Quote: (05-10-2015 10:20 PM)Hades Wrote:  

Quote: (05-10-2015 09:07 PM)kbell Wrote:  

A snatch is advanced? A Turkish getup is advanced.

I think that the kettlebell snatch is a stupid movement and largely the product of all those dragondoor hucksters

this attractive skinny girl russian girl is doing almost 100 snatches in 10 minutes with a 22KG kettlebell(-2KG lighter than a 24KG bell . The snatch is a fairly high skilled technical competitive movement. Look at her movement, there is no slamming or smashing down on her wrist. Thats a misnomer by folks that dont actually learn how to swing properly.

Hades, I would agree that its dumb to try it with no training or practice, but it is one of the two main competitive movements in kettlebell sports.

Quote: (05-10-2015 10:35 PM)Vaun Wrote:  

this attractive skinny girl russian girl is doing almost 100 snatches in 10 minutes with a 22KG kettlebell(-2KG lighter than a 24KG bell . The snatch is a fairly high skilled technical competitive movement. Look at her movement, there is no slamming or smashing down on her wrist. Thats a misnomer by folks that dont actually learn how to swing properly.

Hades, I would agree that its dumb to try it with no training or practice, but it is one of the two main competitive movements in kettlebell sports.

Yeah she's pretty hot, and to give credit where it's due she does 100 per arm in ten minutes which is impressive. I think she passed that spetznas snatch test (IIRC).

The kettlebell snatch is technical, for sure. I like dumbbells because they're not as technical. It can be done to where it doesn't really slap the back of the forearm (as the chick demonstrated in the video) but I never figured that out and would rather use heavier weights in the 3-10 rep range anyway.

Ross Enamait has a good tutorial on building a dumbbell handle out of pipe, friction tape, and hose clamps that I use for unilateral lifting.

Would bang. I also like to use her as an example for women who don't want to lift weights because they don't want to get too muscular. Blows up that bullshit excuse.

delete

Quote: (05-11-2015 12:19 AM)Hades Wrote:  

Quote: (05-10-2015 10:35 PM)Vaun Wrote:  

this attractive skinny girl russian girl is doing almost 100 snatches in 10 minutes with a 22KG kettlebell(-2KG lighter than a 24KG bell . The snatch is a fairly high skilled technical competitive movement. Look at her movement, there is no slamming or smashing down on her wrist. Thats a misnomer by folks that dont actually learn how to swing properly.

Hades, I would agree that its dumb to try it with no training or practice, but it is one of the two main competitive movements in kettlebell sports.

The kettlebell snatch is technical, for sure. I like dumbbells because they're not as technical. It can be done to where it doesn't really slap the back of the forearm (as the chick demonstrated in the video) but I never figured that out and would rather use heavier weights in the 3-10 rep range anyway.

Ross Enamait has a good tutorial on building a dumbbell handle out of pipe, friction tape, and hose clamps that I use for unilateral lifting.

The bell rolls around the wrist, and doesnt flop over or smash at all. If you want to really learn it, spend an hour or two with a real KB coach, and you can learn it easy. Once you learn how to swing properly its more of an endurance exercise than anything else. Its all about efficiency and produces one hell of a workout and strength that can apply to anything. I would liken it to rowing. PM me if you want some coach reco's in your area.

Ross is the man!

Heh. "Donald Pump".
I post the above as a kettlebell fan though.

Didn't expect to see so much hate on kettle bells, I use them regularly for things you can't conveniently do with barbells. Like for example, picking up the hoes..

Quote: (05-11-2015 10:37 PM)Vaun Wrote:  

Quote: (05-11-2015 12:19 AM)Hades Wrote:  

Quote: (05-10-2015 10:35 PM)Vaun Wrote:  

this attractive skinny girl russian girl is doing almost 100 snatches in 10 minutes with a 22KG kettlebell(-2KG lighter than a 24KG bell . The snatch is a fairly high skilled technical competitive movement. Look at her movement, there is no slamming or smashing down on her wrist. Thats a misnomer by folks that dont actually learn how to swing properly.

Hades, I would agree that its dumb to try it with no training or practice, but it is one of the two main competitive movements in kettlebell sports.

The kettlebell snatch is technical, for sure. I like dumbbells because they're not as technical. It can be done to where it doesn't really slap the back of the forearm (as the chick demonstrated in the video) but I never figured that out and would rather use heavier weights in the 3-10 rep range anyway.

Ross Enamait has a good tutorial on building a dumbbell handle out of pipe, friction tape, and hose clamps that I use for unilateral lifting.

The bell rolls around the wrist, and doesnt flop over or smash at all. If you want to really learn it, spend an hour or two with a real KB coach, and you can learn it easy. Once you learn how to swing properly its more of an endurance exercise than anything else. Its all about efficiency and produces one hell of a workout and strength that can apply to anything. I would liken it to rowing. PM me if you want some coach reco's in your area.

Ross is the man!

It might not when you're fresh, but when you're 100 snatches deep the form tends to break down a bit. Throw in a 53 lb kettlebell and it'll cause some problems if you're not careful.

Granted there's risk with everything, but I'd rather use a dumbbell for the same reason Hades was talking about. It's basically the same thing and I can go up in 5 lb increments instead of half poods or whatever.

Wait, are we talking swings or snatches here? KB swings are great, but I still use a T handle.

Did an epic metabolic finisher today.

Overhead carry two kettlebells until your shoulders are screaming.

Then drop the weights to your chest and do a rack carry until you're screaming.