Comments on: Forming a race of Kettlebell supermen!

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:39:51 +0000

The word kettlebell and the phrase “without sweat, discipline or effort!” don’t belong in the same sentence.

I don’t know about you, but when I pick up a kettlebell, it’s hard work! You cannot argue with the results, though. Then again, my lightest kettlebell weighs 12 kg, not 3 lbs, and it isn’t pink. Though I do secretly wish they were pink…

By: micki

micki — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:03:04 +0000

I’ve been using KB’s for about a month now. I have a 10 lb. and 15 lb. (yes, I bought them at target) that I switch off with.
I have to say I love working out this way and it shows in higher energy levels, better sleep,
and a real carry-over when I do other forms of exercise like running/cardio, tabatas, etc…
There are no “instant” solutions, but if a person’s willing to put in the minimum time (I do KB drills just 20 minutes 3 days a week and they kick butt!) there WILL be a definite pay off.
And of course patience pays every time.

By: cmason

cmason — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:13:30 +0000

Leslie – I agree, that they do have some advantages. They’re a valuable tool a lot of people can integrate into their training. My concern, and a frequent theme of this blog, is people losing sight of the big picture because they’re mesmerized by the latest “gee wiz” fads.

Personally if I was stocking a gym I’d prefer to use KBs. There isn’t really anything that I do with DBs I can’t also do with them, but the opposite is not true at all.

The fact that they’re roughly double the price for the same poundage makes me question if the cost is worth it though.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:34:57 +0000

There’s nothing magic about KBs, yes, but shall we then agree that the biophysics of KBs are slightly different than DB/BBells? More specifically, where is the center of mass wrt the palm of your hand?

The more offset the center of mass is, the less leverage you have. The less leverage you have, the less efficient you are, which means the more you have to stabilize, and the heavier a weight “seems” per unit pound/kg.

Magic? No. Efficient, effective, and portable? I’d hazard to say yes.

Then again, Pavel has put the hurt on me in person and perhaps I am a little biased!

@Gubernatrix — swinging a kbell between the legs just seems more natural than pressing a barbell/dumbbell over the head. Perhaps it’s that the kbell swing works the posterior chain strongly whereas it’s not obvious how to load in a similar fashion with barbells/dbells.

By: Gubernatrix - All round strength training

Gubernatrix - All round strength training — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:37:14 +0000

One of the things that has surprised me about kettlebells is their popularity with women. I don’t know why, although I suspect it may be down to astute marketing. I recall that even in the early days there was a DVD specifically targeted at women.

Despite the marketing, what is counter-intuitive for me (and I’m a woman myself) is that women seem to be more keen to swing a kettlebell than a barbell or a dumbbell (or they are happy to use a 12kg kettlebell but not a 12kg dumbbell).

If anyone can explain, I’ll be interested to hear it.

By: Eugene Thong

Eugene Thong — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:17:39 +0000

“To explain, there’s nothing magic about kettlebells as opposed to dumbbells.”

It’s so rare to hear someone admit this – kudos. Hard, consistent effort on quality exercises + sound nutrition = Magic. Whatever your preferred brand of poison.

Nice post.

By: Rayna

Rayna — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:48:41 +0000

I think the only thing a 3 lb kettlebell is good for is a paper weight… or maybe for my cat to do turkish get ups with.

By: Kelly Turner

Kelly Turner — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:36:15 +0000

ooo you know what i love? when the kettlebells are 3 pounds each and bright pink. Cause im a woman, which means exercise is fun if my equipment matches my outfit.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:09:07 +0000

I use Perform Better in class so that’s all I know, but I have had problems with the bottoms being small/rubberized. I banged my knee up pretty good one day and had to stay out of class for a week while doing renegade rows and having the bell roll out beneath me.

By: Son of Grok

Son of Grok — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:01:45 +0000

I have seen the lighter, pink (and other color) kettlebells at Big 5 sporting goods. Dicks probably has them too. I like using my kettlebells. I do a workout with them ever couple of weeks. I like them in particular for swings, turkish get ups, cleans and snatches. Certainly has not completely revolutionized my training and taken over everything creating a vodka chugging, bear wrestling behemoth russian superman though

The SoG