What stuff are you doing with Kettle Bells at the moment?

Baggio...

Hey,

What size Kettle Bells do you guys/gals use? Previously, I've been using 20kgs but I've just bought a set of two 28kgs from Mick at Irish lifting. Can't wait to start using them...

I'll be using the 20's for conditioning in the future, and trying to use the 28's for strength. Assuming both my arms dont fall off - I'll have to work up to it .

Lee's been coaching me on how to use them, and I've got to say, I much prefer lifting them to just regular weights (personally).

So what are you currently doing with them? Is it more strength or conditioning or both? How do you find them?

Cheers,

Rob.

Charlie3dan

I was trying out some kettlebell excersizes recently but only problem is I don't have any kettlebells. I just loaded up a dumbbell. I know it's not the same but I thought it would give me an idea of how heavy a kettlebell I should buy.

A got a list of excersizes out of a magazine and tried them out. Totally different feeling to your standard dumbbell/ barbell training. The excersizes I did looked like they might be focusing on legs or arms but in fact I was getting a full body workout. I think I engaged some muscles I hadn't used before

I'm going to invest in a couple but it'll be more for conditioning work and I need to decide what weight would be best.

Baggio...

Hey mate,

Yeah I know the feeling... I was the same. It's hard to know what weight to start out with. Personally, I started out with 16s, but I found them a bit light not long after. The twenties did me for quite a while, especially when I varied the routine (I would generally use 2 together after a while where possible). Now I'm going for 28's - I'll probably be like Bender in Futurama.... I'll lift them a few times, and my arms will drop off.

Yeah, it's a totally different feeling from lifting weights. I love the fact that they use the whole body. As you said great for conditioning. The other option is to, is to get those KB handles, and you can simply add more weight when you need to.

Also, if you get a chance to get someone to show you how to use them it will make all the difference. Originally I was like yourself, following magazines and web articles, etc. I only started to get my head around them when I got proper instruction form Lee (not that I'm an expert by any means).

Cheers,

R.

Monty Sneddon

I started with 16's but after a while they got a bit too light, so I decided to jump in and bought myself a 32kg.. It was great and still is actually, especially for high rep endurance work.

After a while of the 32 I bought myself a 40kg kettlebell and used it primarily for strength. Recently I've attached two 2.5kg plates to the bottom to take it up to 45kg and I intend to work with this for a while. One it gets too easy, which I expect to take a long time, I'll just keep adding 2.5kg plates to the bottom of it to up the weight...

Baggio...

Hiya Monty,

That's a good idea about attaching more weights to the bottom of your KB. What do you think of the KB handels? Do you think they'd be worth getting?

Cheers,

R.

Monty Sneddon

I've not tried them to be honest, so I can't really comment. They seem like a good idea, but until I tried them I couldn't really tell...

If they were any good, they'd certainly save you money right enough..

Baggio...

Cool... I've only used them once or twice when I was over in Southampton.

They seemed pretty good, but I found that they were quite hard on the old forearms. So for now, Ill prolly stick with the KBs. Might be something I'll look into in the future tho'.

R.

Dylan Scally

I'm doing double cleans and presses with 40kg bells down at my gym,I have a pair of 48kg's and a pair of 60kg bells coming in august.

Baggio...

Dylan Scally wrote: »

I'm doing double cleans and presses with 40kg bells down at my gym,I have a pair of 48kg's and a pair of 60kg bells coming in august.

Nice one mate!!

I'm now thinking after what you guys have been saying, that the next one I should buy might be the 40kg. But in all honesty, it will take me a good while to work up to that.

Monty Sneddon

Dylan Scally wrote: »

I'm doing double cleans and presses with 40kg bells down at my gym,I have a pair of 48kg's and a pair of 60kg bells coming in august.

If I could ask, how much did the 60kg kettlebells cost and where did you get them? I've had real trouble finding anything over 48kg and it would be good to know where I was able to get really heavy kettlebells when the time comes. You can only attach so many 2.5kg plates before it gets a bit unwieldy..

Cheers.

Baggio...

I'm now thinking that those KB handles might not be such a good idea in the long term. Well, that's if you wanted to lift very heavy weight. Putting 40kg plus on a handle would probably be very awkward to use. Just from what I've seen anyway... but there may be a better solution out there - I'm still new to the KB scene to be honest.