Best products from r/kettlebell

Practical gift, reasonable price: Grip trainers. Grip is often the limiting factor in kettlebell movement. A little extra grip training plus kettlebells can develop a lot of hand strength. The local sporting goods store's selection probably tops out at 80-90 pounds of force to close, and a man who can swing a 62 pound kettlebell will find that pretty easy. Ironmind is the best brand, I stuck some Heavy Grips in my wife's amazon shopping cart as a hint.

In a pinch, if there is an REI near you, they carry a big selection of grip trainers for climbers. Climbers train fingers and wrist more than just the crush grip that kettlebells use, but that is extremely useful in life.

By the way, your father is a badass. Not many men whose kid is old enough to buy a serious gift make significant changes in their fitness and strength. A 62 pound kettlebell moves fast and generates a lot of force. It is above average to have the ability to physically handle that in middle age, but the mental toughness to develop that capacity at a point when it isn't physically easy marks him as a true badass.

I've used a lot of different cast iron kettlebells and my experience with them has been that you get what you pay for.


I have a 35lb CAP powder coat sitting on my desk right now that will get included in the next iteration of my ongoing kettlebell review, and for what it cost me I could have purchased a much nicer Rep Fitness kettlebell or even a Kettlebell Kings kettlebell currently on sale. The finish on the CAP bell isn't as clean as either of the other two brands and the coating is considerably rougher. I expect this bell will tear up my hands a bit on high rep work.

I also have a 35lb Titan Fitness kettlebell I just bought, and even though it only cost $43 shipped, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The finish is sloppy with prevalent seams and burrs on the handle, the coating is unevenly applied, and it wobbles badly when placed on a flat surface. It's so bad that I had to reach out to Titan's customer service to confirm what I got was actually a legitimate product and not a knockoff. I've not yet heard back from them on this yet, but I'm likely going to send it back either way.


I've got a 16kg Yes4All kettlebell on the way, which cost me $40 shipped. I don't have high hopes for it, but if it does happen to surprise me with the quality then I'll update this comment accordingly.


Many people will say "it's just a hunk of metal with a handle, who cares if it's cheap". To some extent that's true, and if you don't use it often then a cheap kettlebell will likely fit your need. However, my view is that anyone serious about training with kettlebells should invest in quality tools. This applies to any training regimen you're serious about. Does a serious runner wear cheap shoes? Will a serious golfer buy cheap clubs?


If you're looking to save some money but still invest in some quality kettlebells, take a look at Rep Fitness or Fringe Sport. Both of them are making good quality kettlebells at reasonable prices.

You may also want to take advantage of the sale Kettlebell Kings is running on Amazon right now, since you can get many of the most common sizes for $10-20 cheaper than the same product on their website, with free shipping.

Definitely do! I made mine from some strong but cheap duffel bags, since I hated the thought of spending $100 on a duffel bag with fancy handles that I wouldnt use sewn on.

I contacted a company asking them if their bags would hold 50 and 100lbs. They sent me a couple and said "here, test them out." That was over a year ago. Probably closer to 2 years ago. They've held up.

This is the bag that I have loaded up with 85lbs of rubber mulch, and the 12x24 version feels good at 43 but I probably could push to 50 and still maintain some floppy feel. Not to be a shill, but these guys are awesome and the bags are great, especially for the price (sub $20, I've also got their large bag to hold my gear when I go to clients houses, and it will easily hold 100+lbs, but its about the size of a punching bag)

One thing I will say is that the bag won't hold up to being dragged over rough surfaces. It heats up too much and makes the fabric brittle. Throwing/Tossing/General workout though they've been great. I started with a mix of rubber mulch and gravel but switched to entirely rubber mulch - it doesn't leak, if it does it doesn't make a mess, and it is way more comfortable to toss around than gravel.


Not saying bags are better or worse than KB's. They've all got their place in my gym, equally. The bags let me do some things that my shoulder injuries prevent me from doing with a KB.

My guess - and please accept my apologies if I'm wrong - is that you're after fat loss primarily.

With fat loss will come weight loss. And that is all about diet. It's do to with the quantity and quality of what goes in your mouth.

KBs - and I think most exercise - are great at speeding the process up, as you're using more energy. What KBs also do brilliantly well is strength gain. But being stronger, means you have more muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. So you might find there's a period of time doing KBs when you slim down significantly - fat loss - but the scales don't move by as much as you thought. I loved this stage, but it was a bit frustrating. That having been said, needing new clothes because my trousers were falling off me, was a great feeling.

I'm now seeing muscles go on, and weight drop. Happy days.

I've said it before on here, a great reference guide is Fat Loss Happens on Monday. A combo of fat loss and KB workouts.

But I'd strongly recommend getting a highly qualified trainer to work with. Even if it's only initially on movements.

The snatch, in particular the viking warrior protocol, really hits your nervous system hard. The explosive, complex movement requires a strong burst of nerve activity to activate all those muscles.

This ties into mood via polyvagal theory. In particular, vagal tone. Yoga helps people relax by using breathing patterns and movements to improve vagal tone and thus emotional regulation ability. Snatch is kind of the opposite. Possibly some yoga-ish cool downs could help, certainly after a lot of snatches it is important to do something to help calm down. I've found Trauma Release Exercises to be helpful for that.

If there's a gym like the others said, then that will be your best option (Especially if dumbbells are available for modified kb work).

The best alternatives when there's no gym for when I do travel, is either bodyweight/calisthenic exercises or (my favorite), bringing resistance bands. I picked up one of those MMA bodylastic band sets that come with all the extra handles/limb-torso/door attachments, and you can get an unbelievably powerful workout with those. I like using the bands in general with different workouts just because of their broad application...

Here's the resistance band set I was talking about from the vendor on amazon: (~$100, now - was about $30 more when I bought it a few years back and still going) : http://www.amazon.com/Bodylastics-Resistance-Stackable-components-Bodylastic/dp/B005NADBXK

If anyone does some extensive traveling between hotels/etc, those bands are well worth the investment. These will fit into any travel bag perfectly... you don't need to bring all the bands/accessory attachments with you either for space and/or personal reasons.

I am by no way an expert, but here are my two cents. I spent a couple of months learning workout 1 of Iron Core Kettlebell. Once I was able to finish the workout with out feeling like I'd been kicked down a flight of stairs I switched back to doing 5x5.

However, I didn't want to lose my ability to do the kettle bell work. My compromise was to do 5x5 twice a week (T,Th), and do the kettle bell workout once a week (Sat).

This compromise slowed my 5x5 progress (adding 10lbs a week instead of 15lbs), but I was also able to maintain the "functional" strength I got from kettlebell. If I was a young guy over in /r/fitness I probably wouldn't be willing to lose the gainz. But as an older desk jockey with the understanding I'm trying to improve my life, not just get bigger, I've been happy.

I'm now going to take another 2ish month break and learn the 2nd workout from Iron Core Kettlebell.

get a 16kg kettlebell to start with; the CAP brand linked isnt the best but its a decent & cheap starting bell. I started with the same bell, but don't really like the smooth finish on them, so once you are ready to move up in weight i would look to other brands.

Buy a copy of Pavel's Simple & Sinister book and follow the program. It is a great easy to follow program consisting of daily swings and Turkish Get Ups.

As for diet, try and eat "clean"; meals cooked mostly at home with known ingredients consisting mostly of proteins, veggies and some fat to keep you full between meals. Splurge with some potatoes or rice every now but don't over do it on the carbs.

to keep on track you could enter your workouts into a daily journal or log them into fitocracy. It is great to see your numbers improve as the weeks go on.


Edit: i forgot to mention S&S takes roughly 30minutes of your time daily, so discipline wise there is no excuse that you don't have time to squeeze in a workout

I've only ever bought Diamond Pro bells for my personal gym. You can get them from Walmart.com and Jet.com, free shipping and returns. Prices are very competitive. I'm also 99% sure that they're the exact same bells as Onnit, Cap Barbell, and Rep Fitness.

Diamond Pro, 24kg, $59 US, Jet.com

Onnit, 24kg, $85 US, Onnit.com

Cap Barbell, 24kg, $91 US, Amazon.com

Rep Fitness, 24kg, $100 US, Amazon.com

You'll find a lot of love here for Diamond Pro. Affordable, sufficient quality, and decent texture (spray on truck bed liner).

Check YouTube for some StrongFirst or RKC swing videos. Karen Smith has some great instructional videos.

Hinge, do not squat. Look at your hips in the video. Your hips are dropping down, your knees are bending and traveling out over your toes. What you should be seeing is:

1. setup with the bell out in front of you. You should be looking straight down on the handle once you bend over (also a hinge). Your arms should actually be angled from your head/shoulders a few degrees towards the top of your head, not straight down, when you grip the bell. Grip the floor/ground with your toes. From here, use your lats to pull the bell towards your hips, hiking it up to your butt like an American football. This should load up your hamstrings for the hip snap. One movement, not two small swings.
   
   
2. Once the bell has reached it rearward most motion, it's time to snap the hips into your forearms. You want to mimic the vertical jump motion. This is all in the glutes and hamstrings. Contract them hard and forcefully. This will put the bell into it's forward/upward motion.
   
   
3. The bell will swing up and out on its own. Keep your shoulders in their sockets.
   
   
4. Your arms do not lift the bell - they are just ropes, straps or whatever that attach the bell to your body. This is all hips, but your back will get some work. Don not shrug up with your shoulders or use your arms to lift the bell. If you think you might be using your arms, loop a towel through the handle of the bell and swing the bell gripping the towel. If your arms do not stay in alignment with the towel throughout the swing, you're doing something wrong.
   
   
5. The hip snap should end with you standing upright. The bell should come to the top and float for a short bit before beginning the downswing. Be sure to squeeze your glutes hard at the top of the swing. Try to cramp them. This protects your lower back. Do not lean back. Your body should form a vertical straight line and your arms should also form a straight line with the bell at somewhere between waist to shoulder height. I prefer my swings to come up chest high at a minimum.
   
   
6. You can either passively allow the bell to come down, or, for a bit more of a challenge, you can use your lats and abs to pull the bell down. Stay upright until the bell is almost straight down. Your wrists/forearms should be just brushing your groin when you punch the hips back (pretend there is a heavy bag behind you and you are trying to punch it) and allow the bell to continue back to the hike position. Keep your eyes forward - do not look back between your legs.
   
   
7. Once you get this, you'll see in your next video that your hips will be moving back and forth as opposed to up and down. Your knees will bend only to accommodate your hip punch (back) and snap. Your shins should remain nearly vertical throughout the movement.
   
   Personally, I would ditch the gloves as well. However, if your work requires a lack of callouses on your hands, I understand. You might want to try these. They are not as thick and give you a much better feel for the bell while still offering grip and protection.

I own three of the CAP powder coated kettlebells. Link. I've had them for 2.5 years for my two oldest, one 35 lb and one 44 lb, down to 6 months for my newest one, another 44 lb.

I can't speak highly enough of them. I got them from Amazon where the prices fluctuate wildly with regularity so by watching and waiting I was able to snag them one at a time as the prices dropped. Oddly enough I actually managed to get one of the 44's for a few dollars cheaper than the 35 because of this. Free shipping with Amazon Prime and their good overall user reviews is what sold me on them.

The handles are all ground smooth. No burrs or rough spots. The powder coating has held up well and only shows wear on the bottoms since I use them on the bare concrete floor of my garage. Photos of wear. The powder coating provides for a nice grippy handle but I still use a chalk bag for a more secure hold for when my hands get sweaty.

I will absolutely buy another powder coated CAP if the price is right and I would recommend anyone like me looking for a lower cost alternative give them a shot. In my own personal experience these don't deserve the poor reputation they seem to generally have on this sub.

if it works for you without trashing your palms it s ok. once you get more active with the bells you would need to consider to invest in procuring something similar to what Kettlebells USA or Kettlebell King sell as their competition stile. Apart from this my most favorite are the kettlebells from Ader, who you could purchase from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ader-Pro-Grade-Intl-Kettlebell-12KG/dp/B01IC94HYU/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=kettlebells%2Bader&qid=1569776952&sr=8-2&th=1

It's meant for people who subscribe to my newsletter, which gives you some tips, free coupon, and feedback on your form, so if you want that part go to tiny.cc/learnkettlebells
Also happy to answer any questions here.

P.s. If you need a bell you can get them on my site:
Canada http://www.bellsofsteel.com/absolute-beginners/
USA: http://www.bellsofsteel.us/pro-grade-kettlebells
Or on amazon:
Ladies Canada http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00M4M2S9S
Men Canada http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00MAPWDNU

Men Canada http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MAPWDNU
Women Canada http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M4M2S9S
Edit: Added product links.

Never tried TRX, but all my kettlebells are Rep fitness and I've been very happy with them. The 24kg is $10 less than the TRX

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NLS0NOG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sOPAzbK7V81DH

I bought a 40# CAP brand kettlebell through amazon a few weeks ago and it was free shipping. I think it still applies. They're a good quality too. The price is about the same as Christian's fitness factory.

A car part??? that's insane I would definitely ask for a refund. My scuffs weren't too bad, i got this spray paint to fix them, it matches the finish perfectly. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QD7J7I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Amazing, in terms of the kettlebell itself, would This do the trick? Just thinking about shipping what with me being in the UK.

How long do you think before I'd start to see a difference?

I was searching amazon today and they had the Rep KBs that looked good and got high reviews. I also have prime so free shipping.

This guy puts them just below Kettlebell Kings but above Rogue and here is the amazon link the pricing looks decent.

https://www.amazon.com/Shock-Awe-Protocol-Kettlebell-Training-ebook/dp/B00FP1YFEQ/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=kettlebell+program&qid=1565310893&s=gateway&sr=8-4

And its on free if you have prime.

Also whilst I have you here, any views on this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bodymax-16kg-Kettlebell-Cast-Iron/dp/B000RGPAHA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2PDPOIT0KAZIS&coliid=I8SNHXS6E1NOZ

Non competition regular cast. Good reviews.

the 16kg/35lb cap kettlebells are very good, i suggest starting with one bell

that was my first kettlebell (then i bought a second one), i've had it for two years and i used it mostly for my hiit workouts

smooth handle, easy to grip espcially if you're new

These guys http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003J9HKYI?pc_redir=1397060485&robot_redir=1