*OFFICIAL* 00T Kettlebell Thread -- Drink the Kool-Aide!

[Blarg]

Yeah, I got that e-mail too. Cool they're finally back. Highly recommended.

Btw, you can now get dragondoor kettlebells on e-bay, for those who don't know. I got mine at steep discounts. Best to watch for a couple weeks and see the general range of prices so you know how much to spend, though. The same bells will be much cheaper every few days, as bidding activity comes and goes.

[SuitedSixes]

A year later . . . is anyone still doing this? Updates? Results?

[AZK]

I probably do 1 KB heavy lifting workout a week, I use them for a few other workouts...I started reading more and more about working out and being fit and what it meant to me and decided that a program like crossfit was more in line with my goals than what I get out of just KB lifting. I sort of went off the deep end and read almost everything they have on their site, at least the nutrition archive which is gold. After reading the other archives I realized I wanted to be fit rather than a weight lifter. So yeah, I use them once a week for a max effort day as a way of changing up my ME routine and I use them when the crossfit metcon workouts call for them or if I just feel like doing them instead of a certain exercise...

KBs are good, but definitely not the end all be all FOR ME. It's important that you figure out what your true goals are. Initially I just thought I wanted to be huge, now I realize I'd rather be fit, defined as of right now as something like being able to run a sub 7 min mile, being able to run a 5k in the mid 20s, bench pressing 1.5x my weight, squatting/dl 2x-3x my weight, eventually being able to do pistols, HSPUs, one-armed pull ups, weighted pulls, weighted dips, etc the list goes on...For me, when it comes to being fit/working out/my health, I'd rather be very good at a lot of things than superb at any one thing and mediocre at the rest. Everyone is different.

[Blarg]

I still do them and love them.

As AZK says, they can't do everything, but there's almost an implication there that KB's, or weightlifting in general, is all about getting huge. It's really not. I've been using them for strength, and don't really care much at all about gaining size. I'd just as soon be "skinny strong" with just enough muscle to look decent, rather than getting my strength from bulk that's both hard to put on and hard to maintain. Strength is far, far easier to maintain, at least for a true ectomorph like me. I have to eat much more than I enjoy or feel comfortable with to gain or maintain much muscle. And more than I consider truly healthy.

So for my purposes, KB's are for strength, as are the other things I do, which is mostly pistols and deadlifts and grip work. I'm happy feeling strong. To keep from feeling unbalanced, I sometimes throw in some punching drills and flexibility work. It's really all about what makes you happy and your own individual goals, and KB's still help me on those very nicely. Importantly, to me, I still find throwing KB's around FAR more fun and challenging than lifting weights. And that keeps me going.

I sold mine off because I took a job that required a lot of traveling, but now I got two 53 pounders and an 88 pounder.

[SuitedSixes]

How did you work up to the pistols? I read Naked Warrior this weekend and am thinking about going through the steps to do that.

I have ordered Russian Kettlebell Challenge and will probably buy my first KB next weekend. I moved a long way away from the gym I belong to, and I think being able to workout at home will allow me to give my best effort.

[Blarg]

Honestly, I still cheat on the pistols. I use a hand or just a couple fingers for balance. Sometimes I need to more than other times.

Naked Warrior is a good read, especially regarding the greast the groove protocol. You can pile on a lot of strength very quickly doing that. It's not super great for mass, but depending on how you respond to exercise and how much you eat, it can add on a bit of size too.

If you buy your first kettlebell, don't get one lighter than the one pood(16 kg/35 pounds) or heavier than 1 1/2 pood(24 kg/53 pounds). You will probably outgrow a 1 pood pretty quickly for all but a very few exercises, but it's by far the best one to learn the moves on, especially the weirder ones like windmills, bent presses, turkish get-ups, and the like. A 54 used right will probably hold you for a while. If you want to increase the weight cheaply, adding jumpstretch bands is a very inexpensive way and very good way to do it.

Also note that you can get kettlebells on e-bay these days, often at big discounts. I got three dragondoor ones that way, which are otherwise very expensive.

[SmileyEH]

Hey guys start a new thread about Kbells in the new Gym Forum!!

[SuitedSixes]

[ QUOTE ]
Honestly, I still cheat on the pistols. I use a hand or just a couple fingers for balance. Sometimes I need to more than other times.

Naked Warrior is a good read, especially regarding the greast the groove protocol. You can pile on a lot of strength very quickly doing that. It's not super great for mass, but depending on how you respond to exercise and how much you eat, it can add on a bit of size too.

If you buy your first kettlebell, don't get one lighter than the one pood(16 kg/35 pounds) or heavier than 1 1/2 pood(24 kg/53 pounds). You will probably outgrow a 1 pood pretty quickly for all but a very few exercises, but it's by far the best one to learn the moves on, especially the weirder ones like windmills, bent presses, turkish get-ups, and the like. A 54 used right will probably hold you for a while. If you want to increase the weight cheaply, adding jumpstretch bands is a very inexpensive way and very good way to do it.

Also note that you can get kettlebells on e-bay these days, often at big discounts. I got three dragondoor ones that way, which are otherwise very expensive.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's actually a store in town that's going to carry KBs, so I'm going to buy from them and avoid the S&H on a 35 pound hunk o' lead.

New Thread in The Gym

[Blarg]

I hadn't even known that forum was up, cool.

[Blarg]

Good call. The shipping can be as much as the bells sometimes.