Kettlebell Showdown: Top Brands Compared

I know I’ve talked exclusively about Dragon Door kettlebells on this blog – and that’s truly because I think they’re the best. I’m not personally biased one way or the other just because I’m an RKC – I just want the best ‘bells. And it’s funny, as kettlebell brand seems to be a kind of sensitive topic for people in the kettlebell community. So I thought I would put together a list of major brands of kettlebells with a few of the good and bad things about each. This list is by no means exhaustive – feel free to leave your opinion on the best kettlebell brand in the comments section. If there are any brands that you like and use that I’ve left out, feel free to point that out as well.

1st Tier Brands: Ader + Dragon Door

It seems that the kettlebell brands most widely used are Dragon Door and Ader – this is just from personal observation and other discussions I’ve seen about this topic.

Dragon Door:

• Generally agreed upon that the ‘bell is more comfortable
• DD ‘bells have a nice, flat bottom that’s great for stuff like renegade rows
• Nicely built and well balanced ‘bell
• For a more detailed review of the Dragon Door ‘bells, click here

Ader:

• Harder to grip, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it
• Generally well reviewed bell and slightly cheaper price than Dragon Door

2nd Tier Brands: Powermax + Apollo

These ‘bells aren’t as good quality and aren’t as well made – they’re also considerably cheaper. Reviews aren’t as good across the board. But, the lower price makes them attractive to some – and if you’re just planning on doing some occasional swings with them – maybe using them for CrossFit workouts or something – they’re probably just fine in all honesty.

• Powermax
• Apollo

Adjustables

This is a new kettlebell breed. The purists like myself would never consider something like this, but for some, it may be a good option. Positives are that one can have only one kettlebell and adjust the weight as you get stronger, switch exercises, etc.

• Bowflex
• Kettlestack

So there you have a review of the different kettlebell brands! Which one is your favorite?

P.S. Our Sacramento Boot Camp uses many kettlebells in our classes, for kettlebell routines that we use visit sacramentobootcamp.net

A ‘Big Five’ Kettlebell Circuit Workout

It’s the end of the workout week, and I’m scheduled for a ‘variety day’ (an active recovery/easy type of workout day – the term ‘variety day’ comes from the Rite of Passage program from Enter The Kettlebell by Pavel, FYI). Just in time for my workout, I get an email from Sandy Sommer, RKC with the daily routine he sends out to his email list. Long story short, I was smoked in less than 20 minutes- so much for the easy day .

I emailed Sandy and asked him if I could share this workout with you all – just because I think it’s awesome. It hits nearly every major muscle group in your body in 20 minutes, and will challenge you no matter what your current fitness level. You’ll need to have mastered the basic five kettlebell drills – the swing, get up, squat, clean and press, and snatch – to complete it:

*Two handed swing – 10 reps
*Clean and press – 5 reps per side
*One hand swing – 10 reps per side
*Clean and rack squat – 5 reps per side
*Two handed swing – 10 reps
*Turkish get up – 2 reps per side
*One handed swing – 10 reps per side
*Snatch – 10 reps per side
*Two handed swing – 10 reps

Complete as many rounds as you can of this circuit in 20 minutes.

Like I said, this workout smoked me. My grip was failing by the end, my hams and glutes were like jello – if you’re up for a challenge and want to add a little variety to your program , give it a go!

P.S. If you are using kettlebell training to lose 10 pounds a month you need to check out lose10poundsmonth.com for diet and exercise tips!

Kettlebell Exercises For Women

I’m going to make a statement that’ll probably ruffle a few feathers, that’s probably a little politically incorrect, that a lot of strength coaches might disagree with … but one that, in my opinion, is a simple truth -

Women have different training needs than men.

Given that roughly 60-70% of my in-person training clientele is female – and has been for the duration of my (nearly) decade – long personal training career – I feel I have enough first-hand experience to make this statement. Here are a few ways a woman’s training needs differ from a man’s:

• Women commonly have different areas of focus (lower vs. upper body, for example)
• Women have different strengths and weaknesses (women will smoke most men when it comes to strength/endurance-type work but will typically lose a pull-up match – or any other test of relative upper body strength – to a man of the same fitness level)
• Women generally have different goals (i.e., most women don’t want to put on slabs of bulky muscle)

So this blog post is all about the best kettlebell exercises for women. I’ll start by explaining how women can benefit from kettlebell training. I’ll cover some common target/problem areas. And then I’ll outline some kettlebell exercises to target these areas along with a full kettlebell workout.

Kettlebells For Women – Benefits

Here are a few benefits of kettlebells that are specific to most women’s fitness goals:

• Fat Loss (kettlebells provide intense fat burning workouts)
• Strength without bulk
• Endurance and stamina (without the running)
• Muscle balance and function (promotes proper body mechanics)
• Boosts metabolism with high rep balistic exercises like swings, cleans and snatches
• Confidence to handle anything that life throws your way!

Specific Target Areas

Here’s a short list of typical ‘problem’ areas for women:

• Midsection/Abdomen
• Hips
• Thighs
• Butt
• Arms
• Back

The Best Kettlebell Exercises For Women

The basic kettlebell exercises hit all of the problem areas I just listed above very effectively. The swing and snatch, for example, work the heck out of your hips, glutes, back, and core muscles. The Turkish get up – as well as the clean and press – are both great for hitting your midsection and arms. And the goblet squat is hard to beat for complete lower body strength and development.

Here are the main kettlebell exercises women should be focusing on learning first – all other more advanced kettlebell drills are built on the ‘base’ of these five:

(For more specific technique tips on each drill, click the exercise name):

• Swing
• Turkish Get Up
• Goblet Squat
• Clean and Press
• Snatch

Sample Kettlebell Workout For Women

Here’s a workout that incorporates everything we’ve covered so far – it’s designed to help you lose fat, build strength without building muscle bulk, improve endurance, and hit those hard-to-target areas like the midsection/abdomen, hips, thighs, butt, arms, and back :

Warm up – foam roll/joint mobility/dynamic stretch

(For exercise pairs – perform each exercise back-to-back without rest, rest for :30 and repeat pair two more times for a total of three sets of each exercise):

Exercise pair 1

Turkish get up – 3 each side
Body row/pull up – 2 reps short of failure

Exercise pair 2

KB lunge – 10 reps each side
Swing or Snatch – 8 reps each side

Workout ‘finisher’

Double kettlebell clean and press – 5 sets of 6-8 reps, heavy enough weight to get 1-2 reps short of failure, 15-20 second rest between each set

finish w/ 5 mins. of static stretching for tight muscle groups

In conclusion, kettlebells are a fantastic training tool for women. They meet specific training needs that many women are looking for and are great for targeting typical female problem areas. Even better, the basic kettlebell moves are all you need to meet all of these goals.

Keep training hard and talk soon -

Forest Vance, RKC II

P.S. For even more exercises, check out these basic kettlebell routines at http://kettlebellbasics.net/2010/05/25/kettlebell-routines/!