kettlebell technical article - choosing a kb · kettlebells’’...
TRANSCRIPT
Kettlebells Good Things to Look For when selecting a Kettlebell
Terminology:
• The ‘Bell’ part of the Kettlebell is the usually round in shape and is the part that looks like a cannonball. The bell is the area where the majority of the weight is housed.
• The Handle is the horizontal section above the bell, which can be straight or slightly curved, and is held by the user with either one or two hands.
• The two Horns connect the Handle to the Bell, and again may be straight, slightly curved, vertical or at a slight angle.
Choosing a well-‐designed bell will make it easier to learn the correct positions and techniques for many of the drills, whilst a poorly designed bell will make it virtually impossible to acquire the correct skills for the Clean, Press, Squat, Snatch, Turkish Get Up and variations of these. Handle Length A long handle will make it very difficult and uncomfortable when performing Cleans and Snatches. Although it may not make as big a difference on exercises like the 2 Hand Swing, it’s better not to choose a bell that is only good for a few drills. You should be able to comfortably hold the handle with one hand, with a very slight gap between the little finger and the end of the handle. This length of handle will be ideal for Cleans, Snatches, Jerks and Presses. When holding the handle with two hands, you should find that the little fingers and maybe the ring fingers do not really grip the handle. If you can get both hands fully on the handle, then it is too long. Horn Length The horns connect the handle to the bell, and will dictate the gap between the two. This is quite important since if this gap is too small it makes it virtually impossible to achieve correct technique with many common drills -‐ Snatch, Press, Turkish Get Up and the Clean. This is because when holding a bell with a short horn in these drills the bell will end up sitting between, or near, the condyles (bony prominences) of the wrist/forearm.
This is quite uncomfortable, so people will subconsciously cock their wrist into an extended or hyper-‐extended position so that the bell sits lower on the forearm with more muscle 'cushioning'. With the wrist in a straight position, the bell part of the Kettlebell should sit more on the fleshy part of the forearm just below the wrist. Some of the more angular-‐shaped horns are particularly bad for this and I would recommend trying a few repetitions of exercises such as the Clean or Snatch for wrist comfort before purchasing a Kettlebell. If the handle is too long then the horns will usually be quite long and will stick out at quite an angle, making it easier for you to recognize this. Size of Handle Choose a handle that is a comfortable diameter for the size of your hand. Although Competition Kettlebells will have a uniform handle size for all weights, some of the Fitness Style Kettlebells will have slightly thicker handles for the heavier weights of 16 or 20kg upwards and slightly thinner for the 12kg and below. Excessively thick handles, although great for hand and forearm strength and endurance improvements with drills like the Farmers Walk, will cause your forearm muscles to fatigue too quickly during repetitive Swings or Snatches and can be counterproductive. Handle Texture A cast iron handle should have a slightly grainy texture to it, allowing the user to get a good grip when performing certain drills. Although the Kettlebell doesn’t need to gripped rigidly for many drills, it is for some (such as the Bottoms Up Clean, aka Pistol Grip) and for the other drills, such as the Swing and Snatch, we don’t want the handle to slip out of the loose grip. Some Kettlebell designs have a very prominent ridge on the underside of the handle. This will be somewhat inconsequential for certain exercises, like the Press, Squat and the Swing, but for two of the key drills -‐ the Clean and the Snatch -‐ the handle will have to rotate through around 180 degrees through a loosely held grip. This ridge can cause excessive discomfort, blistering and calluses forming as a result. There are some Kettlebells with knurling (the criss-‐cross patterning effect that is seen on Barbells and Dumbbells), but these should be avoided. For drills where the Kettlebell is relatively static, such as a Press or Windmill or Turkish Get Up, this isn’t an issue. However for all dynamic drills – Swings, Cleans, Snatches etc – it is critical that the handle rotates within the palm. A coarse surface is fine but knurling is designed to grip and a Snatch or Clean with a knurled handled Kettlebell will just rip the skin from your hand. Although you can perform a Snatch or Clean with a knurled handle Olympic bar, the difference is that the bar doesn't spin within the grip, but on the bearings instead.