Hi guys. I am refining a prototype for a new kettlebell. It has variable weight (removable segments) and an integrated rep counter / timer. What other features would you wish for to make your kettlebell training more efficient and/or fun?
Let me know, would be glad to develop something for the community.
BR
Olivier
HI Olivier, Thanks for asking. It's a fun thing to brainstorm on. I would warn you that people here are both you best and worst customer. The best because we are all in on kettlebells. The worst, because most of us have shelled out for all we could need and further have grown attached to the particular one's we've worked with. A bit like a hunter might favor his rifle.
That said, I would be asking how can I enhance the things that make a kettle bell special.
Acceleration
A kettle bell is for ballistic, explosive training. I can't think of anything better for that purpose. If you can make even better, that would be a big deal. I believe there is a big opportunity for a bell that give real-time audio feedback to improve explosiveness:
Audio accelerator for biofeedback - For most ballistic lifts you can get a lot stronger a lot faster if you are paying attention to how high and fast the bell moves after you've given it the impulse. It would be interesting to make this biofeedback more fine grained with sound that revealed the realtime acceleration of the bell. For one it would allow you to improve segments of your pull separately. In its simplest form it would simply make a noise that got louder and/or higher with higher acceleration. I would guess that an audio method that revealed the change in direction of the velocity would also be helpful. Note that the measurement does not have to be accurate, but it should be precise, and realtively accurate. That is giving me and correct intuitive feel for where the bell is accelerating more and less.
I would happily purchase a version of this that I could attach to my bells today.
Achievement
In addition the engineering difficulties another reason people may not like the adjustable kettlebell has to do with a positive aspect that is brought about by it's lack of adjustability. There tends to be only 1 or 2 you need to work with at at time, so you spend a lot of quality time with the same bell. They tend to get anthropomorphized, maybe painted, maybe named. Then at some point it's just too light and you are forced/get to buy a newer heavier one. The one you don't use so much is like an old friend and the new one it like a trophy you are trying to earn. This is quite a virtuous cycle for a piece to strength equipment.
I wonder in what ways you can bring this experience to the adjustable kettlebell user?
- Extreme version - maybe plates go on, but they don't come off
- Perhaps the plates together form some kind of vizual, that reveals itself as you fill the bell, like an old set of VHS covers.
- If you've got a rep counter, and can recognize how much weight is on the bell -maybe a Star or a pip appears on the handle when 10,000 reps have been logged with each additional plate.
- If you've got an accelerator AND get sophisticated with the machine learning, the bell might be able to give feedback on the form. In this case the bell could "graduate you" and allow another plate.
A couple other things that may be interesting
- Adjustable/replaceable handle - For grip training purposes it would be nice to have a set of thicker handle, perhaps working in 1/2 inch steps up to 2.5 or 3 inches. I throw fatgrips on mine at times. It would be nice to have something that felt like a solid part of the bell that could be swapped out.
- A handle that could be loosened to rotate would be nice for cardio snatch sessions.
- Progressing past a 32kg for upper body movements takes a large increase in the forearms ability to handle the weight of the bell. A bell that allowed for adjustable width would allow me to put more stress on the forearm with a lighter weight and work through that difficulty.
Hope something in there is helpful!
