all posts post new thread

Kettlebell Body weight and kettlebell steps

Pavel.Kosenkov

Level 5 Valued Member
Guys, what would you say? At body weight of 64 kg, is it reasonable to use 8kg increments (16-24-32), or is it better to go for 4 kg and get some more, making it (16-20-24-28-32)?
Or, to complement a set of 16-24-32, maybe it's better to get a pair of 20's, instead of 20-28?
My OASW weight is 24 for 20 sets of 5.
My TGU is 24 for 5 singles per hand.
I goblet squat my 32 for 15 reps with a pause.
What would you do?
 
Guys, what would you say? At body weight of 64 kg, is it reasonable to use 8kg increments (16-24-32), or is it better to go for 4 kg and get some more, making it (16-20-24-28-32)?
Or, to complement a set of 16-24-32, maybe it's better to get a pair of 20's, instead of 20-28?
My OASW weight is 24 for 20 sets of 5.
My TGU is 24 for 5 singles per hand.
I goblet squat my 32 for 15 reps with a pause.
What would you do?
Do you have any pairs ?
 
Nope, no pairs.
Maybe I am wrong - but using a pair is a different skill set.
Plus - bumping kettlebells is almost unavoidable.
The flip side of the coin is missing out on a double front squat...
 
I’m light as well (68kg) and three years ago the jump from 24 to 32 was too much. I had to get a 28 to bridge the gap.
You never outgrow a bell, even though I am past simple weights I still find the lighter bells very useful for a variety of things.
Also what Don Fairbanks says. You could go the double way…
 
Thanks everyone. I went with 20 and 28.
I think it will give me long term smooth sailing for all the single kettle-bell programs.
Anything beyond 32 kg with the heavyweight around 66kg is a superman level anyway.
My humble goal would be timeless simple, and maybe pressing a 32.
All my bells are from the same brand, ordered online. When the time will come to do doubles - I will get an appropriate match.
However, I don't think I will go that far.
 
Hello,

Guys, what would you say? At body weight of 64 kg, is it reasonable to use 8kg increments (16-24-32), or is it better to go for 4 kg and get some more, making it (16-20-24-28-32)?
I weigh about 62.5 / 63 kg. I use 4kg increments. For TGU, instead of buying different weights, I add ankle weights (same for swings), between 24 and 32.

Simple is perfectly doable. I even went to Solid but with a different programming.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
If you can afford it and have enough space that going with 4kg steps seems the better choice. I don't have a 28kg but i couldn't managed the jump from 24kg Rite of Passage to 32kg RoP. I could only press the 32kg once. But i didn't want to stick with the same 24kg Program for longer. My solution was to just tape two 2kg Dumbell Plates on the bottom. Now i can do RoP with 28kg. This is for sure only a temporaraly solution and i would rather have a normal 28kg Bell. But on the other side i hope to improve fast enough so that i don't need a 28kg bell anymore.
 

Attachments

  • IMG20230113161015.jpg
    IMG20230113161015.jpg
    155.6 KB · Views: 17
I’m not sure how you’d measure this, but does anyone have a better experience with 8kg jumps versus 4kg?

I know there’s the space and money save - but also in S&S there is the talk of a benefit of big jumps between weights beyond that too.

I’ll probably stick to 8kg jumps because of the space and money saving personally.
 
I tried and tried to make the 8 kg jumps, but I ended up preferring 4 kg. My bodyweight is about 95 kg, for reference.

I really like the 4 kg jumps. It also makes it easier if you choose to use percentage of a rep maximum for your programming.

As others have said, though, one must budget one's space and one's finances for basically doubling the number of KBs one plans to own.
For what it's worth, I've been accumulating these things for a long time.
 
Back when "the original company" was the only choice it was 8kg jumps or nothing. With only one choice, we had no choice but to make it happen.

Doubles have done me an incredible amount of good over the years. The double front squat and double swing built a lot of strength for the double clean, double press, double jerk, and double snatch. The strength gains stick around, too: as a youth of 57 (my wife says my age's first digit is irrelevant) I completed the Giant Series with double 32s.
 
I'm a recent convert to the Double Kettlebell Way.

I've been doing a 6 week program of double clean, double press, and double squat with 16kg KBs. Afterwards I plan to do Easy Muscle with the same pair.

Then sometime later in the year I will evaluate my readiness to train with 24kg KBs - so an 8kg jump. I already have a pair of those, so I'm already incentivized to transition to those instead of spending money on a pair of 20kg KBs.

By the time I transition to double 24 kg KBs and complete a multi-week training block with them I should have sufficient data to decide whether to invest in a 2nd 32kg KB or go for a pair of 28kg KBs.
 
Thanks everyone. I went with 20 and 28.
I think it will give me long term smooth sailing for all the single kettle-bell programs.
Anything beyond 32 kg with the heavyweight around 66kg is a superman level anyway.
My humble goal would be timeless simple, and maybe pressing a 32.
All my bells are from the same brand, ordered online. When the time will come to do doubles - I will get an appropriate match.
However, I don't think I will go that far.
Great choice. I'm also around 68k bw and I love my 20ks and 28k. For S&S, I found them most useful for GU progression, rather than swings.

I agree with @pet' - Timed Simple is definitely doable (unless there are medical limitations). Once you own the 32k and are working on compressing rest, you might even find yourself eyeing the 36k. Build more of a strength buffer and reap more endurance with the 32k on test day!
 
Hello,

+1 to @Max Parish
Before doing 40, I really went "by feel" however my idea was to build some sort of "strength reserve":

For TGU, I did up to 20 per side before playing with 36. It built some sort of strength endurance and also permit to drill the technique. For swings, I just reduced the rest, as you wisely mentioned. However, I did not play with the volume (low / medium / high volume). These sessions were longer, but not really more taxing.

I do not know why, but swings are easier to me than TGU. I guess it comes from running and burpees I do on an almost daily basis. That's why I put more attention to them.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Reporting: my bells have arrived.

The handle width is a bit off (20 kg being the thickest somehow, but oh well. It is according to manufacturer's specification). But than again - they were the cheapest one's with a decent finish and quality. And they feel comfortable.

Here they are: powder coated. 4 kg step, 16-20-24-28-32
IMG_20230324_203936915.jpg
 
TGU versus Swing ease or difficulty could be a result of different mobility issues in between individuals. Which is the case for me.
 
Back
Top Bottom