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Recommendations/Reviews/FS/WTB Clubs weight question

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rkoo

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If one wants to start using some kind of clubs, like indian/clubbells/mace, what is a suitable weight?
For single club and doubles?
Also, any particular type of clubs recommended?

I'm thinking combining the mobility they give with some strength gaining. As a variation from the kettlebell that is my main tool.

My level today is simple and sinister with 40 kg working on cutting time.
One arm press is 32kg as 3RM.
40kg for push press and bent press.
 
@rkoo
For clubbells, you are strong enough to handle 20 or 25lbs for most one arm or double (one clubbell in each hand) ballistic drills and 35lbs for most two-handed drills.

However, you are probably better off learning with 15s for single and double drills and 25 for two-handed drills. Even after you can handle heavier clubbells, lighter CBs can still be very useful for some grinding drills where you are at a big leverage disadvantage and higher rep or mobility-focused use.

For maces, 20lbs is probably a reasonable weight that is not too heavy to learn on, but will still give you plenty of use as you progress.

I tend to use my clubbells for a wide variety of drills and a combination of heavier strength training and higher rep training, so a variety of weights is useful. For my maces, I tend to stick with what I consider the two "killer app" mace drills, 360s and 10-2s, and do them for high volume, so I don't feel as much need for a variety of weights.

As to specific clubs, I use the Rmax CST clubs. I haven't tried the Onnit steel clubs, but there are two reasons I don't think I would like them as much. They are shorter than the Rmax clubs for each given weight, and they have a very large knob at the end of the handle. The knob is important because too large a knob will hit your wrist and interfere with your wrist position. This happens to a small degree with the Rmax clubs already and the Onnit knob is much bigger (of course no knob or too small a knob would make the club very easy to drop).

If you get on the Rmax email list, they periodically have 20% off sales.

For maces, I use plate-loadable maces from Strongergrip.com. The plate-loading system is very secure, but a little awkward to use, requiring two different size allen wrenches to change plates. You also need 1" hole plates (pancake style work best; mine are CAP brand). I like being able to change weights without buying a bunch of different maces, but tend to stick with one weight for long periods of time.

I have one with a thicker 40" handle, and one with a thinnner 48" handle that is more like the ShoulderRok (length of the handle only; the overall length including the plates is a little longer). I like the feel of the longer handle, which is longer than the Onnit or IronCompany maces for example and which ShoulderRok promotes as a feature. The problem with the longer handle is that it is too long to use indoors in my house (I'm about 5'10" in shoes). The shorter one is fine for indoor use, but might not be for someone taller.

Hope this helps.
 
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When I took a clubs workshop with Dr. Ed Thomas and @Brett Jones, we learned to move them with light weights and a focus on fluidity of movement. The standard size was one pound, some people used two pounds, and that was about it.

Look him up on YouTube - he's great. Obviously Dr. Thomas' approach is different than what @Steve W. describes.

-S-
 
Obviously Dr. Thomas' approach is different than what @Steve W. describes.

I have the 1 and 2lb Indian clubs and the Brett Jones/Ed Thomas DVD and have played around with them a bit. It's definitely a different approach, although there is also a lot of overlap. I'd say that due to the heavier weights, the clubbells and maces have more in common than either does with the lighter Indian clubs. However, I haven't worked with the lighter clubs enough to give knowledgeable advice about them.
 
While I can speak on neither maces nor clubbells, if you were still interested in the Indian club journey, I feel that irrespective of an individual's physical strength, 1-2 pounds are sufficient for a lifetime of training. While I do own a beautiful pair of 3-pounders (Revolution--love their stuff), I find them a bit unwieldy for doubles work. Not entirely ruling out operator error, though...

As Mr. Freides mentioned, with the Indian clubs, it's about the fluidity of the movement. Think of this particular style of relatively light club swinging as the Yang to the Yin of handstyle heavy lifting, if the analogy helps at all.
 
I use 1lb clubs everyday for 5mins, I do it for maintenance on battered shoulders. They have never felt better, feels like my shoulders have strapping on them. I also have 2&3lb clubs but only use them occasionally. 1lb is perfect for what I'm using them for. I highly recommend Indian club swinging, to me it's os for the shoulders.
 
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