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Other/Mixed Rogue Thompson Fatbells

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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ThorsFavoriteGoat

ThorsFavoriteGoat

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http://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-thompson-fatbells

These seem like a neat idea. Anybody actually tried them? Not seriously considering purchasing these, but I am intrigued by the design.

thompson-fat-bell-web3.jpg
 
Pnigro said:
They're just dumbbells.
Click to expand...
Except that the weigh is evenly distributed in a sphere, so that they lend themselves far better to traditional KB exercises. Otherwise, yeah they're just like dumbbells/barbells/kettlebells/sandbags or any other strength training tool.
 
They claim the design is for "...maximizing optimal performance" but I wonder if that just means you can use a heavier weight and boost your ego.
 
I haven't used them, but I hope too soon. My first honest thought cannot be repeated here, but my first logical thought was that these would be great for some applications. E.g, I do not teach the clean or snatch out right because some people do not like the bruising, and are immediately turned off to KB training. These things might circumvent that problem. Also, the limit to most people's high rep snatches are the hands getting torn up. It seems like the handle would not need to twist inside the hand during snatches, saving the palms for another day; or, using these when the palms are not up to par. Last, if these tools can rack similar to a regular bell, I'll bet the press would feel somewhere in between a bottom's up press and a regular press, due to the spherical design. And yes, they are not dumbbells.

I am wondering if they feel similar in the hinge and the rack, other than that, you obviously can't do 2-h swings with them.
 
aciampa said:
Also, the limit to most people's high rep snatches are the hands getting torn up. It seems like the handle would not need to twist inside the hand during snatches, saving the palms for another day; or, using these when the palms are not up to par.
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Good point about the handle not needing to twist inside the hand during snatches. That's the first thing I thought about when I saw these. The negative aspect of that would be missing out on the dynamic grip strengthening that the handle twisting inside the hand delivers.
 
bencrush said:
Good point about the handle not needing to twist inside the hand during snatches. That's the first thing I thought about when I saw these. The negative aspect of that would be missing out on the dynamic grip strengthening that the handle twisting inside the hand delivers.
Click to expand...

Ben,

I agree with you. I was thinking more for when your hands/callouses need recovery, but your body is still willing/wanting to snatch. For the beginner, it might be a more "comfortable" way to introduce the snatch.
 
Okay, I bit and got a light one for a golf application. That didn't really work out (not yet, anyways). However, failing that, I tried a few snatches with it.
It's much better than a dumbbell, because it doesn't have near as much rotational inertia, so your hands don't suffer at all

I got into "Maffetone snatches" while I couldn't run, and this could be a really good way to just churn out reps (can't switch hands in
mid-air with these, though). Just ordered a 20Kg. Will keep y'all posted
 
Geoff Chafe said:
This is the only useful application of these Dumbbells I have seen.
Instagram post by Matt Vincent • Feb 17, 2016 at 2:59pm UTC
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Awesome. Now that looks like fun.

The more I look into these things, the cooler they look. They're definitely not a replacement for KBs but they look like an awesome alternative to dumbbells.

If I had the space and the budget (and already owned a full set of KBs, a barbell, a bench, squat rack, chin-up/dip station and perhaps a set of indian clubs) I'd get a bunch of these.
 
Interesting toys there. To me, the only drawback is the additional cost. For a 24 kg kettlebell, it is $62.50, for one of these it would be $85.......but they do look like they would have a real world use to them.
 
I don’t know. Throwing them in any way that involves the handle seems an awful idea. The rim kinda taps your wrist in a snatch, and I imagine things would go bad if you let go about the same time that happened.
 
Chrisdavisjr said:
If I had the space and the budget (and already owned a full set of KBs, a barbell, a bench, squat rack, chin-up/dip station and perhaps a set of indian clubs) I'd get a bunch of these.
Click to expand...
If you had all of those things you listed, what would you need the fatbells for?
There's not a single exercise you can do with them that you couldn't do with KBs or the barbell.
Even the throws @Geoff Chafe posted. You can do every of those throws with a KB and arguably some would also be safer with the KB (@simon0596 already mentioned what could happen during the throw with the hands inside the thing).
Of course everyone can do what they want, but you (-> everyone) needs to think about why you do a certain exercise or buy a certain piece of equipment and noone would be able to convince me that there's a justifiable "why" for the fatbells if you already own KBs and a barbell or buy them instead of one of those two tools.
 
My thighs are big enough that I have a hard time with a KB fitting between without squatting. Can't imagine having an even larger diameter even higher up the inverted V :eek:
 
Very true… Luckily, I possess an ape index that even Michael Phelps would envy.

This started out as a (probably) failed golf experiment. However, a few snatches with the little-bitty one showed me the MOI was much smaller than a comparable dumbbell.

I have recently gotten into high reps snatches with my heart rate monitor. Hopefully, this thing will allow me to do this in the house while I watch the kids. I’m pretty sure the grip won’t twist in my hand with this thing (no chalk allowed)

If I’m wrong, I am wrong

 
I'm a powerlifter who has explored kettlebell training while the gyms are closed. I'm a total novice with KBs and have much to learn, though as a beginner I think I am ahead of the curve due to my background. That said, I am here because of two individuals' respect for Pavel:

1. Louie Simmons
2. Donnie Thompson

Everyone knows Louie has tremendous respect for Pavel, but how many know that Donnie has credited Pavel with a huge part of his world record success? Even recently, Donnie said on his Instagram that if he didn't discover Pavel's books/methods back in 2003, he would have ended up just a state record holder that nobody heard of. At 45 years old, Donnie broke the ATWRs for biggest squat (1265) and total (3000) in history. Yet I think he is just as famous for healing and keeping himself healthy, and is still fully functional and lifting heavy today at ~55.

At my current powerlifting gym there are no dumbbells, just fatbells and KBs. I was not in love with this, but I overlooked it because everything else about the gym and setup was A+. However, to my surprise my opinion changed quite quickly, and I now view them as critical to my training. Why? Two reasons:

1. Fatbells feel superior everywhere...wrists, shoulders, every joint basically. By superior I specifically mean there are no parts of my body that feel pain like they otherwise would with equal difficulty dumbbells. So when Donnie talks about less shear due to every infinitesimal point being equidistant from the center, in my experience this is absolutely true. Also, after the gyms closed and I had no equipment, I've resorted to borrowed dumbbells, and right away I noticed pain in my wrists with 20lb dumbbells that I didn't have with 97lb fatbells in my hand. So it just reinforced what I've known for a long time now.
2. Fatbells are harder than dumbbells...somewhere around 10-15% more difficult for the same weight/exercise. So you have to use lighter weight. So I look at it like box squatting vs squatting, where the former is harder and more fruitful despite the lower weight. So the training effect from fatbells is the same...less stress, less load, yet better results compared to dumbbells.

Another big bonus from fatbells is the ability to use them as banded kettlebells on the bandbell/rhinoflex bars. In my experience, this is the most common use of kettlebells in powerlifting gyms (a great use, but sad since they can be used for so much more directly in powerlifting, as Donnie has shown).

As I said in the beginning, outside of tying them with bands to bandbell bars for powerlifting, I am a total novice on KBs. I have just started doing KB cleans and snatches in my backyard, learning from Pavel's book and videos. I have no doubt that fatbells may be sub-optimal for certain kettlebell movements. Someone mentioned that it won't work your grip like a KB, I can foresee that. However, as a powerlifter, I get plenty of grip work, perhaps too much, since I am a hook gripper anyway (I'm sure many here know the last thing a hooker needs to worry about is their grip).

So to summarize, I view fatbells as a vastly superior dumbbell replacement, with the optionality of many (although not all perfect) kettlebell movements. I don't view them as true kettlebell replacements, and given that Donnie still trains with kettlebells, I doubt he does either. But I can assure you these are anything but a gimmick or fad.
 
westsider19 said:
I'm a powerlifter who has explored kettlebell training while the gyms are closed. I'm a total novice with KBs and have much to learn, though as a beginner I think I am ahead of the curve due to my background. That said, I am here because of two individuals' respect for Pavel:

1. Louie Simmons
2. Donnie Thompson

Everyone knows Louie has tremendous respect for Pavel, but how many know that Donnie has credited Pavel with a huge part of his world record success? Even recently, Donnie said on his Instagram that if he didn't discover Pavel's books/methods back in 2003, he would have ended up just a state record holder that nobody heard of. At 45 years old, Donnie broke the ATWRs for biggest squat (1265) and total (3000) in history. Yet I think he is just as famous for healing and keeping himself healthy, and is still fully functional and lifting heavy today at ~55.

At my current powerlifting gym there are no dumbbells, just fatbells and KBs. I was not in love with this, but I overlooked it because everything else about the gym and setup was A+. However, to my surprise my opinion changed quite quickly, and I now view them as critical to my training. Why? Two reasons:

1. Fatbells feel superior everywhere...wrists, shoulders, every joint basically. By superior I specifically mean there are no parts of my body that feel pain like they otherwise would with equal difficulty dumbbells. So when Donnie talks about less shear due to every infinitesimal point being equidistant from the center, in my experience this is absolutely true. Also, after the gyms closed and I had no equipment, I've resorted to borrowed dumbbells, and right away I noticed pain in my wrists with 20lb dumbbells that I didn't have with 97lb fatbells in my hand. So it just reinforced what I've known for a long time now.
2. Fatbells are harder than dumbbells...somewhere around 10-15% more difficult for the same weight/exercise. So you have to use lighter weight. So I look at it like box squatting vs squatting, where the former is harder and more fruitful despite the lower weight. So the training effect from fatbells is the same...less stress, less load, yet better results compared to dumbbells.

Another big bonus from fatbells is the ability to use them as banded kettlebells on the bandbell/rhinoflex bars. In my experience, this is the most common use of kettlebells in powerlifting gyms (a great use, but sad since they can be used for so much more directly in powerlifting, as Donnie has shown).

As I said in the beginning, outside of tying them with bands to bandbell bars for powerlifting, I am a total novice on KBs. I have just started doing KB cleans and snatches in my backyard, learning from Pavel's book and videos. I have no doubt that fatbells may be sub-optimal for certain kettlebell movements. Someone mentioned that it won't work your grip like a KB, I can foresee that. However, as a powerlifter, I get plenty of grip work, perhaps too much, since I am a hook gripper anyway (I'm sure many here know the last thing a hooker needs to worry about is their grip).

So to summarize, I view fatbells as a vastly superior dumbbell replacement, with the optionality of many (although not all perfect) kettlebell movements. I don't view them as true kettlebell replacements, and given that Donnie still trains with kettlebells, I doubt he does either. But I can assure you these are anything but a gimmick or fad.
Click to expand...

So they're better because they're less challenging to the wrists?

That sounds like the exact opposite of what I want in in implement.

I get enough fixed position loading with a barbell -- which is why I clubs, because they force me to make my wrists stronger through multiple planes of motion.
 
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