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Kettlebell Start Kettlebell journey for beginners

Forceberg

Level 1 Valued Member
Hello everyone!

I am a totally beginner of kettlebell and I need a good beginner program to follow.

I have an idea if I should follow Pavel Tsatsoulines workout Simple & Sinister.
What do you think about this?

Here on Strongfirst I have read a little about the workout:

KETTLEBELLS STRONGFIRST: Get Into Your Best Fighting Shape By Pavel Tsatsouline​

Can you recommend this workout for a beginner? Is it a full program to follow or workouts to choose from?

The most important for me right now is to find a beginner workout/ workout program that I can follow for a decent amount of time and then progress and continue to more harder workouts. To learn from the ground and progress.

Thank you!

​

 
also welcome…
As Mark says… find an instructor if you can, or depending upon where you are located SF offers a one day KB course which is worth way more than the money you would invest.
 
Agreeing with the posters before me, I wouldn't really start with the idea of a program. I would start with the idea of learning the movements. Spend plenty of time learning how to do a turkish get up. Learn how to do a good swing. Just learning the exercises properly will build strength. Carry your kettlebells. Carry it suitcase style. In the rack. Overhead.

Depending on your movement background, you might pick them up quickly or it might take time. But take your time! There's no rush.

Going to workshop or working with an instructor will absolutely be worth it, but don't wait, start practicing now and once you can work with someone they will refine your form and help it all come together.

Once you can do the movements comfortably with some weight, then I'd move into Simple and Sinister and spend plenty of time getting strong there.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome and for the information!

If I don't sign up for a workshop (but I will look in to it) is it a good idea to buy the Simple & Sinister book and the S&S video that are advocated here on the Strongfirst website ? To learn the moves in S&S correctly?
I also have a beginner workout video from Caveman training?

I feel I need something to start with directly to get going.

When it comes to Kettlebell I will buy a 12 kg competition bell and a 16 kg. Can this be good for a male beginner that's new to kettlebell and have not workout properly for some years?
 
Forceberg said:
Thanks for the warm welcome and for the information!

If I don't sign up for a workshop (but I will look in to it) is it a good idea to buy the Simple & Sinister book and the S&S video that are advocated here on the Strongfirst website ? To learn the moves in S&S correctly?
I also have a beginner workout video from Caveman training?

I feel I need something to start with directly to get going.

When it comes to Kettlebell I will buy a 12 kg competition bell and a 16 kg. Can this be good for a male beginner that's new to kettlebell and have not workout properly for some years?
Click to expand...
the advice in the S&S book is to buy a 16kg and 24kg. If it were me I would get the 16kg and if it was too heavy to practice the lifts then get a 12kg.
 
Forceberg said:
Thanks for the warm welcome and for the information!

If I don't sign up for a workshop (but I will look in to it) is it a good idea to buy the Simple & Sinister book and the S&S video that are advocated here on the Strongfirst website ? To learn the moves in S&S correctly?
I also have a beginner workout video from Caveman training?

I feel I need something to start with directly to get going.

When it comes to Kettlebell I will buy a 12 kg competition bell and a 16 kg. Can this be good for a male beginner that's new to kettlebell and have not workout properly for some years?
Click to expand...
When I got started, I just used the S&S book and YouTube, but the videos are an excellent option to get teaching if an instructor is not an option.

Other great options are Kettlebells StrongFirst (the BJJ offering) and Iron Cardio. Both are books and videos that are excellent for teaching.

Before suggesting kettlebells to buy ... what is you age, training background, and gender? I had an easy time with swings @ 16kg but I could not do a getup with 16kg. It didn't take long with the 12kg doing getups before I could move up though, but I already had a 12kg and didn't have to buy it as well. Knowing what I know now, there are ways I could have made 16kg work for learning the getup without the need for a 12kg, so for someone who doesn't have any bells it might save a purchase.
 
Forceberg said:
If I don't sign up for a workshop (but I will look in to it) is it a good idea to buy the Simple & Sinister book and the S&S video that are advocated here on the Strongfirst website ? To learn the moves in S&S correctly?
Click to expand...
without knowing more - I think the answer to this question is "Almost Certainly".

My experience with the book
I will advise, I was a complete novice who overlooked things like the shortstop drill, the pendulum swing, and the shoe getup.

my first session, after going through the book, with my first 35lbs. kettlebell, was 100 swings and 10 getups. I warmed up before, and stretched afterward, according to the book.

I was very sore the next day. so sore, that I walked up a ramp instead of stepping over a curb, and I wandered the first floor of my workplace to find the rarely used elevator to the second floor, which was never needed, and I had no idea where it was.

I remember placing my foot on the first step of the staircase I usually took, and pressing, with my foot, only for my body to tell me in no uncertain terms to not continue further.

So, I would say I recovered in the ensuing days and weeks. but it was quite an ordeal at first. I could feel every muscle from my heels to the base of my skull inform me that they will not be participating in the climbing of stairs. It was a unique experience.

while - at some point - you should just get on with it; the book does provide some useful introductions for good form, and things to practice before really digging in. A proper introduction can be in order. so pay attention to the drills, and at least try them out before you Enter the Kettlebell.

as to the Simple and Sinister Video Course...
That said - after a few years of practice in the swing and getup - I found the video series to be informative and valuable. there are small details that are discussed a bit more clearly.

I say to myself, about this purchase, that if a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth? I thought about it, and for myself, not an expert, self-taught; as much as I can ... I think it was well worth the asking price, for me.

At the very least: Film yourself, and compare it to the examples provided. and see how your form compares. Planking at the top of the swing, knees snapping into place. And, Proceeding through all stages of the getup with the shoulders anti-shrugged away from the ears, with confidence and slowness.

I think it's a very good product.
 
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Definitely get the book and video. I've never watched it but there is also an online Kettlebell Simple and Sinister course that would be worth exploring.

Personally, I would start with a 16 and a 24. If you follow the learning progressions correctly and take your time (lots of get ups with shoes, lots of deadlifts with the KB) then the 16 will be more than appropriate to start with.
 
There is also a video course for Simple & Sinister:

StrongFirst: Training Center

<p style="font-size:15px;"><strong>World’s #1 kettlebell program for beginners and beyond—now on video.</strong></p> <p style="font-size:15px;">Take the power!</p>
strongfirst.skilltrain.com strongfirst.skilltrain.com
 
Kettlebells StrongFirst is a more complete system than S&S, and the videos walk you through everything needed to get started. I started with S&S, but if KBSF had existed and I got that first I would have had no problem skipping S&S.

An average male can begin with a 16kg bell. You’ll have to decide whether you’re average based on training history and size, but I have yet to meet a male that can’t learn to swing a 16kg with some training.
 
BJJ Shawn said:
Kettlebells StrongFirst is a more complete system than S&S, and the videos walk you through everything needed to get started. I started with S&S, but if KBSF had existed and I got that first I would have had no problem skipping S&S.

An average male can begin with a 16kg bell. You’ll have to decide whether you’re average based on training history and size, but I have yet to meet a male that can’t learn to swing a 16kg with some training.
Click to expand...
I agree. KBSF is a good course. The first section will suggest 10-15 min practice per lift anyways, on almost daily schedule. So - the beginning will be exactly the same.
The most difficult part is the lifts anyways. If I would start again - I would actually get myself the Enter the Kettlebell recommendation: 16, 20 and eventually 24. But - my bodyweight is 64 kg. And - the most important - I would spend at least a month with a bell that feels light for me, without rushing it.
 
Forceberg said:
When it comes to Kettlebell I will buy a 12 kg competition bell and a 16 kg. Can this be good for a male beginner that's new to kettlebell and have not workout properly for some years?
Click to expand...
I started my first KB training last year Jan and my experience is:
1. If your budget allows, then DEFINITELY go to an SF workshop, and they will help you with a starting weight. ignore the rest of my post as it is a budget journey :)

2. My own journey did not accomodate the budget so I started with a 12kg to ensure that a) I could safely learn the motions, and b) I was ready to dedicate myself to the journey. About 6 weeks later I bought a 16kg KB. these 2 kept me going/learning for the rest of 2022.
3. There is a video on youtube by Pavel_T "Enter the Kettlebell". spend a month on everything he discusses in the first 15 minutes.
EVERYTHING from the first 15 minutes! face-the-wall squat is the BOSS!
4. in my case, I was 100% comfortable with 16kg, and also some double KB work with 12kg+16kg by december, I went for a few lessons and bought a 24kg KB, then bought the S&S v2 and am getting comfortable with it. I had a few breaks in my training regime this year :(

Looking back, I think I should have attended and bought S&Sv2 and bought the 24kg a few months earlier.

There are a few great youtube channels that you can safely follow with a 12or16kg KB:
- Kat from this forum. It looks like she changed her channel toKat's Kettlebell Dojo
- Lebe Stark, and
- Mark Wildman
- also many StrongFirst videos
 
I learnt everything myself (reddit, youtube videos, this forum, etc.) and once i started getting comfortable with the movement i purchased courses from HecG and strongfirst platform to fine tune areas of interest. But if I were to go back and do it, then I would find a coach (even if it is online), and get my form fixed before i start progressing. But if you are a person who enjoys the process of learning, then you have plenty of resources (free & paid) that will help you get to a decent place where you can do most of the movements safely.
 
BJJ Shawn said:
Kettlebells StrongFirst is a more complete system than S&S, and the videos walk you through everything needed to get started. I started with S&S, but if KBSF had existed and I got that first I would have had no problem skipping S&S.

An average male can begin with a 16kg bell. You’ll have to decide whether you’re average based on training history and size, but I have yet to meet a male that can’t learn to swing a 16kg with some training.
Click to expand...
Mind if I ask you a couple questions on skipping over S&S in favor of KBSF?
 
LoneRider said:
Mind if I ask you a couple questions on skipping over S&S in favor of KBSF?
Click to expand...
Sure.

The first half of KBSF is more of an A+A style of S&S, and the videos are excellent. I look at it kind of like S&S 3.0, and then you have s whole second and third program to work through. The videos include so much information about different movements, stretches, breathing, etc. It’s a really excellent product.
 
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BJJ Shawn said:
Sure.

The first half of KNSF is more of an A+A style of S&S, and the videos are excellent. I look at it kind of like S&S 3.0, and then you have s whole second and third program to work through. The videos include so much information about different movements, stretches, breathing, etc. It’s a really excellent product.
Click to expand...
I would also suggest KBSF over S&S.

More program options, great videos, etc.

And Strong and Fit offers it for 50% off on a regular basis as they do with all the other products including BuiltStrong Minimalist and Iron Cardio (I wish I knew this when I bought KBSF last year).

Then you can get another 50-51% off with coupon code: FANEMAIL50 or FANEMAIL51

I got both BuiltStrong Minimalist and Iron Cardio for $20!!
 
Thank you to all of you for help and information!

Just a question so I get it right. KBSF stands for Kettlebell Strong First: "Get Into Your Best Fighting Shape" By Pavel Tsatsouline ?

Does KBSF have a weight progression like the S&S? And does it say what kb weights you should start with?
 
Forceberg said:
Thank you to all of you for help and information!

Just a question so I get it right. KBSF stands for Kettlebell Strong First: "Get Into Your Best Fighting Shape" By Pavel Tsatsouline ?
Click to expand...
Correct.

Forceberg said:
Does KBSF have a weight progression like the S&S? And does it say what kb weights you should start with?
Click to expand...
Yes, there are a variety of recommendations on progressions and weights to work toward before moving to the next program.

Starting weights for men are almost always 16kg and up.
 
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