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Kettlebell Your Pile of Bells

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I own:

1 - 24kg
1 - 32 kg

However, I work at a gym that has 4 of each KB from 5 lbs - 50 lbs. Therefore, even though I hate that they are not weighted in kg's, I have access to double 16's (close enough to 35 pounds) and double 20's (45 pounds is one extra pound). This currently works well for me as the 24 is my 5-6 RM for my stronger right side and 2-3 RM for my strong left side in my MP (see what I did there), so don't need anything heavier. Swings/Get Ups/Goblet Squats with the 32, Clean/Press/Snatches with the 24. Any doubles work I am still on the 20's. When this increases I'll have to buy myself another 24. One day when I really feel like getting my 1/2 BW Press I might have to splurge for a 28 but we'll see.
 
Rep fitness:
1 - 8kg
1 - 12kg
1 - 24kg

Yes4All (cheap and nasty):
1 - 16kg

I am happy with the Rep fitness bells, the other not so much, but it was my first bell.
 
@ Harald Motz - "A bell can not be so cheap and nasty, that it has the right, to be lifted in a cheap and nasty way..."

So very true Harald. While the iron lifted might not be the best example the iron inside must be true to form. Very nice collection btw.
 
@Harald Motz , this is one hell of an arsenal! Props to you for you kettlebells and for what you're able to do with 'em (I haven't got a YouTube account but watch a lot of videos and yours are among my favourites)!

I'd like to know from anyone who's ever used competition bells if they are worth the investment.

Reading from another Italian forum, people seem to go all in the same direction: once you try competition bells, you'll never go back. It seems like they're (obviously) not only indispensable for GS which I'm not interested anyway (at least at the moment), but better for hard style practice too. My concern is bell size. I have a somewhat small frame, even if I'm of medium eight at 1.75 mt, which would riughly be 5'10'' if I'm remember correctly, and feel like the diameter of my 32 kg hard style kettlebell is near the maximum size I can handle before having to open my legs too much during one armed ballistics, let alone double work. As I wrote on my previous post, I intend to go up at least till the 48 kg bell in the next year or so, and I'm very concerned about bell size. I have full access to the 40 and 48 kg hard style bells I'd buy, but not to the competition bells. Bottom line is: both size and price are an issue, but given the fact that the 48 could come in the somewhat distant future I'd have no problem investing more money in something better.

In one of my favorite videos, Stefan Lofstrom that I believe is also a member of this forum and has a frame almost identical to mine (although with WAAAAAY stronger muscles), uses a competition bell to complete Sinister and it seems to me it "fit" him perfectly.

Sorry again for the long post... I have a problem with writing! :D
 
My 24 and 32kg bells are competition bells, I like them. They have their pros and cons compared to a cast iron bell, for one handed work with my small hands they are a bit uncomfortable compared to cast iron bells. The cast bells with a bigger diameter handle that's also curved on top is just more ergonomic for me when I do TGU's or MP's etc.

Snatching the competition 24 kg bell ripped up my hands in record time when I first tried doing them with it, the smaller handle on them really needs a relaxed grip. It took me a while to adapt to that after snatching a 20 kg cast iron where I'd developed a habit of over gripping the handle without causing too much damage.

For two handed swings the comp steel bells are hard to beat, my hands fit better between the horns and it doesn't aggravate the old hand injuries I'm carrying in both hands as much as the smaller handled cast bells.

For lifts where you hold the bell by the horns (Halos & Goblet squats ect.) the competition bells are bit tricky because of the way the horns taper out where they meet the bell. I prefer the cast iron bells for anything where the bell is upside down and held by the horns
 
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I only have 16 kg, 20 kg, 24 kg, 30 kg and 40 kg bells. Shown in avatar. 24 kg bell has thickest "horn" and 40 kg bell was on sale for only 20 €.
 
@Frank_IT
I started out with comp bells and switched to cast iron, after I got to work with DD bells at my 1day course. I prefer cast iron for everything and only practice snatches with a comp bell, but this will change once my form gets better.
Double KB work already feels very weird to me. 16s are good and 24s are kind of okish, but 32 and above is super awkward (of course that's for my body, could be different for you). The comp bells are all the size of cast iron 32s, so with them even double work with 16s or 24s would provide the same awkward feeling and obviously from my standpoint that's a bad thing. On the other hand never having to adapt to different sizes can be a positive thing.
I can see the benefits of having a beast comp bell, because e.g. racking a cast iron beast could be difficult because of it's size.

For two handed swings the comp steel bells are hard to beat, my hands fit better between the horns and it doesn't aggravate the old hand injuries I'm carrying in both hands as much as the smaller handled cast bells.
IIRC in another thread you said that you have small hands, right? Mine are above average I guess (glove size 10) and I can't fit my pinkies inside the horn when using comp bells. This weakens my grip and feels weird. I don't have that problem with cast iron bells. For me this is the biggest reason why I use cast iron.
 
@Kettlebelephant

Yes I do have quite small hands, my pinky finger on each side gets a bit of an overlap over my ring finger on a comp bell for a double handed grip but it's just a lot more comfortable for me than gripping a cast iron bell.

I've had some serious hand injuries though, where bones were broken and cartilage was extensively damaged. So for me a few small changes can be the difference between intense pain the next day & my normal level of discomfort.

As crazy as it seems, if I get the grip right and perform a repetitive ballistic lift it seems to be beneficial. It's a bit of a pump/flush scenario - the joints separate and flush the area with fresh blood. If I get it wrong it hurts like hell the next day.
 
I have 2x8 kg (my wife's), 2x16kg of different branding (one was bought on the road, to train ROP while staying at the hotel), 1x25 kg, 1x32kg as a necessary addition during S&S, 1x40 kg (because I wanted to have one before I turned 40, and having the next size around is a good motivator). I only swing the last two, at the moment.
KB-collection.jpg
@Pavel Macek . Yes, there is a pink kettlebell in this picture. :)

I bought 2x24kg, that I drag with me during the week to be able to do Brett Jones SFG prep program, along with a 16 and the 32. I wonder if the personnel of the hotel, where I am every week, found a nickname for the weird guy who stocks big iron balls in the room (24, 24, 32 below. I had just put the 16 back in the car).
KB-in-hotel.JPG

Even though I use mainly 24 and 32, I was surprised to see that I still have a lot of use for the 16s.
 
@Frank_IT I believe the diameter of a comp bell is roughly the same as a 32 kg. This is true for all weights, even the 48 kg, so if you ever want to progress to a 48 kg but feel that the larger diameter of a cast iron would be awkward, then you may want to consider comp bells for weights above 32 kg. If you have small hands, same advantage as all comp bells have a 35 mm diameter handle (used to be 33 mm).

But if you are not interested in GS I don't know that it would be worth spending extra on comp bells, especially if the price difference is large. Having said that, I really like my comp bells, I am interested in GS, and I found a seller here in the U.S. where the price of their comp bells is actually lower than most sellers' cast iron. But they don't ship internationally so you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the lower price.

EDITED TO ADD: Your math was a bit off; 1.75 m is just under 5' 9". I'm 5' 8" so 1.73 m and I have short legs (I'm a natural squatter). But I'm very stocky, so I'm short but wide. Double KB does get a bit awkward for me but I've never had a problem with a single KB.
 
I've multiple pairs of every size from 10lbs to 48kg.
At home I keep a 12kg, a 16kg
2*24kgs, 2*32kgs and one 40kg.
 
I used to have doubles of all the weights I had, but in a mistaken fit of insanity I sold half of them, don't even ask my why because I cannot explain it.

Current brood is (in kg's) 6, 12, 16, 20, double 24's, 28 and 32.

All RKC.

And yes I had to buy a third 24 to replace the one I sold a few years ago.
 
@Harald Motz , this is one hell of an arsenal! Props to you for you kettlebells and for what you're able to do with 'em (I haven't got a YouTube account but watch a lot of videos and yours are among my favourites)!

I'd like to know from anyone who's ever used competition bells if they are worth the investment.

Reading from another Italian forum, people seem to go all in the same direction: once you try competition bells, you'll never go back. It seems like they're (obviously) not only indispensable for GS which I'm not interested anyway (at least at the moment), but better for hard style practice too. My concern is bell size. I have a somewhat small frame, even if I'm of medium eight at 1.75 mt, which would riughly be 5'10'' if I'm remember correctly, and feel like the diameter of my 32 kg hard style kettlebell is near the maximum size I can handle before having to open my legs too much during one armed ballistics, let alone double work. As I wrote on my previous post, I intend to go up at least till the 48 kg bell in the next year or so, and I'm very concerned about bell size. I have full access to the 40 and 48 kg hard style bells I'd buy, but not to the competition bells. Bottom line is: both size and price are an issue, but given the fact that the 48 could come in the somewhat distant future I'd have no problem investing more money in something better.

In one of my favorite videos, Stefan Lofstrom that I believe is also a member of this forum and has a frame almost identical to mine (although with WAAAAAY stronger muscles), uses a competition bell to complete Sinister and it seems to me it "fit" him perfectly.

Sorry again for the long post... I have a problem with writing! :D

I wonder a bit about what some here wrote about the competition bells.
First off I have slightly larger hands than average, but my hand fits easily in the handle with some place to spare.
Two hand swings are probably the only exercise not suited for competition bells as the handle is made for one hand. Thus, both hands fit only partially in and the fingers rub against the handle which can cause some blisters.

Concerning the size and fitting to your frame these bells are used by small to very large people. And if anything you will have more problems with cast iron bells as they increase in size as they get heavier.
 
@Tarzan : this club is 6kg, got it some years ago as a birthday gift, but used it so far only for decoration purposes, but enjoy clubswinging with some light clubs
@Frank_IT : thank you very much
 
So on the one hand I like the idea of competition bells being a standard size and shape with consistent handle form factor. Motor patterns will be more consistent and there is less to think about when switching sizes. On the other hand I LOVE cast iron classic Russian kettlebells precisely because they are different, awkward, unstable, brutal and contrary. They force adaptation. What I like to think of as "agile lifting".
 
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