rodowd
12-08-2009, 10:54 PM
Just a quick note that I took the plunge a couple of months back and bought the pro-grade starter pack (16kg and 24kg bells, with the "Enter the Kettlebell" DVD by Pavel Tsatsouline).
A few years ago, I managed - because of a simple accident - to massively tear the cartilage in the rear of one knee. A result of that was a need for arthroscopic surgery and, subsequently, ending twenty years of martial art training. Ironically, the martial art training was not the cause of the injury but, post-surgery, attempts to get back into training irritated the knee immensely. Pain levels when doing basic kicks without speed or power were in the "amputate that leg" range for some time - which seriously limited my ability to either train or instruct so I had to give it up.
Dropping regular martial art training like that - in what was essentially an enforced rest with some conditioning on a rowing machine to work the knee, led to loss of physical condition and aspects of general fitness. Hence I was looking for a suite of activities and (possibly) equipment to build general condition in a controlled manner and, after a period of investigation, decided kettlebells would be a worthwhile part of that.
Hence the purchase of this kit. Basically, I'm delighted.
The DVD by Pavel is surprisingly good. At first I rolled my eyes a little in amusement at the macho wording and attitude, being addressed as "comrade", and told (in the making kettlebells feature) about how manly the things are. However, amusement factor aside, the material presented - starting from the basics, safety considerations, and moving progressively through the basics of a series of techniques - is spot on. The essential knowledge is conveyed very concisely, with considerable technical precision, and in a highly effective and practical manner of teaching.
The kettlebells themselves are great. The workmanship is excellent. I haven't attempted to put them on scales to accurately measure their weight but, in lifting, the 24kg bell is about one and a half times the weight of the 16kg. I'm currently in the stage of getting to know the equipment, and easing gradually into the exercises with increasing repetitions and weight. I can't pretend my techniques are necessarily perfect, but I am easing in slowly and safely. I am finding no problems with callouses when doing higher reps - a problem I have found with gym weight sets in the past when repetitions get too high. Although there has been the occasional complaint from my injured knee - as well as of various muscles that were clearly in need of work - I am finding the exercises beneficial.
The only anomaly I've noted is that the 24kg bell sometimes makes some quiet noise suggestive of something metallic moving inside, but there is no external visual indication of a problem and I haven't detected any lop-sided weight distributions. I therefore assume this is just an artefact of manufacture process rather than a structural flaw.
Rob
A few years ago, I managed - because of a simple accident - to massively tear the cartilage in the rear of one knee. A result of that was a need for arthroscopic surgery and, subsequently, ending twenty years of martial art training. Ironically, the martial art training was not the cause of the injury but, post-surgery, attempts to get back into training irritated the knee immensely. Pain levels when doing basic kicks without speed or power were in the "amputate that leg" range for some time - which seriously limited my ability to either train or instruct so I had to give it up.
Dropping regular martial art training like that - in what was essentially an enforced rest with some conditioning on a rowing machine to work the knee, led to loss of physical condition and aspects of general fitness. Hence I was looking for a suite of activities and (possibly) equipment to build general condition in a controlled manner and, after a period of investigation, decided kettlebells would be a worthwhile part of that.
Hence the purchase of this kit. Basically, I'm delighted.
The DVD by Pavel is surprisingly good. At first I rolled my eyes a little in amusement at the macho wording and attitude, being addressed as "comrade", and told (in the making kettlebells feature) about how manly the things are. However, amusement factor aside, the material presented - starting from the basics, safety considerations, and moving progressively through the basics of a series of techniques - is spot on. The essential knowledge is conveyed very concisely, with considerable technical precision, and in a highly effective and practical manner of teaching.
The kettlebells themselves are great. The workmanship is excellent. I haven't attempted to put them on scales to accurately measure their weight but, in lifting, the 24kg bell is about one and a half times the weight of the 16kg. I'm currently in the stage of getting to know the equipment, and easing gradually into the exercises with increasing repetitions and weight. I can't pretend my techniques are necessarily perfect, but I am easing in slowly and safely. I am finding no problems with callouses when doing higher reps - a problem I have found with gym weight sets in the past when repetitions get too high. Although there has been the occasional complaint from my injured knee - as well as of various muscles that were clearly in need of work - I am finding the exercises beneficial.
The only anomaly I've noted is that the 24kg bell sometimes makes some quiet noise suggestive of something metallic moving inside, but there is no external visual indication of a problem and I haven't detected any lop-sided weight distributions. I therefore assume this is just an artefact of manufacture process rather than a structural flaw.
Rob