At our recent kettlebell cert, the gym had some kettlebells they had bought from us and some pretty ones that are common in a lot of gyms because gym owners think they look nice. They were the stainless steel ones like this. I explained at the beginning that this isn’t a good kettlebell because the stainless steel handle makes it impossible to grip when your palm gets sweaty. To solve the problem, this particular kettlebell had an added grip so it wouldn’t slip. I explained that this made it even more useless since the kettlebell has to rotate in your hand when you swing and snatch it.
A couple of people nodded but it was clear to me that most people didn’t get it. Yet.
Some folks used our kettlebells for the techniques and some used the stainless steel ones but as the day went one, fewer and fewer people used the steel ones. The trainers started coming up to me and complaining about the stainless bells. They didn’t sit right, they didn’t rotate in the hand, they had a lot of problems. By the end of the day after the trainers had learned how to use the kettlebell, no one wanted to use the stainless steel ones at all.
So let me tell you a little secret — most people who design, manufacture, and sell fitness equipment don’t even work out, let alone use their own equipment. And it shows. Want more proof? Here’s the way a competitor suggests to use the kettlebell — theirs is made of plastic by the way.
Do you see anything wrong with their movements? Is that how the kettlebell is supposed to be used?
There’s a connection between having a quality tool and having quality movement. If you use junk, you will get junk movement. The problem is that most people don’t understand that, so some gyms and people buy garbage kettlebells.
Don’t get me started on the place that buys outrageously priced Kaiser bicycles and super expensive Hammer Strength equipment by the truckload but won’t buy anything but the cheapest kettlebells they can get. That’s a story for another time.