I grew on barbell big lifts. Squats, Deadlifts, and bench were all ever knew. I got a kettlebell on whim just to have something indoors for days I couldn’t get to the Calisthenics park. Been swinging around this 50 LB / 22 KG orb of steel and I’m feeling and seeing a lot of improvements. Swings, presses, cleans and other mobility training has been a lot more fun and interesting. Going forward I’m gonna be rocking this thing along with my calisthenics. “Functional training” is now my goal now that i’m in my 30s. I want to be able move and groove with ease for the rest of my days, and I think this kettlebell may be the key to that goal.
I’ve also always only done the classic gym lifts and never taken kettlebells seriously. Now that I’m bored of the gym and approaching my 40s, they pique my interest. What would be a good starting weight?
You say you’ve spent time doing classic lifts, you should know yourself and your capabilities, I’d say if you know you’re strong, go for 32kg with an eye to get into the 40s - if you have any doubt whatsoever about what strong means and if you qualify start at 16kg. No shame, I started at 16kg and some of the exercises were easy and I soon went to a 24kg and then onto 32kg but some of them were a real challenge to get good safe smooth form with 16kg.
If you have a lot of experience weightlifting, I’d do 16kg minimum
Personally I found the 50 LB to work for me, but I would assume for most fit style humans you’d want to start at 25 or higher.
Yeah I thought 50 was a bit on the heavy side, so good for you
It seems to be the sweet spot between effort and exertion if that makes sense. I feel like I get a good sweat in when I use the 50 but it’s not too heavy that I can’t do several sets or high number repetitions.