I was having a read of this yesterday, I thought others here might find it useful. http://www.strongfirst.com/get-started/about/faq/
ok sure, but i don't have a bunch of weights and racks and benches in my house. i can get a lot of work done in my basement with a couple bells that cost me total 80 usd. yeah, i'd love to do some olympic weightlifting. i also have a door that needs propping open.
Purely for the absurdity value, here is powerlifter Konstantin Konstantinovs swinging 115kg on a plate loaded apparatus: https://www.facebook.com/konstantin.konstantinovs.73/posts/250500865377165 Anecdotally, I myself have swung 60kg for sets of 10 weighing less than that myself. I don't think I ever seriously swung a 16 aside from when only just learning the movement. Unless done for cardio (for which they are fun but inefficient) or as part of a calorie burning circuit (ala the 10.000 swings program), there is essentially no reason for a swing to be done light and/or with anything less than the most power that can be applied per rep without form deviation (and even that is not that much of a biggie as long as the spine and hip move relatively in unison and do not significantly misalign)
I'm not arguing against swinging heavy, I personally started with a 9kg, and don't really use the 4. But that client, at that time, found it useful. It didn't form the bulk of his workout, but it kept his heart rate up during active rest, and that was good for him
I always thought that with swings, using too light a weight, tends to make you recruit the wrong muscles for it. "Traditionally" women and smaller males start with a 12kg, with most men starting with 16kg. If its too light to curl, its far too light to swing with!
yeah, those are the traditional weights, but I was (like a good martial arts cliché) a small and weak child Personally I've never had problems with a drop in weight making me recruit the wrong muscles, but that's just my experience. The reason I tend to use lighter weights (alongside being too tight to buy more) is that I use them as a superset with regular weightlifting, so I'll be pre exhausted. It's what's worked for me so far
So back to my original point there are cheaper and easier methods for both strength training and conditioning, how Pavel managed to convince people that its cost effective to buy a fixed weight implement is beyond me, when you get too strong for a dumbbell you add discs which cost a few pounds at best, with kettlebells it's buy a complete new set Most cultures moved from fixed weights to loadable ones as they progressed why anyone would want to go the other way is a big question lol But then he also managed to sell them to people explaining they were easier than traditional OL lifts and this you didn't need expensive coaches, and once everyone had one he then managed to sell them coaching courses which cost way more than any other strength course (until crossfit came along.....)
Fun fact: Pavel's technique in his early tapes is considered atrocious by the more refined modern peeps (perhaps kinda analogous to how OL went all mega elitist after bar contact was allowed and now suddenly no one can explain "push straight down through the midfoot, and don't lift the bar off your legs before you finish extending" in less than a novel trilogy, seven textbooks and a telegram)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40KG-50KG-Weights-Dumbbell-Set-Gym-Workout-Fitness-Biceps-Exercise-Training-/302133286731?var=&hash=item46588c174b:m:mSbSQxfJRNhJSAOk3-wW6EQ Never make a statement I can't back up.
Fun fact Pavel's early guys like cotter and Mahler left him when they realised he wasn't exactly truthful about his credentials lol
Ha! See, Cotter is what I'd consider a guy who really explores the kinds of things one can do with KBs much more easily than with other weights, what with mixing them with kung fu and all (and holy crap his shoulders are huge, although I wouldn't know how much of that is from non-KB sources). Few gym things are more of a pain in the butt than trying to "rack" a heavy DB or two for standing work, IME (more so given that I'm tiny). Not doing much right now because I'm focusing on OL, but my main use for Kettlebells is heavy strict pressing precisely for that reason (also huge ROM, a press from rack is basically a dead stop Arnold press)
Bob hoffman wrote this York course in the 50's, sometimes wonder if Pavel and his mates read those courses and simply rehashed them using a kettlebell for all the exercises for marketing purposes to interest the comrades and others and blind them into thinking exercises like windmills, swings, snatches could only be done with expensive doorstops York Course Eight, One Heavy Dumbbell 1. Windmill Exercise (if bell is overhead in right hand, touch right foot with left hand) 2. Reverse Concentration Curl 3. Normal Concentration Curl 4. One Arm Clean & Press 5. One Arm Swing 6. Upright Row 7. One Hand Military Press (heels together) 8. One Hand Swing with Split 9. One Hand Snatch 10. Side Press 11. Bent Over Row 12. Side Bend