Mt first guest post ever on this site. I’m getting a little misty eyed!

Josh is a good friend, great writer, and genius when it comes to kettlebells. His website: World’s Strongest Librarian, is a great place for kettlebell info and excellent writing. I recommend you all head over there and check it out.

Getting Started With Kettlebells

By Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian

Kettlebells are an amazing tool that can change your life in many ways. If you do things correctly and don’t rush ahead too fast, they will change your life in ways that will be wonderful. If you rush out of the gate, guns blazing, and start trying to do every move you’ve seen on Youtube, kettlebells will change your life in ways that will suck.

When something is hot, everyone wants to try it. Kettlebells have been around for a long time–they actually appear in War And Peace, of all things–but are now becoming a trend in the public eye. Lance Armstrong was seen swinging a kettlebell in the Times. Jillian from The Biggest Loser is now talking about kettlebells non-stop, but using them very badly.

I want to offer three simple suggestions that will help you ease into the world of kettlebells safely, productively, and will allow you to train for the vast majority of your life.

1. See an instructor

One thing kettlebells have taught me is that I am a terrible coach–when I’m coaching myself. Our ability to self-assess is rarely as good as we think it is. Kettlebell movements are probably not like any other training you have done. You will be moving a weight through the air with a great amount of force.

It’s worth doing right.

I am an RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) certified instructor, trained in the “hardstyle” method of kettlebell instruction by Pavel Tsatsouline. Hardstyle puts an emphasis on power and strength. RKCs are not the only instructors out there, but in my opinion, they are the best at getting people the results they want.

A good instructor should sit down with you, talk about your physical history (including injuries), and perform some physical assessments.  Before you can start training productively with kettlebells–or any implement–you should make sure your body is moving the way it is supposed to. Otherwise, you will be practicing and strengthening imperfect movements.

An instructor should also help you come up with some goals if you don’t have them in mind already.


2. Buy a couple of kettlebells

Kettlebells aren’t cheap, but good ones are built to last. Here are three brands I have used and the places where you can purchase them. These are in order of preference:

Dragondoor kettlebells have great dimensions, balance, and they look very cool. These are the official kettlebells of the RKC system and I wish I had a million of them.

Perform Better Competition Kettlebells are very very nice. They’re designed with Girevoy Sport (GS) competitors in mind. In the GS competitions, standard bell sizes are required so that nobody has an obvious advantage or disadvantage because of the bells. These have squared off handles rather than the round corners of most other kettlebells. The coolest thing about these is that as the weight goes up, the size stays the same. So you can practice the groove that you will be using later on with a heavy bell with a kettlebell that might only weigh 35 lbs.

Lifeline kettlebells have been very good to me. Some people claim that they are poorly made, but I find them very comparable to the Dragondoor bells–except that they cost less. I only have one kettlebell made by Lifeline, but I expect to have it for a long time.

Most men should start with a 16kg kettlebell.  Most women should begin with an 8kg bell.

3. Commit to at least three months of use

If you make it through three months of diligent kettlebell practice, it will change you. I recommend Pavel’s book Enter The Kettlebell! for anyone looking for a great program to start with. But you could stick with nothing but ETK for the rest of your life if you wanted to and you’d still get results that would blow your mind.

That’s it! Learn how to use kettlebells, buy a couple, and then start practicing and stick with it.

You won’t be sorry. These things have changed my life in wonderful ways I never could have predicted.

Josh Hanagarne
Get Stronger, Get Smarter, Live Better…Every Day

About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6’8”, old-time strongman training, kettlebells, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.