Barbell Vs. Kettlebell.

Comparisons are everywhere; Push/Pull, Dead Lift/ Squat, Carnivore/ Veagan, Ga/Fla Football. And so on, you get the point. As a Strength Coach many of these questions come up all the time, and this is a big one. So lets get into this.

Barbell…

This could easily be called the King of the Strength equipment. You want to Pull heavy weight off the floor, Push heavy weight overhead, Drive it off your chest or stand up with it then squat Ass to Ankle an then stand again.. Barbell. These have been around forever and are definately the main stream go to equipment. When you hear, What do you Squat, Bench, Deadlift no one is talking about a Kettlebell, Dumbell or Machine, its Barbell movements..  Any self respecting GYM/Fitness Center has them, whether shiny chrome ones in the dress pretty to exercise Global Gyms or the dark almost rust colored ones found in the Hardstyle “SHUT UP AND LIFT” dungeons and sweat boxes. With the latter you just know those bars could tell stories of massive weight hosted.. So the Barbell gets it done, and can be found almost anywhere..

Kettlebell…

Ugly little hunk of iron.. Used in the 17th century to hoist cargo off barges, (they have been around longer than Barbells 19th century) workers soon found out they could be hoisted for incredible strength gains. Russian style Kettlebell movements utilize a total body concept. Abs braced, Shoulders packed, Lats firing, Glutes pinched, Quads drawing up the knee caps and Feet rooted through the floor. Now these techniques are used in other Strength Modalities, but you get a truer sense of them with Kettlebells. It’s has been stated ( by to many names to quote ) That you can do anything with a Kettlebell that you can do with a Barbell, Dumbbell or Machine with increased safety, with twice the results and in less time.

So what’s the Rub?

Kettlebell movements improve Barbell movements.

The KB Swing improves the BB Deadlift, the Double KB Press improves the Competition Lift ( Standing Press ), The KB Snatch and Clean improve the Olympic Snatch and Clean, and so on.

Now enter the Vicious Cycle, Improved KB movements lead to Heavy Barbell movements, lead to Heavier KB movements, and so on..

So which is better???? Truth is that depends on you….

Sam Clemens

Here is a little exert of a Nutrition Blog from my friend Clifton Harski of BA Training in San Diego. Cliff is an interesting character but knows his stuff.

From that article:

nobody agrees on carbohydrates and how many are a good idea. My thoughts: eat real food. You can’t overeat vegetables. You’ll shit on yourself if you eat too much fruit. And it’s really hard to overeat MOST animal products. Just don’t be an asshole. I’m pretty well firmly believing that carbohydrate timing can be optimized by placing it into the post workout window, or at the end of the day so long as you worked out that day. Broadly speaking, the leaner you are and the more muscle mass you have the more carbohydrates you get to have. At this point, after a certain small amount (in a range a state later) I basically see carbohydrates as a supplement for performance, not something you need for health. If you are looking to kick ass in the gym or in a sport, you need more of them. I’m not saying always be in ketosis-I’m saying have metabolic flexibilty where you can go no carb days, low carb days, and occasionally have more some days. Having to rely on gluconeogenisis all the time is probably too stressful for the body-for brief periods it probably provides some sort of benefit, as is the case with most things I think. Simple as that. If you are looking to lean out, you probably would do well to have less of them, at least for a while. I don’t see

the debate ever ending, but I would be shocked if within the next 5 years we don’t start seeing sweeping recommendations across all fitness/health communities that involve LESS carbohydrates. Just understand that we probably don’t need to
Here is a little exert of a Nutrition Blog from my friend Clifton Harski of BA Training in San Diego. Cliff is an interesting character but knows his stuff

“optimize” our carb intake, and that a range of 25% of your BW in grams of carbs to 50% of your BW in grams per day is plenty for feeling awesome and staying lean in the absence of high intensity workouts. Carb up more on high intensity days. I basically just made those numbers up…but they make sense to me.

“If you want to Press a lot, you have to Press a lot”

This is a phrase that has been spoken and heard, written and read for many years. To some its in one ear out the other. To those who love the Competition Lift aka the Press its scripture.

But what does it really mean? At first read its seems a litte redundant. So lets break it down. “If you want to Press a lot(A), you have to Press a lot(B)”. So if a lot(A) means weight then a lot(B) means weight? Not so, a lot(B) means volume, high volume. So if you want to press heavy weight you need to press heavy weight for a lot reps aka volume. Ball park ranges are from 100-160 reps throughout a week.  But Pressing heavy weight with those rep numbers will kill you, right? Nope, not if your smart about it. Enter ladders, 1,2,3,4,5 reps to combine for one set, that’s 15 reps broken up. These type of reps help to keep you rested so you can produce quality reps, (no point to Pressing  with poor quality reps, all you really do is building poor movement patterns detrimental to your goal) and the volume adds up fast. Three five rung ladders over a course of three days and you’re at 135 reps, quick.. Just make them quality reps..