The Top Ten Gym Equipment - You Will Never Need Anything Else Part 10

#10 Kettle Bells

I will probably get a few raised eyebrows on my final post in this series. Suddenly I'm moving from the world of calisthenics to the world of weight training.

And yet kettle bells in my view offer the perfect transitional device to get into training with more weight. Many of the really great exercises remain 'calisthenic' in nature.

They offer a whole series of new exercises to the routine - chest presses (perhaps on a Swiss Ball?), military presses, goblet squats and then add the awesome renegade rows (rowing the bells whilst balancing on the bells in the push up position) or the Turkish Get Up or the Russian Twist.

Keep your eyes peeled for a new series on Kettlebell King, which will feature all of the above and more.

These powerhouse exercises combine strength training with killer cardio moves. When you consider that many calisthenic moves can be made progressively harder simply by adding weight, then you can see why the kettlebell is such an important piece of gym kit to consider.

The difficulty of course is what to buy. In a perfect world you need a whole range of weight - each for different exercises. You can buy the selective weight bells which provide a range of weights. Not all of these are that easy to change quickly and they are not cheap.

Personally I would go for something to start with at a fixed weight that represents a reasonable weight but not necessarily ridiculously heavy. Only you can know what that is but you need something that can do a whole range of exercises. That might be a pair of 10kg or 12kg bells for men; lighter for women.

Over time you can add to your range. Keep your eyes peeled on eBay etc to look for bargains although this isn't always easy as they can't be posted usually.

But do add them as then you have the ultimate gym for a modest cost.

Well - that's the series - hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think should have been included or excluded! In my opinion those 10 items will give you a fantastic gym with no need for any additional equipment other than for vanity. No expensive cardio machines or huge weight apparatus needed.

Happy training

Andy at Fitter Future