• 鋳鉄製、または「ハードスタイル」ケトルベルは通常黒色で、サイズと形状は様々です。ベルが重いほど、丸い部分が大きくなります。これらは「ハードスタイル」ケトルベルトレーニングを行う人に最もよく使用されます。これについては後ほど詳しく説明します。

• 競技用ケトルベルは、重量に関わらず同じサイズになるように設計されているため、最も軽いベルでもボウリングの球ほどの大きさになります。重量はキログラム単位（通常は4または8の倍数）で販売され、色分けされています。例えば、16キログラムのベルは黄色です。これらのケトルベルは、ケトルベルスポーツまたはギレボイスポーツと呼ばれる筋力トレーニングで使用され、10分間で指定されたリフトの回数を競います。

• フィットネスケトルベルとは、適切な言葉が見つからないのですが、ジムやケトルベル専門店ではないお店で見かける様々なベルのことです。プラスチック製やビニールコーティング製のものもあり、持ちやすい形状のものもあれば、そうでないものもあります。 

Personally I think competition kettlebells are the best kind to work with, but I’ve competed in kettlebell sport, so I’m biased. There’s nothing wrong with hardstyle bells, if you like them or are used to them. (I think they’re less comfortable to hold, but that’s a preference rather than a dealbreaker.) The fitness kettlebells are a chaotic bunch, though: I’ve used chrome-and-plastic ones that I almost like as much as my favorite comp bells, and I’ve also seen oddly-shaped monstrosities that are pretty much impossible to work with. As a category, I’d shy away. But if you do manage to find a fitness bell you enjoy working with, don’t let me stop you.

Below, I’ll give my picks for some good bells in each of my favorite categories, and I’ll discuss the pros and cons of those types. But first, I know there’s a burning question on your mind: how heavy?

What kettlebell weight should I start with? 

I don’t believe in the idea that there is a single “correct” weight to start with. I mean, you wouldn’t walk into a gym, see a rack of dumbbells, and assume you’d only work with one pair of dumbbells for your first few months, would you? 

But it’s common to start with one kettlebell, so people want a single recommendation. I’m okay with this, so long as you understand that you want a heavy kettlebell for swings, and a light one for presses and snatches. 

For the lighter kettlebell, we can go with the standard recommendations you’ll see in kettlebell books and forums. This should give you a bell that you can press overhead, or that (once you learn the technique) you can snatch. Very generally, you can go with: 

• 8 kg (about 18 pounds) if you are a small person and/or inexperienced with strength training

• 12 kg (about 26 pounds) if you fall in between the above and below descriptions

• 16 kg (about 35 pounds) if you are experienced with strength training 

• Or try this test: If you have access to dumbbells or kettlebells (even in a store), find a weight that you can press overhead multiple times.

Feel free to go higher or lower than these examples. Often you’ll hear a recommendation that women should start with 8 to 12 kg, and men should start with 12 to 16. But this is really a recommendation that should be based on strength, not gender; plenty of women would do fine with a 16 as their first bell. And there are people of all genders who might be better off with something lighter than an 8, or heavier than a 16. Which is why I recommend that people experiment with various bells to see what makes sense. If you train with dumbbells, you can use your usual weight for a single-hand dumbbell press to guide your choice here.

For your heavier kettlebell, you want a bell that is so heavy you cannot press it. I have some guidelines here on finding the perfect weight for a heavy bell that you can swing. Somewhere between a 24 (53 pounds) and a 32 (70 pounds) will be a good starting place for most beginners. You can certainly go heavier than a 32 though. And you can swing your lighter bell, but I’d recommend learning to swing with a heavy bell first. The weight is instructive.

The best cast iron or “hardstyle” kettlebells

Cast iron kettlebells are a good first choice for many people, because they are cheap and durable. They’re available in a range of weights, including heavy ones. My first kettlebells were hardstyle, and they were perfectly good to train with. 

"Hardstyle" is a nickname for a type of kettlebell training that commonly uses these bells. Probably most of the kettlebell exercises you've seen in a gym are versions of this. There are swings, windmills, presses, Turkish get-ups, and more. The swings are often done with two hands on the same bell, and exercises are done in sets and reps (as opposed to kettlebell competition training, which uses timed sets). You can do these exercises with any type of bells, so don't feel like you need to use cast iron—but that is the more common type.

The main disadvantages of cast iron kettlebells come down to the shape. Unlike competition bells, which are uniform in shape and size no matter the weight, cast iron bells are each shaped differently. At smaller weights, a large handle has to angle itself downward into a baseball-sized lump of iron. At larger weights, the main part of the bell is maybe the size of a bowling ball (or bigger!) and the handle had better be able to support it. You might learn how to hold a 12 kg bell comfortably enough to press it, but then you move up to a 16 kg bell, and suddenly everything is different and you need to re-learn your technique. 

When buying cast iron kettlebells, check that the entire bell is cast in one piece (a welded-on handle is a liability) and make sure the handle is comfortable. Your hand will rub against the handle whether you’re swinging, cleaning, or adjusting your grip mid-snatch, so make sure there are no jagged edges. If the bell feels good to use, enjoy! Here are some hardstyle bells you might like: 

The best competition kettlebells

The advantages and disadvantages of competition bells are just those of hardstyle, but swapped. They tend to be more expensive, but they’re uniform in shape so the different weights will feel very similar in your hand. Kettlebell sport practitioners work on the efficiency of their technique, so once you learn the exact place to put your elbow in a clean position (for example), you’ll be able to replicate that even when you change weights. 

とはいえ、ブランドによってサイズや形状は若干異なります。あるブランドの「窓」（ハンドルの穴）が他のブランドよりも好みかもしれません。もう少し幅広だったり、より四角い形だったりするかもしれません。また、頭上へのリフトの際に前腕が入る部分に窪みがある競技用ベルもあります。競技用ベルに関しては、もう 1 つ好みがあります。それは、標準的な色分けにこだわることです。8 kg はピンク、16 kg は黄色、24 kg は緑、32 kg は赤などです。一部のブランド ( Titan など)は、競技用ベルを標準色以外で提供し始めていますが、私はそれについて腹を立てています。しかし、自宅のジムでは、好きな色のベルを持ち上げればいいと思います。おすすめのベルをいくつか紹介します。

次の記事へスクロールしてください