Just reading the review of Clubbells in the latest online t-mag. They look cool! Does anyway actually have these things, and do you feel they are a worthy investment. Also, what kind of results have you guys been getting? If anything, they look like a good weapon, but I don’t condone violence.
Gusto,
I purchased a pair of the 15lb. Clubbells about one year ago.
I have cycled them into my routines off and on. I think, in my case, it came down to time. When I train I want to hit shoulders, legs, or another major muscle group? I really don’t want to twirl around a couple of 15lb. Clubbells.
One effect that they had on me was to make my wrists sore. I am not stating that there are no positive effects from using these things. However, whatever positive effects that occured were not really worth the time invested. I did not see any gain in shoulder strength either.
I ended up using one clubbell as a Sledge Hammer, and struck my indoor mat with it on days where I was looking for cardio. Pretty expensive Sledge!
Simply stated, for the time and money you must invest I don’t think they are worth it. You are better off focusing on the basics!
Chris gave a really generous review and put the little demons to the test. I can’t thank him enough for that.
Clubbells are great for “Functional Hypertrophy” - usable muscle growth. Check out Doug Szolek’s latest article on “Hulking Out” with Clubbells: Circular Strength Magazine
You may not condone violence, but Clubbells are ideal for bludgeoning the inner pansy.
Yours in strength,
Scott Sonnon
Great product - you can make tremendous use of them within your training regardless of your goals. Let me know how I can help.
In faith,
Coach Davies
Coach Davies or Coach Sonnon,
Can Clubbells be used as a method of fat loss as k-bells can? I know that there would be far MORE to them than my question, but would fat loss be accelerated with them? Could the be trained circuit style like k-bells can?
Kyle
Kyle,
Clubbells are a superb means to hack off the fat while building lean muscle. Clubbells can and are used circuit style with great results.
Check out my programs called DOUBLE-D and PHASE IV at Circular Strength Training Magazine (www.circularstrengthmag.com). Look for an upcoming article at T-Mag!
Yours in strength,
Scott Sonnon
Wow, thanks for all the responses! Replies from both Coach Sonnon and Coach Davis …truely honored.
Clubbells are a tremendous medium in your training and if you are interested in cutting fat - they are definitely a great part of your training. You can certainly cycle them with Kettlebells and in-fact I think there is a synergistic impact. That being said - I don’t want to confuse you with them. They are not merely a little tool to augment your fat loss but a product that will have an extraordinary impact on your total body conditioning. Let me know if I can help. Please also make me aware if you use Kettlebells as well.
Zeb - I read your post and would like to offer my help if you are interested. Maybe it’s my interpretation of this medium - but I think I can show you how to make extraordinary use of them within time constraints and add the strength you are looking for.
In faith,
Coach Davies
Coach Davies,
That is a very generous offer.
Here is the basic problem. I have dedicated a certain amount of hours per week to training. With in that time frame I know I have to do a certain amount of squats, deadlifts, dumbbell work, chin-ups, (which are my specialty). And other key exercises.
I have already added a wobble board which I use between sets. It only fit in as it takes no more time to use. In fact, balancing in a state of exertion is more difficult than it would normally be. Therefore, it is a welcome addition. I am also going to dedicate one day per week to odd object lifting (as per my story entitled “humiliation”).
As for kettleballs and clubbells, when exactly would I have time to use them? And why would I expend the time and energy to do so, when there is a finite amount of time and energy available to begin with?
As you know you can get into great shape with floor exercises. Should I do those as well? You can also get into great shape moving furniture, chopping wood, bailing hay and a host of other things.
Each item that you move, including your own body brings with it advantages. However, when we say “yes” to one thing, we must automatically say “no” to something else. It’s called economy of time. When someone states “this product is so good you have to fit it into your routine”. Well, that means that something else is going to get neglected or removed from that routine.
Do I think clubbells would give me additional strength? Yes. Do I think they are “better” than barbells or dumbbells at building muscle and strength? No. Like kettleballs they have a very limited use. That is not to state that they are not a viable tool. However, for a person to set aside his barbells or dumbbells in favor of clubbells or kettlebells is simply not going to happen on a wide scale, for very long.
The fact that barbells and dumbbells have evolved through the years, when clubbells and kettleballs have not speaks to the fact that they (barbells & dumbbells) have won the hearts and minds of the people. And they have done this for good reason. They are flat out superior for overall building of strength and muscle!
While I have great respect for the men behind both of these tools, there is no amount of marketing hype that will change the facts.
Keep in mind I am not closed to new ideas. I simply feel that anything a clubbell can do a dumbbell can do better. For example, you can load one end of a dumbbell and use it as a clubbell (You can also use a dumbbell as a kettleball). Can you use a clubbell as a dumbbell? No.
Knowing my thoughts on the above matter, if you are still interested in posting to me relative to the use of clubbells I am interested. You have my respect and you may bring something to the debate that I have yet to consider. And I thank you for your gracious offer!
Zeb
Zeb,
The simple answer is this: don’t include Clubbells into your routine. With the collection of tools that you use, adding another tool, ANY other tool, appears too much. However, I only suggest that you do not ADD Clubbells. I do suggest to all serious athletes to complete a full cycle of Clubbells to achieve a set goal over the course of 4-6 weeks if you want to see significant strength gains (12 weeks if you want to see dramatic strength/muscle gains.)
I read your post regarding “humiliation” of how a man of significantly inferior size swiftly bested you in a feat of strength. It’s nothing about which to be embarrassed. You were simply not properly trained for the feat. And that’s all strength training is - feats, stunts. Some have more carry-over than others. Some are more specific than others. Some don’t do diddly for being able to perform when the rubber hits the road.
You answered the apparent impossibility of it all spot on: he had superior ?leverage.? Leverage lifting of any type offers the superior training effect of exciting the nervous system to greater intensity than the mass of the object. In other words, the more displaced the center of gravity, the greater the intensity recruited (with proper form of course). It?s one of the first discoveries you learn competing in submission fighting ? you can take a man of significantly larger size and make him brutz like a scorned prom queen due to superior leverage training.
In combat sports, you need to turn bulk into badass quick like. Time after time I see meathead furnaces who burn themselves out and get made into Sally-girls by men of lesser mass but superior athleticism. A relatively recent example of which most people are apprised was a couple UFCs back when Tito Ortiz beat the oversized, poorly conditioned Ken Shamrock into a meat-puppet. Consistent reminders like this one which swiftly turns pro fighters over to Clubbells as a form of converting mass into madness, such as 2X World BJJ Champion and Superbrawl Champion Egan Inoue who is now a Clubbell battleship.
If mass gain is your exclusive goal (which it can?t be if your doing wobble board stuff), 15lbs Clubbells are not going to be slapping on major muscle (just like light weight dumbbells are not going to increase size); though you’ll definitely see massive gains in strength endurance, power, extreme range strength, dynamic flexibility and dynamic mobility. If you want to pack on the meat, then get yourself a 45lbs Clubbell for a cycle of “Hulking Out” (an upcoming article at T-Mag by yours truly.) You thought that “beast” of a log made you into a whimpering schoolgirl… wait till you get a hold of the “Bruiser.”
If you want to send those scrawny facsimiles at work a message of ?Functional Hypertrophy? then I?ll be happy to design you a program, but you need to get the right tools. If you want to cycle in a run of strength-endurance with your 15lbs. Clubbells, I?ll be happy to design you a program for that instead, to actually use your tools to gain results.
(Why you would beat a Clubbell on a tire, I have no idea ? the instructions warned you specifically not to do that because it will cause product failure of the polyurethane coating. That would be like beating the knuckles of an Olympic bar against a tire ? they?ll bust off just as easily. Which did you get, the book or the video, by the way?)
Regardless, send me an email and I’ll get you set up on a program, if you’re up to the challenge. If not, then best wishes to you and your training regardless.
Yours in strength,
Scott Sonnon
Zeb
Well, let me know how I can help - I am not one to take no for an answer though. I utilize these products not as a paid endorser but simply because they work in the big picture of the development of the total athlete.
I respect your time constraints but I feel there are some highly unique uses for Kettlebells and Clubbells that can be used highly efficiently and have dramatic impact on your training. In fact, I read your other post and felt that non-conforming objects and broadening your training horizon is the key.
With regards to the availability of barbell/dumbells in training - I am not debating for a second of there importance but don’t also mistake that the commercialization of the health/fitness has changed the concepts of exercise incredibly. With this change many great products - ie the kettlebell and the ancestors of the clubbell didn’t fit the mold of the “new” protocols and until recently weren?t available. Over the last 30 years you have seen a radical transformation in the health/fitness industry and somehow specialization has been confused with generalization with an overall effort to simplify training stimuli of which the athlete has suffered the most.
Well again - let me know how I can help. In-fact, you’ve sparked me to write precisely on this!
In faith,
Coach Davies
Coach Davies,
You are without a doubt a very persuasive individual!
As you already know, one of my goals is to hoist that beast of a log onto my shoulder.
As my post states I have always been a 6 to 12 rep guy. I am sure this did not help. However, as I also stated, I have never had such a thing happen before, leverage or not!
I am open to any and all suggestions that you have. Your lengthy post was very much appreciated!
Zeb - now just for you I am busy coach writing on how to implement these tools in the training of someone with like-goals. Fill me in though - was it the 15lb you had and have you used Kettlebells as well?
In faith,
Coach Davies
Clubbells are great and I use a pair of 20s for active recovery and to keep the shoulder healthy and strong. Great for cardio as well. I have the 45lb one as well that I use to fry the grip and scare the locals here in Santa Monica
Mike Mahler
Coach,
I have a pair of the 15lb. clubbells. I never got the book or the video.
I have every size Kettleball!
Also, I stated that I used one of the clubbells to strike a thick mat, not a tire as you stated in your earlier post.
Mike,
How do clubbells make your sholder healthier? That one will have to be explained.
Zeb,
Avoid using the Clubbell as a sledgehammer; that’s like using a Ferrari for a demolition derby.
Here’s an excellent article on the shoulder synergistic effect that Clubbells bring: Circular Strength Magazine
What exercises were you doing if you didn’t get the book or video to learn how to use the equipment? Regardless, drop me an email at sonnon@rmax.tv and we’ll get you started on your program at using your Clubbells correctly.
Yours in strength,
Scott Sonnon
Coach Sonnon,
With all due respect it might be a good idea to include a video or pamphlet with each pair of your clubbells.
Perhaps the price would go up a bit, but at least your original purpose would not be lost in the process.
Also, I do understand how swinging around a pair of 15lb. clubbells can be difficult, as the weight is on the end. I am not arguing that point.
My point is simply this: How can that be better than getting under 300 pounds and seeing how many squats that you can perform?
Most of the members of this site have a problem with arm training altogether. As they feel, properly so, that the arms get plenty of training when you ht the major muscle groups. If this is the case how can swinging a pair of clubbells around be better than performing an exercise for one of the major muscle groups?
Again, I mean no disrespect to you or your company, but my original question still stands: Where do I fit this training in? In order to put this in I must take something out. what are clubbells better than?
No disrespect taken. I’ll be glad to help you learn how to use the equipment. Is Zeb your first or last name?
Usually coaches assume that if athletes purchase equipment, they’ll learn how to use it rather than begin banging it on the nearest mat or tire.
If getting under the weight were the only activity necessary as you say, then you would not have been ‘humiliated’ (as you say) by a man of lesser stature.
You say that you’re doing wobble board training. Why would you do that if the only activity you needed was sinking under a half ton of iron?
My original response still stands. I’m not an advocate of ADDING equipment, but rather cycling programs to achieve your goals.
If you want to cycle in Clubbells to achieve your goals (what are they?), then I’ll personally design a program for you for free, if you’re up to the challenge.
But for Christ’s sake man, learn how to use the equipment. No one in their right mind would step under a squat bar without learning proper technique. Oh wait. Yes, they’re are quite a few side-lined puppies who did that.
Are you up to the challenge or not?
Yours in strength,
Scott Sonnon
Coach Davies,
I’ve been using K-Bells for a while now. I took a 2 month break off of them while doing a “company move” (military), but now I’m starting them again. I love them for their whole body conditioning and fat loss impacts. I’d be interested in adding clubbells to my arsenal.
Kyle
Zeb,
CLubbells work the shoulder from several angles and I have found that I have more stability in the shoulder that has translated to stronger overhead lifts etc.
Mike Mahler