Most of the kettlebell juggling you’ve seen so far has been with a relatively light kettlebell. When you talk about heavy kettlebell training you’re usually talking about swinging, or doing some other basic movements, with a bell that’s over a hundred pounds. But with juggling, heavy kettlebell training really starts at 70 lbs.
If you go too light it’s nothing but a trick like regular juggling, requiring fast hands and coordination. There is nothing wrong with this, but you won’t get the benefits in strength and conditioning.
That’s why I almost never use anything lighter than the 16 kg (35lb.) kettlebell. Of course for women you would want to go lighter, but most men should start at this size.
With a light kettlebell you can go longer, even minutes at a time, while training on the harder tricks, and get a great workout.
When you use a heavy kettlebell you can’t do this. This video is a couple snapshots of a less than ten minute workout.
Heavy Kettlebell Juggling Video
Obviously, you won’t be able to do as many juggling tricks as you can with the light bells. But you can still do the basics!
Juggle, rest, juggle, rest, juggle, rest…repeat until satisfied.
And be forewarned, your grip is going to be decimated. Unless you’ve got a grip as strong as John Brookfield, the kettlebell is likely to fly right out of your hands as you flip and swing.
It’s all good to go with the light weights for the most part, but I recommend you mix it up every once in a while. And when you use a heavier bell, the next time you use a light one it’ll be all that much easier to juggle.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Kettlebell Exercise, Kettlebell Juggling, Kettlebell Routines, Kettlebell Video by on . Comment. 
I’ve received several questions about how I actually train with kettlebell juggling. Just as there are many moves to do, there are many ways to train.
The simplest, and actually a common method for me, is to just take a kettlebell out and start juggling. By this I mean you have no timer, no set length, no nothing, except you and the kettlebell. The size of the bell will determine how long you can go, in each set and overall.
Just start free flowing, stringing moves together, as long as you can until you drop it. You might need to rest a bit to catch your breath. You can do short rests, or longer periods.
You can also just work on new moves. Surprisingly, just working toward a new advanced move, or a few, can be more than enough training for a session.
Another method involves a timer. You just select a time frame for on and off periods then go at it for a number of rounds.
An easy one is 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. I tend to do this with a heavier kettlebell, like the 32kg.
Or you can go 45 seconds on 15 seconds off. Really any variation you think off.
Usually with a lighter bell like the 16kg, you can go for a long length of time like 2, 5 even 10 minutes at a stretch. If at anytime you drop it, you pick it up as quickly as possible and keep going.
After I talked to John Brookfield about kettlebell juggling (which is one of the bonuses that comes with The Definitive Guide to Kettlebell Juggling) I started doing longer sets. One time I juggled a 16kg kettlebell for a half hour straight. That was tiring!
Another bonus that comes with The Definitive Guide to Kettlebell Juggling is a report covering 87 Kettlebell Juggling Workouts. IT goes into much more details then this short post, including ways to progressively train kettlebell juggling.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Kettlebell Routines by on . Comment.
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