German Kettlebells Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

German Kettlebell Jugglers

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 by John Wood

A team of German kettlebell jugglers. German kettlebells were notable because of their square handle which was more conducive to throwing and catching.

Kettlebells for ‘Different’ Development by Sig Klein

Posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2014 by John Wood

I’ve seen it written that kettlebells were completely unknown in the US until the late 90’s but that’s not exactly true… I wouldn’t say that they were tremendously popular, but people have certainly known about kettlebells on these shores and trained with them for many years prior. Sig Klein was always big fan of kettlebells and discussed them often in his articles and courses. To give you one example, this article, “Kettlebells for ‘Different’ Development” appeared in Strength and Health magazine in the late 1950’s.

Kettlebell Juggling

Posted on Thursday, January 2nd, 2014 by John Wood

Kettlebell Juggling

Another look at a German Kettlebell Juggling team in action. If you know your kettlebell history, you already know that German Kettlebells had specially designed handles which were more conducive to flipping and catching.

1915 German Weightlifting Club

Posted on Friday, November 30th, 2012 by John Wood

1915 German Weightlifting Club

A look at a German weightlifting club, circa 1915 and a rather large selection of their truly excellent training equipment. This club was clearly a big fan of kettlebell training. The large, squared handles would indicate that they did a lot of kettlebell juggling. Look close and you’ll see at least one, possibly two rotating barbell sets – a rarity for the time.

German Kettlebell Club, 1903

Posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2012 by John Wood

German Kettlebell CLub, 1903
A look at a German kettlebell club from the turn of the last century and a selection of their awesome equipment. German strength athletes were particularly fond of juggling their kettlebells, hence “German” kettlebells had much larger and more pronounced handles. Also of note is the fact that most of the barbells have thick handles.

German Weightlifting Club ~ 1919

Posted on Saturday, August 27th, 2011 by John Wood

A rare shot of a German weightlifting club and their classic equipment, taken around 1919. Also notice the particularly large and wide handles on their kettlebells. This style of handle served a specific purpose as the German strength athletes were particularly fond of juggling and throwing and catching their kettlebells.