KettleWorX Kickstart Kit

This Kettlebell is well made, forged all in one piece with a nice orange covering. I have had a 10lb ketteworx bell that is 8 years old given to me. I used that for awhile and decided to up my game with this 15lb one. With this, you can certainly tell that these are able to be handed down from generation to generation if they are properly taken care of. Like all metallic objects, they last the longest when kept dry in room temperatures.

Excellent Product! Can't wait to use it.

Bought it for my kids. They love it. DVD helps with work out design.

Happy!

This review is for the 5# KettleWorx kettlebell. I have heard all the buzz about kettlebells and really had no idea what it was about, so this was a perfect opportunity to have a look-see. My kit came with 5# kettlebell, an introductory DVD, and a pamphlet encouraging you to log in/sign up/buy-buy-buy. I'll skip the pamphlet since it was just an advert, and I would not call this a "guide".The 5# kettlebell is quite nice, a good weight for beginners such as myself. The handle is painted black, kinda feels like iron-type metal, and mine is not perfectly smooth like the photo--mine has a hammered look to it. It is not rough by any means, just not perfect like in the picture. The bell is vinyl coated in yellow. I did a quick workout of my own and the handle can be very slippery if you have sweaty hands like me. I slowed down then stopped when I realized the damage I could do if I lost a grip on this thing. Overall I like the "not your average dumbell" weight form.The DVD... The DVD has an introduction (an excessive overview on how to hold it), plenty of product endorsements, and three 10 minute sample workouts for cardio, core, and resistance training. [Side story: I seem to find Workout Video Trainers as creepy as hairdressers. Takes me a long time to find a hairdresser who I can stand to touch my hair without creeping me out; same thing when I watch exercise video trainers.] Alex Isaly--while easy on the eyes--just creeps me out. I was distracted by everything he does outside of the training part: swaying and shrugging when he talks, he had very restless feet while exercising (toes wriggling around or shuffling feet), smiling extra hard and chatting it up with Laura and touching her back and bottom (totally inappropriate touching for trainer/student relationship), the over-intense stare at times... So those were some of my "personal" hangups. As a normal fitness video though, I had a few other concerns. Sometimes Alex would point out a muscle being worked, "this works your tricep" for example. Other times he glossed over specific upper back and shoulder muscles being used that seemed like they should be pointed out. The inconsistency grated at me, and I understand this is not an anatomy class and it *is* only 10 minute sessions, but still I wondered if he was meaning deltoids or trapezius when he waved his hand over a student's back. As a long-time yoga student, I was amazed how tight he was under all that muscle. When he lifts his knee to chest, he bends forward to get his chest closer to his knee--watch the side views of him. He has very tight shoulders and hips, and I cringed watching him do some of the exercises, forcing his body to do what he says. The ladies, Laura and Piper, were much more flexible and were able to do the exercises much more easily than he could. One last observation: The 3 routines are not all kettlebell exercises (like I was expecting for some reason). More jogging in place, doing jumping jacks, a lunge holding the kettlebell, push ups with one hand on kettlebell and one on mat, high stepping, sit-ups holding kettlebell... So if you think it's non-stop kettlebell, think again. To me it was basic gym class and then occasionally holding a kettlebell.Overall, I will keep the kettlebell and add it into my routine. I do like the different form; I'll just have to be careful with the slippery handle. The DVD I will skip and probably never watch again. And as you might imagine from my comments, I will not be jumping on the Buy Everything KettleWorx bandwagon anytime soon.

I received the kickstart kit with the five pound kettlebell for review. IMHO, the bell is good if you want this weight and if the current price is competitive. On the other hand, the included "kickstart" video, while a pretty intense workout, isn't better than anything else you can find, and is dangerously brief in its instructions, especially if you're new to kettlebells and starting with one of the heavier weights.Some general background: Kettlebells were the new hotness several years back and are still very popular today. They're basically Russian strongman equipment from the olden days, and the idea is that their shape encourages more muscle involvment in your workout, particularly with the swinging motions that work best with them. I'm a big fan, and mostly use a CAP 50 pound bell and a GoFit 35 pound bell, so that's my basis for comparison.The Bell: The bell is good. It's vinyl coated, which will reduce scratches and dings, and *might* protect your floor if you drop one. The handle is relatively wide for its size, and smooth coated. I was able to grip it with two fingers and a thumb of each hand for double handed swings, which is fine. (I have relatively small hands, but still).5 pounds is very very light for a kettlebell. I think this would be good if you has a special reason to want very light weight, like recovering from injury, and it's also good to practice complicated moves without a lot of weight. For example, I've heard people suggest doing moves like the "turkish get up" with a shoe or something instead of a kettlebell, but this 5 pounder would be even better as a place holder while you perfect form.The Video: This comes with a dvd that has 4 ten minute videos - introduction, cardio, resistance, and core. I don't recommend this video at all for beginners.Kettlebells involve swinging weight around in purposefully challenging positions, and it is fairly easy to hurt yourself or sprain something if you don't have good form. As a form instruction, this video sucks. The intro video is 9 minutes of commercial for the longer Kettleworx dvds and side products like foam rollers or gloves, and 1 minute of instruction. This means that the instructor has about 10 each seconds to tell you how to do swings, snatches, turkish get-ups. Each time, you basically watch a model do it once, while Alex gives you one tip ("remember to keep your core tight" or something), because that's all he has time for.The best thing to do is book an hour with a certified kettlebell trainer, but if that's not possible, I strongly recommend starting out with a good introduction that breaks the kettlebell moves down into muscle groups and body parts. You can start with a classic, like  Pavel , or I like  Lauren Brooks  a lot. Youtube is also a good place to go if you have questions about a specific move, but watch enough that you have a sense of who's good.Assuming you know how to do the moves safely, or are doing them with a weight that doesn't challenge you, then the other videos are fine but forgettable. Instructor Alex Isaly leads his models through a set of workouts that were intense enough to leave me sweating, but I think might get old fast. He mostly tries to convince you to buy  his longer program  - from the reviews, it looks like that one is mostly the same exercises and encouragements, copy-pasted into varying sets, but other than that, are fine.Frankly, if you want a 5 pound kettlebell, it's probably easiest to pop into your local box store, but overall, I'd recommend the 5 pound kickstart kit only if (1) you are looking for a very light weight; (2) the current price is competitive; and (3) you aren't expecting much from the DVD.