Force production per kettlebell (in newtons) |
Can I swing the 48? Yes. If my goal is maximal power, which bell will get me to my goal the quickest? The 32kg. For strength, heavier is better. For power, speed is king and the load is the court jester - not really fully understood.
Force production and force:body weight ratio |
changes in load vs. changes in force |
Finally when comparing everything to my snatch weight bell, increasing the bell size always results in me allays generating more force than I can with the24kg bell. The grain of salt in this is that increase in force production isn't proportional to the increase in size of the bell. Meaning, while the 48kg gives me 5.9% more force production than the 24kg bell this comes from increasing my load by 50%. So a 50% increase in load for a 5.9% increase in performance, not good numbers. BUT, going up to the 32kg bell (a 25% increase in load) results in performance increase of 14.8%. Much better.
To wrap it up, increasing the load can only contribute to the power out point to a certain extent. Once above about 30% of body weight the increase in power output is very nominal - so if power output is the goal heavy isn't better. Speed is king. Now, if power is your ULTIMATE GOAL - the swing might not be the best choice in exercise. WHAT?!?!?! The swing isn't the best tool - sorry, but no. There is another KB drill that with the same load that results in significantly more power. If you are at Level II right now, you are about to be introduced to the drill - if not, go with what you've got, the swing.
What kettlebell drill exceeds the swing in terms of force production?
ReplyDeleteDouble swing?
Snatch?
Triple extension swing?
Interesting and thanks for doing the research, but we really need a sample size of more than 1 to draw any meaningful conclusions. Otherwise, the research is basically saying that, for *you* a KB of 30% bodyweight gives the greatest results. That number may drift higher or lower with other study participants.
ReplyDeletewe do have a sample of more than one - just presenting what I could. the range tends to be 28-30% of bodyweight.
ReplyDeleteSo what's the KB drill that results in more power than the swing?
ReplyDeleteThe suspense is killing me here...4+ year cliff hanger...
Great Point
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to know what was the bell speed at 48 when compared to 32. Additionally, if you got the bell speed of both the 32 and 48 the same would you still see more force production from the 32.
ReplyDeleteDon't know about the bell speed of the 48 compared to the 32 - I couldn't look at that then, but I'm able to now. Maybe I'll look at that....
DeleteIf the bell speed were the same for the 48k and the 32k, then there would be more force production from the 48. Mass x acceleration = force. If acceleration is constant the mass will dictate the force - higher mass will result in higher force. BUT - moving the 48k at the same speed as the 32 would require significantly more force.
Great elaboration. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteSteel Kettlebells