Inexpensive Kettlebell (The Cheap as Hell KettleBell)

A couple of mornings past, I really wanted to add a kettlebell swing/squat as a station in a tabata routine.  If you know me, I'm not spending $1.30/lb or more for anything other than meat.

So heres what I did, and it's working like a gem.

Step 1
Make some small sandbags out of ziplock bags.  I used the nice 1 gallon freezer bags a year or so ago, and made a dozen 10lb bags for different uses.  5 gallons of sand cost me $1.  Measure the sand going in for uniformity.  Once you're happy with the weight of the bag, thoroughly wrap it in duct tape.  Like this for example.  What's that equate to?  A quarter for a 10lb weight.

A year or so ago, I also bought a couple of burlap feed sacks from a local farm supply store.  Any horse tac type store should have these.  I put the sandbags in the bag, and use it for curls, presses...just good old fashioned odd object lifts.  I think they were $1 a piece.  If you don't have a store like that local, never forget about your local charity based thrift stores.  They can use the revenue, and usually you can find all kinds of stuff for homemade goodies like this project on the cheap.

Step 2
Acquire a bag or sack to hold your sandbags.  Make sure its plenty long....maybe 24" or so.

Step 3
You will need a handle for your kettlebell.  I have an old 1" diameter dumbbell handle left over from my very first weight lifting set I got15 years ago.  I don't use it since all of my plates these days are 2" oly.  I was thinking you could use a short length of metal or pvc pipe, or if you could get an old shovel or rake from a yard sale, you could cut pieces of wood to the desired length and make them that way.  Just something round, 1" to 2" in diameter, and about 12" to 18" in length.  Remember, reduce, reuse, recycle.  So far, if you're doing this, I hope you don't any more financial stake in this project other than the ziplock bags, tape, and sand.

Put the sandbags in the sack.

Draw the end of the sack up so that it's narrow and start rolling it around the bar.

Roll as much of the bag on the handle as possible.

Remember to dig your fingers in between the bar and sack inside where it has been rolled over the bar.  If you reverse your grip, the motion of the "bell" will try to pull your fingers off the grip.  Not cool if you're swinging and snatching these babies.

If you look at the physics of how the "cheap as hell kettbell" moves during different workouts, it's dead on.  Of course, it's not rigid so it doesn't allow for every single move the kettlebell offers like for push-ups or dips, but seriously, who needs any implement at all for those moves?