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Adidex — home fitness equipment | adidex.org

Kettlebell Weights and the Pood

One pood is 16.38 kilograms, competition bells step by 2 kilograms, and black handle bands mark the intermediate sizes.

Russian girya are traditionally measured in pood, corresponding to 16.38 kilograms (36.1 lb). That figure is the anchor for every traditional kettlebell size.

A 1-pood bell is therefore 16.38 kg and a 2-pood bell is 32.76 kg. Half-pood steps of 8.19 kg exist in traditional sets, which gives a coarser ladder than most beginners expect.

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Competition kettlebells use a different system: they increment by 2 kg, producing a ladder such as 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 kg. The finer step makes progressive loading easier to plan.

Intermediate weights such as 10 kg or 18 kg are notated by black bands on the handle. The band lets a lifter identify the bell at a glance, because those sizes are not traditional pood values.

The practical translation is that a 1-pood girya at 16.38 kg is close to but not the same as a 16 kg competition bell, and a 12 kg bell is not a pood size at all.

  • 1 pood = 16.38 kg (36.1 lb).
  • Half-pood step = 8.19 kg.
  • Competition ladder: 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 kg.
  • Black handle bands mark 10 kg and 18 kg intermediate bells.

Further reading