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Ghetto kettle bell substitute for UDL's

Zoot

Zoot

load-bearing member
I wanted to do some Ukrainian Deadlifts, but the gym doesn't have any kettlebells. And I believe they're expensive to buy. I had a handle lying around, so I thought I might be able to knock up something using the gym's dumbbells.

  • I got 4 shackles - took a dumbbell into the hardware store to make sure the handle would sit in the shackle OK.
  • Bought 1m of chain and cut it in two halves. The link size had to be big enough that the shackle bolt would fit through it. Hardware guy cut it for me. Important to have an odd number of links in each half.
  • And a carabiner.

So here are all the bits:
AllTheBits.jpg

The chains attach to the carabiner at the middle link:
2ChainsAttached.jpg

Shackles on the ends of course
ShacklesOn.jpg

And it's ready to throw in the gym bag:
ReadyToGo.jpg

In the gym you hook it up to dumbbells. This is a bit fiddly and time-consuming; gives me something to do between sets.
HookedUpToDumbbells.jpg

And it works OK - UDL's hurt just like a real kettle bell.

Of course, it's only good for UDL's, not thrusters or anything like that. And it's a fair bit wider than the equivalent-weighted kettlebell. I stand on a couple of widely-spaced benches 'cos I don't have blocks.

But I can ramp up the weights in small increments which will be good.
 
Looks great!!... but why dumbbells?, why not have something greater than 50mm you can attach on the end and thread the chain through a number of oly plates? (I'm probably missing something critical here?)
 
NightFallTech said:
I'm probably missing something critical here
Click to expand...

No you're not. Your idea is much better and simpler. Cannot think why I did it the way I did now. That's the beauty of the ausbb hive mind I guess.

Will report back when I've tried it.
 
Great work mate, plumbing fittings work great for making a T handle too so you can unscrew and slide oly plates on or have a chain on top for added hardness.
 
Grippy said:
Great work mate, plumbing fittings work great for making a T handle too so you can unscrew and slide oly plates on or have a chain on top for added hardness.
Click to expand...

Yeah that would be nice Grippy. I saw somebody advocating a T-handle and a flange at the bottom using plumbing fittings (might have been you?). So I wandered into the local hardware shop, also Bunnings, but neither had the plumbing fittings I needed. Wasn't sure where to go next for that stuff so I went for the chains option, largely driven by the fact that I had a close-grip handle lying about.
 
Good work!

kettlebells aren't that expensive can get them from $30
and cheaper second hand

I paid $130 (with p&h) for these eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d?r

and $30 with p&h for one of these 24kg
KETTLEBELL 24KG VINYL PLASTIC PVC KETTLE BELL CAST IRON TRAINING RUBBER BASE | eBay

The 24kg is a good bit larger than a standard 24kg but for 1/2 the price its good.

So far at home have 2x12, 16kg and the 24.
Waiting on the set above to be delivered - some time this week.
 
Wet sand in a bucket is what we used in Afghanistan.

Pure ghetto.

Nice inventiveness though.
 
Bret Contreas has a YouTube video about making a home made T handle out of plumbing pipe and a couple of screw adaptor type things
 
Zoot said:
Will report back when I've tried it.
Click to expand...

As per NightfallTech's suggestion, I bought a longer chain and threaded it through a bunch of plates. The two ends of the chain simply attach to the carabiner on the handle, similar to the first approach. Two learnings from this:

  • The plates tended to hang side-on to the direction I'm facing, rather than edge-on. So they're just about as wide as the dumbbell solution
  • The plates hang much deeper, even though I shortened the chain to its minimum extent. With the 20kg plates, the plates were touching the ground in a half-squat (I'm 175cm tall with fairly short legs). I retried with smaller-diameter 15kg plates, and they were better, but I still can't go deep enough.

So I'm going to try the dumbbell approach again. The 4 shackles make it slightly more fiddly to set up (frankly, both solutions are time-consuming compared to a kettlebell) but I can get deeper in the squat
 
Add a second caribiner or small d shackle to the handle and the weights will turn to face the front.

I made a 55kg kettle bell this arvo using threaded gal pipe, sliding 2 25kg standard plates I had spare and some smaller plates as "spacers"

Add nuts to tighten it all up, thread chain through pipe, join chain with d shackle and I just used a "D" handle I had as the kettle bell handle. This setup kept the plates "side on" so they don't bash my legs.

Really want another 10kg plate to make it close to the 64kg bell I always wanted but was too tight to buy :)

Only a good option if you have plates lying around, I was lucky and got given some standards. I wouldn't want to have to piece it together whenever you wanted to do udls.

I'll try and get a pic, I love this iPad but uploading pics is a cnt
 
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