Rogue Kilo/AOS Punch & Lifeline USA kettlebell comparison
I just received a 32kg AOS Punch kettlebell from Rogue Fitness. Rogue calls them Rogue "Kilo" Bells. They're also available from the Art of Strength (AOS) store where they're known as Punch kettlebells. (Yet another site offering these bells for sale is here.) AOS Punch kettlebells are made in the USA.
Below are photos comparing my 32kg AOS Punch bell to a 28kg Lifeline USA kettlebell. Lifeline USA kettlebells are also made in the USA.
The paint on the AOS kettlebell has a rougher texture than that of the Lifeline USA bells that I own. Both bells are matte black and the Lifeline USA paint still has some texture to it.
The handle diameter is the same on both - 1.5 inches.
The name plate on the AOS Punch bell matches the contour of the rest of the bell; but on the other side, there's a flat spot showing the weight designation. The Lifeline USA bell has flat spots on both the name plate side and the weight designation side.
I've tried a few swings and a few cleans with the AOS Punch bell. The somewhat rougher paint texture wasn't a problem for either movement. If anything, for the swings, it made it easier to grip the handle. That said, I haven't done enough with it yet to say whether the rougher texture will be better or not.
I forgot all about photographing the bottom of the AOS kettlebell. A flat even bottom is desirable, We want it to be flat so that it doesn't fall over when parking the bell between sets. If the surface is truly flat and even, that's even better so that it won't wobble when doing renegade rows. All of the Lifeline bells that I own and the one AOS bell that I own have these properties.
The AOS kettlebell has an additional feature though. It has a threaded hole into which one may attach accessories:
I don't own any of the accessories and probably never will. If I can determine the size and thread spacing, I might use this hole to bolt on one or more 5 lb plates.
This photo is from the above linked site. It's a 4kg add-on weight. It costs $39.95 before shipping. There is also a 2kg kettlebell buddy for $29.95.
Assuming I can figure out the screw size, I figure I can bolt on a pair of 5 lb plates for a cost of around $10. ($8.50 for the plates plus $1.50 for hardware.)
I imagine I'll get some strange looks when I lug that 32kg kettlebell into my local Ace Hardware.
I ended up buying a couple of 5/8-18 bolts. (That's 5/8" with 18 threads per inch. This is considered a fine thread for that diameter bolt.)
They only had grade 8 bolts in that size & pitch. They both ended up being a bit over two bucks a piece.
I imagine I'll get some strange looks when I lug that 32kg kettlebell into my local Ace Hardware.
I got a lot of strange looks. One of the employees must do some kettlebell lifting, because he stopped and asked me about it. Asked me if I can snatch it. (I haven't tried - yet.)
A question was raised elsewhere about whether the lettering on the AOS/Punch bell is raised or indented. Here's what I wrote in that other thread:
On the name plate side, it appears that the negative space (around the lettering) is indented. So the lettering is raised, but only with respect to the surrounding negative space. The lettering surface corresponds to the curvature of the bell exactly.
It's different on the weight plate side. The weight plate area is flattened, and the negative space is indented within the flattened area. So the lettering is even with the plane of the flat, but raised within the negative space.
And here are photos to help make sense of the above.
The Art of Strength (AOS) bells are made by the Cumberland Foundry here in the USA. Below is a link to the story behind the making of these kettlebells:
how do you like the AOS/Rogue bell so far? I am considering a purchase.
I liked it well enough to buy two more. I got another 32kg bell and a 40kg bell.
That said, I also purchased additional 20, 24, and 28kg bells from Lifeline USA. If Lifeline had a 32 kg bell, I would have bought it from them instead. I like the finish on the Lifeline bells a bit better and, on the larger bells, the handles feel a bit thicker. These are small things, but that plus the lower cost of the Lifeline bells, cause me to prefer the Lifeline bells. Truth be told though, I'd prefer the Lifeline bells even if they were the same price or even a bit more expensive than the AOS bells.
One potentially compelling feature of the AOS bells is the bolt hole in the bottom. You can attach the Kettlebell Buddy and other attachments to that bolt hole. I purchased a pair of 2kg Kettlebell Buddies and one 4kg Kettlebell Buddy recently. I'll review them here in this thread at a later date.
Using these attachments, I'll be able to work on double 34kg kettlebell presses and double 36kg kettlebell presses too. I also have a 36kg Lifeline bell; hooking the 4kg kettlebell buddy onto the 32kg AOS bell provides me with a second 36kg bell to work with. That 4kg kettlebell buddy in combination with the 40kg AOS bell will potentially allow me to work on 44kg single arm presses. It's moot at the moment because I can't even do a 40kg single arm press yet.
So, bottom line, if you're looking to buy kettlebells in the 4kg to 28kg range and you don't care about having a hole on the bottom for attachments, get the Lifeline Bells. Lifeline doesn't sell 32kg or 40 kg bells; get the AOS bells from Rogue for those weights. That's how I did it and that's still my preference.
The Rogue bells look very nice, if just a little rough. I am a big fan of Lifeline's kettlebells and echo what has been said here. I managed to score a 44k bell from them before they ran out of stock. It's an awesome thing!
The Rogue bells look very nice, if just a little rough.
The only time I notice the roughness is when I pick them up and move them into position for doing swings or something. The rougher texture on the main (ball) part of the bell sort of grabs at my pants or shorts legs. I haven't had a problem with the texture against my arm or shirt when holding the bell in rack position.
I am a big fan of Lifeline's kettlebells and echo what has been said here. I managed to score a 44k bell from them before they ran out of stock. It's an awesome thing!
I'm envious. I called Lifeline and tried to get one of the 44kg bells late last year, but they didn't have any at the time.
I called Lifeline and tried to get one of the 44kg bells late last year, but they didn't have any at the time.
I know the feeling. I was actually buying a 40, but they called back and said the 40s were all gone, but they still had some 44s. I spoke with their quality control person, and told me they discontinued the larger sizes entirely. I assume that once they sell all the 36s, 28 will be the heaviest they continue to make.
I assume that once they sell all the 36s, 28 will be the heaviest they continue to make.
Hmm. Interesting. So, if I want a second 36, I should order soon...
I really like the 28s. It's the right weight for me to be able to do a decent number (five or more) reps when doing overhead press. I can only eke out three reps at a time with the 32s. For me, 28kg is also a nice weight for doing TGUs. I can do them with the 32, but it doesn't feel as controlled. I haven't tried it with a 36 yet.
I was pressing a single 36 for a while, but I was doing more of a side press. When I got the kettlebell buddies (of which I still have to post photos here) I tried pressing two 36kb kettlebells at once... and utterly failed.
Hmm. Interesting. So, if I want a second 36, I should order soon...
I really like the 28s. It's the right weight for me to be able to do a decent number (five or more) reps when doing overhead press. I can only eke out three reps at a time with the 32s. For me, 28kg is also a nice weight for doing TGUs. I can do them with the 32, but it doesn't feel as controlled. I haven't tried it with a 36 yet.
I was pressing a single 36 for a while, but I was doing more of a side press. When I got the kettlebell buddies (of which I still have to post photos here) I tried pressing two 36kb kettlebells at once... and utterly failed.
What's the advantage of using kettle bells over dumb bells for overhead press? Is it just personal preference. I noticed rogue puts kettle bells under conditioning as opposed to Strenght training.
What's the advantage of using kettle bells over dumb bells for overhead press? Is it just personal preference.
I can tell you what I perceive to be the differences, but I can't say whether it's an advantage or disadvantage.
When you do an overhead press using kettlebells, the weight is distributed differently than it is with dumbbells.
For one thing the center-of-gravity of the bell is below the hand. If you hold the kettlebell correctly, you can keep your wrist in a neutral configuration with little effort. This is not the case when doing an overhead press with a dumbbell.
The mass is also distributed differently in another fashion. With a dumbbell, the center of gravity for the bell is situated pretty much over the center of the palm. With a kettlebell, it's out to the side. I found this latter difference to be disconcerting at first, but I've gotten used to it. I started off gripping the kettlebell handle incorrectly; gripped in that fashion, with the ball resting on the back of my arm/wrist, I was able to press heavier weights. Once I switched to a grip in which the thumb grasps the corner of the bell and the other side of the handle rests against the wrist and forearm, I wasn't able to press as much weight. I am only now starting to get back to the weight that I was pressing before when I was gripping the kettlebell handle in the center. (This is one of the reasons that I'm not able to say much about the Kettlebell Buddy. When I bought them, I thought I was ready to begin using them immediately. But then I realized that my technique was off; as noted above, when I started gripping the bell correctly, I found it harder to do the overhead press.)
I noticed rogue puts kettle bells under conditioning as opposed to Strenght training.
Kettlebells can be used for strength training for some movements, provided you have enough of them and in weights that are heavy enough to be challenging. You can use them to do low rep sets of overhead press and various types of rows. Most folks will be able to find heavy enough ones to be challenging.
For other movements, such as the squat, the kettlebell is probably not a good strength training tool because you'd need very heavy kettlebells to keep the exercise challenging. Even if you had heavy kettlebells, you'd still have to clean them to the rack position and this may be something that's difficult to do safely, if at all.
Kettlebells are often used for doing swings or snatches where lots of reps are done or for Tabata style training where reps are done for a relatively short interval followed by some (also short) interval of rest. (But overall, the volume is still pretty high.) Used in this fashion, they're definitely a conditioning tool.
Hi, if possible, would you mind measuring the circumference of the Rogue 32k handle? My Lifelines all measured 130mm, and my DDs measured 125mm.
I ended up measuring the handles of each of the Rogue or Lifeline kettlebells that I own. I don't have an accurate way of measuring circumference, so, for each kettlebell, I took five diameter readings in inches - which are the units that my working caliper uses, averaged those, converted that average to millimeters, and then used that value to compute the circumference, also in millimeters.
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