Russian Kettlebell aka girya (гиря)

The Kettlebell, known in Russian as girya, (гиря – roughly pronounced gear-ia, plural: giri, ги́ри) is a simple, effective, and efficient strength training tool.  

To quote Pavel Tsatsouline “The kettlebell is an ancient Russian weapon against weakness”.  Perhaps I should start to refer to girya as a 'weapon' instead of referring to it as a strength training 'tool'?  

In Russia today, kettlebells are still considered as a matter of national pride and a symbol of strength.  In the old days, any strongman or weightlifter in Russia was referred to as girevik.  This indicates just how inseparable girya is from strength.  

Kettlebells look a little bit like a cannon ball with a handle attached.  Modern kettlebells can made from various different metals, or plastics, they can be solid or filled with concrete or even water.  

Girya are used for a host of different strength building exercises.  They can effectively be used for targeting and ‘isolating’ muscle groups, as well as developing whole body functional strength.  

Girya kettlebell

The history of the kettlebell is a little unclear and there is a lot of controversy over it.  

Girya seem to come from Russia and date back at least 350 years, and are likely far older than that.  The Russian word for kettlebell is girya, and the earliest recorded mention of the word girya was in a Russian dictionary in 1704.  Given the (unverified) story behind the development of girya, it is likely that they were used by Russians for quite a long time prior to being recorded anywhere in writing. 

The story I have heard is that girya originated in rural Russia and where they were originally used as a counterbalance for weighing grain.  Back then, the Russian farmers used triangle shaped weights to measure out grain at the markets.  These weighed one “pood“ (pud, пуд), which is slightly over 16.38 kg (just over 36 pounds). 

image from kettlebellusa.com

It would not have taken long for people who were using these 16 kg weights all day for work to develop really strong arms.   

Unlike in the modern western world where importance is placed on being ‘less fat’ or on 'looking good', a lot of importance in Russia at the time was placed on an individual’s physical strength.  Obviously the Russian peasants at the time had no access to gyms or home weights, whereas these grain measuring weights would have been accessible to many people.  So they became a valid option for building strength.  

After noticing how strong the grain sellers were, the Russian peasants apparently started to swing around this weight as their strength training.  Clearly some people would have been injured, while others likely would have worked out routines that safely built strength in ways that they could not otherwise do.  It did not take long for the girya to become the one and only piece of exercise equipment that was available in the typical Russian home. 

Another thing I learned about their history is that girya were used in competition strength sports in Russia in the late 1800’s.  The first competitive kettlebell lifting or girevoy sport (гиревой спорт) was held in 1885 along with the founding of the "Circle for Amateur Athletics" (Кружок любителей атлетики). 

Small girya

From its beginnings, the kettlebell has changed shape a little to make it safer to lift, it can now be made out of array of different materials, it comes in weights ranging from pointlessly small to unimaginably heavy, can be dangerously ornamental with a face instead of a nice round cannon ball, and can be found in every colour imaginable.  Kettle bells are used in large gyms, or at home, and in various competitions.  

While various fads come and go with these, as they do with everything, the staple girya exercises have remained unchanged since well before I was born and are as effective in building strength today as they were hundreds of years ago.

I was once told if you walk into a gym and there are more machines than free weights that you should walk out.  Unfortunately that describes practically every public gym in Australia.  While not every gym has girya, they are becoming more common as time goes on.  

If you don’t have a kettlebell you should consider getting one.  Forget the gym, you can get your own girya.  They are useful in a wide range of strength building for the entire body or for targeting one area.  Don’t rush into this.  Look around and get one you like the feel of because this is going to be with you for countless hours for many years to come.  

If you are new to using giryi you probably want to start with one that is lighter than you think you should.  There are plenty of different exercises that you can use them for.  Once you build technique then you can progress to heavier weights.

Be strong (byt' sil'nym).