Clubbell Basics

Safety First!!!! Coach Sonnon and we as well emphasize safety first and always. Flying Clubbells® will wreak havoc on pets, children, houses etc. Use the safety straps and make sure you have adequate clearance in ALL directions: front, back, both sides and overhead. Make sure the pets and the kids aren’t around and that there are no obstacles nearby. An area of 6 feet in each direction including 6 feet above your head should be adequate unless you are very tall.

Approach the Clubbells® and if they are lying down stand them up one at a time. Your body position should be such that your butt is back, you are folded at the hips, your head is up and chest is out. This is very close to the KB swing stance but the knees aren’t bent as much as with kettlebells.

To grip the Clubbell®, slip the hand through the safety strap, grasp the handle with the web of the hand pointing down and wrap each finger around the handle, pinky first. The thumb goes over the fingers. When using the CB your grip tension will vary from being tight to loose to tight. If you try to crush the handle throughout an exercise you will wind up with tendonitis from overuse.

To get a feel for the weight and your grip strength always start by performing three forearm swings, as they are called in the book. The forearm is a short movement involving the legs in an up and down rhythm which allows the Clubbells® to move forward and backward. The movement comes not from the arms so much as from the body movement. The forearm swing is done prior to almost every Clubbells® exercise. To perform it, stand up enough so that the Clubbells® will just clear the floor. The arms are straight, elbows locked and shoulders down. When the Clubbells® move forward the forearms rotate inward, when the Clubbells® move backward the forearms turn outward.

This was originally published in the online magazine Dolfzine in 2003. The 'zine went dead about 6 months ago so I thought I would put up some of the articles I wrote back in 2002-2004. I'm trying to find the pictures that went with the article and if I find them I will insert them.You may see some place-holders where the pictures should have been.

Dave

Clubbell® Training for Circular Strength

Incorporating Clubbell® Training into your workout

 
Clubbells®, or Indian Clubs as they are known in other parts of the world, have been in use for 100’s of years. The wrestlers of the Middle East, including Turkey and India, have used them to develop incredible strength in the hands, arms and upper body. In the old days the clubs were made of wood and varied in size from fairly small and light weight (under 5 lbs) to massive in size and weight, reaching 70 to 80 lbs each.

Recently, interest in Indian Clubs has surged with the introduction of Clubbells® by Scott Sonnon. Sonnon created his Clubbells® primarily for himself but after his clients used them he began manufacturing them for the public. He spent quite a while toying with different materials and methods before the current design came about. Manufactured by Torque Athletic, the unique weighting and the ability to adjust the users grip on the handle to allow for greater or lesser leverage makes Sonnon’s Clubbells a standout amongst fitness equipment. The Clubbells® are steel-coated with poly-urethane rubber and the handle is covered with a rubber-like substance to keep them from slipping out of the user’s hand. In addition, at the end of the handle are a knob and loop of string, both of which are safety features to help prevent the Clubbells® from flying out of the user’s hand. For a full history of Indian Clubs and how he developed his Clubbells® , please see Clubbell Training for Circular Strength book and video written by Scott Sonnon and published by Rmax.tv. The book has a thorough and well-documented section detailing the history on Indian Clubs and their various incarnations throughout history.