In this episode of the BJJ Strength Training Podcast I share my long history with Kettlebells and why I now think that they are overrated for your BJJ training program. You can stream or download it from the link below or you can find it on Itunes, Podbean, Google Podcasts, Spotify and all other major podcasting platforms.

One of the things that I love about BJJ is how pragmatic it is. It doesn’t matter how cool an idea may be in theory, eventually it has to work on the mats and a willingness to discard old ideas in favor of better ones is how we all make progress.

I like to apply this mindset to all areas of my life, including strength training. I’ve changed my mind many times based on better information coming my way and I know that I’ll change it again as time goes on.

And one of the things I’ve changed my mind on is the value of Kettlebell Swings for a BJJ training program. I know that this sounds crazy but if you’ll hear me out I think that you’ll see what I mean.

The Swing is a great exercise and the KB is only one training tool that you can use to do it. I’ve come to realize that the KB Swing's popularity has more to do with marketing than using the best tool for the job and there are better, more functional ways to train the Swing movement.

KBs are still a great tool for many other things, however their structure just makes the KB Swing a less functional movement than other options. Using the right tool for the job will help you get better results and decrease your chances for getting hurt, which IMO should be the main goal of your training program instead of allegiance to a particular piece of equipment.

Until next time…

Train Strong,

James Wilson

BJJ Strength Training Systems