In Russia, kettlebells are a matter of national pride and a symbol of strength. Kettlebell competitions have always been a part of the Russian culture since the early days of the kettlebell, where villagers would compete at fairs and festivals to prove who had the best skill, endurance, and strength.

In 1948, the ‘first’ official All-Union kettlebell competition took place, and “was attended by more than 200,000 people, from then on, kettlebells went from being used for general physical conditioning to a sport of its’ own”.

In Russia and Eastern Europe kettlebell lifting is an international sport with local, national and world championships.

They are also the primary equipment used in the weightlifting sport of girevoy. They provide a highly adaptable training device that can be used for a variety of different purposes.

Sigmund Klein set up a weightlifting gym in New York that became famous in the 1930s and 1940s for producing strongmen and kettlebells were a popular item of training equipment.

Soviet weightlifting legends such as Vlasov, Zhabotinskiy, and Alexeyev started their Olympic careers with kettlebells.

Unlike most national armed forces, which test their soldiers with push-ups; the Russian armed forces test their soldiers using high volume kettlebell snatches using a 24kg kettlebell.

From being used as a weight for market products in Russia, to a tool for athletic development and health, the kettlebell slowly developed into a sport of its own. By 1974 it had been officially declared the ethnic sport of Russia and in 1985 the First National Championship of the USSR was held in Lipetsk, Russia.

Kettlebells in the USA, Europe and Australia were non-existent in the latter part of the 20th century. In 1998, Pavel Tsatouline, former Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor, and considered the “modern king of kettlebells”, wrote an article discussing kettlebells in a popular American magazine for strength athletes; the article was extremely well received and kettlebell training in the West took off.