Many people who are buying a kettlebell can get confused by the different options. One of the more common questions I get asked is “Should I get a cast iron or vinyl kettlebell?”.

This week I just wanted to illustrate a couple of the differences between the two.

Cast Iron or Vinyl Kettlebell?

Take a quick look at two of the kettlebells I have at home.

On the left is a red cast iron kettlebell and on the right is a grey and green vinyl kettlebell

At a quick glance which would you think is the heaviest of the two? The cast iron or vinyl kettlebell?

The natural assumption without looking at the numbers would be to assume the bigger of the two, the grey and green kettlebell, would be heavier. In fact, the opposite is true, the smaller red kettlebell is heavier.

Take another look…

The smaller red cast iron kettlebell weighs 14kg and the larger grey and green kettlebell weighs 10kg.

This is the main difference when choosing between a cast iron or vinyl kettlebell…

Size!

The cast iron is a more dense material so when comparing two kettlebells of the same weight, the cast iron option will always be smaller and more compact.

This is not so much of an issue when using lighter kettlebells. As you start to lift heavier kettlebells, the vinyl versions can become bulkier and can make some exercises more difficult.

Price

The advantage of the vinyl kettlebells is that they tend to be significantly cheaper than their cast iron equivalents, in some cases close to half the price.

Given that when you start training you are likely to progress quickly, you tend to need multiple kettlebells of varying weight. Going for the vinyl option is likely to be a cheaper option to get you going.

My Opinion

My opinion on choosing a cast iron or vinyl kettlebell is that for anything up to 10kg, I would choose to save money and go for the vinyl option. When you start to buy heavier kettlebells I would look to switch to cast iron purely because of how bulky the vinyl options can get.

Where to buy Kettlebells?

A quick Amazon search for Kettlebells will show you hundreds of different options out there. Such a wide choice can make it confusing about where to start and which one to choose. To help point you in the right direction, here are a couple of recommendations I can make.

Vinyl

You may have seen from the ‘Meet Mum‘ series, that I bought Mum a set of 4 vinyl kettlebells ranging from 2kg up to 8 kg. These can be found by clicking the picture below. These are great as they come as a set and are very affordable.

Here is a quick video I made showing what the kettlebells look like when they arrive.

Cast Iron

In a previous clinic I worked in, we had a set of the following cast iron kettlebells. These looked smart and have a rubberised neoprene coating around them which offers some protection to the floor.

Please note when ordering these cast iron kettlebells you have to choose from a drop-down menu to select the weight you want. You do not get the full set pictured above for the price shown. They are individual prices for the particular weight you have selected. Having said that, they do offer some sets of 3 kettlebells which you’ll see in the drop-down menu.

I am talking from personal experience, I was very disappointed to find that only one kettlebell arrived when I thought I’d got an amazing deal on a full set.

As said previously, there are lots of different options out there. At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference and to your budget. Have a shop around and see what you like and can afford.

The other option you have is seeing if you can pick up a bargain on some second-hand kettlebells from eBay.

For ideas of other equipment, you might want for your home gym, read my post on Setting Up Your Own Home Gym

Mystery Option

This feels like it comes from one of those TV shows where families get shown around several houses in a new area. There is always a mystery house at the end which is slightly above budget. I’ve found that equivalent in kettlebell form.

I’ll start by saying that I haven’t used this before and just happened to find it on Amazon whilst writing this post. However, I think the idea is brilliant so I have added it here as an option.

The kettlebell below is a cast-iron option but the weight is variable. This means that one kettlebell can change weight from 2kg up to 18kg. This means you only need one kettlebell rather than a whole selection.

Now, this does come at a higher price, but if you were to add up all the individual kettlebells that you would have had to buy, it’s probably not too dissimilar.

I hope this post has made your decision to buy a cast iron or vinyl kettlebell a little bit easier.

Let me know what you decided to get or if you have any recommendations that you can suggest to others.

This post was written by myself, Chris Tiley, a physiotherapist based out of Movement Therapy Clinics in Harborne, Birmingham. For more information on how I can help you visit christileyphysiotherapy.com

Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that everything I recommend is because I honestly believe they are all helpful and useful to assist you in achieving your goal in becoming stronger, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel that you need them or believe that they will help you achieve your goals.