Kettlebell juggling, Apollo axis and ball barbell.

The method of V.F. Kraevsky, the founder of the Russian school of athletic gymnastics and weightlifting (1885), was based on a system of comprehensive development of strength. Along with lifting all kinds of weights and tempo exercises with weights and barbells, a lot of space was allocated to general physical development: wrestling, swimming, cycling.

The improvement of athletic gymnastics systems and their diversity led to a change in the shape and purpose of athletic equipment. Thus, ancient galters, used mainly as balancers or counterweights to impart inertia in jumping exercises, gave way to spherical and disk dumbbells of various weights. With them it was possible to perform the simplest swing movements, abduction and adduction for the required number of repetitions. In ancient times, hewn smooth and rough stones served as objects for throwing, throwing back over the head, forward with straightening the legs and lifting over the head. In the 19th century, instead of stones, iron cores began to be used for the same purpose. They were easy to juggle.

Car ramp (it was also called the “Apollo axis”), whose weight reached 500 kg, which served as a measure of absolute strength, was replaced by a ball barbell or “bulldog”. Metal shot or sand was poured into its hollow spheres, thus adjusting the weight of the projectile. The “bulldogs” were replaced by a barbell with a set of discs.

Currently, its neck is made of highly elastic alloy, and the discs are covered with colored plastic in accordance with international standards.

Accordingly, the technique of performing exercises with a barbell has changed, their number has increased, and efficiency has increased. In general, it should be noted that at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries in weightlifting sports there was a tendency to perform exercises with all kinds of weights in a speed-strength, tempo style. So, for example, in 1898 in St. Petersburg at the second Russian Championship, S. Eliseev demonstrated lifting (the prototype of the current weightlifting technique “jerk”) the barbell to the chest in one move. He managed to overcome the weight of 144 kg using the scissors technique. Previously, before this, lifting was performed in three or four steps according to the so-called German system.

Kettlebell lifting has become popular in Russia since the 1970s. Our domestic kettlebell lifters have successfully shown themselves at all-Union and international competitions: V. Kalmuk - winner of the USSR Cup and European champion; V. Langler - winner of the USSR and World Cup, European champion in bodybuilding; S. Sergeev - winner of the CIS Cup, champion and absolute world record holder; V. Khoroneko - winner of the USSR and CIS Cups, multiple record holder in weight lifting; A. Melnik is a multiple champion and world-famous record holder; A. Voronovich and V. Signevich are three-time world champions. The practical and methodological basis for records is created by leading Russian and Belarusian kettlebell lifting trainers: V. S. Frolov, S. V. Yuzyuk, A. P. Vashchilin, V. I. Dovbnya and others.