Last week I received the brand new girya from http://www.usgsf.com/. It is competition size and it is adjustable. That is why I went through trouble of getting it from another country. Nothing too unusual here, however, because USGSF is getting their giryas from Russia.
Its original weight is 16 kg, and in keeping with the rules and requirements of girevoy sport it is painted yellow. It is hollow and has a screw at the bottom. The overall quality is very good: the thickness of the walls and the bottom about 1 cm, strong enough to hold large loads of whatever filler you choose to increase the weight.
The handle is a bit rough and requires paint stripping and polishing. At this stage though my coach suggested I keep it as it is. I guess it will force the correct lowering technique.
Depending on the material you put in it, according to the ad on USGSF site the weight of this bell can be increased to 44 kg. This is far above the weight I am able to handle at this stage. But having an adjustable girya to me is very useful. There are a few training methodologies where the weight of the bell changes from set to set, as in Ryabchenko’s method. Even if you don’t follow it, it just makes sense to vary workouts between heavy, medium and light, and adjustable bells save space and money.
I can foresee the headache of adjusting the weight. I will need to buy the led shot in large quantities (15-20 kg) and the scale to weigh the bell. This is not as convenient as using the plates, but I guess I just will have to go with it.
The verdict – I like it. The price is $125 plus postage, which is fairly high for Australia. The versatility of it, however, makes it worthwhile for me. I am going to order another one, so that the equipment problem will be solved for a while.
PS. After I posted the review on the Irongarm Forum I received a post that the maximum weight one can squeeze in this bell using the small ledshot is extra 16 kg, i.e. the maximum weight achieved will be 32 kg. 44 kg may be reached only if the bell is filled with melted led.
3 comments:
Eugene,
I would suggest you sand the handle with some rough sandpaper (60 grit is what we use in USA). I made mistake of using 120-150 grit, which is OK for high reps without chalk, but it is too smooth for the chaulk to stick.
You can visit my site at www.bluecollarfitness,com and my YouTube site is www.youtube.com/firefire999
I am working with Mikhail Marshak, am MS from Moscow who just moved to Seattle area. We do GS workshops together - 5 so far in the greater Seattle area. He trained under Sergey Rudnev, 65kg World Champ in '98, Honored Trainer of Sport and Technique coach for the Russian GS Federation.
Cool blog, and as a 43 you guy who loves KBs, it's right up my alley!
Tom Corrigan
kbfiremantom @ yahoo.com
Hi! This seems to be a blog for me as well, being +40 and a gs-aficionado. The adjustable girya looks beautiful; how much did the shipping become? I live in Sweden so I guess the fare should be similar.
Markel
The shipping was about the same as the price of girya, about $130.
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