10 Reasons for the Superiority of the
Clubbell® for Circular Strength
Training regard SAFE,
FUNCTIONAL, ADAPTABLE, DURABLE and a RESULTS PRODUCING piece of equipment.
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In light of recent events, I
find it prudent to give my official position on the evolution of the Clubbell®
and how it became the most optimal and only sensible equipment for use in
Circular Strength Training™.
I would never endorse plate-loaded versions of equipment because I have a few
years of experience experimenting with not just plate-loading prototypes, but
quite a few “adjustable” apparati which I have described in various articles. In
my experience, I found plate-loading equipment to be HIGHLY dangerous for
Circular Strength Training™ (CST) for obvious reasons. I could never in good
conscience endorse such equipment for CST.
The differences between a
“plate-loading” device and the Clubbell® regard SAFETY, FUNCTIONALITY,
DURABILITY and RESULTS PRODUCING.
1. The first thing I discovered years ago regarded the
distinction between plate-loading vs. the constant Center of Mass.
Let me state this simply first – constant Center of Mass (COM) does not
necessarily mean fixed weight. Secondly, plate-loading does not
necessarily mean adjustable.
Anyone that has done any type of grip/forearm exercise knows that plate
increments (2.5 pounds) are too great of a leap for CST. There’s just no way to
feasibly get progress in CST using Olympic plates. Years of trial and error
showed me this.
Obviously the person who would call the Clubbell® “non-adjustable” has actually
never practiced CST at all. If they knew anything about the original Clubbell®,
they would know that the grip length was specifically designed to make the
implement micro-loading adjustable. The closer that the grip moves
towards the knob, the more distant from the Center of Mass (COM), the greater
the weight.
On the Clubbell®, your grip can be moved even millimeters at a time to ensure
the Incremental Progression that allows for constant development. This
prevents the plateaus from the dramatic leap of adding another plate. It took me
quite years of design tweaking to create the final evolution in Circular
Strength Training™ – the Clubbell®. It’s simply eons beyond any of the
contraptions tried in the past: telescopic extension bells, plate stacked pins,
sand loaded balls, et cetera.
Bottom line is this: a strength training implement is only truly adjustable
if you can increase the load incremental to your progress. If the addition
of another plate is too great of a jump, then that implement is categorically
not adjustable. In other words, plate-loadable does not mean adjustable.
I had to create a new design that could continue to be incrementally
progressive. So, I threw all of my plate-loading designs into the junk pile
incapable of accomplishing the task functionally and safely. My friends and
clients saw some of my many various contraptions and can attest to the inherent
dangers that plate stack pins cause in CST.
It was during one of my times consulting with an engineer that it dawned on me
the benefits of sledgehammer training. With sledges as you continue to pound the
tire, your hands slip farther and farther away from the hammer head. The farther
from the COM, the greater the challenge. However, when I worked a new swing, or
worked on new terrain, or different weather, or partially submerged in water, I
would choke up on the handle to learn the new skill. I realized this variable
grip depth afforded me precisely the graduated development needed to make it
consistently and safely to the next level.
Over the years, this design nuance inspired the long handle (and as a result
variable-distance COM) of the authentic Clubbell®. This special handle neck
allows anyone at anytime to increase the load by even the most miniscule
increments. The long handle design of a secure COM in the Clubbell® is the only
truly adjustable weight Circular Strength Training implement.
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2. This brings me to the dangers of a non-secure COM
caused by plate-loading devices. When I first started, Circular
Strength Training, I created quite a few of these prototypes with which to
experiment. There’s a rule of thumb with firearms that crossed over: the more
moving pieces in a piece of equipment, the greater the possibility for error and
product failure (it’s a rule of thumb in fighting as well with number of
techniques from which to choose.)
Swinging weight in 3 dimensions like only Circular Strength Training™
can, creates unique problems. If the implement's COM shifts because of
plate-loading nature, the trajectory of the motion changes. One of several
things then happens: you must let go, duck and cover; your body stretch reflexes
causing micro-tears trying to restabilize (which it cannot in the extreme ROM of
CST); the weight carries outside of a joint's ROM creating injuries
(plate-loading devices sidelined me for months with a shoulder injury); and/or
you try to change the movement to somehow catch the implement as it follows its
new trajectory (dangerous acrobatics). None of these options I found to be fun,
obviously.
Anyone that’s ever even bench pressed, the most one-dimensional exercise you can
do involving only one half of one plane, knows that plates clang, move, push
collars, and change the COM of the press. No one enjoys it when it happens, and
it happens with even the world’s most “secure” collars. Now imagine swinging
plates and collars over and around your head in circles and other shapes.
Doesn’t sound fun, does it? It’s an exercise in stupidity (and yes, stupidity is
how I learned not to do it.)
Lifting a water-filled keg over head to stabilize deviating weight is a great
exercise. However, you do NOT want to be required to stabilize unpredictable
Center of Mass when carrying weight in the extreme ranges of motion of your
shoulder. It’s just plain unsafe and why a plate-loading implement could never
be used for CST.
3. Regarding the exterior contour of plate-loading for
swinging: Anyone that’s swung a stack of plates around their body
knows that the diameter makes it impossible to maneuver safely through the
exercise without dangerous impact with the body. Yes, I learned this the
hard-way.
Obviously if an exercise such as an Armpit Cast requires the implement to
move from Back Position into Order Position, in the Back
Position the implement must be perpendicular to the ground to keep the arm
in its normal range of motion. Due to the diameter of plates, when you swing a
stack of plates behind your head, your grip will carry beyond the normal ROM of
the shoulder resulting in injury, not to mention the bruises (if not bone
breaks) you’ll receive when the stack hits your back. I don’t think I really
need to explain this obvious point. I feel very fortunate that none of my
injuries were permanent when I experimented with these design types.
This is why years of experimentation and research evolved the smooth profile of
the polyurethane coated Clubbell® - the only TRUE “club” for exercising
(“bell”).
4. This begs the point of the protective polyurethane
coating Clubbell®. I never intended for all of “this” – I was just
creating a piece of equipment for myself. I had no problem investing enormous
funds in research and development. It was a fun labor of love creating the
safest and most functional apparatus for Circular Strength Training™
possible.
Since I trained out of the sanctuary of my own mountain home, I required some
protection for the surfaces of my house, even in my gym. The steel caused so
many cosmetic and even structural damages to my home (and car) that I realized
something needed to be changed or added.
When I reluctantly lent my equipment to friends, it reinforced this need. Most
of my clients train out of their home and in professional studios. You need a
special place for parking a stack of plates, iron cast or steel lathed device.
Obviously the Clubbell® can be placed and taken anywhere and protect property
due to its thick polyurethane coating.
5. Now we get to the most potentially hazardous design
choices – grip texture. Who in the world would create a handle of
that tiny diameter made of “polished” steel? Me.
My initial designs involved polished steel straight out of a junkyard. Yes, it
would have been a shiny bauble to attract the Ken-and-Barbie types and sell
volumes to the masses who love to buy “sparklies.” However, anyone that has ever
done any strength training knows that hand oils and sweat reduce friction and
diminish grip security. Swinging a polished steel stack of plates created
homemade SCUD missiles. With a particular polished handled design, after a few
reps I found we had inherited a new antenna lodged into the side of our home.
Going to the other end of the spectrum then, I worked with designs which had the
most amount of friction between hand and handle. I tried knurling. I discovered
that the friction was too much and with the outward pulling of the implement in
the hand during CST shredded the hands. I tried rubberized and even tacky
leather grips, and found that if the grip surface didn't move and slip, then my
flesh did. Maneuvering these designs became impossible without danger and were
frequently accompanied by injury and property damage.
This is why Torque
Athletic (our manufacturer) worked with RMAX.tv Productions (my company
and team) for many months creating the specific thick grip diameter and a
specialized “CRINKLE COATED” texture of the Clubbell®. This ingenious design
ensured the most ergonomically sound grip fit in a way that provided me with the
most amount of traction to hold the Clubbell® securely: the perfect balance.
6. Okay, I admit it. I tried initially to keep cost
down and create just cast-iron and even lathe club replicas of the old time
“bowling pin” design. After several broke because of falling over on
the knob, I consulted with an engineer who apprise me of the failings of single
piece units. In single piece units, the structurally weakest point is where the
handle meets the knob. After investing too much money in replacing these designs
and trying to increase material density, we realized we needed to have the knob
as a screw type attachment to the neck.
7. This leads me to choosing the ball size. I rapidly
discovered that small balls have ZERO functional value.
The “gum-drop” handle of old time ‘bowling pin’ designs never went over 10-15
pounds without gaining ball size. Now, since I created a long neck for
micro-loading adjustable nature of the Clubbell®, the Center of Mass was
distant. Small balls were insufficient to stop the implement from sliding out of
even the smallest hands, not to mention larger hands which wouldn’t even feel it
disappearing under their grasp. Couple that with some of the polished-handle
madness of early designs and I had a recipe for disaster. And that’s just the
outward projection of Circular Strength Training™.
After years of research and study, we finalized on a specialized Phenolic Knob
for the Clubbell® - chosen by the engineers at Torque Athletic (the same knob
used in professional race car shifting knobs). We chose this large knob because
it was sufficiently large enough to create a grip purchase to prevent the
implement from sliding out of the hand if gripped correctly. Furthermore, the
Phenolic Knob was chosen because its special composition allowed a large
purchase without adverse weight increase – in other words, without shifting the
constant COM towards the grip.
8. If you looked at some of the insanity of my earlier
creations, you would be compelled to ask me what would stop a plate-stack from
pushing down (obviously it’s actually the Earth pulling down) the weight through
the grip. Some miniscule ribbing? Iranian meels had dramatic changes
in diameter, but that precluded the ability to make the implements adjustable
through changes in grip depth.
Anyone who has used any of the overhead exercises of CST wants a safe and
substantial device exterior profile to prevent injury. Polished handled
implements slid right up to the plates when holding it in Torch Position over
head, or any type of Snatch shock absorption (that is, if I was able to keep it
from flying upward in the sky when you snatch it because of tiny ‘gumdrop’ knob
designs.)
I finalized on the magnum-shaped design of the Clubbell®, since the rapidly
expanding diameter prevented the grip from moving higher. Couple that with the
specialized “CRINKLE COATING” grip texture and you can see that the Clubbell® is
the best design imaginable.
9. Okay… the obvious insanity of collars.
Folks, this should be right in front of everyone’s eyes. Unfortunately, it was
directly in front of mine… because collars failed. Collars were designed
for keeping plates from adjusting outward. Collars were not designed to keep
plates from falling downward on your head. Like I said, unfortunately, I
found out the hard way.
Imagine holding a stack of plates over head. Now imagine the only thing between
you and those plates is a collar. This sealed my fate. One cannot safely produce
a collared device for moving weight in 3 dimensions, in other words for
Circular Strength Training™. Furthermore, since friends and clients had been
beginning to ask to borrow my equipment, care and consideration for their safety
was my highest priority, so I couldn't in good conscience offer them any sort of
plate-loading collared device.
Together with Torque Athletic, we finalized on a constant Center of Mass
(an internally weighted device) of the Clubbell® to guarantee no product failure
from collars ever happening.
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10. Why did we
choose metal over wood for the Clubbell®?
Grip security impacts the user in this type of training. Wood absorbs
hand oils and the sanding makes the surface smooth. As such, wooden implements
do not allow for alterations of grip depth. Wooden bowling pins are fine when
doing ultra-light weight movements, but when moving real weight with torque, the
poor design of wooden grips become an exercise in lethal projectiles.
Density: most obviously - as Doug states. Can you imagine how large a
wooden 25 pound, not to mention a wooden 45 pound version of the Clubbell®? My
wooden variants I created early in the evolution of the Clubbell were
impossible oversized in order to meet the needs of functional strength
training.
Consistent Center of Mass: Having a consistent Center of Mass (COM)
relates to the density issue. Because of the nature of wood grain, it's
impossible to keep consistent the constant center of mass from one implement to
the next. This created dangerous results when having expectations of the COM
from one user to the next and from one arm to the next.
Durability is the other obvious factor. The wooden prototypes that I
created over the years (as well as the old "Indian Club" antiques I procured
from auctions) remained subject to material inconsistencies - in other words,
wood have grain. Any drop, topple or clank caused the grain to create splits
in the wood, especially at the neck where wooden variants were most fragile.
Cost: This doesn't even address the cost of producing such large wooden
implements coupled with the rate of breakage due to the inherent flaws of wood
grain, and you have an unacceptably high cost burden would have to be
carried by the consumer.
These reasons obviously were additionally why metal lathing and casting were
inferior prototypes as well.
People can create whatever Frankenstein invention they wish. Like I said, I
didn't create my "Cadillac" for anyone else but myself initially, and later my
close trainees. Only much later, after protracted, convincing argument did I
consent to move to making my design commercially available for everyone to
benefit from. For me the goal was always the MOST FUNCTIONAL, DURABLE,
ADAPTABLE, SAFE, and RESULTS PRODUCING device for Circular Strength Training™
possible.
We accomplished that in the Clubbell®, which is why RMAX.tv Productions will
always be the original, the leader, and the best source of Circular Strength
Training™.
Early on my evolution in creating the Clubbell®, I experimented with many more
designs than those mentioned above. Each of these resulted in product failure,
personal injury and/or property injury, EXCEPT FOR THE FINAL EVOLUTION of the
Clubbell®.
I had no interest in making my “Cadillac” commercial. I wanted the safest, most
durable, most functional and most results producing implement I could create for
Circular Strength Training, because that's how I trained. When people began to
insist that I make it available to the public, my insistence for safety
increased. I would NEVER take a risk on the public with a design I have
not thoroughly evaluated and personally experimented with myself.
One company actually did try to "borrow" the Clubbell® name to market their own
version of our Clubbell® equipment. Their response to our initial and polite
“cease and desist” letter, regarding their infringing use of our Registered
Trademark Clubbell® (Reg. No. 2,727,333) was unapologetic and belligerent. They
gave us no choice but to immediately engage our lawyers to prosecute the
infringement of our trademark.
I would like to express my gratitude to Nikolay Travkin and our attorneys for
their swift and effective work in resolving this matter. In particular and
especially we at RMAX.tv Productions would like to express our deepest thanks to
Jorge Colon, Esq., CST certified and legal advisor to myself, Nikolay Travkin
and RMAX.tv Productions, as well as the Corporate and Trademark counsel to one
of the largest publishing companies in the U.S., American Media Inc., and Weider
Publications, LLC.
These minor diversions aside, I’m pleased to see that Circular Strength
Training™ and the Clubbell® have become so wide-spread and popular that
other designs for Circular Strength Training™ are coming out of the
woodwork. We can only hope that these people have actually invested the time to
understand CST and experiment extensively with their design before actually mass
producing it and shipping it out to market.
As you know that’s not why I designed the Clubbell®. The Clubbell® is the
natural evolution of my desire and effort to design the SAFEST, most FUNCTIONAL,
most DURABLE, greatest RESULTS PRODUCING and most ADAPTABLE piece of equipment
possible for CST. Together with Torque Athletic and RMAX.tv Productions, we did.
Keep the vision alive and, be careful out there.
Scott Sonnon
RMAX.tv Productions
