The Nike Kettlebell

The short of it: don’t waste your money. Go with a different brand

The Nike kettlebells have a very nice powder coat finish to them and the color coded rings are exceptionally well done. That is pretty much the extent of what is good about these.

The main problems, in my opinion, are two fold:

1. The handles are quite large/thick compared to other kettlebells

2. The Nike logo is cut out of the metal and thus very sharp (and, unfortunately, the opposite side with the weight on it also has the same issue)

Why are these problems?

1. The handle is a problem because it overemphasizes your grip strength when using in a workout, thus, decreasing the effective weight you can use depending on what muscle you are trying to target. For example, my 88lbs Nike kettlebell has as thick, if not thicker, of a handle than my 203lbs rogue kettlebell… that doesn’t make sense

2. The logo/weight being cut out is a huge problem because it makes it so you do not have a smooth surface on either face. If you are doing any sort of snatches, cleans, etc. with kettlebells this is an absolute requirement. My 88lbs Nike kettlebell is so sharp that it leaves scratches on my forearm if I try to use it in that manner. There are other kettlebells on the market (such as the primal bells we reviewed the other week) that also have this problem BUT those at least have that problem because their design is based more on their aesthetics. These are nowhere near as cool as a monkey face.

While these are very nice looking kettlebells, I cannot recommend them to anyone and would rather you spend (or, in a lot of cases, SAVE) money and go with a rogue, titan, Yes4all, or other similar brand.