REVIEW: Reebok Cardio Bell – 6kg kettlebell

Exciting piece of kit!

A week or so ago I won a competition on the Reebok Fitness Twitter page and bagged myself a brand new 6kg Cardio Bell. I was absolutely made up to win this, and since I have started using it, it has become one of my new favourite things! I thought it was only fair to write a blog review about it on this basis, since I am enjoying having it so much. I have already written a short review on Tribesports about it too! If I’m getting a bit evangelical let me know…


In fact now I’ve been on the Reebok Fitness website to get the Cardio Bell link for you, I’m feeling a bit covetous generally… If anyone fancies sending me some sexy boxing gloves and wraps for me and a set of pads for The Boy for us to try out, just let me know! (Yes, my current boxing obsession continues unabated).


Back to the Cardio Bell! It’s a good design, although how much manouvre there is in terms of designing a unique kettle bell I don’t know!! The handle is nice and wide though, meaning people with lickle hands like mine can easily hold it in a two handed grip. It is made of moulded plastic which is comfortable to hold, but also has a surprisingly good grip. I’m used to metal kettle bells with a rubber coating on the handle, but I find this easier to use and presumably it will last longer than a coated handle.


Although unconventional, “Cardio” bell is an excellent name for this piece of kit. If you haven’t used a kettle bell before, you may be imagining they are just for meaty men who want to add muscle bulk, but this is not the case at all. They are great for building strength, granted, but they also help to tone and really provide quite a significant cardio workout, so actually they function quite nicely as an all in one piece of kit. I think for the ladies out there looking for a good home workout I would build up a routine with the 6kg bell and perhaps get the 3kg for initially building up strength in your arms individually, particularly for tricep exercises.


I tried out the Reebok Fitness YouTube videos yesterday to see what the exercises they recommended were like. To be honest, they were all things I’ve been instructed on using a kettle bell with before, which I suppose is quite reassuring! You’ll see quite a lot of thumbs down on the videos, but this appears to me to be because Reebok have weirdly decided to name the exercises differently to the rest of the world – in some cases even seemingly swapping the names of standard exercises around (it would be like randomly saying that sit ups are now called press ups and vice versa, it just makes no sense) but the exercises themselves are sound. I found that working through each of the videos twice (one for each side where necessary) was an excellent short workout and really got the blood pumping and had me out of breath. The only criticism I have it that there are no verbal instructions to assist you with checking your posture and form is correct when undertaking the exercises.

Today I’ve done a load of kettle bell swings and focused on more arm toning work than cardio. That’s what I really love about my new Cardio Bell, it’s flexibility. On that basis I think it’s a really good value home workout item. It seems to generally be priced at around £25 for the 6kg bell at the time of writing, the only reason I would suggest this is average value is that this seems to be about the price you’ll pay for any 6kg kettle bell! I like the feel of this one though, so I would be happy to recommend it.