Kettlebells – the next craze?

Portland LumberJax say they’re sold on Tigard’s Elite Kettlebell Gym

By Christina Cooke

The Times, Apr 1, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

KETTLEBELL SNATCH — Portland LumberJax player Matt Yager performs a snatch, the kettlebell equivalent of a bench press, during the lacrosse team’s workout at Tigard’s Elite Kettlebell Gym on Monday.

Jaime Valdez / The Times

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You won’t find a single dumbbell in the gym Michael Skogg opened in Tigard this January. As a matter of fact, you won’t come across any weight machines, power racks or medicine balls either.

Instead, the Elite Kettlebell Gym specializes in a primitive device called a kettlebell, a cast iron weight that looks a lot like a cannonball with a thick handle. The devices weigh from 8 to 96 pounds each and are meant to be swung around, rather than lifted neatly up and down like most weights.

“Stand-alone, there is nothing that compares to it as a fitness tool,” Skogg said. “It promotes so many aspects of athleticism: explosive power, speed, flexibility, strength, agility, hand-eye coordination – even fluidity and grace.”

Since Skogg opened the gym three months ago at the corner of Pacific Highway and 74th Avenue, he’s attracted a membership of almost 60, including many members of the Portland LumberJax team.

LumberJax spokesman Steven Masters said the lacrosse players have made the kettlebell gym a mainstay of their training over the last eight weeks.

“The guys can’t get enough,” he said.

In the gym on Monday afternoon, nine LumberJax players stood facing a mirrored wall as 2Pac’s “California Love” blasted from the gym speakers. For five minutes straight, they “snatched,” the kettlebell equivalent of the bench press, by using one arm at a time to swing the weights back between their legs and press them up overhead.

Skogg, a powerful-looking man with and thick forearms and a head shaven bald, watched from the side of the room, his arms crossed.

“Three minutes left,” he shouted at the players. “Keep it locked up, bicep to ear.”

The players gritted their teeth, panted and groaned as they worked through the remaining time. Sweat poured from their foreheads and soaked their T-shirts.

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