🏋️ We used the REP Fitness Adjustable Kettlebell

Welcome to Home Gym Club! Did you know that the use of kettlebells for strength training originated in late 19th century Russia, but some versions date back to Ancient Greece? Thanks, Wikipedia!

What’s in today’s newsletter:

• Or review of the REP Fitness Adjustable Kettlebell.

• The 8 best trap bars, according to our expert testers.

• A registered dietitian helped us pick the best low-cholesterol protein powders.

• We got our hands (er…feet) on the adidas Powerlift 5’s.

Kettlebell Korner

REP Fitness Adjustable Kettlebell Review

There’s plenty of equipment to choose from when outfitting your home or garage gym, but at GGR, we love a good kettlebell. You can use them to improve your strength, power, cardiovascular system, balance, and more.

The only problem? Like everything else, kettlebells take up space, and if you’ve already got a gym full of dumbbells, barbells, and racks—Oh, my!—you may find yourself running out of space and hesitant to add something new to your collection.

That’s where adjustable kettlebells come in, providing even greater versatility than your run-of-the-mill kettlebell while saving precious space. In this REP Fitness Adjustable Kettlebell review, we will summarize all the details you need about this high-quality tool to help you decide whether this is a worthy addition.

Best In Home

8 Best Trap Bars

Have you contemplated trying a trap bar for functionality, a change in stimulus, or ease of use?

After researching and using nearly 30 trap bars, our expert testers—home gym owners and enthusiasts like yourselves—determined our top pick for the best trap/hex bar is (spoiler alert!) the Rogue TB-1 Trap Bar 2.0. It offers the best value among the trap bars currently on the market, though there’s still room for improvement.

Check out our full list of trap bar recommendations from budget to luxury models.

What’s Supp?

6 Best Low-Cholesterol Protein Powders

If you are active, you want to pay attention to the ol’ ticker. The better shape it’s in, the better blood circulates, and the more optimal your performance and endurance can become.

If you’re someone who already has heart issues, it may seem counterintuitive to consume something you might consider to be processed food in the form of whey protein. However, if you know what to look for, you can put yourself in a potentially better position by choosing the best protein powder for your needs. (Of course, always talk to your doctor before adding a supplement to your diet.)

Our team at GGR personally ordered and tested some of the protein powders that may be good for cholesterol levels; only an elite few made the list. We also asked Registered Sports Dietitian Destini Moody to review our picks for the best low-cholesterol protein powder to let you know why we chose to highlight them.

OMG, Shoes

Adidas Powerlift 5 Review

Looking for a dedicated weightlifting shoe?

Specialized lifting shoes come in a few different varieties, including flat-soled deadlift shoes, high-heeled weightlifting shoes, and powerlifting shoes, which fall in the middle. As a fitness coach with over 12 years of experience, staff writer Matt Dustin has spent countless hours on gym floors, performing different types of exercises in all sorts of footwear. He understands the pros and cons of different types of shoes.

For our adidas Powerlift 5 review, we asked Matt to share his honest thoughts after one month of regularly wearing these powerlifting shoes in a commercial and garage gym. He put these shoes through all sorts of workouts to help you decide if these should be your next weightlifting investment.

Quick Hits

Need a Lat Pulldown Alternative?

• Here are the 10 Best Lat Pulldown Alternatives from a certified strength coach. (Whatever is happening in the GIF above isn’t on our list.)

• We took the Xebex ST-6000 Treadmill for a test run.

• A registered dietitian answers the question, “Can you have a banana for your pre-workout?”