Indian Clubs vs Heavy Clubs: What Each One Is For

Indian clubs are mainly for mobility, blood flow, and learning new movement patterns. They're different from heavy clubs in that they're usually only 1 to 3 lb. I generally use them to warm up. Heavy clubs are for building strength. They're related tools with different jobs, and for most people the best use of a pair of Indian clubs is the few minutes before the heavy work starts.

What can Indian clubs do that heavy clubs can't?

Rotate the wrist.

Indian clubs allow for rotation of the wrist in a healthier way. You can't really do the wrist twirls of Indian club technique with heavy clubs unless you're some sort of giant.

A heavy club loads the shoulder through a big arc, and the wrist mostly holds on. A light club lets the wrist and elbow join the movement, which is where the patterns get intricate and where a lot of the mobility work happens.

Where did Indian clubs come from?

India, though not under that name. Wrestlers there trained with heavy wooden clubs called mudgar, and a text describing them dates to around the 4th century BCE. Persian wrestlers used a similar tool, the meel, in traditional gyms called zurkhanehs.

British soldiers stationed in India in the 1800s brought the practice home, made the clubs much lighter, and named them Indian clubs. They became a Victorian fitness craze and part of military cadet training. Club swinging was even an Olympic gymnastics event, in 1904 and again in 1932.

So the light club is the newer invention. The heavy club is the original.

What weight should you start with?

Most beginners start at 1 to 2 lb per club. Around 3 lb is plenty once your patterns are clean.

Heavier isn't better here. Extra weight makes a club harder to control at speed, and speed with control is the whole point. Move up only after your technique is clean. Most of your progress will come from harder patterns, not heavier clubs.

How do you hold them?

Two grips cover most of it. In the hammer grip, you hold the handle like a hammer with your pinky against the knob. In the saber grip, the club points out from your hand like a sword, and your wrist extends as you cast it.

Either way, hold loosely. It's the same rule as with heavy club circles: a death grip is how forearms end up with tendinitis. Let the club move in your hand.

What should a beginner learn first?

Build in this order:

1. Arm circles and pendulums, one club at a time. 2. Front and back swings. 3. The single inside mill, the same shape as the heavy club mill at a fraction of the weight. 4. Doubles, one club in each hand, once the singles are clean.

The mistakes to avoid

Leaning forward. It blocks your shoulder's range, which is the thing you picked up the clubs to open. Stand tall with your shoulders down and relaxed.

Gripping too hard. See above.

Swinging through shoulder pain. If your shoulder already hurts, see a medical practitioner before you start.

How do Indian clubs fit with heavy work?

As the warm-up. A few minutes of light circles and swings gets blood into your shoulders, elbows and wrists before you pick up a heavy club, mace or kettlebell.

The patterns carry over too. Light club swings teach the same hinge timing as a kettlebell swing, and a light mill or circle is a safe place to learn the shape of a movement before you load it. If you're starting from zero, this guide covers where Indian clubs fit in a first program.

Indian clubs won't make you strong. That isn't their job. They make the strength work that follows go better, and if you want to know what that strength work builds, here's the case for clubs and maces.

Doing the arithmetic

Your warm-up doesn't need a log. The heavy work after it does: which implement, how many reps, how many rounds, how it felt. You can track all of that free with a notebook. Perside just never forgets and never rounds in your favor.

Your first session

Start with one 1 lb club. Do arm circles and pendulums on each arm until they feel easy, then front and back swings. If those are smooth, try a few single inside mills, slowly.

Stay upright, keep your grip loose, and stop while it still looks clean. Then put the clubs down and start your heavy work.

Perside programs volume, density, and timed cycles for clubs, maces, and kettlebells. See the full progression at The Path, or size your first implement at getperside.com/learn/start.