Kettlebells in Pood

A pood is a unit of measurement equal to 40 funt (Russian pound). The measurement of one pood is approximately 16.38KG or 36.11LB.

The history of the pood

The term pood was originally used in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia — the home of the kettlebell. 

It’s not the most common measurement used nowadays. Most people tend to use KGs or LBs, however, the term pood has a long history and is still used in certain situations.

Derived from the Old Norse pund and later the Russian pud, it’s been mentioned in documents as far back as the 12th-century documents

Despite its long history, the pood was abolished in 1924 by the USSR. Having said that, it remained in day-to-day use until the 40s and even included in literature in the 50s. 

Crossfit, kettlebells, and pood

The pood is an old-fashioned term, but in specific situations such as sports weights, and, more importantly, kettlebells, it’s used to this day.

If you’ve been to a CrossFit gym recently, you’ve likely heard the term pood in a workout or you may have seen a CrossFit or kettlebell workout refer to 1 Pood, 1.5 Pood, or 2 Pood.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term but have come across it in a CrossFit setting, don’t worry, a pood is simply a unit of measurement. 

What does a pood weigh?

It’s helpful to understand what a pood weighs because you may see a CrossFit or other kettlebell workout refer to 1 Pood, 1.5 Pood, or 2 Pood.

In a nutshell, 1 pood = 16.3807 KGs = 36.121LBs, while a 24KG kettlebell is a 1.5 pood kettlebell in Russia. 

As you can see, 1 pood is not an exact match to 16KG, but it’s extremely close and you can use it to work out the closest weight. 

In other words, one pood is 16KG kettlebell, 1.5 pood is a 24KG kettlebell, and two pood is a 32KG kettlebell  — easy!

How to convert a pood to LBs or KGs

Traditional Russian kettlebells come in 1 pood (16KG), 1.5 pood (24KG) and 2 pood (32KG) sizes. 

While, nowadays, there are many more sizes available on the market, for example, a 0.5 pood (8KG) and a 3 pood (48KG). As well as other weights like 6KG, 10KG, 20KG, and so on.

If you’re at the gym and can’t easily refer to our conversion table, use this simple calculation to work out the correct weight. 

To find out the KGs or LBs from the pood amount, the calculation is simple. For LBs, multiply the number of poods by 36.11 and for KGs, multiply the number of poods by 16.38. 

Buy pood kettlebells

The pood is a term most commonly used by Russians, CrossFit enthusiasts, and traditionalists, while most other kettlebell users tend to stick with LBs or KGs. 

To make life simple for everyone, whatever your preference, at Original Kettlebell, we sell kettlebells in pounds, kilograms, and pood. 

Our kettlebells for CrossFit are made in the UK from 100% cast iron and finished with ultra-tough Cerakote.