Indian Summer Clubbing

by Nicholas Dietrich November 07, 2016

Have you heard of the Indian Club? Nope, it’s got nothing to do with the darker side of the Mumbai techno scene! It refers to an ancient body-conditioning tool that just might be making a comeback. In this blog we briefly tell you about the Indian Club and outline the benefits of exercising with it.

A Brief History

It’s by no means new for people to take part in ritualistic and largely mechanistic body conditioning. Early civilisations across the globe found ways to use objects to mold and sculpt the body. As body conditioning became a systematised discipline, so too were specific apparatus developed to fulfill various tasks.

The Indian Club is one of the Four Horseman of Fitness - a group of ancient tools that also include the Medicine Ball, Dumbbell and Wand. First utilised by Persian Pelwhani wrestlers, Indian Clubs were initially modified weighted war clubs used to condition the upper body via swinging motions. As the style of wrestling spread throughout Iran, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, so too did this form of sports conditioning.

Clubs were first introduced to the West by British soldiers who were stationed on the Indian sub-continent in the 19th Century. They were soon remolded to resemble the large Victorian bowling pin-like clubs you may be more familiar with today.

How to use the Indian Club

Five benefits of Indian Clubbing

Shoulder Strength and Mobility – Swing the weighted club through various movement patterns in order to strengthen and gain greater control and range of movement for the shoulders.
Grip and Forearm Strength – Like in the case of the Kettlebell, by swinging the weighted club your grip is forced to strengthen and the forearms benefit from the isometric contraction.
Core Strength – Swinging forces you to engage your core and gain control over the movements you perform.
Coordination – Advanced movement patterns challenge coordination, make you move across the body and nourishes the brain.
Cardio – Linking movements into longer periods of motion forces your heart rate to climb, leading to a great cardiovascular pump.