What the Heck is a Pood?

What is a Pood?

Kettlebells USA® Kettlebells

You may have heard the term "pood" in association with kettlebells, or kettlebell sizes. A pood is a Russian measurement of weight. In Russia, Belarus and Ukraine kettlebells are measured in poods. One Pood (Russian: пуд, pud), is a unit of mass equal to 40 funt (фунт, Russian pound), 16.3807 kilograms or 36.121 pounds. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary pood is from the old Russian pud and is derived from Old Norse pund (pound) & the first known use of the word was in 1554.

Crossfit® aficionados use this term quite a lot as do many old school kettlebell instructors. At Kettlebells USA® we prefer kilograms or pounds because we think "pood" is a confusingly weird word and always confuses people and requires conversion to either kg or lbs anyway! Nevertheless if you insist on using "pood" here are some common kettlebell sizes in approximate poods : traditionally kettlebells came in 1 pood (16 kg), 1.5 pood (24 kg) and 2 pood (32 kg) sizes.

Convert Your Kettlebell Weight from Poods to Kilograms and Pounds

Pounds Kilograms Poods
9 4 0.25
13 6 0.4
26 12 0.70
35 16 1
44 20 1.2
53 24 1.5
62 28 1.7
70 32 2
80 36 2.2
88 40 2.4
106 48 3

To convert Pounds or Kilos to Poods, click here.