Rogue Atlas stones vs Camille Leblanc medicine ball
This is a comparison of the Rogue Atlas stones and the Camille leblanc medicine ball including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.
Overview and review Camille Leblanc medicine ball
This is an overview of the Rogue Camille Leblanc medicine ball including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.
Overview of the Rogue camille series medicine ball
Price $95
The
Rogue Camille Series medball pays respect to the 2014 Crossfit champion
Camille Leblanc-Bazinet. It comes in 14lb weight and has blue and white custom colors. If you wanted to color code the medicine balls in your box for the use you could get a mix of the
Froning and
Camille balls and everybody will know which ones they need to pick. The specifications of this ball are:
- Part of the Camille Leblanc-Bazinet Signature Series
- Made in Columbus, Ohio
- Weight: 14LB
- Diameter: 14”
- Coated Vinyl Shell – moisture and scuff resistant
- Soft Shell safe to use at high speeds, but strong enough to maintain stable shape
- Double-stitched paracord threading on seams
- Color: Blue with White & Black branding (Rogue and CLB logos)
A nice present for your wife's / girlfriend's home gym, if they do not already own a medicine ball.
Pros of the Cammile leblanc medicine ball
- Color coding
- Athlete inspired
- Double stitching
The main advantage of this medicine ball compared to others is the design. This makes it a good choice if you buy one for yourself or someone you care about who is into fitness. These little nods to other athletes do the trick for an extra boost to press out the last rep or set. In addition, the double stitching provides more stability than other of the shelf medicine balls.
The cons of the Camille Leblanc medicine ball
If you intend to get a collection of various medicine balls with different weights, then this is not the right one to go for. Here the
Dynamax or the
standard Rogue Medicine balls would be better to have a consistent look. If you intend to get a lot of medicine balls of the same weight, this ball might still be an option, if you are willing to pay the little extra per ball for the design.
Alternatives to the Camille leblanc medicine balls
The
Rich Froning medicine ball has the same idea as the
Camille Leblanc series accept that it comes in black and red and 20lbs. This makes it the athlete's choice if they are male based on how most CrossFit WODs are written.
The
Dynamax medicine balls are the industry standard when it comes to medicine balls. Rogue emulated their design at a later stage to offer a cheaper version that provides them with bigger profit margins. If you want the gold standard in medicine balls, this is it. If you are happy with a solid medicine ball you can also get the
standard Rogue medicine ball and save yourself some money.
Echo slam balls are a great option to save money and face when all you do is medicine ball slams. These balls are made of plastic with a sand-like filling. This way they do not bounce back and hit you in the face.
Conclusion for the Camille Leblanc medicine balls
The
Camille Leblanc medicine ball is the right choice for the dedicated female Crossfit athlete for a little extra inspiration. If you want to give this as a gift to someone you know it also a little nicer than just a bland black medicine ball. Anyone who is looking to buy 14lb balls in bulk might be better off with the
standard Rogue Medicine ball or collection of them in various sizes for an individual.
This is an overview of the Rogue xxx including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.
- Construction - Overmolded Rubber, Cast-Iron Core
- Sold a la carte or in full sets (225 LB or 450 LB)
- 5 Available Weight Increments: 50, 75, 100, 150, 200 LBS
- Embossed Weight Indication and Rogue logos on one side
- Recessed edges to prevent rollaway
- Color: Black
The different models are available in:
- 50 LB (10" diameter)
- 75 LB (12" diameter)
- 100 LB (14" diameter)
- 150 LB (16" diameter)
- 200 LB (18" diameter)
and can be purchased in two different sets. One is lightweight up to 100lb while the other is heavyweight up to 200LB. These are great tools if you do a lot of
Atlas stone movements and you are getting fed up with remolding the ones you break on a constant basis.
Pros of the Atlas Rubber stones
- Easy to maintain
- Lower injury risk
- Ready-made
Compared to concrete
Atlas stones this is a step forward to make
Atlas stones a mass marketable product. In the past, you would get a concrete mold and make the stones yourself with cement and/or concrete. Not everyone is familiar with this process and the quality of the result can suffer. In addition, concrete is very unforgiving on the hands and anything you drop it on. Therefore the injury risk is higher. Concrete Stones also take less abuse, especially if you drop them directly on the floor. You usually need to pair them with some gymnastic mat which makes the setup cumbersome. The rubber Atlas stones take care of this problem.
Cons of the rubber Atlas stones
- Not an official strongman competition tool
- Get hot in the sun
- Can not be changed in weight
- Storage
If you are a strongman who is looking to prepare for competition, there is no way around using actual stones rather than rubber. The handling of a concrete ball is different from getting a grip on rubber. If you have a home gym and just want to simulate strongman training, these are a great option. If you are a strongman who wants to compete, get a mold.
As these stones are black rubber they can be a problem in the hot Californian sun. They have a big surface to soak up the heat and you might burn your hands if they are left outside for too long. Of course, you have the same problem with all equipment, but as these are likely to stay outside for a long time because they are hard to store and the fact they are black does not help.
Compared to other options for a home gym that just wants to simulate strongman training, rather than create competition like conditions, the rubber
Atlas stones have the disadvantage that they can not be loaded with different material. If you buy a set of different strongman sandbags from Rogue it leaves you with a lot more options to play around with the weight. They are also easier to store after use if you can dispose of the sand or led you filled them with.
The last disadvantage of
Atlas stones is that they are hard to store. Most racks and storage options offered by Rogue or you already have will not fit them. Therefore you will most likely keep them on the ground and they are not small. Combine that with the fact that they are more often than not a gimmick rather than the main staple of your daily training, this can get annoying. Unless you throw them about every single day.
Alternatives to the rubber atlas stones
- Slater stone molds
- Rogue Strongman sandbags
The Slater stone molds range from 8" - 24" in diameter, 23lbs to 586lbs in weight, and $50 to $220 in price. With these molds, you can make your own stones for use in your gym or anywhere in the world for competition purposes. Usually, it is cheaper and easier to make the stones for a competition on the spot, rather than transporting the heavy stones across the country. If you do not know your way around mixing concrete and pouring it into a mold, this might not be for you. There are good instructions out there, but it is a DIY job.
The Rogue Strongman sandbags come in various shapes and sizes in price ranges from $85 to $155. Thes bags have the advantage that they can be filled with different materials to get different training results. You can use Play sand, Crumb rubber, and lead shot to get weights ranging from 40lb to 2000lb. The lifting experience is not the same as with stones, as you are onto military grade fabric. These bags are also more likely to deform during the lift making the structure more challenging or forgiving depending on whether it hits you or you want to wrap yourself around the bag.
Conclusion for the Atlas Rubber stones
If you are a strongman who needs to work on speed on small
Atlas stone weights, then this is worth the investment. It will make the setup a lot easier, you do not have to worry as much about an injury or the stones deforming. For your maximum attempts or heavy lifts to shoulder, i think there is no way around a concrete stone to do competition justice. If you are a home gym owner who is just starting their home gym I think that these combined with boxes of various heights are a better option than a dumbbell rack. If you have the space for a dumbbell rack, you have the space for a small
Atlas stone ladder. Get the loadable dumbbells from Rogue and use the saved space for the rubber stone setup. That is what I will do when I upgrade my space that currently only houses a power rack and a bench.