This simple-looking “cannonball with a handle,” often made of cast iron, is a versatile and convenient training tool. It can be easily transported or stored in the corner of your home, and it can be the centerpiece for brutally effective workouts virtually anywhere, for any goal.

Because its center of gravity is away from the handle, this piece of equipment allows for unique exercises (such as kettlebell swings) and unconventional workouts that can’t always be replicated with dumbbells. Sure, you can execute some of the same exercises, but the cardiovascular work will be greater with a kettlebell, as the off-balanced design recruits more muscle mass. Kettlebell training can also help to improve balance, coordination, and core bracing.

Here are some of the best kettlebell workouts for all levels of lifters and a wide range of goals, be it size and strength, conditioning and endurance, or even fat loss.

Best Kettlebell Workouts

• For Muscle Mass
• For Fat Loss
• For Conditioning
• For Beginners

Benefits of Kettlebell training

Kettlebells appear to serve the same general purpose as dumbbells. They allow you to train for nearly anything, at any time, and anywhere. (1) But, with the center mass being different, a kettlebell is naturally less stable which provides a different training stimulus. Kettlebells will be slightly less efficient for building raw size because isolating muscles can be difficult due to the added stability challenge, but they are highly effective for building muscular balance and coordination. (2)

As such, kettlebells can provide more “functional” workouts and are particularly useful for athletes. Some kettlebell exercises, like the Turkish get-up, take advantage of this total-body benefit to further improve athletic qualities and conditioning. Because more overall muscle is recruited to stabilize the kettlebell, kettlebell training will also increase the demands on your cardiovascular system, making it a great choice for conditioning. (3)

The off-centered weight and distinctive handle shape allow for unique exercises requiring a swinging or arc motion. This provides even more choice in exercise selection and greater training possibilities. Kettlebells can also be used to perform the same exercises you’d otherwise do with dumbbells.

Best Kettlebell Workouts for Muscle Mass

If your priority is building muscle mass, the kettlebell can be an amazing tool. (4) Focus on the most stable exercises, allowing you to use the heaviest weight to provide the best stimulus for muscle growth. A workout should start with big basic, compound (multi-joint) exercises that recruits the most muscle mass when you’re fresh, so that you can use the most weight while focusing on good form.

Then, you can follow with isolation, single-joint exercise to target a specific muscle or improve your mind-muscle connection. These exercises stimulate less overall muscle mass, but are very useful to focus on a single body part.

To progress, stay in the desired repetition range, performing “hard” sets. Improve over time, either by increasing the number of repetitions or, if available, the weight of the kettlebell. Start relatively light when you first try an exercise — allow time for your nervous system and body to master the technique required. Do not progress too heavy, too fast. Remember that muscle building is a marathon, not a sprint.

Upper Body Kettlebell Muscle-Builder

There are several ways to organize a workout or program, so we’ll detail several routines that you can use depending upon your preferences and schedule. The first one is a workout focusing on the muscles of the upper body and utilizes supersets to hit the muscles with a higher intensity in less time.

Single-Arm Kettlebell Row

• How to Do It: Hinge forward at your hips to assume a bent-over position. Put one hand on a flat bench or a wall to increase total-body stability. Grab the handle of a kettlebell with the other hand, brace your core, and pull your elbow past your hip. Don’t allow your elbows to flare out to the sides. Lower with control to a full stretch.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 8-12 per arm
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Bench Press

• How to Do It: Grab a pair of kettlebells and lie down on a flat bench. Squeeze the handles hard and have the ball of the kettlebell resting on your outer forearm. Begin with your hands near the sides of your chest and your palms facing each other. Retract your shoulder blades and press the weight up while exhaling. As you press up, rotate your palms to face forward. Keep your elbows at a roughly 45-degree angle. Lower with control.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 6-10
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Kettlebell High Pull

• How to Do It: Stand tall while holding a relatively heavy kettlebell in each hand at your side. Brace your core and squeeze your lats, then hinge forward by bending at your hips and knees. When your hands are around knee-level, use your hips as a hinge to thrust the kettlebell upward with as much force as you can. Keep the weights close to your body and pull them toward your chest while squeezing your upper back muscles briefly at the top.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 6-10
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Press

• How to Do It: Stand with a pair of kettlebells in the front rack position  — holding each kettlebell with your palm facing your chest, elbow tucked under your forearm, wrist straight, and your shoulder pulled down. Brace your core and press the weight up until your arm is fully extended overhead, then lower with control to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Kettlebell Lateral Raise

• How to Do It: Stand tall with a pair of kettlebells in your hands by your side. Keep a slight bend in your elbows and raise your arms out your sides until they’re almost parallel to the ground. In the top position, the bottom of the kettlebells should be facing the floor. Be sure to “lead with your elbows” — they should always be slightly higher than your wrists. Think about lifting out, not up, to enhance deltoid stimulus and decrease trapezius activation.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Horn Curl

• How to Do It: Stand up straight while holding one kettlebell with both hands, gripping the sides of the handle. Curl the weight by bending at your elbows without moving your upper arms. Make sure your elbows stay in place, by your sides, to really focus on your biceps. Lower to a full stretch.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Triceps Extension

• How to Do It: Stand while holding one kettlebell by the sides with both hands. Raise it over your head and fully extend your arms. Without moving anything but your hands and forearms, bend your elbows to slowly lower the weight behind your head. When your arms are fully bent in a comfortable stretch, reverse the movement. Try not to flare your elbows too much — keep your elbows aimed forward.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest time: Rest one to two minutes before repeating the first exercise in the series.

Kettlebell Leg Day

This lower body workout will combine bilateral (two-leg) and unilateral (single-leg) exercises to increase muscle mass while making sure both sides are trained symmetrically. This can also help improve balance and coordination.

The session starts with an explosive movement to really warm-up your knees and activate your nervous system to perform even better later in the workout.

Kettlebell Swing

• How to Do It: Take a shoulder-width or wider stance in front of a kettlebell set on the ground. Hinge forward, making sure to keep your back flat. Grab the kettlebell handle with both hands and pull it backwards until your hands are between your inner thighs. Thrust your hips forward explosively to swing the weight up until it reaches chest- or eye-level. Keep your arms straight. Let the weight go back down between your thighs, without rounding your back. Cycle the movement rhythmically for the desired amount of repetitions.
• Sets and Reps: 5 x 6-10
• Rest time: Rest one minute between sets.

Goblet Squat

• How to Do It: Stand with a kettlebell in the “goblet squat” position — holding the horns (sides of the handle) with the weight resting snugly against your chest. With a roughly shoulder-width stance, squat down as low as your mobility allows. Keep the kettlebell glued to your chest and avoid letting your upper back round forward. Return to an upright position.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 8-12
• Rest time: Rest two minutes between sets.

Sumo Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift

• How to Do It: Stand with a relatively heavy kettlebell in both hands and widen your stance past shoulder-width. Brace your core and pack your shoulders down. Hinge forward by bending at your hips, barely bending your knees — your legs should almost stay straight. Go as low as possible without rounding your back. Try to feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings. From the bottom position, thrust your hips forward to raise your torso back to the standing position. Squeeze your glutes at the top before repeating repetitions.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 8-12
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Front Rack Kettlebell Reverse Lunge

• How to Do It: Hold a pair of kettlebells in the front rack position and stand tall. Take a deep breath and brace your core, then step backward with one leg into a lunge position. Only the toes of your rear leg should be on the floor. Bend your front knee until your rear knee grazes the floor. Stand up by squeezing your glutes and pushing through your front heel. Maintain most of your weight on the front leg during the exercise. Perform all repetitions on one leg before switching sides.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15 per leg
• Rest time: No rest between legs. Rest two minutes between sets.

Calf Raise

• How to Do It: Stand with your toes on a step or a sturdy item higher than floor level (to allow your heels to drop below your toes). Hold a kettlebell in one hand and hold a stable rack, bench, or wall with the other hand for balance. Let your heels sink down as low as you can with control and pause for a second in the stretched position. Push through the balls of your feet to raise your heels as high as possible and pause for a second in the top position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest time: Rest one to two minutes between sets.

Fat-Burning Kettlebell Workout

The kettlebell can be a fantastic and efficient tool to shed as much body fat as possible. The compact weight allows you to quickly mobilize a lot of muscle mass and expend lots of energy. For fat loss training to be as effective as possible, you need to use “cyclic” exercises or movements that you can perform for a relatively longer duration, to sustain the energy expenditure.

As such, aim for each bout of effort to last for a significant amount of time. Don’t use too much weight or get too crazy on the pacing — the effort should not be “too hard” because you need it to be sustainable. With this workout, combined with a fat-loss focused diet, you should be able to shed fat while also improving your base cardio and endurance, as you’ll be working in the aerobic zone of cardiovascular conditioning.

This specific workout is a type of EMOM training — every minute on the minute — which implies that you need to set a timer and begin each exercise at the corresponding start of each minute, for a specific number of rounds. If your cardiovascular abilities are limited, start with four rounds of this circuit. Work your way up to six to eight rounds for maximal fat loss. Exercises will be performed “for time” instead of for specific repetitions.

Alternating Kettlebell Swing

• How to Do It: Stand in front of a kettlebell with a wide stance. Hinge forward while keeping a flat back. Grab the kettlebell with one hand and pull it back until your hand is between your inner thighs. Thrust your hips forward explosively to swing the weight up until chest- to eye-level. When the weight reaches its maximum height, quickly and carefully grab it mid-air with your other arm. Let the weight go back down between your thighs, keeping your back stiff and neutral. Repeat hands with each repetition. If the coordination or alternating hands is too challenging, perform basic kettlebell swings.
• Sets and Reps: Four to eight rounds, one total minute of controlled reps.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Front Rack Carry

• How to Do It: Stand straight with a pair of kettlebells in the front rack position. Flex your abs, look forward, and start walking with cautious, controlled steps. Brace your core and limit the movement at your hips during the walk. Control the kettlebells and avoid letting the weights bounce as you move. If you don’t have room to walk non-stop, perform a kettlebell march instead: With weights in the front rack position, lift one leg up until your thigh is at a 90-degree angle with the floor, then lower it with control. Switch legs and repeat back and forth.
• Sets and Reps: Four to eight rounds, one total minute of continuous walking.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Alternating Kettlebell Snatch

• How to Do It: Stand in front of a kettlebell with a wide stance. Hinge forward with a flat back. Grab the kettlebell with one hand and pull it back until your hand is between your inner thighs. Thrust your hips forward explosively to swing the weight up as high as possible, keeping it close to your body. In one motion, straighten your arm over your head and carefully “catch” the weight by dipping your legs as the kettlebell turns onto the back of your forearm. Lower the weight like a shoulder press, then to your side, keeping it close to your body. Switch hands when the bell is in the bottom position. Hinge to repeat the motion. Alternate hands with each repetition
• Sets and Reps: Four to eight rounds, one total minute of controlled reps.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Sit-up and Press

• How to Do It: Hold a kettlebell with both hands while sitting on the floor with your legs straight out. Press the kettlebell over your head, then lower it back to your chest. Keep your heels on the floor and your legs wide. Slowly lower your upper body to the ground until you’re lying down. Flex your abs and dig your heels into the ground to perform a sit-up to return to the seated position.
• Sets and Reps: Four to eight rounds, one total minute of controlled reps.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Bob and Weave

• How to Do It: Stand with a kettlebell in the goblet position. Take one foot to the step and descend into a half-squat. Perform a “weaving” or ducking motion with the weight — imagine getting out of the way of a dodgeball coming toward your face. Bend at the waist and keep your torso neutral, don’t round your spine forward. Bring in your other foot and stand up. Then repeat to the opposite side.

• Sets and Reps: Four to eight rounds, one minute of bobbing and weaving.
• Rest time: No rest before starting the circuit over.

Iron-Clad Kettlebell Conditioning

If you want to become a lean, mean, non-stop machine and crank up your cardiovascular and endurance capacities, then these workouts are for you. Kettlebells allow you to work on different aspects of conditioning by providing either steady paced, sustainable exercises or high intensity, lactic-acid inducing burnout sessions.

If you’re a bit rusty, cardio-wise, then the fat loss workout will double as an effective base-building plan. When you feel capable of tackling a more challenging routine, you can replace it with one of these or combine them into your weekly program if you’re hungry for faster cardio gains.

Kettlebell Aerobic Power

Here we want to use a variety of exercises for intense bursts of work and incomplete rest — a form of high intensity interval training or HIIT. This stimulates higher oxygen utilization and addresses aerobic abilities of your muscles. Be sure to use a relatively high intensity to really stimulate the aerobic power, which is the functional capacity of the cardiorespiratory system. So make these periods of work count.

You do want the effort to remain sustainable and aerobic, hence the 1:1 work:rest ratio and the inclusion of exercises that you can perform for long duration sets. Perform 30 seconds of work with 30 seconds of rest on each exercise and repeat the circuit a total of four times to create one “block.” Rest two to three minutes between each block and perform two to three blocks per workout.

 Kettlebell Clean and Press

• How to Do It: Stand while holding a pair of kettlebells. Swing the weights backward underneath you while hinging forward and keeping a flat back. Maintain a neutral spine and stand up explosively to drive the kettlebells up. Keep the weights close to your body and bring them to the rack position. Pause briefly to stabilize yourself and brace your core. Press both weights overhead to lockout. Carefully lower them to shoulder-level, then lower the weights to your sides. Repeat the entire sequence for each additional repetition. 
• Sets and Reps: 30 seconds of work.
• Rest time: Rest 30 seconds before moving to the next exercise. 

Kettlebell Burpee

• How to Do It: Stand up holding a pair of kettlebells at your sides. Perform a kettlebell deadlift to place the weights on the floor — slightly bend your legs and drive your hips back without rounding your spine. Keep your hands on the weights, driving the kettlebells into the floor, and carefully “jump” your legs back to land in a push-up position with your arms straight. Perform a full push-up, lowering your body as far as your mobility allows before pressing to lockout. “Jump” your feet toward the weight and stand up by deadlifting the kettlebells while keeping a flat back. Repeat the entire sequence for each repetition.

• Sets and Reps: 30 seconds of work.
• Rest time: Rest 30 seconds before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Swing

• How to Do It: Take a shoulder-width or wider stance in front of a kettlebell set on the ground. Hinge forward, making sure to keep your back flat. Grab the kettlebell handle with both hands and pull it backwards until your hands are between your inner thighs. Thrust your hips forward explosively to swing the weight up until it reaches chest- or eye-level. Keep your arms straight. Let the weight go back down between your thighs, without rounding your back. Cycle the movement rhythmically for the desired amount of repetitions.
• Sets and Reps: 30 seconds of work.
• Rest time: Rest 30 seconds before repeating the first exercise.

Kettlebell Anaerobic Development

When the intensity is really high, your body will tap into the anaerobic system and use the phosphagen and glycolytic pathway to produce as much energy as possible. This type of training still uses the aerobic pathway for recovery and it will improve your aerobic base, but it primarily focuses on making you more resilient to intense, shorter bouts of exercise and lactic acid accumulation. 

This approach is particularly useful for powerlifters, CrossFitters, and strongmen/strongwomen, as it can help you to sustain very hard work lasting in the 90 to 120-second range while improving glucose storage and utilization. You can use a wide variety of intense exercises, and kettlebells are perfectly fitted for such workouts. For this workout, you want to be pushing yourself hard — aim for 90% of your maximum output. Set a timer to start every four minutes and begin the exercises when it rings. Repeat the entire circuit five or six times.

Thruster

• How to Do It: Hold a pair of kettlebells in the front rack position while standing. Brace your core and squat down until your upper thighs just break parallel. Stand back and use the momentum of your legs to assist you into a smooth transition into an overhead press. Lockout the weights overhead and stabilize your entire body. Lower the kettlebells to the front rack position and repeat.

• Sets and Reps: 5-6 x 12
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Double Kettlebell Snatch

• How to Do It: Stand in front of a pair of kettlebells with a relatively wide stance. Hinge forward, making sure to keep a flat back. Grab the kettlebells and pull them back until your hands are between your inner thighs. Drive your hips forward explosively to bring the weights up, keeping them close to your body as they continue upward. In one motion, straighten your arm over your head and carefully “catch” the weight by dipping your legs as the kettlebells turn onto the back of your forearms. Lower the weights while keeping them close to you, and swing them back past your legs to flow into the next repetition.
• Sets and Reps: 5-6 x 12
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

 Kettlebell Burpee

• How to Do It: Stand up holding a pair of kettlebells at your sides. Perform a kettlebell deadlift to place the weights on the floor — slightly bend your legs and drive your hips back without rounding your spine. Keep your hands on the weights, driving the kettlebells into the floor, and carefully “jump” your legs back to land in a push-up position with your arms straight. Perform a full push-up, lowering your body as far as your mobility allows before pressing to lockout. “Jump” your feet toward the weight and stand up by deadlifting the kettlebells while keeping a flat back. Repeat the entire sequence for each repetition.
• Sets and Reps: 5-6 x 12
• Rest time: Rest the remaining of the four minutes before starting the circuit again.

Kettlebell Workout for Beginners

If you’re new to kettlebell training, here’s a workout to ease you into the flow of using an unfamiliar piece of equipment. This basic full-body workout alternates kettlebell staples and more traditional exercises in a circuit to build complete size and strength as well as familiarity with the unique ‘bell. It’s also a great fit for any newer lifter that wants to improve their fitness.

Kettlebell Swing

• How to Do It: Take a shoulder-width or wider stance in front of a kettlebell set on the ground. Hinge forward, making sure to keep your back flat. Grab the kettlebell handle with both hands and pull it backwards until your hands are between your inner thighs. Thrust your hips forward explosively to swing the weight up until it reaches chest- or eye-level. Keep your arms straight. Let the weight go back down between your thighs, without rounding your back. Cycle the movement rhythmically for the desired amount of repetitions.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 8-12
• Rest time: Rest one minute before moving to the next exercise.

Goblet Squat

• How to Do It: Stand with a kettlebell in the “goblet squat” position — holding the horns (sides of the handle) with the weight resting snugly against your chest. With a roughly shoulder-width stance, squat down as low as your mobility allows. Keep the kettlebell glued to your chest and avoid letting your upper back round forward. Return to an upright position.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 8-12
• Rest time: Rest one minute before repeating the previous exercise.

Kettlebell Clean and Press

• How to Do It: Stand while holding a pair of kettlebells. Swing the weights backward underneath you while hinging forward and keeping a flat back. Maintain a neutral spine and stand up explosively to drive the kettlebells up. Keep the weights close to your body and bring them to the rack position. Pause briefly to stabilize yourself and brace your core. Press both weights overhead to lockout. Carefully lower them to shoulder-level, then lower the weights to your sides. Repeat the entire sequence for each additional repetition. 
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 8-12
• Rest time: Rest one minute before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Row

• How to Do It: Hold a pair of kettlebells with straight arms, brace your core, and hinge forward at your hips to assume a bent-over position. Pull your elbows toward past your hips. Don’t allow your elbows to flare out to the sides. Lower with control to a full stretch.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 8-12
• Rest time: Rest one minute before repeating the previous exercise.

Turkish Get-Up

• How to Do It: Lie flat on the floor with a kettlebell in one hand near your chest. Press it to lockout and keep your arm straight. Bend your leg on the same side and plant your foot flat on the floor. Raise your torso to sit up, using your opposite hand to brace on the floor — keep your arm locked with the weight overhead. Push through your heels and squeeze your glutes to raise your hips. Sweep your straight leg backward to assume a lunge position. Stand up. Keep your eyes on the weight overhead during the entire movement. Pause briefly in the standing position before reversing the entire sequence.

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 5-8 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Curl

• How to Do It: Stand with a kettlebell in each hand it. Flex your biceps to curl the weight up — keep a neutral or slightly bent wrist, don’t extend your wrist back. Keep your elbows near your sides. Lower to a full stretch.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Kettlebell Triceps Extension

• How to Do It: Stand while holding one kettlebell by the sides with both hands. Raise it over your head and fully extend your arms. Without moving anything but your hands and forearms, bend your elbows to slowly lower the weight behind your head. When your arms are fully bent in a comfortable stretch, reverse the movement. Try not to flare your elbows too much — keep your elbows aimed forward.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest time: Rest one to two minutes before repeating the first exercise.

How to Warm-up For Kettlebell Workouts

Just because you’re using a “simple” piece of equipment doesn’t mean you can skip the warm-up. With any workout, a warm-up will prime and activate your body to perform better and minimize the risk of injuries. Your best course of action would be to start with a light cardiovascular activity for five minutes like jumping rope or cycling, then hop into this circuit of exercises.

• Figure Eight: Grab a kettlebell in one hand, take a wider than shoulder-width stance, and squat halfway down. Pass the kettlebell between your legs from one hand to the next, forming a “figure eight” pattern — around the inside and outside of one leg, then back between your legs, and to the other side. Keep doing this until you perform 10 “eights,” then stand up.
• Kettlebell Halo: Begin holding the kettlebell by the horns in front of your face. Lift one elbow to maneuver the kettlebell around your head in a tight circle. Bring it around the back of your head and in front of your face. Repeat in the opposite direction. Do 10 reps per side.
• Alternating Kettlebell Swing: Stand in front of the kettlebell with a wide stance. Hinge forward while keeping a flat back. Grab the kettlebell with one hand and pull it back until your hand is between your inner thighs. Thrust your hips forward explosively to swing the weight up until chest- to eye-level. When the weight reaches its maximum height, quickly and carefully grab it mid-air with your other arm. Let the weight go back down between your thighs, keeping your back stiff and neutral. Repeat hands with each repetition. If the coordination or alternating hands is too challenging, perform basic kettlebell swings. Perform 20 to 30 reps.
• Kettlebell Windmill: Press the kettlebell overhead and take a very wide stance. Slightly angle both feet toward the side supporting the weight. Keep your arms and legs straight as you “hinge” and bend in the direction opposite to the weight you’re holding. Keep you arm locked straight and aimed at the ceiling, and descend as far as your mobility allows.  Steadily stand back up and pause briefly. Repeat for ten reps before switching to the other side.

Swing Your Way to Fitness

Kettlebells are getting more and more popular for a reason. Practical, versatile, and functional, this lifting equipment can help you reach your goals of muscle size, strength, conditioning, or fat loss. Use these tailored workouts to master the flow of kettlebells and add this incredible, time-tested tool to your fitness kit.

References

1. Manocchia, Pasquale1; Spierer, David K.2; Lufkin, Adrienne K. S.1; Minichiello, Jacqueline1; Castro, Jessica1. Transference of Kettlebell Training to Strength, Power, and Endurance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 27(2):p 477-484, February 2013. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31825770fe
2. Jay, Kenneth1; Jakobsen, Markus D.1; Sundstrup, Emil1; Skotte, Jørgen H.1; Jørgensen, Marie B.1; Andersen, Christoffer H.1; Pedersen, Mogens T.2; Andersen, Lars L.1. Effects of Kettlebell Training on Postural Coordination and Jump Performance: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 27(5):p 1202-1209, May 2013. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318267a1aa
3. Hulsey, Caleb R.1; Soto, David T.1; Koch, Alexander J.2; Mayhew, Jerry L.1,3. Comparison of Kettlebell Swings and Treadmill Running at Equivalent Rating of Perceived Exertion Values. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 26(5):p 1203-1207, May 2012. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182510629
4. Lake, Jason P.; Lauder, Mike A.. Kettlebell Swing Training Improves Maximal and Explosive Strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 26(8):p 2228-2233, August 2012. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31825c2c9b

Featured Image: Miljan Zivkovic / Shutterstock

The post The Best Kettlebell Workouts for Beginners, for Fat Loss, and More appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The first is steady-state cardio training, where a single speed or intensity is maintained for the entirety of the workout without resting, The other is interval training, which alternates periods of work with periods of rest.

One unique type of interval training may actually deliver better results in less time. (1) Specifically, we’re talking about HIIT — high intensity interval training. It’s a particular training protocol that alternates periods (or “intervals”) of high effort followed by periods of recovery for the duration of the workout.

A critical element of HIIT workouts are those first two words. High. Intensity. For best results, aim to apply something close to maximum effort in each work period, not simply something that “feels hard.”

Many generic HIIT workouts you see on the internet are “intense” because of short rest periods and insufficient recovery, rather than requiring high intensity output during the work intervals. This short rest/high volume approach can have its place in a workout routine, but it’s just interval training. It’s not going to give you the same outcome as following these truly high intensity workouts.

Perform these workouts no more than three days per week. If you can perform them on consecutive days without rest, reconsider how much “high intensity” you’re really putting into each interval.

The Best HIIT Workouts

• With One Dumbbell
• With One Kettlebell
• EMOM HIIT
• With Bodyweight, Lower Body
• With Bodyweight, Upper Body

One-Dumbbell HIIT Workout

This workout is done for time using an AMRAP approach which, in this case, stands for As Many Rounds As Possible. Start a timer immediately before performing the first rep of the first exercise. Instead of performing strict “sets,” work through the series of exercises continually until the timer ends.

The full-body workout follows a specific sequence: One lower body exercise, one upper body exercise, and finally an ab exercise. This structure lets you move non-stop while also allowing the involved muscle groups to get some rest before you have to repeat an exercise. This is how you keep the overall training intensity high throughout the entire session.

Goblet Squat

• How to Do it: Hold the dumbbell in front of your chest with both hands supporting one side of the weight. Pull your shoulders back and maintain an upright torso as you squat down by bending at both the hips and the knees. The goblet position keeps your torso relatively vertical and allows you to achieve a deeper squat position. Make sure your head and shoulders rise first as you stand up. Throughout the exercise, keep your elbows near your ribs and keep the weight near your chest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Sets and Reps: 12 reps
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Single-Arm Floor Press

• How to Do it: Lie on the ground holding the dumbbell in one arm. Extend that arm above your chest in a locked out position. Bend your legs and brace your feet flat on the floor. Lower the weight as if performing a dumbbell bench press. Keep your upper arm at an angle roughly halfway between your feet and shoulders. Use a controlled speed to avoid bouncing your arm off of the ground.
• Sets and Reps: 5 reps per arm, 10 total reps
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Alternating Jackknife Raise

• How to Do it: Lie on the ground with your legs extended straight and your arms by your sides. Raise one leg while reaching the opposite arm above your body until your hand and foot meet. This will require a total-body sit-up motion. Alternate sides with each repetition: left foot meeting right hand, right hand meeting left foot, etc.
• Sets and Reps: 4 reps per side, 8 total reps
• Rest time: No rest before returning to the first exercise. After three minutes of continuous work, rest for one minute. Perform a total of two “sets” of three minutes.

One-Kettlebell HIIT Workout

Many exercises can be performed interchangeably with either a dumbbell or a kettlebell. However, the kettlebell’s unique shape and offset center of mass make it the preferred choice for certain exercises. This workout uses a kettlebell, specifically, to improve muscle recruitment and increase explosive output. It should be done for time using an AMRAP approach — as many rounds as possible.

Goblet Clean

• How to Do it: This dynamic movement brings the weight from the floor to the goblet position, near chin-level, in one powerful motion. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the kettlebell set between them. Squat down and grab the top of the kettlebell with both hands using a palms-down grip. Maintain a neutral spine as you explosively stand up while pulling the kettlebell to chest-height. As the weight passes above your hips, quickly transition both hands to the “horns” of the kettlebell (the handle stems on either side). Stabilize your body in the upright position, with the weight held just below your chin, before reversing the process to lower the weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Sets and Reps: 12 reps
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Single-Arm Push Press

• How to Do it: Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width. Hold the kettlebell in one arm, with your hand near the front of your shoulder and the “ball” of the kettlebell supported along your forearm. Dip down a few inches into a short-range squat and use your body as a spring to generate force as you stand up while pressing the weight to lockout overhead. Slowly lower the weight to the starting position. Repeat all reps for one arm before switching sides.
• Sets and Reps: 5 reps per arm, 10 reps total
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Straight-Arm Sit-Up

• How to Do it: Lie on the ground with your legs bent and your feet flat. Extend your arms overhead with the backs of your hands touching the ground. Perform a full range of motion sit-up, bringing your chest to meet your knees. As you rise up, bring your arms from overhead to straight out in front of your chest. In the top position, your elbows should be near your knees. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 8 reps
• Rest time: No rest before returning to the first exercise. After three minutes of continuous work, rest for one minute. Perform a total of two “sets” of three minutes.

EMOM HIIT Workout

EMOM training is an intense, time-based protocol which typically requires performing one set of an exercise every minute on the minute. Generally, you have 60 seconds to complete a given number of repetitions. The only rest time is the remainder of that minute, because the next “set” will begin at the start of the next minute. This intense training method incentivizes you to work harder and faster so you can get more rest.

While the most common EMOM uses one-minute periods, you can adapt the method to almost any timeframe. This allows you to perform a higher volume of work with more reps per exercise and/or more exercises per workout. The goal is still to complete each work phase as quickly and efficiently as possible so that you can get enough rest to maintain your performance in the upcoming rounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In this HIIT workout — “E4MO4M” or “every four minutes on the four minutes” — you have four minutes to complete all of the work below. You can use different weights for each exercise to keep the reps challenging, but pre-arrange the weights before starting the workout to save time.

The goal is to finish all 102 repetitions in three to three-and-a-half minutes so you can get some rest before starting the next set. Perform three to five total circuits — a 12 to 20-minute workout.

• Single-arm dumbbell row: 15 reps per arm, 30 reps total
• Single-arm clean: 12 reps per arm, 24 reps total
• Single-arm push press: 10 reps per arm, 20 reps total
• Goblet squat: 16 reps
• Alternating reverse lunge: 6 reps per leg, 12 reps total

Bodyweight HIIT Workout

Bodyweight HIIT workouts can be surprisingly effective. By removing any external load, you reduce the likelihood of raw strength being a limiting factor and you can focus on technique and straightforward effort.

Many bodyweight exercises can be programmed with speed and intensity for a HIIT workout. Here are two ways to blast your upper and lower body.

Lower Body HIIT Workout

This is a relatively advanced workout for lifters who’ve mastered basic technique and can safely perform plyometric jumps quickly, explosively, and safely. Less-experienced lifters can choose an alternative exercise like alternating lunges.

Air Squat

• How to Do it: Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width. Drop into a squat position, with your thighs roughly parallel to the floor. Keep your hands near your chest and upper body roughly vertical. Quickly return to the starting position. Keep your feet on the ground throughout the exercise.
• Sets and Reps: Perform continuous repetitions for 20 seconds, ideally reaching 18 to 22 reps.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Jump Squat

• • How to Do it: Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width. Squat down partially, with your thighs above parallel. Let your hands drop down to your side. Bring your arms up near chest-height as you stand up explosively and jump into the air. Soften your landing by catching yourself in a squat and smoothly transition to the next repetition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Sets and Reps: Perform continuous repetitions for 20 seconds, ideally reaching 10 to 12 reps.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Squat Hold

• How to Do it: Bring your hands to chest-height and lower your body into a deep squat position. Your thighs should be at least parallel to the ground, or deeper if possible. Actively push your feet into the floor and engage your glutes and core to remain stationary. Maintain an upright torso. Don’t lean forward as you fatigue. Your muscles will be on fire as they work to hold the position. Embrace the burn.
• Sets and Reps: Hold the position for 20 seconds.
• Rest time: No rest before returning to the first exercise. Complete two consecutive sets. Advanced lifters can rest one minute before performing a third set. Extremely advanced lifters should aim for three consecutive sets.

Upper Body HIIT Workout — 55’s

This workout uses the countdown method for an extremely efficient HIIT workout — lots of work, minimal rest. It is often used in a circuit of two or three exercises, to give each muscle group slight recovery for optimal performance.

To perform the countdown method: Complete 10 repetitions of the first exercise, then immediately complete 10 repetitions of the second. Immediately do nine reps of the first exercise, then nine reps of the second, followed by eight reps of the first, and eight of the second, etc. Continue all the way down to one rep of each to complete a total of 55 reps of each exercise.

Be sure to time how long it takes to do the workout. The progression goal is to complete the same workout faster each time you repeat it. This also creates a competitive environment and personal challenge to keep your intensity high.

Push-Up

• How to Do it: Support your body on your toes and hands, with your hands set slightly outside shoulder-width. While keeping a straight line from your neck to your ankles during each rep, bend your elbows to lower your entire body, and press to full lockout. To reduce shoulder joint strain, aim your elbows more towards your feet than your shoulders.
• Sets and Reps: Countdown method, 10 to one reps.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Chin-Up

• How to Do it: Grab an overhead chin-up bar using a palms-up grip with your hands roughly shoulder-width apart. Pull your body up until your chin or neck is in-line with your hands. Lower yourself under control until your arms are almost fully extended. Don’t allow your shoulders to shrug up in the bottom (stretched) position. Maintain a tight core to prevent any leg swinging.
• Sets and Reps: Countdown method, 10 to one reps.
• Rest time: No rest before returning to the first exercise.

HIIT for Fat Loss, Conditioning, or Both?

HIIT Workouts are often used as part of a fat loss plan. Fat loss occurs when you create a calorie deficit by consistently burning more energy than you consume. Various types of exercise can contribute to increasing energy expenditure, but it’s much less than you think. Over-focusing on exercise has been shown to be less effective for fat loss than using a more well-rounded approach that combines goal-focused nutrition and training. (2)

The main benefit of fat loss workouts is the maintenance of muscle mass, so that when you do lose weight, the majority of that loss comes from body fat. In order to stimulate muscle preservation, you need to work your muscles close to failure, and HIIT workouts are an effective and efficient way to do that in a short period of time.

HIIT Workouts can also be used to improve conditioning or endurance, as well as general cardiovascular health. HIIT workouts have consistently been shown to be as effective as other cardio training methods when it comes to improving general conditioning and multiple cardiovascular health markers.(3)(4)

Time to HIIT It

HIIT training can be an extremely effective and (relatively) enjoyable part of any training plan. When paired with appropriate nutrition and combined with structured strength training and some low-to-moderate intensity aerobic (steady-state) training, you end up with a comprehensive training program and should be able to see improvements in performance and body composition. The key to HIIT training is to always remember what it stands for. You can’t avoid putting the high intensity into your high intensity interval training.

References

1. Ito S. High-intensity interval training for health benefits and care of cardiac diseases – The key to an efficient exercise protocol. World J Cardiol. 2019 Jul 26;11(7):171-188. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v11.i7.171. PMID: 31565193; PMCID: PMC6763680.
2. Johns, D. J., Hartmann-Boyce, J., Jebb, S. A., Aveyard, P., & Behavioural Weight Management Review Group (2014). Diet or exercise interventions vs combined behavioral weight management programs: a systematic review and meta-analysis of direct comparisons. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 114(10), 1557–1568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.07.005
3. Bacon AP, Carter RE, Ogle EA, Joyner MJ (2013) VO2max Trainability and High Intensity Interval Training in Humans: A Meta-Analysis. PLOS ONE 8(9): e73182. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073182
4. Batacan RB, Duncan MJ, Dalbo VJ, et alEffects of high-intensity interval training on cardiometabolic health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studiesBritish Journal of Sports Medicine 2017;51:494-503.

Featured Image: Teerasan Phutthigorn / Shutterstock

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Kettlebells aren’t the easiest tool to grab, and the ballistic nature of many kettlebell movements makes them even harder to hang onto. What’s more, your ability to grip, and grip tightly, actually facilitate stronger and more powerful lifts. And it all starts with your muscle fascia.

The Importance of Grip

The fascial lines of the body are many and varied. This article isn’t intended to be a primer on fascia but on better understanding it to enhance our training. The arm lines are particularly relevant to our grip needs. There are four of these lines, and all play some part in grip and its effect on supercharging our performance.

This experiment uses the principles of irradiation of muscle tension to demonstrate just how vital grip is:

1. Let your arms hang loosely by your side and notice where there is tension. Now make a fist. Notice it’s not just the muscles of the hand that are tight. The tension travels up your forearms.
2. Now grip even harder. Notice the abdominals engage. Observe how the tension is now not just in your shoulders but also the muscles within your shoulders. How you grip grip has the potential to activate every muscle in your body.

Let’s try our experiment again, this time to demonstrate the importance of the arm lines:

1. Grip as hard as you can, but focus on squeezing the thumb and index finger the hardest. You should feel the pec and delt engage forcefully.
2. Now focus on gripping hardest with the little and ring fingers. This time you should feel the muscles in the back — the lats, rhomboids, and rotator cuff muscles — engage.

Applying this knowledge to exercise is common sense, yet few people do it. The conclusion to make from these tests is that if the body is ready for pushing (via the pecs and delts being engaged), your grip needs to have the index finger involved. The opposite applies to pulling motions, where we want to make sure that the pinky and ring finger are in direct contact with the bar or bell.

Hand Position for Smarter Grip

The most common hand position when using kettlebells is a grip that slides the wrist into the corner of the bell where the handle and body of the bell meet. This allows the handle of the bell to run diagonally across the hand and minimizes discomfort on the back of the wrist.

Then, most folks will close their index finger and thumb around the handle. You may mistakenly believe this grip is acceptable. It’s not acceptable. This grip will actually decrease performance while increasing injury risk. 

Here’s why: During pressing, you need to address not only shoulder flexion but also shoulder stability. If the pinky doesn’t grip the bell, the rotator cuff won’t be fully engaged. And when it comes to swinging or pressing a heavy object overhead, you definitely want all the musculature of your shoulder to be engaged.

A better way to grip a kettlebell for pressing (or get-ups or snatching) is with the handle of the bell going directly across the hand, in line with the calluses. This grip allows both for use of the prime movers and for optimal function of the stabilizers.

Stronger Grip for Better Movement

If we extrapolate this for other kettlebell exercises, such as squats or swings, we can see these fascial lines connect the fingers to the muscles around the shoulder and also become muscles of the trunk on both sides. The front and back functional lines create two large Xs, one on the front of the body and one on the back.

The correct use of grip will switch on our postural control muscles and enhance all of our bigger lifts. For kettlebell squats, the flat grip is once again the better option (as opposed to the diagonal grip), since it activates the most support muscle.

Once you’re used to gripping this way, you’ll find your performance improves while your injury risk decreases. Changing your hand placement will perhaps make a difference in how much load you can move, but that shouldn’t be a concern unless you’re a powerlifter. Focus on how well your body can move and function as a unit.

More on Breaking Muscle:

• Get a Grip: 3 Ways to Grip a Deadlift and How to Get Your Grip Stronger
• More Insight Into Developing Grip Strength: Your Hand Digits
• Beyond the 2-Handed Swing: 5 Effective Kettlebell Movements You May Be Neglecting

The post This Kettlebell Grip Cue May Change Your Training for the Better appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If you have ever watched a kettlebell sport competition, you know that it is endurance weightlifting. The kettlebells are jerked, snatched, or cleaned and jerked for ten-minute sets.

It is likely you also noticed a few other peculiarities:

• The age of the lifters typically spans from teens to over fifty years old
• The split between men and women is usually close to fifty-fifty
• There are people of all shape and sizes taking part in the events

The age of kettlebell sport athletes spans thirteen to over fifty years old.

I have seen this trend in many countries. Nowhere was it more obvious than in Hamburg at last year’s IUKL (International Union of Kettlebell Lifting) World Championships. The youngest lifter among the five hundred men and women competing was thirteen-year-old Rylee Reeves from the USA, and the oldest lifters in the senior category were Russian gentlemen in their seventies.

I truly believe kettlebell sport, (or girevoy sport as it is known in Russia where it originated) to be the everyman, or everywoman, sport. Anyone willing to dedicate time and effort can become proficient in this great sport, regardless of age, gender, and athletic background. Here are the reasons why:

1. Low Level of Injury

Kettlebell sport is attractive to a wide population as it has a relatively low level of injuries compared to other strength sports. This is due to the nature of the sport itself. The weights used are not maximal. The heaviest weights used are two 32kg kettlebells for professional-level male lifters. These are not an easy feat to lift for ten minutes at a time, but nowhere near as heavy a load compared to Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, or strongman. The emphasis is on endurance and volume, so the lifting techniques are developed around extreme efficiency and relaxation, and tend not to stress joint and connective tissues too much.

“Anyone willing to dedicate time and effort can become proficient in this great sport, regardless of age, gender, and athletic background.”

This means a kettlebell athlete’s career can begin as young as thirteen (although there are children much younger than that giving it a go already). This career can carry on almost indefinitely. Or indeed, as often happens, older athletes can enter the kettlebell sport world and still do well. This is provided good technique is being used in all the lifts, and progression through the weights is slow and steady.

2. Health Benefits

Taking part in kettlebell sport has undeniable positive effects on health. The sport develops a strong cardiovascular system. It increases muscular strength and strength endurance. It can also help speed up metabolism and reduce body fat.

In addition, there is a great emphasis on the strength endurance of the back and legs and also on overall flexibility, so in many cases this type of training improves posture and decreases the occurrence of chronic back pain.

Will Dollar, the first English Master of Kettlebell Sport

3. Easily Accessed

It is easy to get started with kettlebell sport. The variety of weights used in comps, especially at national level, means most people will be able to give it a shot, even with a relatively short period of training. Women can begin with 8kg kettlebells and men will usually start off with the 16kg bells. These weights progress in jumps of 4kg until reaching the limit of the professional categories – 24kg for women and 32kg bells for men.

4. Inexpensive

As sports go, kettlebell lifting won’t burn too much of a hole in your pocket. All you need are the competition-style kettlebells (which are generally supplied by the gym or club you train in, unless you are going at it solo) and, optionally, a pair of tennis wristbands, a pair of weightlifting shoes, and a weightlifting belt.

“Even spending an hour or two with the top-level athletes and coaches who regularly come over from Russia to teach will set you back very little. Especially when compared to learning from good coaches of similar levels in other sports.”

The biggest expense is probably travel, as you will need to make your way around Britain (or the world, if you have such ambitions) to compete regularly. I have seen a lot of the country thanks to this, so I find this aspect quite pleasing.

Also, learning from good coaches is not too expensive. Even spending an hour or two with the top-level athletes and coaches who regularly come over from Russia to teach will set you back very little. Especially when compared to learning from good coaches of similar levels in other sports.

5. Body Type Is Not a Hindrance to Greatness

A great number of sports require a certain kind of body shape to excel. Basketball players need to be exceptionally tall, people with long arms are well suited to swimming, shorter body types have an advantage in gymnastics, and so on.

But if you look at the top athletes in kettlebell sport, you will find it hard to single out one particular body shape. Some are muscular and powerfully built, some are short, and some are tall and remarkably thin. The reason for this is that for each individual, a good coach can hone the lifting techniques to make them efficient to each athlete’s own unique proportions.

If you look at the top athletes in kettlebell sport, you will find it hard to single out one particular body shape.

6. A Constant Learning Curve

In this sport, we are eternally students – there is always something that can improve us, giving us that extra ease of execution, and that extra rep. There is so much more to it than just standing on the spot lifting a weight for time.

“You must become a master of your own thoughts and feelings to be able to endure and perform during ten minutes of increasing and painful fatigue.”

For starters, consider timing, balance, and speed of execution. Then, there are breathing patterns, relaxation techniques, and positional issues. So many areas to be worked on in the constant search for better, more efficient technique. There is also the sheer physical aspect, working on strength, endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility.

And what about the mental aspect? You must become a master of your own thoughts and feelings to be able to endure and perform during ten minutes of increasing and painful fatigue. With so much to think of it is not possible to grow bored.

7. A Growing, Friendly Community

This is one of the aspects I love the most. Most of the comps I have taken part in, either as an athlete or as a spectator, have had a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. This includes the World Championships, where ties of mutual respect and friendship were forged among lifters of so many different countries and backgrounds.

“The kettlebell sport community has grown throughout the years and it always nice to see old and new faces enjoy the friendly atmosphere every time an event is held.”

A great deal of this comes from the fact that the one true competitor you have on the lifting platform is yourself. Sure, you will be up against other athletes. However, the one person you are really trying to beat is the person you were the last time you chalked up your hands and walked out in front of your judge.

All lifters know the effort and sacrifice it takes to be on that platform and so respect each other’s efforts. The kettlebell sport community has grown throughout the years and it always nice to see old and new faces enjoy the friendly atmosphere every time an event is held.

Most of the comps I have taken part in have had a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Summary

If you are feeling inspired and thinking of getting involved in kettlebell sport, want to make a positive impact on your conditioning and general health, and would like to be part of a community that is growing rapidly, there is no time like the present to make the leap.

Whether you are simply looking for something different to test yourself with, or want to go all the way and represent your country at an international event, all you need to do is be open to finding a reputable coach, working with a team, and being prepared to work hard and have fun. I hope to see you on the platform someday.

More Like This:

• 4 Weeks of Girevoy Sport Training: Do You Have What It Takes?
• Hardstyle, Girevory, or CrossFit? How to Decide Which Kettlebell Style Is Best
• An Introduction to Kettlebell Sport Training Methodologies
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photos 1 and 5 courtesy of Andrew Bellamy.

Photos 2 (left in collage) and 4 courtesy of Cornwall Kettlebell Club.

Photo 3 (right in collage) courtesy of Sergey Merkulin.

The post 7 Reasons Kettlebell Sport Is the Everyman (or Everywoman) Sport appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Despite my peculiar love for time management and my obsession with avoiding distraction, it has never crossed my mind to schedule these bathroom breaks or shift my habits so that I take fewer. Nor have I ever felt my productivity suffer because of my body’s need for waste removal. I just go.

I drink a lot of water and coffee. Consequently, I run to the bathroom almost every hour. It is down the hall and takes no more than a couple of minutes. I hardly notice these breaks.

Despite my peculiar love for time management and my obsession with avoiding distraction, it has never crossed my mind to schedule these bathroom breaks or shift my habits so that I take fewer. Nor have I ever felt my productivity suffer because of my body’s need for waste removal. I just go.

Similarly, bosses do not require wage-workers to clock out for bathroom breaks. There is an understanding that the lost time is negligible, if not a beneficial mental reprieve. Sometimes a lot can be gained from a five-minute break.

The reality is we all have time to work out. We just need to start looking at our workouts a different way. The typical exerciser will train three or four days per week. They’ll meander around the gym for a while doing five to eight exercises at about three sets each. At the high end that makes 24 sets. Each of those 24 sets will take 30 seconds or less, on average. That translates to 12 minutes of actual work.

This is not to belittle the work. Those 12 minutes create a cascade of changes in the body and they’d be less effective without some time between the sets. Still, it is about 10 to 12 minutes we are after and any extended rest between those sets will only improve the quality of subsequent work.

You may be thinking, “I don’t do strength training. I’ve always worked out differently.” There are a billion other ways that you could train—the treadmill, stairstepper, spin classes, HIIT/metabolic conditioning, or pilates—but strength should always be one of the primary considerations.

Strength training staves off brittle bones, promotes a full range of motion, increases the metabolism, and lays the foundation to safely navigate other training modalities. Particularly when you add in time constraints, supersetted strength circuits become the lead domino. Very little will be as beneficial as a well designed (and it’s ridiculously simple) simple strength plan.

What you need is a kettlebell or a couple of kettlebells near your desk and four exercises with a lot big bang for the buck:

1. 1-Arm Bent Row
2. 1-Leg RDL or 1-Arm Kettlebell Swing
3. Press
4. Squat

The weights should offer an appropriate resistance, but they needn’t be excessively heavy. This is part of the grease-the-groove philosophy popularized by Pavel Tsatsouline. By working out every day with sub-maximal weights and never hitting failure, you can make tremendous strides in strength and overall fitness.

The point is to focus on quality every time and get better at the skill of each movement. By not approaching failure, you offer the body a dose it can quickly recover from. Exercising in this manner leaves you refreshed and more active. It is actually a far more natural way of training and, most importantly, it works in congruence with the science of habit installation.

You Are Your Habits

Desired changes almost always fail because:

• People don’t understand or honor the primacy of the habit loop in controlling consistent actions.
• People don’t understand the differing characteristics of their emotional and logical minds and how to manipulate outcomes via environmental design.

I call this self-mastery and for a deeper dive, see my free ebook, The Essential Guide to Self-Mastery. For now, I’ll summarize the habit-loop.

Most actions are the product of a habit loop: a cue, followed by a routine, followed by a reward. Your phone chimes. You check it and then are rewarded with the satisfaction of that curiosity and possibly some juicy information. You feel boredom, then head to the pantry for chips, and get the reward of tasty satisfaction.

If you want to install a new action (routine), you’ll need to find a cue and a reward, and you’ll want to practice these patterns consistently. That is why this program is best done every day, or at least every work day. It is perfect for a Monday to Friday work schedule.

The Cue

For your cue, I recommend setting a phone alarm for the last five minutes of six specific hours within your work day. For example:

• 9:55 am
• 10:55 am
• 11:55 am
• 1:55 am
• 2:55 am
• 3:55 am

At each alarm you’ll do the simple routine outlined below:

1. 40 Second Warm-Up

• Bird Dog (approximately 5 sec per side)
• Down Dog – 10 sec
• Superman – 10 sec
• Right leg split, squat, hold, and reach – 5 sec
• Left leg split, squat, hold, and reach – 5 sec

2. Main Event

• 1-Arm Bent Row x 10 per side
• 1-Leg RDL x 5/side or 1-Arm Kettlebell Swing x10 per side
• Press x 3-5 per side
• Squat x 15-20

I’ve naturally progressed the movements in an order that promotes safer movement and ensures you are warm enough, despite the short warm-up. Still, if you ever feel unsafe, lower the weight. Over time the exercises can change as I’ll demonstrate with later iterations, but just do these exercises in a straight circuit at each of your six cues.

The Reward

The final consideration is the reward. Soon enough, the reward will take care of itself. You’ll simply feel better after each of these 3-4 minute breaks. Still, I recommend starting with another reward. Most of us check our phone and email too often.

You could make a rule that you didn’t get to check either until after one of these exercise blocks. That is far more than I check email every day. You could have a small fruit or mixed nut snack ready for after each block. The sky’s the limit if you are creative, but the point is to have a consistent cue, especially in the first month of this program.

The principles of this program are simple and allow busy people to get an effective training dose, despite their hectic schedules. In fact, that time restriction may be the limitation that reveals a better way.

As the Stoic emperor, Marcus Aurelius, mused, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” We are better off for having a plan that forces us to master habits and move in frequent short blocks.

It is better to move a bit all day than to get it all in one clump and spend the rest of the day in a sedentary slump. The optimal lifestyle would be doing this intermittent strength program along with active daily habits like taking the stairs, parking at the furthest spot, biking to work, mowing your own grass, gardening, and occasionally playing games. After you see the results of these short habitual patterns, you’ll start to see the world and movement differently.

The post The Bathroom Break Kettlebell Strength Plan appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Okay, it’s truthfully not a secet. It’s something that all of us strength and conditioning coaches have known about for the entirety of our careers. What do I need to do to prepare my athletes for competition? How can I fully optimize their various engines (aerobic/anaerobic, strength, power) so they can dominate in their given sport? Where am I going wrong?

Over the years we have seen a ton of ideas come pouring into the strength world. In the old days, we had bodybuilding magazines in the forefront of the strength culture. Unfortunately, if you were seeking performance, magazines were the last place you wanted to look. Much of the true strength training was happening in the dingy old weight rooms in the back of some rundown building with the true strongmen of the day. Powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters never really saw the light of day, and that style of training was so obscure that it was reserved for the true specialist and the circus sideshow.

And then, in 1978, a group of strength coaches from all over the US formed the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). A think tank of sorts to get the most up to date and cutting edge strength and performance discussions rolling. In 1987, they created the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and published the first true scientific research on strength training.

If you go into the archives, they published quarterly and the first issue had four studies in it. Four. One of which looked at the ventilation pattern of middle-distance runners… something that I’m sure all strength enthusiasts are clamoring to get their hands on. Since then, they have been going strong, published monthly and the most recent issue has 39 studies featured. A true revolution in the industry and the backbone of science for the profession.

Once you sift through all the research and block out the foolishness that often infiltrates the fitness side, there are three legs to the human performance monster: running speed (which encompasses both linear and multidirectional), absolute strength and strength endurance. No matter what sport you find yourself training for, no matter what level you’re playing at, if you can systematize those three elements into a seamless program, you are going to have the upper hand come game day.

Speed

“Speed kills.” It is a notion that I came up in the game believing, and still do to this day. If we are going to win, we must be faster than our opponent. The days of being the biggest and strongest no longer exist. If you can’t run, you are dead. I’ve spent my entire career working on and perfecting my approach to speed. Regardless of what you might have heard about me, I am a speed freak. Everything I do, from programming our weights to how I periodize my entire program revolves around my teams learning the most nuanced running techniques ever taught and peaking them so the enemy spends the afternoon chasing.

The problem with speed is like most athletic cultures, the ideas are old. They are outdated. The techniques are dead. I know I might be taking a stab in the dark but my personal feelings around the prevalence of the usage of PED’s, particularly in the track and field world, is partly to be blamed by their complete unwillingness to evolve the sport.

“We swing our arms—okay got it. Stride frequency and stride length—yep, I understand. Relax your face, lean your body, push push push the ground away—roger that”.

It’s the same cues that have been taught for eons and the ideas are as groundbreaking as the mechanical ins and outs of the 1967 VW Bug engine.

Then, one of my coaching heros made discoveries and programmed a high school sprinter into the record books. Barry Ross took a simple idea that looked at elements of sprinting techniques and turned the track and field world on its head. For the first time, someone had focused their energy on what was happening when the foot was on the ground during a stride cycle. He took Allyson Felix and tinkered with the notion that if he could increase her force production while her foot was on the ground, without increasing her bodyweight, he could make her faster.

Absolute Strength

Which brings us to the second leg of our triangle. How much can you bench? One time? The heaviest load you can muster? Or deadlift or squat? Absolute strength is the bread and butter for powerlifters but should be considered a prerequisite for anything athletic.

If you are going to be competitive, especially in this day and age, you need to be strong. What I want you to think, though, is that strength is relative. Relative to a task. Whatever your athletic endeavor is, all of the other qualities rely on foundational strength so they can be expressed.

Speed, explosiveness, power, agility, balance, mobility, flexibility—they all count on a solid strength base to be the rich soil so they may flourish (poetic, I know). I’ve seen thousands of athletes and worked with hundreds of general population people and time after time, a lack of anything mentioned above quickly becomes remedied once a base of strength is established.

When working with any athlete, this is where we start. Teaching them the most organic, multi-joint, compound movements we have is where all of our heads should be. Movements like deadlifts and squats fortify the body miles beyond simply strong legs and powerful hips.

Those exercises are phenomenal for teaching an athlete how to organize their structure, create appropriate tensions and systemically work as one unit to move the weight. As the athlete gets stronger, the whole structure upgrades. Their ability to brace gets better and from top to bottom, their neurological control increases. This is where money is made on the field, the court and on the track.

A great example of how working for absolute strength pays off in all areas is in my prep with NFL Combine guys. The 225lbs bench press repetition test is a featured test at these events giving the powers that be some indication of the athlete’s physical strength. One might think that it’s an endurance event since the footballer is asked to press to exhaustion, but you would be surprised how this test is actually, for many, conquered by training only absolute strength.

Stay with me… I had one wideout a few years ago who was blazing fast. Dude ran a 4.27 on NFL clocks. Problem was, he was so slender and slight, the concern was would he be durable? At the beginning of our prep time leading up to the testing, he successfully hit 2 reps.

Conventional thinking might lead you to believe that we drop the load to say, 185lbs, and develop some stamina that way. But our approach was something very different. We worked triples, doubles, and singles at their respective maximum loads for the duration of his preparations for the Combine, loading progressively, never going for stamina. Guess what? He hit 12 reps come test day and all because his absolute strength skyrocketed.

Time after time, we see good athletes peter out early because they have to work twice as hard as the strong guy in a game because their movement sucks or is inefficient. They can’t change direction abruptly because they don’t have the physical strength to work against the momentum they’ve created only seconds earlier. They can’t deliver a blow because they are unable to harness enough tension to overcome their opponent. By the end of the game, any game, they are exhausted and have likely taken an L.

Strength Endurance

Once you have laid a foundation that is appropriate for your body and the job you are tasked to complete, how long do you have until your ability to produce high amounts of force is sucked from your soul?

This is what separates the good from the great. The great ones can still perform at near maximums at the end of a competition. Think about a starting pitcher who is hitting mid to high 90s in the first inning. What is he touching in the 6^th? Do we see a stark drop in his velocity as his pitch count climbs or can he still deliver the goods when he is reaching the end of his outing? This is strength endurance.

Take a basketballer, for example. You have a team that plays a fast-paced offense and a pressing defense. Their transitions up and down the court to most people are a result of “conditioning”. And in part, that is true. But the weakling’s conditioning is going to be tested at a much larger scale because they are going to have to work harder (from a strength perspective) doing a general thing: banging down in the paint, fighting for possessions and enduring the physicality of playing aggressive defense. This is strength endurance.

Perhaps the best examples of a team or individual needing strength endurance are the linemen in football, wrestlers and mixed martial artists. The hand-to-hand combat of all three puts man versus man in an unending grudge match. Fighting for position, the need to overcome the enemy at every moment or on every play and the continual heightened sensory stimulus of knowing that the other person is literally trying to kill you puts enormous demands on the athlete. All three are grueling tests fitness and the best-prepared athlete from the strength endurance perspective is going to come out ahead in most cases.

You see it all the time in football. I tell my friends and family not to get too excited about the first half of a game. It’s not a real picture of what is going to unfold. It’s the middle of the third quarter and the 4^th where you see the cream rise to the top. I can’t tell you how many time I’ve seen teams come out fast, look fantastic in the beginning but run out of steam. Slow and steady wins the race.

This is where kettlebell training and much of the high tension ideas that pervade that style of training comes in handy. I’ve been a kettlebell guy for nearly 15 years now and my teams are infinitely better prepared for the long grind of a game as a result. Kettlebell training systems, ones like the RKC, provide the exact framework for a coach to utilize the most effective strength endurance driven training money can buy.

A PhD in Strength and Speed

I’ve spent the last 20 years in the trenches evolving my approach. The good news for me is I have had enough hours in the weight room and out on the field where I fully understand how to prepare my athletes for success. But trust me, it’s been a very long grind of making decisions and spending the time to see if they are the right ones—or not.

See, I’ve made some epic blunders in programming. The athletes continue to evolve, their needs fluctuate as time goes by and you have to have a solid base of understanding of the Golden Triangle to navigate these sometimes turbulent waters.

The Kettlebell, Speed, and Strength Summit

The good news for you is, you don’t have to burn the next 20 years figuring it all out. Come to the KS3 Kettlebell, Speed and Strength Summit in San Diego this July 14^th and 15^th where I am going to be working with an incredible collection of athletic minds to demystify all three unicorns featured in this article.

Breaking Muscle is the media sponsor for the event as part of their program to support independent coaches. I won’t be alone on the podium and am joined by a stellar line-up of strength and conditioning experts. First, there’s Marty Gallagher, a legend in the strength game. His contributions to the weight training world spans back for decades and his laundry list of athletes he’s trained into immortality is a who’s who in the world of strength.

Then, there’s David Weck and his speed system. It is not only the best thing I have seen in athletics over the course of my tenure as a coach but the most progressive approach to developing true, raw running speed I have ever found. David is a once in a lifetime coach who transcends the game by shattering conventional thought with some of the most practical science that you can find. His program alone is worth the price of admission.

Mike Krivka is a kettlebell expert. Hearing this guy’s martial arts resume will leave your mouth gaping and watching him move is something to behold. Kriv has taken the kettlebell doctrine and successfully implemented it into developing the fighter, the athlete, and the tactical operator. And he’s done what I consider to be nearly impossible.

Chris White works for LSU. If you know anything about anything, you are well aware of the storied history of Tigers Athletics. If there is any program in the country who has it figured out, it’s LSU and Chris White is a cornerstone to their strength department. A physical specimen himself, Chris’s approach to training athletes mixes genuine expertise of the sciences coupled by a unique approach to coaching the athlete. He’s an “athlete whisperer” and I am privileged to know him, to call him a dear friend and to have been able to watch him coach for the past five years.

And then there is little ole me. I feel with exposure to all four of these guys and countless systems for decades, I can create a tremendous amount of clarity around all three concepts. We know how to train athletes at Cal Poly, and I’m going to give you all my secrets. And, if that is not enough, for reading this article, use the code BREAKINGMUSCLE when you sign up for a $100 discount on the entire event.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in San Diego this July!

The post The Golden Triangle: The Secret to Human Performance appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The one-handed Hardstyle swing is a great tool that builds explosive strength, powerful grip, and impressive glutes. Although the same benefits can be found in heavy two-handed swings, the one-handed version amplifies muscle activation as the body needs to stabilize the off-center motion of the kettlebell.

The Swing Is a Simple, but Multifunctional Tool

There are numerous articles on Breaking Muscle describing the benefits of the Hardstyle kettlebell swing. A quick list of advantages might show why it is written about so often:

• Builds explosive hip power – Numerous studies have shown that kettlebell swings help with jumping ability (from college volleyball players to sedentary individuals). Fabio Zonin told me about his recent Italian study with ballet dancers. Those dancers that practiced with kettlebell swings were more powerful in their ballet jumps than those following a traditional program.
• Builds strong glutes – Explosive kettlebell swings build impressive glute muscles. Bret Contreras, AKA the Glute Guy, recommends swings as a staple of his glute training. Strong glutes are important for protecting the low back muscles.
• Makes for a great “accessory” exercise – Champion powerlifter Andy Bolton uses heavy kettlebell swings to improve his deadlift. Many athletes make massive gains in their deadlifts after training for a StrongFirst kettlebell certification, I have felt the “what the hell” effects myself, and Pat Flynn describes them as an “accessory” exercise for sex.

The Two-Handed Swing

Learning a proper two-handed swing is important before doing one-handed swings. Here are some key steps in mastering the two-handed swing:

1. Hinge, Don’t Squat

The swing is an easy exercise, but it is demonstrated incorrectly in so many popular media sources. It is not a squat movement, but rather it is a hip hinge movement. That means the hips go back (hinge) more than the knees. The knees only bend slightly (whereas they bend fully in a squat). The easiest way to think about it is as a jump. If you try to jump as high as you can, the bottom position is the same position you use at the bottom of the kettlebell swing.

2. Be Explosive With the Hips, Not the Arms

The swing is a ballistic movement. If we think of a bullet fired out of a gun, it receives all its power initially and then relies on momentum to get to its destination. The same goes for the swing. The hips provide the explosive power that throws the kettlebell up in the air. The arms are just there for the ride. So, don’t worry about how high the kettlebell goes. Your goal is to let it float up once the hips have used up their power.

3. Protect the Back

There are two primary ways to protect the back in this movement. The first is to engage the lats. What that means is you need to pull your shoulders back and down. I like to approach the kettlebell like a gorilla with my arms out. This position brings my shoulders back and down. I try to hold that position throughout the movement and not let my shoulders round my upper back. By keeping my upper back tight, I provide more protection to my lower back.

Approaching the kettlebell in gorilla stance

The second key to protecting the back is to not let the kettlebell pull the lower back into a bad position at the bottom of the swing. You can accomplish this by having the kettlebell go between your legs on your upper thighs. If you find your forearms hitting your lower thighs, you are putting too much strain on the lower back.

The One-Handed Swing

The two-handed swing allows for all the power to flow from the hips evenly. The one-handed swing adds complexity in that the lats must stay engaged to protect the shoulder from being pulled forward. Once the lats are engaged, the spinal stabilizers must also engage to keep the body from twisting. Pavel Tsastouline, in Simple and Sinister, described the differences between one-handed and two-handed swings:

Enter the one-arm swing. The bell not only pulls you forward, but it is determined to twist you as well. …An asymmetrical load seriously challenges the stabilizers and increases the recruitment of many muscles. When I swung a 32kg kettlebell two-handed in Prof. Stuart McGill’s lab, my glutes fired up to 80% maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVC). When I did it one-handed, the recruitment was up to 100%. And the lat contraction jumped from 100% to 150%! In case you are wondering how it is possible to contract a muscle 150%, the max is isometric. In dynamic contractions higher values are possible – plyometrics are a case in point… Why would you do two-arm swings at all if the one-arm version is so great? Because two-arm swings generate more power, as proven on the force platform. With reduced stabilization demands, you can really let it rip. Hence, do both types of swings.

What Is the Difference Between Hardstyle and Girevik Sport?

Hardstyle is the expression of ballistic strength. Every rep should be as explosive as possible. We can liken it to sprinting or jumping as the body tenses to propel and then relaxes as it is set in motion. Girevik Sport (GS) is an elegant movement that has the main goal of being efficient. In competition, the goal is the number of reps completed. Thus, GS is similar to distance running as the athlete needs to endure over time. Often these two styles are pitted against each other. But really, one is a training method and the other is an endurance sport. They just happen to use the same tool.

Summary

Hardstyle kettlebell swings are one of the basic exercises I recommend to beginner to advanced athletes. As an athlete becomes proficient, we can add weight and/or we can switch to one-handed swings. Overall, the swing provides more bang for the buck than any other exercise. Note: I avoid teaching overhead swings as people tend to use more of their arms to pull the weight overhead, when the goal of the movement should be the explosiveness of the hips.

But the great benefit of the swing doesn’t mean you should go overboard. You may have heard of Pat Flynn’s 300 swings a day challenge or Dan John’s 10,000 (in a month) swing challenge. These challenges are nice, but the high volume can lead to poorer performance. I like an athlete to do every swing as perfectly as she or he can. Usually ten to fifteen swings is the limit before swings get messy. I recommend working toward twenty sets of ten swings every minute on the minute. Beginner athletes may do fewer reps per minute and fewer rounds.

More Like This:

• Hardstyle, Girevoy, or CrossFit? How to Decide Which Kettlebell Style Is Best
• Using Swings to Improve Vertical Jump
• How to Do the Perfect Kettlebell Swing

The post Why You Should Be Doing the One-Handed Hardstyle Swing appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Winter is here…and just because the weather outside is frightful you can still get a great workout indoors with minimal space and equipment. I’ve put together a short but effective, full-body workout that you can do in only a few minutes. This program requires no warm-up to begin. You simply need to set aside 14 minutes, press play, and follow along .

What You’ll Need

Weight – a kettlebell or dumbbell if you own one, or simply something with a bit of weight to use for a Turkish get-up (frying pan, full jug of water, heavy book, etc.)

Enough space to do a plank with a few feet to spare on either side

14 minutes. That’s all it takes.

The Program

A.

B.

C.

Check out more fun workouts and simple exercises to do when stuck at home.

The post The 14 Minute Winter Workout You Can Do Anywhere appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As a martial artist and instructor with decades under my belt, one of the hurdles I struggled with when I started training with kettlebells was my thoracic spine mobility, or rather, my lack thereof. Despite my mother telling me I was special, in this regard I am the rule among martial artists, not the exception. Years upon years of training for hours and hours in a boxing or kickboxing stance had encouraged my back and shoulders to retain that tight, rounded, defensive position, even when not necessary during the rest of my day.

When you stress the body in a consistent way over time, it will adapt to that stress as the new normal, a concept enshrined in the SAID principle. In other words, if you sit or stand with poor posture (shoulders rounded forward, upper back slumped, head pushed in front of the shoulders) for extended periods of time, your body will adapt to that position.

Time to Call In a Pro

I’m not a medical professional, so let’s ask my good friend Dr. Ira Schneider what he thinks. Dr. Schneider is a former international-level athlete who has been a private practice chiropractor for 25 years, and works regularly with high-level athletes.

Dr. Schneider: Our basic human posture is indeed changing for the worse. Constant and unconscious use of cell phones is creating a forward and downward head position adding additional and unnatural load onto the neck, over-stretching the back and compressing the front. Add to that the use of computers, almost always in a seated position, creating a shortening of the muscles and fascia of the front of the body and often causing a forward glide of the neck, and you have the recipe for neck, upper back, shoulder, and low back pain, as well as headaches.

How can we address these existing and growing postural issues that already negatively affect so many people? Like most problems, there are a number of solutions: the foam roller, chiropractic treatment, and massage therapy are all good choices, depending on the issue and how you respond to the treatment. Brett Jones, the chief instructor for StrongFirst, uses some simple and remarkably effective bodyweight movements in his recent article on T-spine mobility and its impact on shoulder health.

Today, we will look at another outstanding method to correct postural issues of the upper back and shoulder: kettlebell corrective exercises. Dr. Schneider and I will explain the benefits that a few kettlebell exercises can provide in this arena.

Progress to the Bent Press

If you’re reading Breaking Muscle and have been around for more than five minutes, you have heard of the kettlebell and Pavel Tsatsouline, the man who introduced them to the West. Like most things in strength training, opinions are strong and varied. While I do my best to steer clear of politics (difficult in both martial arts and strength), I will stick to my personal experience with these exercises, as both an athlete and instructor.

Simply put, each and every one of us has seen exponential improvement in T-spine mobility from the movements below. This improved mobility invariably leads to better posture. Better posture leads to more efficient and natural movement of the body, and more important, a better mental attitude and outlook. And a better mental attitude and outlook lead to a better life. Suffice it to say, this handful of kettlebell exercises will fix your life. Really!

I learned this progression toward the bent press from David Whitley, who spent a lot of time studying this quintessential “old time strongman” lift. Arthur Saxon, the king of the bent press, could put 350lb overhead at a bodyweight of just 200lb! The bent press is still done today, albeit without the singlet and handlebar mustache.

The bent press is an amazing lift, no doubt about it. “But,” you ask, “with my upper back locked up after years of _______________ (fill in the blank: cycling, boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu, wing chun, sitting in front of a computer…), how can I safely execute a bent press without risking injury, due to compensation and/or poor form?”

I would answer that question with a question, “What do you do when a student can’t do a pull up?” Yelling at them to do a pull up isn’t going to magically get their chest to the bar. Naturally, you assist them, by hand or with a band, or you use a regression like ring rows. You find a way to require less strength until more strength can be generated.

That’s what we will do today. We will improve T-spine mobility with a progression of movements that are invaluable on their own, and can build up to a bent press down the road, should you choose to learn this amazing lift.

Kettlebell Corrective #1: The Arm Bar

Safety Tip: Do not take your eye off the bell during any of these exercises.

Dr. Schneider: The kettlebell arm bar, when done correctly, is a major shoulder girdle stabilizing exercise. The position and weight of the bell causes the contraction of muscles surrounding the arm and shoulder, creating coordination and strengthening of those muscles. That effect will benefit anyone doing this movement. Additionally, working the kettlebell into the right position also necessitates the opening of the chest in relation to the shoulders and biceps.

Kettlebell Corrective #2: Bent Arm Bar

Safety Tip: This is an awkward position to press from, so start light.

Dr. Schneider: The bent arm bar requires separate movements of the pelvis and thorax, and will create a coordinated contraction for the intercostal, paravertebral, and muscles of the lateral pelvis, among other intrinsic muscles. As you abduct the shoulder and extend the elbow, you contract the muscles of the upper arm. The biceps and triceps balance each other, as do the flexors and extensors of the forearm. Also, the shoulder stabilizers are put to use contracting at different rates to maintain balance of the weight. This means a large number of muscles are being used for both concentric and isometric contractions, first to move a weight, and then to hold it in place.

Kettlebell Corrective #3: Half-Kneeling Bent Arm Bar

Same safety tips apply.

Dr. Schneider: The additional points of contact with the ground that the half-kneeling bent arm bar requires challenges the balance differently. Sensory proprioception of the feet, hips, alternate arm, and thighs will now be involved in the movement of the kettlebell. The biggest difference between this exercise and the previous two will be in the core, as almost all the muscles will fire to keep the kettlebell controlled. The muscles of the lower leg of the foot on the floor will increase the stability at the ankle and knee, and the intrinsic muscles of the foot will gain strength and be less likely to break down under load. The muscles of the inner thigh of the leg on the ground will engage to keep the pelvis centered under the kettlebell. The isometric contraction of the muscles of the hand on the floor will involve musculature all the way up to the neck of that side. Now add the pressing of the kettlebell, and you have a controlled concentric and eccentric contraction from forearm down to the pelvis and grounded foot.

Kettlebell Rehab for a Better Life

Limited T-spine mobility is a widespread problem for vast numbers of people, athlete or not, with ramifications inside and outside of training. These three simple movements, the arm bar, bent arm bar, and half-kneeling bent arm bar, produce a powerful rehabilitative effect on the T-Spine, chest, and shoulders with only a light kettlebell. They have helped me and my students make tremendous progress in the area of spinal mobility, and I highly recommend you try them out so you can experience the same incredible benefits.

The post Kettlebell Correctives for T-Spine, Chest and Shoulder Health appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Giulio Palau – The Development of Active Flexibility

A kettlebell is an excellent tool for developing dynamic stability of the shoulder complex, particularly in the overhead position. When positioned optimally on the wrist and forearm, the load is balanced directly over the shoulder joint, allowing for greater variability of movement, which allows you to train shoulder stability in a myriad of different positions.

The progression of isometric holds in the armbar and Turkish get up variations allow for the development of what I like to call “active flexibility”. Instead of passively stretching tissues to achieve greater range of motion, challenging the joint to stabilize properly under load can improve range of motion while simultaneously building strength and control in new positions.

The armbar is an effective way to develop active flexibility in extension of the shoulder, a position that is typically neglected by the anterior orientation of most lifestyles. The armbar is also effective in teaching how to generating torque at the shoulder by creating a moment of external rotation and depression of the shoulder joint (both movements that are necessary to building stability overhead).

Once you’ve mastered the armbar, the Turkish get up will be the next natural progression. Get ups will teach you to stabilize the shoulder through an even greater range of movement and positions, with the added benefit of dynamically challenging the core musculature. Get ups will help to integrate shoulder stability in global movements and generate force upward by staying connected to the ground.

Naturally, the next progression will be the overhead press. The overhead press will challenge the shoulder through a full concentric and eccentric movement (as opposed to the isometric holds of the armbar and get up). The press also has the added benefit of teaching stability throughout the body in order to press overhead safely and efficiently. Although this progression can be extremely effective at building functional strength, the exercises described above require a baseline of training experience in order to perform safely.

Please be cautious and try to perform these exercises unloaded before using weight. One approach I use to build a functional understanding of these movements is to perform them while balancing a slider on your closed fist. This will create a safe challenge to practice proper joint positions and dynamic control before loading the exercise.

Ted Sloan – Kettlebells Are Great but Just One Tool

Kettlebells can be a great tool for assisting in the development of power. The stability and strength that kettlebells can help to create can contribute to a better performance in other similar movements important to the development of maximal strength; the barbell military press for example.

The complementary nature of such opposing exercises as the military press and the chin-up are such that when antagonistic muscle groups are unbalanced, the strength of the stronger muscle becomes limited by the neurological system and risk of injury in athletics increases.

When attempting to build maximum strength and subsequently maximum power in an athlete’s throwing and swinging mechanics, the overhead strength can be a limiting factor. The ability to perform overhead movements in a neutral position can appeal to some for the belief in it reducing the risk of injury or overuse with overhead athletes.

Some exercises that can be performed with kettlebells can be great tools in the development of power as well. With the necessity to develop equal strength in atomistic muscle groups, the need for power in this range of motion can be seen as well. The push press is a decent substitute for the clean. Although it doesn’t quite do the same job as the clean, it helps to develop explosive strength through the legs and to a small extent the arms.

Fighters often avoid the use of the military press due to a fear of it slowing down their striking speed and strength; this can potentially be attributed to the rather isolated nature of the exercise, in that the legs are not very involved. Due to this fact, the use of a push press can partially substitute.

The kettlebell snatch can assist with upper body power and stability as well, although more challenging to maintain a neutral catch position. Kettlebells are an amazing tool, but in the end, only one of the many that should be included in your tool chest.

Antonio Squillante – Developing Strength in a Position of Mechanical Disadvantage

Kettlebells are a very interesting tool. They provide what I like to call “a strategic overload”. Because of their size and because of the way kettlebells can be held, it is possible to perform movements with a greater degree of freedom but, even more importantly, with a greater degree of synergy between agonist and antagonist muscles during the the concentric and the eccentric phase of each exercise.

Because of a relative small component of horizontal displacement – a “negative” aspect normally associated with the use of traditional barbells that more often than not results in lack of mechanical efficiency – kettlebells allows for a combination of fast-concentric, low-eccentric unilateral muscle actions, a pivotal point when it comes to create stability around the major joints.

No other joint calls for an overall need for stability more than the shoulder joint. The gleno-humeral joint is one of the more “mobile”, yet strong, joints in the human body. When people think about “shoulder stability” they tend to forget, however, about “shoulder strength”, a complementary aspect that needs to be addressed in order to promote optimal shoulder mechanics.

I like to look at the picture below of  Yuri Chechi, the Italian gymnast, holding a crucifix position at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the year he won the gold medal at the rings: isn’t that a great example of shoulder stability?

Kettlebells are a great form of overload when it comes to overhead movements and their progression toward a perfect verticality overhead. Because of their characteristics, they force you to create stability around the gleno-humeral joint by articulating movements that require optimal centration of the humeral head in the glena , a mechanical feature that involves a perfect combination of eccentric and concentric muscle action involving the entire musculature of the shoulder girdle. At the same time, overhead presses performed with kettlebells foster the development of muscular strength in a position of mechanical disadvantage, increasing active range of motion under load, the stereotypical definition of mobility when it comes to functional strength.

The post Kettlebells Are Just Another Tool but Use Them Wisely appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You need only a matching set of kettlebells and a little floor space. I recommend that you begin with a weight that you can easily press and hold overhead. You can always repeat it later with something heavier.

We begin with slower, more deliberate movements so that you can jump straight in. I recommend that you do a general warm up before beginning. A fantastic and quick option from Chris Holder is the Cal Poly Hip Flow.

This training session features several movements that you might be unfamiliar with. You may review the following articles to ensure comfort and proficiency:

• Turkish get up 
• Bottoms-up press 
• Single-leg deadlift 

Part 1

• 3/3 Turkish Get Ups per side (alternate)

Part 2

3-5 rounds:

• 5 Bottoms-Up Press (non-dominant arm)
• 5 Single-Leg Deadlift (kettlebell remains in pressing arm)
• 5 Bottoms-Up Press (dominant arm)
• 5 Single-Leg Deadlift (kettlebell remains in pressing arm)

Part 3

8-6-4-2 reps of:

• Double KB Gunslingers
• Double KB Push Press
• Double KB Lunges (overhead, front rack, or farmers carry)

1. Perform each complex unbroken

2. Rest 5 breaths between each complex

More kettlebell complexes to get you smoked in minimum time:

Kettlebells Work: But Can You Endure the Chain of Pain?

The post The Time Crunch Kettlebell Circuit appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You’re finally here: 100 reps. Feel free to set the time to see how long it takes you to get then 100 total reps.

Also, here are some suggested rep schemes for you to try:

Good luck!

The post The 21-Day Kettlebell Challenge: Day 21 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.