How to design the best Kettlebell Workouts

Article by Greg Brookes

Kettlebells have exploded on to the fitness scene over the last few years. For those of you who haven’t experienced the benefits of training with a kettlebell now is the time to get started. Originating from Scotland and then utilized by the Russian special forces this round hunk of metal with a handle has a strong history of getting results, and fast. Learning to use a kettlebell correctly is a skill in and amongst itself and I would recommend that you seek out a professional to help you learn the movements properly before being let loose on your own. But once you have mastered the individual moves then the fun really starts. Following some simple rules you can start to put together some fat blasting and strength building workouts in minimal amounts of time.

To begin you should ensure you go through a thorough warm up. This can either involve using a much lighter kettlebell or just mimicking the movements of the oncoming workout without any weight at all. So swings, squats, lunges, turkish get ups etc. can all be done without the use of a kettlebell.

Following your warm up start to work on your static movements. So windmills and Turkish get ups are excellent. This also serves as a great way to continue to warm up the body for the more dynamic exercises that will follow. Take your time during this phase, work on precise technique and aim to slowly increase the reps and kettlebell weight over time.

The next phase is to get into the dynamic stage of the workout. So a series of swings, high pulls or snatches. In my view these exercises don’t lend themselves well to going too heavy. You should try to work for time so 1 minute of each exercise on each arm is a good goal. Try using some Tabata intervals for this stage or putting all the dynamic movements together in a circuit. This stage will be very cardiovascular or strength endurance based.

The final phase is where you can start to incorporate the more “grind” based exercises. So presses, heavy cleans, pistols etc. I like to use a ladder based format here to motivate progress but ultimately you are looking for strength gains during this phase. This really is your chance to start to push your kettlebell poundage and to even start working with 2 kettlebells.

So there you have it, follow this with stretching of all those muscles that are tight, usually hip flexors, glutes and hamstrings. By following this format you ensure that you hit your fast and slow twitch muscle types as well as performing it safely without risk of injury.