So you have discovered kettlebells have you? Well you’re on a good path. Kettlebells are an extremely versatile piece of workout equipment and lend themselves to a lot of different great exercises. For whatever reason they appear to only have been widely discovered in North America very fairly recently, however, they’ve been a staple of Russian muscle building for really some time.
Anyway, enough about that… you need some kettlebell exercises to do. Well here are three wonderful kettlebell exercises which will get multiple muscle groups working in unison ( at all times a good thing as that’s how things work in the real world).
Kettlebell Excercise #1 – Squat Thrusts
This is a fantastic full body exercise, which could possibly be turned into an endurance as well as muscle building exercise if your kettlebell (kettlebell) isn’t too heavy.
Begin in a full squat, will your butt slightly below your knees, and keep your back flat (not straight up and down… you should be leaning forwards a little at this point… yet it need to be flat, i.e. not arched). The kettlebell should be resting on the floor beside one of your feet, with the handle in one hand.
Now as you stand up, pull the kettlebell up as you would in a bicep curl. When your legs are nearly fully straight you must push the kettlebell up over your head, as in a shoulder press. Your entire body ought to now be straight down and up with your hand extended above you holding the kettlebell (elbow locked, or close to it). Now reverse the motion back into a squat, and repeat. When you get back into your squat the kettlebell does not have to touch the floor (you can do so if you like nonetheless… it’ll make the exercise slightly more challenging). Once finished with one arm, repeat with one other arm.
Do this for speed for a little bit more of an endurance exercise (still keep good form though!), or more slowly and controlled to make it more difficult on your muscles. This is an excellent exercise to work several muscles in your upper body, your core, and your legs (a part of the body too many people ignore!).
Kettlebell Excercise #2 – Squat Lifts
This exercise is amazingly similar to the 1st, nonetheless it’ll work the back and the front of the shoulder a little bit more. Start again in a full squat, this time the kettlebell between your legs, holding the handle with both hands (you should be bent forward at the hips slightly more in this exercise than in the previous one… still keep your back straight though!).
As you stand up, swing the kettlebell upwards in front of you… as you reach the end of your squat (legs fully extended), the kettlebell need to just be reaching its peak, arms fully ended over your head. When I say “swing” the kettlebell, I don’t mean do a floppy swing and just fling it up there… good form is key! As you swing, keep your body rigid, and be sure to keep your back straight, just bending at the hips.
At the bottom of your movement, the kettlebell should not be touching the floor again… go down until it is probably about a foot off the ground. Again do this for speed for endurance, or slower to work your muscles more.
Kettlebell Excercise #3 – Turkish Getups
Turkish getups are an incredible core exercise very few people know about. With a heavier kettlebell, they take some unbelievable core strength to pull off, and they undoubtedly aren’t as tedious as situps or crunches.
As it is quite a complex move, instead of trying to properly describe the Turkish getup I’m just going to suggest you search “Turkish getup” on YouTube to see how a proper Turkish getup is done. Locate a video which explains the move slowly, and follow the steps exactly. Do not do it if your kettlebell is too heavy for you as you’ll just be straining the wrong elements of your body, and you could injure yourself.
So there you’ve it… three awesome full body kettlebell exercises to add to your workout arsenal!
Georgette Adanas has been writing articles or reviews on kettle bell x training since 2000.