6 Kettlebell Moves for TOTAL Body Fitness - Build Toughness!

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I LOVE training with kettlebells. The swing, halo, Turkish getup, clean and press... they offer things you don't get with other forms of training in a very convenient package.

For one, kettlebells can offer a great way to train the kind of explosiveness you get from olympic weightlifting - but in a smaller/safer way that you can do from home.

They're perfect for conditioning - letting you build your work capacity and strength endurance to take into workouts/sports.

And they build strength at weird angles as you fight momentum and torque - often in the rotational plane.

They're not perfect for everything - as we'll see in the video. They certainly have some limitations and I think they work best as a complement to other forms of training.

But you CAN get an amazing full body workout with them, using the movements above (and many others). And they'll build your strength in ways other tools just can't. You'll be stronger at weird angles, for longer.

And this basically translates to toughness...

What are your favourite kettlebell moves?

[irb]

1. Kettlebell swing
2. Racked squat
3. Cosack squat
4. Kettlebell Halo
5. Kettlebell Chest press with Glute Bridge (can be substituted with a diamond push up on 1 kettlebell or stability pushups using 2 kettlebell)
6. Bentover row

[kinpatsu]

I met Pavel years ago when he was first introducing Kettlebells. I was burnt out and unmotivated from decades of free weight training. I asked him what I should do. He told me that I needed Kettlebells. I dismissed it at the time. Turns out he was RIGHT. At 60 my workouts have really evolved over the years since then. In many ways my body is stronger and more functional.

[thereforsunrise]

What I love about Kettlebells is that it is easy to stay in the zone and cultivate in a flow state. With barbell training, there is a lot of stop and start, change weights etc With kettlebells you can just swing like and flow between moves like a dance.

[southy]

I want to know what kids growing up near him will think in future years: "Do you remember the jacked guy who was always working out shirtless on the porch behind my home?" "Yeah! Somehow I always think of Batman when I remember him"

[FightCommentary]

I've been getting into Kettlebells starting last year. So good to see you in my feed again!

[MattWellmanWriter]

I injured my back 6 years ago basically from a life of lifting with poor core support. I've been miserable not being able to train but after seeing a few physical therapists and finding content creators like yourself who really show the importance of core stability, I was able to do my first set of kettlebell swings this week in as many years. Honestly I feel alive again and I'm excited to try some of these other moves, especially the split squat to continue to develop my hips. Great video dude.

[benjaminflash]

My 16kg kettlebell arrived yesterday. And I am 25, 180, 78kg. And it feels soooo heavy. . But when I do CAC and Goblet Squats I feel amazing. I feel stronger. When I do Swings, I feel like I am working on my gas tank. I will work with my single kettlebell. I will get stronger. Thank you to PAVEL. THANK YOU BIONEER. YOU GUYS REALLY HELPED US TO GET INTO KETTLEBELLS!

[imranzafeer]

Its remarkable at how many exercises that benefit the body you can do with just kettlebells or dumbells too..

[turboseize]

Pretty much all of the traditional kettlebell exercises are full-body. Some of my favourite workouts are the following:.
- swing, turkish get-up
- snatch, bent press
- clean &jerk (or clean and press, or clean and push press), some squat variation (rack squat, goblet squat...)
- man maker variation: renegade row, press-up (on KB handles), clean, thruster

Alternating between these workouts allows for quasi-daily training, as the exercises are different enough to prevent overuse and boredom, but close enough that all muscles receive frequent stimulus.

[oldkbellguy]

I’m 61 and just this morning did 100 swings with a 24kg kettlebell, 10 reps left hand then 10 reps right, in under 5 minutes. My tip is instead of thinking “hip thrust” on the swing, concentrate on flexing your hamstrings and gluts as hard as you can. I really think my hamstrings do close to half the work.

[jacobsanchez]

I just started incorporating Kettlebell and sandbag training with my barbell movements, and I’m definitely getting stronger and mass from the movements. My favorite kettlebell exercises are EMOMs and I’ll either do ABC or a set of clusters (clean/thrusters). I’ve been having good results finishing my workouts with these and it’s keeping things interesting, which keeps me going back for more.

[fiddlebender]

I like using kettlebells because of the different kind of loading compared to more centered equipment such as dumbbells. Ballistic movements, in other words, every possible progression of the swing from high pull to a snatch are the most essential ones that serve as a foundation to everything else. You can work on racked movements separetely or in a chain of exercises, a flow if you will, and strengthen your arms and legs through a variety of exercises that remind of old time strongmen. Windmills, anyhows, bent press, jerks, sots press, cossack squats...

I didn't even mention the stability and mobility improvements. Try to press even 2/3 of your regular dumbbell shoulder press as a bottoms up press, you'll be challenged. Try to master your swing form by adding a flip of the kettlebell for each rep (watch your feet!) Kettlebells can be a lot of fun and for me they really revived my passion for strength and conditioning years ago when I was giving up on it. Nowadays I mostly train with barbells and dumbbells but I am bringing back some of that kettlebell flow training to counter the lack of mobility and loss of "springyness" as I get older. It's also a very sneaky way to add conditioning.

[SacredShiro]

I love the idea of getting full body work with a singular tool. Like how much can we squeeze out of a set of kettlebells or dumbbells. It makes those of us on very tight budgets able to learn more ways with what we have. Please make more of these!

[thiefoftime]

Jesus dude I think your looking the best in the Chanel history!!

[limitlesspotential]

Great video.

This is my goal body type. I’m 45 and was very over weight for the past 17 years.

Heath at every size did not include me. I was pre diabetic and high blood pressure. Had to lose 70 pounds and now I’m no longer pre diabetics and my blood pressure is normal.

Thank you for creating these videos.

It’s literally life saving!

[eoghanmyers]

I usually do an overhead press or clean and press for push. I supplement that with dips or pushups to add horizontal pressing function, but the C&P remains my main push exercise

[PlayfulTraining]

Thanks for introducing me to Pavel and Kettlebells. It led me to find a coach and a rewarding kettlebell sport journey.

[dangernoodle]

Always nice to have videos which go through how to use kettlebells. I especially love your flexibility with the cossack squat. It's really admirable.

One note about 7:12 about the floor press though where you're talking about pain in the forearm. 1) You're not really holding the bells correctly where the corner of the handle sits in the L of your hand and with the handle at a 45% angle rather than doing straight across your palm. I know you're using a crush grip to get better strength but if you use a kettlebell grip then that will position the bell better on your forearm and reduce discomfort. 2) When you display the front squat, your clean and rack position actually need a lot of work. The bells are slamming into your wrists but also your elbows aren't close enough to your body, all contributing to wear and tear over the course of your workout. 3) The tissues in the forarm simply need time to adjust, if they're not used to the impact then even cleaning with perfect form will beat your arms up. It'll fix with time.


All of this is to say that I think that the discomfort would be less if you had more experience with using KBs. Your positioning would be better and you would be more resilient while using it. Keep in mind as well that for your floor press you're not actually bringing your hands together, I think you'd get more activation of they came together at the top.

I use banded pushups for my horizontal press anyway so I agree that you don't need to do floor presses, but I would recommend revisiting them after you have more experience because I think that being somewhat new to KBs holds you back a lot. (Maybe consider the 1st couple of steps in the turkish get up, because that also tends to work the chest a little bit.)

[JustVeryaverage]

KB bottom up press. Did wonders for my shoulders.

[anasabu-rasheed]

Thanks for spotlighting the kettlebell exercises. One sided kettlebell moves (swing, clean, snatch, rotations) are great for core stability. I personally suggest referring to (Mark Wildman) for cues on form and move variants.