The nine best exercises with kettlebells or kettlebells to work your whole body

The kettlebell is an accessory that every day is present in more gyms, but perhaps few people know how to use to get the most out of it and achieve a full workout using only this element .

One of the greatest advantages it presents is the possibility of performing almost all the exercises in both bilateral and unilateral, which allows us to correct possible muscle decompensation or perform rehabilitation work in case of having suffered an injury.

Turkish Get Up

In the first place, the Turkish uprising or Turkish Get Up is an exercise that will allow us to achieve great control, stability and balance especially in our upper body , since one of the main points that we must take into account during the uprising is that we must keep your eyes fixed on the kettlebell and your back as straight as possible.

In addition, a part of our anatomy that will benefit greatly with this exercise is our shoulders, as it will give strength and stability to the entire conglomerate of muscles, tendons and ligaments that make up the glenohumeral joint , and the more Strong this, less risk of injuries we will have in general.

Finally, this is an exercise that will give us a great control over our core, since the musculature of our central segment will be fundamental if we want to maintain a correct posture during the whole uprising .

Kettlebell swing

The kettlebell swing could be compared to a front elevation with dumbbells or discs , but it has some nuances that, given the structure of a kettlebell, we must point out:

• First of all, we must point out that the movement of frontal elevation of the kettlebell will precede a movement of flexion-extension of the hip to give the necessary impulse.
• The grip of the kettlebell should be firm but at the same time allow the kettlebell to turn slightly inside our hand , as when we bring it to the front, it should not “point down”, but precisely to the front.
• The movement can be done by bringing the kettlebell up to the height of the sternum (the Russian variant) or up to the vertical above our head (American variant).
• When we bring the weight down, remember that we must always perform a slight bend of knees and adopt a semi-squat pose for a fraction of a second.

Sumo squat

This variant of the classic squat , made with a kettlebell, we will make it up on two steps or benches , so that when lowering the weight does not touch the ground and “fall” between our feet. Due to the movement, in which we are going to lower slightly more than in a conventional squat, this is an exercise that those who have some kind of limitation to perform the classical squat may not be able to perform.

In addition to our quadriceps as the main muscle that will intervene in this exercise, our buttocks will also be activated (especially at the time of maximum contraction), so when you start doing this exercise you may have some soreness.

Rowing the chin

To perform this exercise , we must start from the standing position with the arms fully extended and the kettlebell held by the handle with both hands. Next, we should try to take it up to the height of our sternum (although the exercise is called the chin with it to the chin and we will be performing the exercise correctly).

In addition, another benefit of bringing the kettlebell only to the sternum is that we will prevent our elbows from exceeding the horizontal of the shoulders and thereby reduce the risk of injury .

The muscles that intervene in this exercise mainly would be the frontal and lateral heads of the deltoid, the trapezius and our arms.

Clean and jerk with kettlebell on one hand

The kettlebell clean and jerk will affect practically the same musculature as the clean and jerk that we detail in our special articles on weightlifting, but it will force us to do a greater job of stabilization at the core level . The reason? A kettlebell represents a more “unstable” element than the bar we used in the clean and jerk of weightlifting.

Another difference that presents the realization with kettlebell instead of with a bar is that we will be able to work unilaterally , which will help us to correct decompensations or strength deficits in one or the other arms.

Kettlebell snatch

There are two main differences that we will find in the snatch kettlebell with respect to the snatch with bar :

• The first of these is the greater activation, as it happens in the clean and jerk with kettlebell, of the whole musculature of our core to correct the instability that supposes a kettlebell in front of a bar and the greater difficulty of handling.
• The other difference is that, being an exercise that is performed unilaterally, the arm that does not handle the kettlebell must perform the function of stabilization and balance during movement.

Rowing rowing with kettlebell

The rowing of the renegade with kettlebell is an exercise that will allow us to do a great job of superior train, since it covers diverse parts of our musculature and, therefore, achieves a global job:

• Back and arms : like all rowing exercises, rowing with the kettlebell renegade is a good way to work the muscles of our back . In addition, our arms will intervene actively when performing the movement of the pull of the kettlebell.
• Shoulders : due to the shape of the kettlebell, the main work that our shoulders are going to do, and especially the roller sleeve, is to provide stability in the position on the kettlebell .
• Core : the core will be essential to avoid bad posture of our back , and due to the position that we will adopt due to the grip of the kettlebell, the stabilization level work that our core will perform will be superior to the version of this exercise. with dumbbells
• Glúetos: our buttocks will also play an important role in stabilizing workand as a means of preventing our hips from “sinking”.

Kettlebell halo

The kettlebell halo is an excellent exercise to work the mobility of our shoulders(while strength) and the stabilization of the muscles of our core, mainly to avoid that while performing the movement with the kettlebell our back arches back increasing the risk of injuries.

One leg deadlift with kettlebell

As we have already commented on many occasions, the deadlift is an excellent exercise to gain strength in our inferior . But also, if we incorporate a kettlebell as an element for its execution, and we add the unilateral work that involves performing the movement to one leg, the results can be highly beneficial:

• First, unilateral work will allow us to correct and compensate for possible imbalances between one leg and another , either by performing more repetitions with one leg or by using a heavier kettlebell for the “backward” leg.
• In addition, by eliminating one of the points of support we have, we will force all the muscles of our gluteal area to perform a greater stabilization work , so we will improve the balance.
• And finally, to be more positionally unstable, the musculature of our core should also perform a greater job of stabilization and postural control to protect our back and keep it as neutral as possible.