Try these kettlebell exercises to beef up all of those full body workouts.
When we look to kettlebell exercises, there are a few that stand out. However, there are so many out there, and many including variations of traditional ones, that it is a huge disservice to neglect them. When it comes to our full body gains, sure, there are plenty of workouts available. However, it should be said that we can’t just settle for any old exercises and expect to see the best growth.
So much equipment exists that it can be hard to know what to use, and if you are working on a home gym, what to buy. But going through a bit of an inventory can be helpful as we navigate what we really need versus what we don’t. And when it comes to kettlebells, we can’t ignore what these can do.
Kettlebells are interesting for they offer a unique grip perfect for strength building and high-intensity exercise. Why this is great is it gives us a chance to enhance all areas of our gains with a versatile and convenient piece of equipment.
Let’s take a look at some of the best kettlebell exercises for each muscle group so you know how to enhance your workouts and see full body gains. We will get into the benefits of kettlebells and break down an exercise for each body part so you know exactly how best to tackle those full body gains.
Benefits Of Kettlebells
When looking at kettlebells, it is important to note the powerful benefits associated with this fitness equipment. Knowing what kettlebells can do will make you want to include them into your workouts.
- Full body workout: Targets many muscle groups and increases strength, endurance, and flexibility for the best overall gains (1). With variations for each exercise, you can work for sport specific and functional results.
- Promote strength & power: Improved power output for increased explosivity and increased lean muscle mass (2,3). This will enhance those other bigger lifts that require such power to complete.
- Improved balance, stability, & coordination: Enhance mind-muscle connection and work to improve technique and form for enhanced coordination and stability. This doesn’t only affect our training and performance, but also every day life as well.
- Simple & convenient tools: No changing weights and easy to learn for great workouts and added versatility to increase your results. As you build strength, you can start to put together a full rack of different kettlebells for a wide array come future workouts.
Best Kettlebell Exercises For Full Body Workouts
These exercises for each muscle group will provide for a well-rounded workout to increase full body gains and give you the best chance at seeing success. With kettlebells, it is important to know that variations of these exercises to exist, so if an exercise looks familiar, know that a kettlebell can make a difference in the long run.
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Chest: Kettlebell Push-Ups
Kettlebell push-ups will work to challenge your grip, giving your chest a different workout while still increase strength and size. Typically what you will find are your hands spread out on the floor for better support when performing a traditional push-up. But with a kettlebell, your grip is more narrow thus working your muscles differently.
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Back: Kettlebell Renegade Rows
Renegade rows with kettlebells are a great way to challenge your body when it comes to strength, stabilization, and posture. The movement of this exercise will build strength while your core needs to be braced to enhance stability. Plus, you will have the ability to press and pull better with more support for other big lifts.
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Shoulders: Kettlebell Shoulder Press
The shoulder press is obviously a staple in a shoulder day routine and while this can be done with a barbell or dumbbells, it is important to know this can also be done with kettlebells. All this will do is offer a nice variation while building shoulder strength and size and enhancing your arm definition.
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Biceps: Kettlebell Bicep Curl
By curling with kettlebells, you challenge your grip and develop your biceps differently. A versatile variation of the traditional bicep curl, you will find this works well to switch off sets with dumbbells for that added challenge and substantial muscle growth.
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Triceps: Kettlebell Skullcrusher
This exercise variation may be unknown to you, but yes, you can perform the skullcrusher exercise with kettlebells. While this is often done with an EZ bar or a barbell, kettlebells simply give you another form of weight to try and challenge those triceps to grow.
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Quads: Goblet Squat
The goblet squat is a real quad builder, but also enhances other lower body muscles as well. The kettlebell allows you to comfortably hold the weight while increasing time under tension for real growth to take place. You also start to build better mechanics for those bigger lifts as well.
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Hamstrings: Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift
Romanian deadlifts are nice for building sport specific and functional movements to really fire up those hamstrings. Required with this movement is core engagement for stability and the kettlebell offers a nice grip so you can move with ease and take advantage of a full range of motion.
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Core: Russian Twists
We can’t leave out Russian twists for a core exercise for these work those middle abdominals and obliques. Using a kettlebell allows you to hold weight easily while still challenging those core muscles to grow.
Check out our list of the Best Kettlebells for more great lifting and fitness products!
Wrap Up
These best kettlebell exercises will offer a great base for a full body workout and gains while taking full advantage of what a kettlebell can do for you. Using a kettlebell is a great piece of equipment to enhance gains while building both sport specific and functional movements. What you will find with these exercises are many of the traditional ones with a kettlebell twist for a worthwhile variation. Give these kettlebell exercises a try and see what they can do for all your goals today.
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*Images courtesy of Envato
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