I program, film, and edit a ton of quick total body kettlebell workouts for my clients – because, well, they work! Not only will these quick workouts save you valuable time, but you also only need one piece of equipment – a single bell for all kettlebell exercises (maybe two if desired) and your body for the occasional calisthenics I like to throw in there.
A Kettlebell Quickie (a.k.a “KBQ”), is a complex of kettlebell exercises strung together consecutively, for a given number of reps for each, usually something easy to remember like 5, 3, 1 or 10, 5, 10, 5.
You rest after a “round” of all the exercises in the complex.
You can do Quickies as mini-workouts or as workouts “finishers” for cardio, conditioning, and strength.
KETTLEBELL QUICK WORKOUT BENEFITS:
- Strength & cardio/conditioning in one workout
- Work stability, mobility, & strength together!
- Total body exercise (yes, even the core/abs)
- Minimal Equipment & Space Needed
Today, I want to share a more advanced complex with some less common kettlebell lifts.
I tell my advanced strength clients all the time that there is no need for fancy, advanced lifts – all levels will benefit from the most simple kettlebell exercises and programming.
However, it’s always fun to progress your skills, so after learning and practicing more some of the advanced lifts like the snatch, long press, and windmill, I’ll program them for my clients – and that’s what I’ll cover in this workout, along with some more goodies.
So, this kettlebell workout is for my advanced kettlebell addicts who want to get down & dirty with their favorite bell! 🙂
If you’re a kettlebell beginner looking for a simple place to start, try the Program Minimum workout.
You can find all my other quick workout videos (KBQ’s #1 through #25) in my Vimeo Showcase.
KETTLEBELL QUICKIE #25
LEVEL: Intermediate to Advanced
FOCUS: Hinge, Squat, Shoulder Stability, Core & Strength
Play the video below for a full demo of the Quickie.
Make sure you add a solid warm-up before your workout to maximize performance and reduce injury risk.
If you try this workout, let me know what you think in the comments!
KETTLEBELL WORKOUT INSTRUCTIONS:
- 5 X SA SWING
- 3 X SA SNATCH
- 2 X LONG PRESS
- 1 X WINDMILL
Each Side
2 Minute Running Clock
X 6-8 ROUNDS
RUNNING CLOCK WORKOUT TIMING
This quick workout is easy to judge total time, as it’s done on a two-minute running clock.
This means that you set a stopwatch on your phone when you begin, and after each round, you’ll rest until you reach the 2 min mark.
Just keep the clock running! After round two, you’ll rest until four mins. After round three, you’ll rest until six minutes, etc.
If you’re short on time, just do 4-6 rounds for a total of 8-12 minutes of workout time (not including warm-up).
EXERCISE DEMOS, CUES, & BENEFITS
I’ve included below demo videos and a summary of benefits for each lift in this kettlebell workout.
Remember, these are challenging lifts!
If you are new to these kettlebell exercises, make sure to practice, practice, practice!
Only after you have become comfortable & proficient with them should you add them to a quickie complex workout.
KETTLEBELL SINGLE-ARM SWING
If you don’t already love kettlebell swings, you don’t know what you’re missing!
Like all the ballistic kettlebell exercises, the kettlebell swing combines strength and cardio in one lift.
It targets the hamstrings and glutes, like all hinges do, but you get some added spice in the form of cardio, conditioning, and upper body strength and stability from this kettlebell lift!
What’s not to love about that?
I write about the kettlebell swing a lot, so let’s get deeper into the more unique lifts in this workout.
KETTLEBELL SNATCH
Did you know a kettlebell snatch is a calorie-burning machine and the metabolic powerhouse of lifts? It’s also one of my favorite lifts!
The kettlebell snatch is one of the most comprehensive lifts. It combines strength, speed, power, stability, and technique. Click To TweetIt may take some time to master, but it’s well worth it. The conditioning benefits of the snatch are impressive!
In a 2010 study by the American Council on Exercise – ACE, they found that the kettlebell snatch’s calorie-burning effects were equivalent to “running a six-minute mile pace or cross-country skiing uphill at a fast pace”!
In this study, participants “were burning at least 20.2 calories per minute” performing the kettlebell snatch!
That’s a crazy, high-calorie burn!
Also, the snatch hits so many muscles in one exercise! The kettlebell snatch works mainly hamstrings and glutes and shoulders, arms, mid-back, upper back, and quads.
Before learning the kettlebell snatch, you must first get proficient with the deadlift (hinge), single-arm kettlebell swing, and the overhead lockout of the press.
But it’s clearly worth it if you want to maximize your workouts with this strength and conditioning powerhouse of a lift!
KETTLEBELL SINGLE-ARM LONG PRESS
Think of the long press as a squat to press – a squat where you press the bell up all the way from the bottom to overhead.
This total body athletic-driven kettlebell lift will give you a stronger core as well as add to your overall strength.
The long press is a total body exercise that works the lower body (primarily glutes and quads), upper body (primarily the deltoids), as well as the core and other stabilizing muscles.
KETTLEBELL WINDMILL
The kettlebell windmill is a total body exercise that works stability, mobility, and strength across a variety of movement patterns.
Along with the shoulder muscles you’ll use to hold the bell in the overhead position, you’ll be using many stabilizing muscles in the windmill, such as the rhomboids, triceps, upper back, and rotator cuff muscles.
This unique lift has a diagonal hinge, which, when done correctly, stretches the hips, obliques, and hamstrings and builds shoulder, glute, and core strength.
Like the kettlebell get up, the windmill’s benefits of scapular control and shoulder strength are just the tip of the iceberg!
Regular practice of this dynamic kettlebell lift will increase your overall strength, mobility, and stability in so many ways!
HAVE MORE THAN 15-MINUTES TO WORKOUT?
Want more than a quick workout? No problem!
Add 3-4 strength sets of lunges and rows before your Quickie.
3 x 16-24 Total
3 x 8-12 / Side
Maximize your time by making these lifts a “superset.”
Do one set of 16-24 total lunges, rest 60-75 seconds, then perform 8-12 reps on each side of 3-point rows, rest 60-75 seconds, then go back to the lunges until you have completed 3, maybe 4 sets of each lift.
Enjoy!
😺 💚 💙 💜 x Coach Roxy
P.S. Curious about leveling up your Kettlebell skills? Check out my coaching services.
SOURCES
American Council on Exercise. (January 1, 2000). Kettlebells: Twice the Results in Half the Time?. Retrieved from https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/expert-articles/2982/kettlebells-twice-the-results-in-half-the-time/